How Your Brain Gets You To See The Parade

From The Teacher's Guide to Discovering Our World, Book 1, copyright 1952.

Book Boards At School

Introduction To Economics, by Alvin S. Johnson, Ph.D., copyright 1909 and 1922 by D.C. Health & Co. sure looks like your usual old, unloved school text, complete with water damage (mildew & bent boards), but I didn't just throw it away... If I had, I hadn't taken the time to look at it, I would have missed the fabulous doodles inside the cover and on the front free end page.



Inside the front board, the illustration features "John Tards" at a streetlight, looking quite drunk. The streets appear to be cobblestone -- or uniformly lumpy. The city backdrop is darn-near a big city skyline.

On the front free end, beneath the title "Economic of Fr nk Jones" (a teacher, perhaps?), several comic versions of a man's face (also one lady) and the very stylized full-view (from the side) of one man.

These could be attempts to draw very popular comics at the time, but they still please me greatly.

The doodles are presumed to have been made by the former owner, Gordon A. Martin, a university student & an Alpha Psi Delta member (at whatever university was in Grand Forks, North Dakota, at that time).

Why Other Countries Hate It When McDonald's Comes To Town

Kids in Japan beggin' for the toys in Happy Meals.



Photo from a 1986 National Geographic magazine.

Look Maw...No Anemia!

Lucky for Wilbur the Pig, Charlotte had minored in veterinarian medicine during her years at Wellesley, and was able to save his life by outlining, in her web, a week-long regiment of iron supplements to help his fading health. This is from an ad for anti-pig-anemia medication in 1960. Piglet anemia is a big deal for hog raisers, and in the '60s they used Armidexan, an iron-dextran compound that isn't marketed anymore. Armidexan was produced by Armour Pharmaceuticals, and any meat-lover should make this connection: Armour and Company was king of pre-packaged meats for much of the twentieth century. Tasty, tasty, non-anemic meats.

Pixies On Toadstools & Whiskers On Kittens

Hannah not only made them, but offers pdf instructions.


Nothing goes better with pixies on toadstools than whiskers on kittens (I know you're singing along!). We'd prefer you had your own cats who would brush their whiskers against the toadstool doorstops, but if not... Here's a vintage kitty -- with whiskers -- pattern; some assembly required.

Susan Has A Headache

What will stop it, once and for all?


OK, so this photo captioned "Until The Doctor Arrives" (from 1954's The Family Physician) is all about first aid treatment for poison, but just saying that would be far less fun.

The Unknown Comic - Artist

From The Saturday Evening Post, June 14, 1941, a full-page ad for Hotpoint electric refrigerators and ranges. The top portion features a comic, Just Around The Corner: Ed And Alice Open Up The Summer Cottage, which extols the virtues of having appliances in your summer cottage "just like in town." So much for getting away from it all & roughing it.

And no one ever shows up to help me move.


Having a title seems to signify a series -- be it a regular comic series or an ad campaign -- but it's unsigned. The style is so familiar... Capp? Marge? I honestly don't know; neither does Google. If you do, please share.

Here's the bottom portion of the ad, in case that helps.

You Know What They Say About Artists With Big Noses

Le blog de mister M is au Francais -- which is, along with a few swear words, about all I know in French (sorry, Mlle Pfister, my high school French teacher) -- so I do not know what he says about this art piece... But I'm pretty sure the "big nose" euphemism is internationally understood.

Your Homework

From Making Words Work, 1942, a "Thinking about the picture" assignment:

HELLO, JACK!

Thinking about the picture
Is Jack having a good time? How can you tell? What is he doing?
What kind of boy do you think he is? What kind of day is it?

Nothing Smells As Good As The Radio

Parfum de Radio, cardboard toy radio with fragrance. I'm betting it smelled like CBS; all the crazies preferred CBS.

The Cobra's Name Is Post-Holiday Tuesday

Gina Tuzzi shows us the tempest in your coffee mug which is returning to work after a holiday weekend.

Dad Always Used To Make Jokes About "The Naughty Nurse"

I'm pretty sure these old nurse paperbacks have good nurses in them, but at 50 cents each I couldn't pass 'em up... Now that the kids are back to school I plan on killing a few hours reading them just be be sure. And that feels really naughty.

Why Mom Never Let Us Play Billiards

Via CardCow.

"Gee, Mom, Them's An Important Collection!"

An article published in The American Home, October, 1942, extolling the virtues of & importance in collecting as a child -- no matter how cluttered it makes their room.


Click the image to read the scan of this still wonderfully appropriate advice by Clifford Parcher.

Even After Years Of Studying Them

Betty never would understand boys.


Illustration from Making Words Work, 1942.