Wednesday, July 31, 2013

18th century dental care

Believe it or not, people really did brush their teeth in the 1700s.
The above are two toothbrushes dug in the 1970s in Penn's Landing in the City of Bothersome Love, before I-95 construction tore the whole area up.  

They're made of bone, and the bristles -- which are long gone -- were made of boar bristles...

which goes a long way in explaining why George Washington ended up with wooden teeth.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

The Many Moods of

Bub Barker, dog actor.
Above is Bub in his famous performance as Archie Rice from The Entertainer.  Sir Laurence Olivier noted Bub's performance as 'something that made me realize that my own performance in the role lacked bite.'

Here's Bub as Of Mice and Men's tragic Lenny
"We could live offa the fatta the lan'."

 Bub also scores big in lighter fare, as in Volpone, below


Nevertheless, he's best known as a dramatic actor.  His role as the title character of Oliver Twist had them sobbing in the aisles.
 "Please, sir, I want some more."

Talk about non-traditional casting!  Bub's performance as Othello is widely considered the definitive rendering of the tortured Moor.  


Bub performing Mark Antony's eulogy speech from Julius Caesar.
Bravo!

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Sunday's finds

Hubs and I went to the beach this past Sunday.  3/4 of the way there we came upon a yard sale.  Half off everything.  It turned out not to be a yard sale yard sale, it was actually the front yard of an old OLD antique store, so after looking at the stuff outside, we were welcomed inside, to find...

This adorable little Made in Italy glass bird.



Tell those kids to get off my lawn!

 
 So I says to Elsie, I says...

And I got an addition to my ashtray collection.

Cahill's TV Service

And I got a rare and charming black toby mug.

Another five or six miles down the road, we came into Captain Scraps Attic (that turns out to be the name of the place with the nutso lamp and the neato weeds from my April 28 post.)

Here's what I got there:

A sorta nutty-looking Occupied Japan shaker in what I think is the form of a veterinarian.
 Don't you chase cars anymore... OR ELSE!!

The face above reminds me a lot of the (creepy.  Really creepy) kid's face in this:
The Child's Problem by Richard Dadd.

 The painting below was sitting on an easel with no price tag on it.  We summoned the manager, who told us the painting was only there to complement the easel it was on.  Then she gave us a very reasonable price on it, and my first thought was 'Ooh,this is gonna sell at our next Tony market' *
The back of this is marked 'Scene at Elfreths Alley.'  
Elfreths Alley is in the Old City section of the City of Bothersome Love, and is famous as America's oldest residential street.

What I call 'Tony markets' are these flea markets here:  http://www.philafleamarkets.org/

They're run by a guy named Tony.

Monday, July 22, 2013

You NEED one of these

Here I'm gonna do an (unpaid) commercial for the Oxo travel mug thingie.  

'Why you you doing an unpaid commercial for anything?' you ask.  'That don't make sense.'

Well, I'm all about sharing good stuff I have, dig?

I drink my coffee black, with ice in it.  The travel mug below was in my car overnight this week, when the temperature in the City of Bothersome Love was registering record high temperatures.  Like over a 100 degrees fahrenheit in the day time, and the high 80s at night.
 
 I come out in the morning to take stuff out of the car, including the travel mug, and -- sit down for this because it's totally going to rock your world -- I could STILL hear ice clinking inside of it.  After at least TWELVE HOURS sitting in a hot car.

'Psh, I drink my coffee hot, as God intended,' you say.  

Aha!  Then dig this feature:

Rather than the ordinarary travel mug, which has part of the top slide open to you can get at your quaff, this one has a button with a spring.  

With the button in the up position (and the lid screwed on tight.  Duh) nary a hot drop of  will fall out of the  mug and stain your pants, even if the mug is upside down.  Can't say that about the other kind, which are almost designed to leak.


These aren't cheap, they go for around $20 or so, but they're worth every single penny.

Aren't you glad I told you about this?

Thursday, July 18, 2013

advertising ashtrays again

More more more from my collection!

Artie's Grinding Service
That Artie's a wit, isn't he?
==============================================================

Coe's Flowers
I found on the 'net that Coe's Seed and Floral of Ames, Iowa opened in the the Sheldon Munn Hotel in 1932.  The Hotel was once 'one of the finest hotels in the Midwest.'
=====================================================================

Ed Mertle Welcome Inn
Still in business!!  Although Ed is sadly not googleable.
=================================================================

Mrs. Neal Ford Columbia Record Store
From back when Hazleton wasn't Illegal Immigrant/Dominican Gang Central.  

Scumbags.
I'm trying to keep this blog sweet and nice, but last weekend we were upstate near Hazelton at a community fair, and met two people who'd had their home broken into (along with over 50 of their neighbors) by these wastes of oxygen who swoop down from New York.  They took EVERYTHING of value.   I really think these people ought to be deported en masse, pursuant to getting their asses kicked in a big BIG way. 
======================================================================

WGAL TV Channel 8

Back to the sweet and the nice.  

Back in the day if you drove out into the country, say 50 miles or so north of the City of Bothersome Love, you'd see little signs by the side of the road for Channel 8.  Not billboards, but little signs like what you see posted for 'brown eggs, 150 feet,' only more professional-looking.  

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Another Goodwill Outlet trip

Last Tuesday I drove down to Delaware to pick up some laminate flooring my handyman is going to put down in my kitchen.

'Why go to Delaware,' you ask.  'I thought you lived in the City of Bothersome Love.'

Well, I do, but the City of Bothersome Love has an 8% sales tax, and Delaware charges no sales tax.  So a) I was saving about $30,

and b) I was going to get to see another Goodwill Outlet, which is about 10 minutes from the Home Depot where I bought the flooring. 

At first, I was kinda disappointed.  All I saw were clothes of the cheap and ugly variety, and books.  I did pick up one book, Norman Mailer's tome about Marilyn Monroe.  I figured that I could sell.  (It did.  Quickly.)

About 20 minutes after I came in, they changed over ALL the tables, and even though when the tables came back, they were still piled with clothes and books, but one of the tables had some fantastic vintage childrens books, like...



 OK, Alex and Me is not a children's book, and the Dick Van Dyke thing is a book with quotes from children.

I also found ten of these:
200 page ruled notebooks, never used.  There are few things that appeal to me (other than kittens) more than a fresh, unused notebook.   Coincidentally, these are from my alma mater.  

All of the above - the books and the notebooks - cost me a total of $12.50


We be

trash-pickin'

And look what we found:

 This past Saturday my hubs and I went into the Pine Barrens to pick wild blueberries.  We picked in the Brendan Byrne State Forest, and from there picked in Batsto Village.  Somebody we ran into there told us that big time wild blueberry picking was available in the Atsion Lake area.  We found the lake, but not the blueberry bushes.  But we did find the above chair and an identical chair on the curb in front of someone's house, placed alongside their trash cans.  

Both chairs will be sold tomorrow evening at Stephenson's Auction in Southampton, PA.

SCORE!!!

The photo from their website...


 UPDATE!!!  The chairs sold for $75!!!

Adorable Adoptables issue no. 4

Wouldn't you love to provide a good and loving home for a dear little cat who needs one?

Here are the dear littles currently available for adoption at the Petco on  9717 Roosevelt Boulevard in Northeast Philadelphia:

The tuxedo cat below is Brutus, who is no brute.
Rather, he is a very curious, engaged little guy who shows great interest in learning more about his environment, the better to become a fine asset thereof.  He'd be an exceptionally fine asset to your domestic environment as well. ADOPTED

Next up, a darling little girl
 named Bella.  A very good conversationalist, and a great appreciator of a good scratch behind the ears. ADOPTED

And now on to...
 the ultra-kinetic Click.  The embodiment of feline playfulness, Click is a very pretty girl, who is also exceptionally cuddly and chatty, and has the prettiest pair of eyes imaginable.  ADOPTED

The handsome and heroic
 Zorro!!  He has some beautiful orbs as well, in bright green.  Chatty, charming, and eager to play.

One of the most adorable of Adorable Adoptables
Our -- and possibly your? -- little miss Ariel.  Sorry the photo is so small.  Someone else took the photo.  Just know this: she has the sweetest face imaginable, with a personality to match.


And two fellows from previous issues of Adorable Adoptables are still waiting for their furever home.

The marvelously marvelous Leni:


And the ever playful Bobby
 All of the above have been spayed/neutered and are in the peak of health.

Mr. Moonshine from Adorable Adoptables issue no. 3 was feeling a little under the weather, and returned to the PAWS (Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society, from whence all our cats come) clinic for treatment.  He is feeling much better, and has been or soon will be adopted from another PAWS adoption facility.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

skinny ties

for stylish guys!

Now that Vegas has been cancelled, you no longer have competition in going after the best the late 1950s and early '60s had to offer, necktie-ally speaking.

striped silk shantung

seersucker!!! When have you EVER seen a seersucker tie??

paisley pool party

paisley pea pods

 based on Leeuwenhouk's discovery of eensy teensy unicorns

optical and optional illusion

believe it or not, this is the coolest one, but I simply couldn't get a good picture of it.

lyre lyre

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

World's MOST ADORABLE

dish towel !!

 Cute!!!

Cuter!!!!

CUTEST!!!!!!!!!

Plus...