The Star Made Me Buy It

 Today's star is Adolphe Menjou for Blackstone cigars

Try as I might, I couldn't get the image larger than what you see.

Here's the ad copy: 

 I remember seeing Mr. Menjou in three movies:

The Sheik (1921) This was Rudolph Valentino's movie, but Menjou had a supporting role as 'Dr. Raoul de St. Hubert.'  He looked pretty hot in his jodhpurs. 

Father Takes a Wife (1941) A very silly movie about a middle-age widower romancing an early middle-age actress (Gloria Swanson).

Paths of Glory (1957)  I'm not the girl for war movies, but this one is an exception. It's just plain brilliant. Menjou plays the bad guy in this movie.  BTW, Paths of Glory would make a great double feature with Breaker Morant. 

Mug of the Month

 ...in handsome horse form:

 Get it here: https://www.zazzle.com/friendly_horse_coffee_mug-168456483423609492

Lucky Dip

Pretty soon peeps gonna go back to school.

Which requires notebooks.

And even if you're out of school, and chained to a desk in a cube farm, that probably requires a notebook or ten as well.

Thus and therefore today's Lucky Dip has NOTEBOOKS !!!

(which Zazzle has on sale today, buy the way.)

So, notebooks:

Pig-tastic !!

Get it here: https://www.zazzle.com/19th_century_pig_print_berkshire_sow_no_1_notebook-256026858365851315

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Welcome to 1930 !!

Get it here: https://www.zazzle.com/1930_woman_car_and_airplane_print_notebook-256665331701008140

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Here there be dragons..

Get it here:  https://www.zazzle.com/scary_dragon_notebook-130540347245193048

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black cat, green eyes, bell collar = adorable.

Get it here:  https://www.zazzle.com/victorian_black_cat_with_bell_collar_notebook-256019014343445727

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pretty birds!

Get it here:  https://www.zazzle.com/beautiful_birds_print_notebook-256539737258573166

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Take a spin in a 1950s green Chevy !!

Get it here: https://www.zazzle.com/1950s_green_chevy_notebook-256798211656115242

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Stoned!

Get it here: https://www.zazzle.com/stone_man_notebook-256530731977053572

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White horse !!

Get it here:  https://www.zazzle.com/beautiful_white_horse_notebook-256249003467204832

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You can see tons more of my notebooks here: https://www.zazzle.com/store/the_olden_eye/products?dp=252323455782771574

Even more fun stuff

The movie The Intouchables popped up on my tv thingie.  You can look up what it's all about and that.

I'm treating you to the best scene...

Fun Stuff - Hollywood Edition

 I've seen this photo zillions of times:

Clark Gable (notice the very large paw.  The guy had BIG hands), Van Heflin, Gary Cooper, James Stewart.

                                                         Recently saw this for the first time:

John Wayne (who looks really young here, no?), Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, James Stewart

Where Have I Been?

And what have I been doing?

Well, April and May I was dealing with the three times I was hacked.

First hack: There was a debit from my checking account for $147 for 'Klarna/StubHub.'

We no use Klara.  We no buy from Stub Hub.

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Second hack: This one really puzzles me, but somehow somebody found the file in my Documents file that held all my important user names and passwords.  Like for my car insurance, and the other insurance, and cable and the newspapers I subscribe to and that and that.  And alllll that information was gone from my computer. 

Just like ...

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The third hack, was EPIC.

Because every dime in my checking account - which at the time had multi thousand dollars - was cleaned out COMPLETELY.  

Long story, but the denouement is that money ain't coming back.  

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Word to the wise: If you get an email or text with just the word 'Hello,' hit delete.

If you get an email or text from someone you do not know, hit delete.

Don't let what happened to me happen to you.  

Mug of the Month

Suh'm fun if you're trapped in school,

or trapped in the office, 

or you just wanna have a mug that incites comment.

Get it here: https://www.zazzle.com/bail_bond_coffee_mug-168020878409075937

 

Fun Stuff

This past Thursday I stopped at Columbus Farmer's Market/Flea Market prior to shlepping up to Branchville, NJ where Ole Church Antiques is, and where I have a display case full of my MOST awesome stuff.

 At Columbus, I saw this guy:

 

I gave him a $5 tip.

(I ALWAYS give money to street (and flea market) performers.)

Years ago, I used to see groups of people - maybe four or five - from either Mexico or points south of there, playing pan pipes.  The music sounded great, but they were always playing American pop music.  I really would have preferred to hear what they would play in their own country. 

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Now and then I see a guy at Columbus in full American Indian garb. Not as elaborate as what the guy above is wearing, but it looks VERY cool.  Someday I'll get a picture of him.   

Lucky Dip

Today's Lucky Dip is made up of maaahvelous clocks.

Wanna see?

                                 A neato clock for the man cave and/or military decor !!

Get it here: https://www.zazzle.com/1939_british_fairey_junior_medium_bomber_square_wall_clock-256608956614756154 

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   A VERY fun clock and a neato gift for the cat lover as well as the fan of vintage advertising. 

Get it here:  https://www.zazzle.com/little_wildcat_tomatoes_crate_label_square_wall_clock-256951858296504718

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                                                 A SUPER neato store clock !!!
 
 Get it here: https://www.zazzle.com/old_matchbook_cover_i_want_2_c_u_b_a_customer_of_m_square_wall_clock-256454352117428665

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                               High fashion clock, and a great gift for the fashionista !!

Get it here:  https://www.zazzle.com/1950s_fashion_portrait_square_wall_clock-256964933187046187

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                                                A clock that watches YOU !!!

Get it here:  https://www.zazzle.com/eyes_large_clock-256005246745882024

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                         The famous 'Tongue-Cut Sparrow' of Japanese lore in clock form !!!

Get it here:   https://www.zazzle.com/japanese_fairytale_the_tongue_cut_sparrow_square_wall_clock-256721254030593365 

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Thus ends today's Lucky Dip.

See waayyyy more clocks here:  https://www.zazzle.com/store/the_olden_eye/products?dp=252520646703870871

                                    
 

May 2025s first haul of antiques and untiques

There's not a whole lot in my shop, reason being a) I've been SUPER busy, b) my computer got hacked in an EPIC manner, and I'm still trying clean up the mess.

Anyway... 

Have a heart.

Fun item for your wall.  Equally fun as a pincushion.

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J. Chein tin litho church banks

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                          wooden black cat toy (not a 'cat toy' mind you)

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What we have here is a happy mixed marriage of salt and pepper shakers.  

They got together sometime in either the 1940s or 1950s.  Their first home was an old  Kaukauna cheese crock (back when the crocks were actual crocks, i.e. ceramic rather than plastic).  Alas, I had a customer who wanted the crock, but not Mr. and Mrs.  Now they live with me, but they're itching to find a new home where they won't be sharing a dark box with a bunch more old merchandise.  

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Now this is something WAAYYYY special.

Allow me to set up the clip: Through one of my customers, I met a lady in her late 90s whose father grew up in Johnstown, PA.  He experienced the famous 'Johnstown Flood' at age 5.  She told me that over the years, he would have recurring nightmares about the flood, one of which he made into the above wall plaque, some time in the early 1930s.  

How cool is that???

Very, I'd say.  
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Lastly, but zillions of miles from leastly, we have this maahvelous flow blue cabinet plate

 A whole collection of American poets!

From around 1900 by Rowland and Marcellus.
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Until next time, see more, get more here:

AntiquesUntiques.etsy.com

The Star Made Me Buy It

 Today's star is Joan Caulfield for La Cross manicure supplies.

This was from 1948, because the movie she's mentioned in at the top of the ad - Dear Wife - came out that year.  

I remember as a kid my mom saying something about Joan Caulfield.  How pretty she thought Joan was, I think.  

If my mom had never said that, Miss Caulfield would have been one of those minor stars I never heard of.  

Mug of the Month

 May is 'National Military Appreciation Month.'

So what we got here are a World War II era soldier and sailor.

 In mug form.

I have zero idea why this image looks so awful, because in person, the mug looks anything and everything BUT awful*.  It in person it's maaahvelous.

Get it here: https://www.zazzle.com/world_war_ii_soldier_meets_sailor_coffee_mug-168867081825073128

*The awful-ness could be the fault of my computer, which is failing just as we speak.  And just as I type.

 A couple weeks ago, my computer was hacked in an EPIC fashion.  All my usernames and pins evaporated into the ether.  I bought a new laptop, but I still gotta get my computer guy to transfer programs and files and stuff to it.  

Lucky Dip

Welcome to our latest Lucky Dip !!

For the next few weeks, our Lucky Dips will be made up of items from a certain category.

Today we're doing tote bags.

Wanna see?

                Something fun and green and cucumber-ey! (and which looks waayy better in person!)

Get it here:  https://www.zazzle.com/cucumber_seeds_envelope_cover_tote_bag-256127059086695605

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                                            Another fun bag, this one wildly colorful and circus-ey.

Get it here: https://www.zazzle.com/1950s_hagen_brothers_circus_poster_tote_bag-256346451582846511 

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                          A BEAUTIFUL bird, maybe a parrot, maybe just a fantasy bird

Get it here:  https://www.zazzle.com/ultra_colorful_victorian_bird_print_tote_bag-256565606973715309

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                                                         From birds to adorable cats!

Get it here: https://www.zazzle.com/happy_cats_and_hearts_print_tote_bag-256791969167010145

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                       Pretty yellow flowers!  (and not sunflowers!  They're gaillardias.)

Get it here: https://www.zazzle.com/gaillardias_flowers_tote_bag-256167227381511796

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                                                             Laughing lion !!!

Get it here: https://www.zazzle.com/smiling_lion_print_tote_bag-256143078219033447

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Thus ends today's Lucky Dip.                                 

The Star Made Me Buy It

Today's star is Jane Greer for Woodbury Powder (face powder, not the other kind).  

I remember a lot of Woodbury stuff in my bathroom growing up.

re: Jane Greer, I have nothing really to say.  According to IMDB, she was on Twin Peaks three times, and once on Columbo - I saw every episode of both Twin Peaks and Columbo, so obviously I've laid eyes on her, but I have zero recollection of who or what she played.

One of Jane's husbands was Rudy Vallee, to whom she was married for about ten minutes.  Him I have stories - or at least story - about, to wit: Back in the day there was a talk show based in Philadelphia entitled Betty Hughes and Friends. Betty Hughes was this zaftig middle-aged mom, her claim to fame being that she was the wife of Richard J. Hughes, one-time governor of New Jersey.

Rudy was a guest on the show once, and gave her grief about her huge litter of kids*, which numbered around ten or so.  

Fun stuff: I remember us kids referring to her as 'Betty Huge,' on accounta the zaftig thing.    

*I Wikipedia-ed her husband, and it turns out only three members of that litter were hers.  The rest came from her husband's first wife.

Lucky Dip

Today's theme is kinda fishy.

Or more specifically salmon-ey.

Canned salmon must have been the go-to canned fish, back in the day.  There's not a single tuna can label in my collection of old can labels.  

Wanna see?

                                              Zest Alaska Pink Salmon clock

Get it here: https://www.zazzle.com/1930s_zest_pink_salmon_can_label_square_wall_clock-256835912551780333

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                                                  Cock of the North salmon tie

Get it here: https://www.zazzle.com/1930s_cock_of_the_north_salmon_can_label_tie-151734531471087444

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                                                    Mi-Boy pink salmon mug

Get it here: https://www.zazzle.com/1930s_mi_boy_pink_salmon_can_label_coffee_mug-168380368019083383

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                                        another Mi-Boy pink salmon label on a magnet

Get it here: https://www.zazzle.com/1930s_mi_boy_pink_salmon_can_label_magnet-147485243198784002

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                        a marvelous Marvel Brand Alaska red sockeye salmon throw pillow

Get it here: https://www.zazzle.com/1930s_marvel_salmon_can_label_throw_pillow-189200150981520621

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                                              Mermaid red salmon throw pillow
 
 Get it here: https://www.zazzle.com/1940s_mermaid_salmon_can_label_print_fleece_blanket-256056943011073447

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Stop back next week for our next Lucky Dip ! 

Latest additions to my advertising ashtrays collection

These have been in my Almighty Garage of Awesomeness for some time.  

I finally found them.

Wanna see?

 Buck's Television & Radio Repair, Millville, NJ

You know something's old when they're offering radio repair.

As you might expect, Buck's is not googleable.  

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                                              Del-Valley Motel, Penns Grove, NJ 

There are postcards of this place available on the 'net, but it's probably been closed for several decades at least.

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                                                  Del Webb's Nevada Club, Laughlin, NV

For somebody who sloughed off the mortal coil in 1974, it's kinda surprising that Del Webb is still slapping up developments.  

The Nevada Club is not googleable, beyond eBay listings for Nevada Club game tokens.

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                             Dom Patrick's Beauty Salon, Vineland, NJ and Bridgeton, NJ

Not googleable.

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                                             J. T. Signs, South Delsea Drive, Vineland, NJ

Not googleable, but the image on the ashtray looks almost EXACTLY like the Parrish Sign Co. building on Delsea Drive, across from the Salvation Army store.  

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                                           Luisi's Garwood Bar & Package Store

Not googleable beyond a Newspapers.com headline: 'Frank Luisi of Luisi's Garwood Bar accepts the Slow Pitch Softball League National Division pennant trophy from City Recreation Commissioner'

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                            Town & Country Restaurant, 733 S. Delsea Dr, Vineland, NJ

 Not googleable.

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                                The Tradesmen's Bank & Trust Co. of Vineland 

Not googleable.  On the upside this wins the prize for Most Boring Advertising Ashtray, among the ashtrays in my collection. 

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That's all for today.  

More coming.  Probably.