Pam’s Pictorama Post: Halloween is on the horizon and I have been saving this scary pumpkin creature guy for quite awhile – so long in fact that I don’t actually remember when or from who I acquired it. Pumpkin people do frighten me a bit and this fellow no exception.
Oddly, he seems to sport a small Santa hat atop his head. I guess once you hit Halloween, Christmas isn’t far off? The sparkles make him a bit more cheerful and I very much like the black cat head above the Happy Halloween. His sideways glance does not contribute to a friendly look. Can’t exactly figure out why he’s on a tree swing. A owl perches in the tree and a bat flies among a scattering of gold stars. A black cat peers around a tree.
Bonus New Jersey Halloween decoration photo tourfrom my run today, as promised yesterday.
This card was used although there is no postage on the back so maybe it was popped into an envelope. It is addressed to Miss Lillian Garrett, Bedford Sty, Trimbule, CO Route 2 however so it is odd that it has an address but no stamp. Also, reading the message is entirely beyond me. I usually have trouble but unlock it after a few tries, however this one continues to frustrate me. I have photographed it and perhaps a reader can make it past the first sentence.
Back of card.
The card is undated and at first I thought there was no reference to Halloween, however I managed to decode part of the message where she says, am…downtown and just got these cards to your you all. Want to get…a false face to wear to the party. Write soon. Can’t read the signature either!
Although I will be back in the city on Tuesday, I will leave treats for the kids here in New Jersey to be appropriately distributed. I have a pair of cat ears to sport however and will give at least a passing nod to the day in New York this week as well.
Pam’s Pictorama Post:Boo! October has zipped right on by us this year here at Pictorama and before I know it I find Halloween is upon us. I am heading down to NJ this morning as the cat caretaker has a brief trip out of town and I will play cat mom to those kitties this weekend.
I haven’t had much chance to enjoy October in Jersey (I did post about one weekend out there recently and that can be found here), but I will soak up the last of it over the next few days. I especially look forward to a run where I can tour the Halloween decorations, soon to morph into Thanksgiving. These are the very best months out there, before the cold makes it less hospitable.
Doorstep in NJ, proud with pumpkins!
You might think I would go in heavily for my own Halloween decorations for the house, but no. My nascent collection of decorations run to the delicate and vintage, like this one above. I really shouldn’t purchase such fragile things as Deitch Studio can be a rough and tumble place sometimes. Both of today’s items were found on Instagram and were deals I decided I couldn’t ignore.
From a 2015 post. Pams-Pictorama.com Collection.
The paper globe (held by a helpful Kim above) has wonderful black cats on both sides and I imagine parties where a dozen of these hung somewhere, or perhaps were gracing a table laden with Halloween treats and fare – to be enjoyed between rounds of bobbing for apples? I have devoted a few posts to collected Halloween Dennison paper decoration books – how-to manuals of parties from the teens in a different era of DIY. (One of those posts can be found here.) I lack the not inconsiderable skill for the elaborate costumes and decorations of those days although I would say the bar was pretty high.
Although I don’t purchase cardboard Halloween decorations deeply (having said that another recent purchase post can be found here), I can’t resist a well designed kitty and this one was offered to me a few months ago. Only about 10 inches high he isn’t large and if I was inclined he would indeed make a tasteful apartment door decoration.
Pams-Pictorama.com Collection.
I like all his pointiness! He is a cat poised for action and maybe a bit of trouble, as much trick as treat. Claw paws and a mischievous grin. The back of this cardboard figure shows that it was much taped up over time, but otherwise he survives in very good shape. Other than a bit of a folding on the ears, he is in amazingly pristine condition.
I pledge another Halloween treat for tomorrow so stay tuned!
Pam’s Pictorama Post: Yes, it appears to be a lamp post today! I have been on what might best be called a lamp acquisition binge. In part, it has been to fill a need for lighting in New Jersey at the house where we pretty much only had overhead lights and needed additional standing lamps and table lights. Here in New York we have an on-going need for lamps in the living room where we have two contemporary standing lamps which seem to both take very expensive bulbs and die after a few years.
As a result of the lamp death rate I have begun purchasing lamps, mostly old ones. They end up being rewired so I don’t really understand why they last better but they do. It started with a desk lamp for myself here in New York while working at home. After some frustration I bought an old one on Instagram which, while a bit tatty and odd looking, seems to be dedicated to staying on the job. It came from Washington State.
Odd little desk lamp from Washington State, among the detritus of wires and stuff on my home desk.
Before I go on I should add that I came from a family that seemed to be unable to pass up a good antique chair, lamp or clock. The lamps collected by my family have sadly mostly passed out of our hands, and those that remain are somewhat unsuited to my current needs although one graces Kim’s desk at the moment – Pictorama readers see it often in desk shots. (See below.) It may have started life as a vase, vaguely Asian in design and covered in flowers, which was converted into a lamp. Nonetheless, it did hatch forth from the Butler holdings many years ago, before Kim and Deitch Studio arrived on the scene.
A brief digression about clocks. The Butler clocks, mostly antique, are very much gone I’m afraid. As a kid I learned to sleep through a constant chiming throughout the day and night, although it was hard to readjust visiting as an adult. If there’s one I miss it is a ship’s clock with those bells. I am tempted to find one, but am afraid it could result in divorce. Dad was dedicated to winding those that needed winding every Sunday in his retirement. (There was also a cuckoo clock at my grandmother’s I loved as a child, but I knew we couldn’t absorb that into Deitch Studio when it became available. It was both large and noisy.) At one point my mom had one that made bird noises on the hour – that was a rare modern one – and it drove me nuts. However, I will say I saw a good antique wall clock for sale the other day and unbidden my father rose up in me and I twitched with the urge to buy it. Evidently it is in the blood.
Desk lamp purchased for my New Jerseydesk, but shown here in the eBay photo I purchased it from.
For New Jersey I acquired a lovely old standing lamp from a friend, rewired it and popped a shade on after some negotiation on the internet – who knew there would be so many variations of standard lamp shade sizes. I am tempted to buy another if I see it and am constantly prowling. A good number, strangely, seem to come in pairs which doesn’t really work for me – or appear at a time when figuring out shipping seems beyond me.
After the acquisition of the standing lamp I purchased a gooseneck desk lamp on eBay to replace a lamp on my desk in Fair Haven which has a tendency to randomly turn itself off. (Seems like a bad sign, right?) That lamp was never designed as a desk light anyway and I will either have it rewired and move it elsewhere or let it loose back into the world. Frankly it is not an especially compelling item.
Inexpensive blue and white lamp which I have hooked up to a smart plug to do my Alexa bidding.
I also purchased an inexpensive, pretty, new blue and white lamp for the living room there. More notably I installed an Alexa and set this living room lamp to light morning and evening. It took me and Alexa (I call her Miss A. when I don’t want her listening; she does listen) awhile to come to an agreement, but she seems able to fulfill her simple task. I find myself saying please and thank you to her which I can’t seem to discontinue. She, additionally, supplies me with NPR news while I make coffee and feed the cats in the morning and will also turn the light on if asked, as I pad through the room in the middle of the night in search of water in the kitchen or to investigate and moderate a cat disagreement. I may try the headlines of the New York Times next, but I usually switch to classical music after NPR. (I recently also purchased a Wink video doorbell and cameras and I’m sure more to come once I have that installed. I am slowly turning the Fair Haven house into a smart house – at least sorta smart.)
Our current status in NYC is one floor lamp down and has been for awhile. It ate one of its expensive bulbs aways back and we seem unable to make a decision to offer up another bulb or get rid of said light. I decided to work around that and while upstate for work in July (see a post about that weekend of work adventure here) I purchased a very pretty little lamp in an antique store. It is a variation on what is called slag glass, but instead of it being all about the glass design it has a wonderful lacy metal shade over it.
Lacy metal side table lamp which is waiting for a place to be plugged in! Pluto seems to like it…
I will take a moment to opine that many years ago there was someone doing wonderful reproduction lamps with painted scenes on glass shades. I didn’t have the cash to invest in one then and have always regretted it. I have never been able to find the really nice ones subsequently now that I have a chance to invest. Alas. I also have an appetite for a heat motion activated lamp – these lamps from the 1950’s have brightly colored scenes and the heat of the bulb activates them to slowly turn the scene. Unfortunately many of the scenes are sort of pedantic – a lot of fires and trains – but I am waiting for the right one to cross my path.
Lastly and truly in no way least, perhaps more best of all – on a true whim I purchased a painted metal Popeye lamp in an auction recently. I was leafing through I think a Milestone online catalogue and Popeye caught my eye. I put a nominal bid in on him almost without thinking and really did forget about it until an email showed up telling me I had purchased him. While his paint is in bad shape I do love him. I am currently deciding if he will reside here in New York or go to New Jersey which is easily still absorbing lighting fixtures.
Another shot of Popeye, but this time showing Kim’s lamp more or less in its full glory.
Meanwhile, I am trying to decide what kind of a shade goes on Popeye and how best to purchase it. I saw some online but the shade lamp calculus would be better in person. Another option might be a bare Edison bulb – any thoughts? I am taking all comers and suggestions on this.
Kim twitches with the desire to repaint him someday and I would say he could be a good candidate for it. Other more pressing projects await however. For now though, I say, let there be lots of light.
Pam’s Pictorama Post: This plastic bank crossed my path recently and although it is a bit newer than most of my collection he wasn’t expensive and I recently purchased him on eBay. There are no markings on him save an almost indecipherable Made in Hong Kong on the bottom on the removable black plug which allows for coins to go out as well as be saved within.
My guess is that he is a premium of some sort, however the lack of markings make him a sort of poor one in that regard. Perhaps at one time he sported a missing piece of advertising. He is unusual as far as I can tell. I have not seen another nor can I find another searching for identification so the survival rate seems low. Perhaps if we knew where he came from more would pop up.
I have a few other banks in my collection, all of which display their commercial ties better. A rather wonderful one can be found here. There are a few non-feline entries and a few of those can be found here and here.
Yet another wonderful (non-kitty) bank at Pams-Pictorama.com. From an October 2021 post.
This bank is made of plastic and while it isn’t incredibly fragile it isn’t really sturdy either. I have seen more ephemeral things survive, but I assume that’s why there not more of his brethern around. This would be even more true if you started filling him up with coins I think. My guess he is of the vintage when I myself could have had him as a child, the 1960’s. The seller described him as made from a plastic blow mold which is a term I was not familiar with, but is pretty much what it sounds like.
Eyebrow holes above the eyes. Wonder what went in there?
Unarguably he has a jolly smile and his red bow tie really adds something. There are tiny holes above each of his eyes and I somehow think he must have sported eyebrows – red maybe? That would change his look quite a bit and I am having trouble imagining it. There are impressed indications for legs, feet, whiskers and a button nose. Coins can be inserted at the back of his big round head.
He is modeled on a certain kind of cartoon kitty of the time I think. He is more Top Cat than Felix, both in design and in vintage. Kitty is very perky, big eyes and pointy ears. His tail curls around into a snail shape.
I can’t help but wonder if small children today still take joy in banks and pressing a few precious coins in now and again. I am not sure what intriguing things the few dollars you might fit in such a toy bank would buy these days. I wonder if the appeal remains and banks seem somewhat fewer as I look around – not to mention interesting premiums. And I wonder if those days of piggy banks lead to a life of savings accounts and retirement funds. Those of you with small children let me know if they still enjoy them. I am curious.
Pam’s Pictorama Post: A couple of weeks ago I was meeting a friend for a drink on Madison Avenue after work. She had selected an interesting place which turned out to show me to my table via a sliding bookcase door for a speakeasy feel. However, I was early and she was going to be a bit late so before crossing the street I did a bit of window shopping.
The store on Madison from a few years back. Looks pretty much the same now.
I haven’t been to this stretch of upper Madison in a long time. I made it up more frequently when I worked at the Met, but usually a trip to a museum would have triggered a stroll through, but hasn’t in awhile. There’s a wonderful but overpriced store I tend to stop by, Blue Tree, usually to purchase some greeting cards. It is a mash up of clothes, jewelry, toys and baby gifts among other curios. Occasionally I have bought something other than cards, but as already stated and I cannot emphasize enough, it is expensive. Rumor has it that it is owned by the actress Phoebe Cates.
I snatched this quick nighttime pic of the store window more for reference than anything else – in case he was gone before I could come back.
Anyway, the store was closed but there in the window and much to my surprise, was this rather incredibly resplendent Oswald Rabbit doll. Almost the size of an infant, Oswald was perched among some modish clothing and some other gee gaws, atop on a small bench. The incongruity stopped me in my tracks. The store was closed so I took a quick photo and figured I would attempt to find it online or double back when the store was open.
A NEW Oswald short made by Disney to celebrate his anniversary.
Of course the weekend came and it was another sodden mess like the one before. Undaunted Kim and I traipsed out to Madison Avenue between cloud bursts. It is a very expensive store so I girded my loins before entering – how much could Oswald be? There were a lot of eye ball kicks for the likes of me there – a very nice Minnie Mouse baby blanket that I would love if I could figure out what to do with it. (I thought picnic blanket which is an ongoing need for the park, but it’s white!)
However, I stuck to my mission. Although there was a display of (beautiful) stuffed toys in back, the only Oswald was in the window. I found a salesperson and asked and indeed, he was the only one and had just come into stock and been put in the window. I would like to just take a moment to recognize whoever had the wherewithal to purchase him for their stock – I really can’t imagine that many stores would have purchased him and plunked him in the window. It seems they were rewarded for their ambition, by the likes of collector me coming along.
A beauty shot of Oswald! Pams-Pictorama.com.
This Oswald is made by Steiff in collaboration with Disney and is being sold this year as a 100th birthday tribute to the hard luck rabbit who was hounded into obscurity by legal dispute, shortly after his popular debut. He is about 30% larger than I ideally might have made him actually and practically speaking. His high price tag is somewhat justified by his fine mohair outer layer, just what a good toy should boast. However the days of excelsior stuffing are (sadly) gone so he is stuffed with a weighty synthetic something. He is a nicely made item and when I later found him on their website they emphasized that he is not a toy for children, but a collector’s item for adults. (Huh. Go figure.)
A bit of Oswald history via Wikipedia reveals that the first Oswald cartoon hit theaters in 1927 so not exactly sure where the 100 years comes in. Disney and Ub Iwerks took the idea to Universal Pictures after ending the Alice Comedies and Julius the Cat. Too many cats on the market so they went for a rabbit it is said. Also read that the first cartoon submitted was rejected for subpar production although it was slipped into the releases later.
Ultimately 27 cartoons were made at the Disney studio and the income allowed them to grow their staff to 20 animators, their future now secure. Mickey Mouse was created as a replacement after the rights to Oswald were lost in a switch of studios when Disney realized that Universal was quietly hiring his animators away.
This is the link to a slew of original Oswald cartoons.
Kim whipped out his credit card (he is a very good husband indeed) and Oswald was mine, an early anniversary gift. (If all has gone as planned you are reading this as Kim and I travel to Cold Spring for a day of poking around and foliage viewing in order to celebrate the 23rd year of our nuptials. More rain could delay this celebratory event however.)
Side view of the box.Below is the money shot of the top of the box.
Heavy is a theme because Oswald is a solid citizen of a toy. He stands at about 30 inches in height and weighs considerably more than our cat Blackie. As you can see, he travels in a very decorative box. I hesitated to take the box (small apartment and all of that) and I did consider just having him shipped to New Jersey, but I was worried he’s be exposed to the elements before someone could grab him inside. The box is fun even if I don’t know that I have an eventual place to keep it – since I rarely buy new toys the box question doesn’t come up often. With the weather and all we took him, wrapped copiously if a bit ham handedly, and headed home in sloppy triumph with the next downpour just commencing as we got home.
I have written about Oswald previously and have one beloved tatty one in my collection. That post can be found here. He is in some ways (condition!) the exact opposite but he was acquired for a pittance on eBay while no one was looking one day. I think the new fellow will head to Jersey where he can be among the first notable toys as I open the collecting front there.
Pams-Pictorama.com Collection.
Kim and I are heading off to Cold Spring shortly to enjoy an anniversary jaunt. More about that later and I hope you enjoyed this very Oswald morning!
Pam’s Pictorama Post: An extra day off last week enabled a nice few days in New Jersey. I was shocked that autumn had overtaken there so fully already. In many ways fall is my favorite season, although I guess spring is special too. Kim and I got married in the fall and in part that was because I thought it would be nice to have something to celebrate in October. (That would actually be today – our 23rd anniversary of marriage! Yay us!) I am one of those people for whom fall is a reenergizing and recharging time, cool air permitting jackets, leaves changing.
Dahlia continues to bravely bloom. The jalapeno pepper continues to produce as well.
This year I find the season a bit tainted with missing my mom and a nagging sense having forgotten something has chased me throughout the post-summer months. A five day return to office at work, combined with the start of the season there, has been an ongoing adjustment complete with disgruntled staff. Meanwhile, I balk at the exponentially greater need for office clothes and figuring that out. We have had record rains which have curtailed my running. A tough start to season. I feel restless and not entirely myself.
Autumn on the deck. There is a hibiscus someone just gave me which I planted while I was there.
The few days in Jersey provided some balm. Although more rain prevented running I did get a bit of an eyeful of the Halloween decorations there. That neighborhood, chock a block with kids, outdoes itself for Halloween and thereby commencing the fall and winter outdoor decoration cycle which I love.
I am not a large scale outdoor holiday decorator (although if I was Halloween would be a bit of a go to I think), but I do like the outside of the house to look nice and seasonal. This involved a trip to the local farmer’s market “Pumpkin Patch” where I paid too much money for an especially warty, green and orange number which I paired with a traditional orange and an interesting green one. I added a mum and felt content.
Purple mum didn’t make it into the photo but am happy with the seasonal aspect of the front steps.
In the backyard and on the porch the lettuces are in their glory and some excellent fresh salad was made. (I brought some back for Kim so the salads continue!) I managed to harvest a beefsteak tomato while another dozen were still green on the branches. Weather permitting I will get a late season harvest on my next trip. The cucumbers grew with enthusiasm, but were evidently too late in the season. They have flowered and have tiny cukes but unlikely to come to fruition. (We wondered – will we get gherkins?) Next year I will do better. A random yellow pepper showed up as well.
Lettuces are very happy and producing merrily although the bushy cucumbers are not actually spewing out produce.
To salve the seasonal wound of it being too cold to sit out on the deck I grown to so dearly love, I added a fire pit in the backyard at the end of the summer. It had its inaugural lighting this week. I chose a traditional fire one, although my grill is propane. It is smokey – goodness! But that seems appropriate and I enjoy the smell of the wood. My friend Suzanne and I attempted s’mores, and comical although it was I am not sure I will try it again soon. (Think sticky marshmallow everywhere – even my phone – and chocolate not melting and graham crackers too hard!) I will perhaps stick to hot chocolate with marshmallows drinking by said fire going forward.
The inaugural fire pit launch last week. Gourmet graham crackers to the right – too think for good s’mores.Fig tree is happily trying to take over the world, and the tomato plant could supply us with a dozen more tomatoes. Not in view is my jasmine plant which wound itself around all sorts of things in an urge to acquire territory which I will have to curtail when taking it inside over the coldest of winter.
The New Jersey cats welcomed me unconditionally and I slept with Beau and Gus draped around me. Gus brought me his favorite stuffed rat and placed it ceremoniously on the bed where I woke to it one night.
Hobo at the end of the summer having a snack. Turns out, not surprisingly, he’s a mighty hunter.
Speaking of rats, Hobo (our outside denizen) brought a gift in the form of a mouse the other morning and was later found munching on a rat. I guess he is looking for a little extra protein these days, but I thought it was considerate that he was thanking us for all his meals even if it was in dead rodent form which needed disposing of.
I woke to Gus, Beau and the rat toy late one night.
I hope to make another trip out there before Thanksgiving and look forward to the morphing of the fall decorations. Meanwhile, tomorrow (hopefully a sunny day) Kim and I are taking off for a day trip to Cold Spring for a somewhat belated anniversary celebration. More to come on that and an in the can post (and a rather special one I think) will appear in your inbox on schedule.
The Pumpkin Patch at Sickles Farm in Little Silver, NJ.
Pam’s Pictorama Post: Today’s post is the last piece of the advertising haul from Britain I started posting about a few weeks ago. (That post and some great ads can be found here.) Persil, the subject of today’s post, is a British detergent which is still quite extant today. This ad is from an unknown publication, but dated May 24, 1924.
It was founded in 1907 and according to an internet article Persil claims to be the first first self-acting detergent. Its revolutionary formula that released oxygen during washing made strenuous rubbing of the laundry superfluous. According to another site it mixed a high oxygen soap with salt into the detergent which caused a chemical reaction that cleaned clothes without damaging or scrubbing. This is of course something we take for granted today, but quite revolutionary indeed when you think about it.
A couple of these clocks appear to survive in Germany. They are wonderful! I guess to remind you that Persil would save you time?
Persil got its name from its original ingredients: Per from Perborate and Sil from Silicate. Originally the Persil powder had to be stirred into a paste before use. At the bottom of this ad it announces that you can write for a free booklet which tells how to use Persil. At first I wondered why you would need a booklet with instructions confused me at first, but after the outline above I realized it was perhaps a bit complicated.
A slightly earlier German advertisement with an even more Devilish mascot from 1914. The copy roughly translates to saves coal, labor, time and money!
The tie-in to Felix is a somewhat elliptical one – Time for the pictures on wash-day. Felix is perhaps a bit more off-model than usual, mouse dangling in hand and the writing on the film poster, beyond his name, is gibberish. The little girl looks at him joyfully while a well dressed (and well-heeled) mom pays for the tickets to someone who is barely part of a face behind the ticket counter. The jolly jacketed usher has his back to us.
The copy reads, Time for the pictures on wash-day – Of course there is. She wouldn’t miss Felix for worlds. So she hands over the washing to Persil. That means five minutes for getting things ready, and thirty minutes for Persil to do the work. Out come the clothes, clean, fresh, white and undamaged, and off she goes with a clear conscience and a clear day.
Detail of ad.
Persil’s mascot, the early ’20’s version, is down at the bottom, odd little fairy made of a box with wings – less sly than the Devil above. He’s barefoot and is all pointy ears, nose and hair. Oddly, and it may be my own inferior search skills, I cannot find any information on his history or why he was composed this way.
The advertising I have supplied here was the most notable I could find on the internet so Persil didn’t go in for a lot of premiums or campaigns, that survive anyway. The green box shown here held by the friendly Devil was their persistent look into the mid-twentieth century when they eventually morphed to a plastic jug and presumably stopped being a powder.
I assume that Felix picked up his paycheck for this and kept it moving. Lastly, for another real eyeball kick, check out my other Felix advertising post from a few weeks ago – a rare, entire short comic for Sportex shirts – which can be found here. Enjoy!
Pam’s Pictorama Post: It’s another rainy weekend here in New York City. After last week’s flood’s we are looking at the rain and puddles with a jaundiced, and perhaps even worried, eye. Blackie, our beautiful black cat, is snoozing on the couch, but he needed some extra breakfast this morning (Beau, the impressive black cat of New Jersey is also reported to be having a second square meal) which makes me think the animals are already turning their thoughts to fall and winter. Mom would have been saying that they need their winter weight – I don’t know if that is a scientific thing or just Butler family lore.
Beauregard Butler, the beautiful black cat of New Jersey.
Meanwhile, October is a great time for black cat proliferation and therefore a perennial favorite here at Pictorama – and I like to think I try to do it justice. This little wooden find is yet another kit that wandered into the house via Miss Molly (@missmollystlantieques) on Instagram earlier this month. I should just have her on retainer – she gets around to parts of the country I rarely if ever do and she has a very good eye. Another package is winging its way to us as I write.
This Miss Kitty is far more cheerful than scary. I assume it was in some sense handmade, although she doesn’t actually seem to be homemade. I am aware that there were patterns one could use for such things. (I continue to wonder about this however – so how did one purchase such patterns? I have never run across the original thing – magazines? Did people send away for them? What induced you to get out the jigsaw and make one?)
Cookie and Blackie in a recent photo – a rare occasion of sleeping together on our bed.
Kitty has a nice red mouth and stands on a bit of red painted wood. Over time her edges are a bit worn white. The little toe claws are a bit expressionistic and her expression (cheerful surprise) is just short of smiley, but jolly – someone took some time here. She’s not large, only 10 inches with her tail. Somehow she looks like she is arching her back because she’s glad to see you (give with some pets!) rather than trying to scare you, but I am of course reading into it.
What purpose could that serve?
There is a mysterious hole in the tip of her tail (you can see it is squared off) which may mean she had a form of utility that is lost on me. Any ideas folks? A pencil doesn’t really fit – not that it would make much sense either. I feel like there is something obvious I am missing. With the way I have photographed her I can almost imagine her wired to be a small lamp, but the hole is fairly shallow and she is not.
I could change my mind, but this little kitty may head to New Jersey with me as I begin the migration of new cat items there and the feline-a-fication of that house. Five real kitties however, makes vintage stuffed toys a bit of a risk – just the other day here Cookie decided she needed to try to nibble the nose of an Aesop’s Fable doll! I’m sure there’s something irresistible about the smell of those old toys for cats. I sometimes imagine that their finely tuned noses are giving them wild flashbacks to a past they didn’t know but the objects did. Just days of yore that only the toy really knows.
Pam’s Pictorama Post: First let us here in New York give thanks to the sun which has come out at long last! We intend to dry out today and those of you who follow my runs on Instagram will (hopefully) be treated to some views of the UES in a bit. I haven’t run outside in a week due largely to rain – which eventually even flooded our basement and gym! But now onward to an odd little piece (only 2.5″x 3.5″) that I bought on a whim one night on Instagram.
I purchased it from one of my secret buying weapons, @missmollystlantiques, who lives here in the Midwest. So exactly how this very British little item, a datebook hailing from the year 1940, came to our shores is a bit of a mystery. Whether it traveled here back in ’40 or after is of course also unknown, but interests me.
Inscription on back of book.
On the back of this tiny missive is an inscription, From Claudia to Gloria Wishing You a Merry Xmas. Gloria liked her gift enough to keep it and pass it on, but never attempted to write in it. In all fairness, it is very small and while perhaps handy to keep on you, has very limited real estate for scribbling within.
Limited real estate for notes within. It is unused.
It’s a nifty item. On the front, in addition to this great, classic grinning beribboned kitty, there is written at the top what is inscribed as an Eastern Proverb, Has thou a friend, visit him often, for thorns & brushwood obstruct the path whereon no one treads. I can’t vouch for the origin, but I like the sentiment. And of course there is the bright orange Cheerio, cut out to reveal a gold page behind for emphasis at the bottom.
The cat sits on a slice of moon and has stars around him, highlighted in gold with a cut out on the cover. Although the British consider black cats lucky, you’ll note that this fellow has a white chest making him a sort of tuxie instead. (Although our Blackie is all black save a white daub there too and we consider him a black cat – go figure.)
For a tidy little book it actually contains a lot of information, some of it very British in nature. The first pages are devoted to a reminder of the difference in time across the world, using noon Greenwich time as the basis. (It also reminds the reader that the longitude affects time, every degree East of Greenwich is four minutes later and every degree West four minutes earlier – I guess in case we wish to do the calculation ourselves?)
Then a page devoted (strangely) to the weight of the four largest church bells in Britain, Great Paul (St. Pauls),Big Ben (Palace of Westminster), Great Peter (York Minster) and Little John (Nottingham) – 10.5 – 17.5 tons in reverse order of above. Below that is a chart of Conscience Money which frankly I don’t understand but appears to be some sort of tax?
The calendar pages follow uninterrupted until the centerfold which provides a list of Bank Holidays (they include summer’s commencement and end) as well as Saint Days, St. Patrick’s being the only one familiar to this author. There’s something called Whit Monday which I was also unfamiliar with and below it just Monday which is confusing – another Whit Monday?
The opposite page gives a reference for postal weights and regulations and at the bottom the charge for a telegram – the email of the day. Nine words for 6d (6 cents, I think) and an additional 1d a word! Names and addresses were an additional charge.
Two pages at the back of the book are taken up with the phases of the moon and the last page (and this is so British) are the Close Times for Game, referring to the hunting season of various game – black game (a category of grouse?), grouse, partridge, pheasant and ptarmigan – which appears to be another, white, grouse. Then a long paragraph on non-fowl hunting with rule for everything from snipe to moor game and widgeon. Hmmm, I can see why you might need to carry that around with you?
There is no maker’s imprint for this and I have not run across anything quite like it before, although I assume most people didn’t keep them – let alone in such pristine condition. I went through a long datebook stage starting with the small and decorative and moving to the strictly utilitarian as my burgeoning work life demanded, this in the years before our lives were kept electronically of course.
My first electronic device was one that kept my calendar and contacts only – sans phone which was the great innovation. I adored it and I have to admit it was like magic. Still, there was an intimacy of keeping a book with a handwritten record of your year. (I still keep paper calendars – I need to be able to see how a month lays out when planning.)
I would hang onto the books for a period of time after for reference and they formed a sort of unconscious diary – friends visited and those rescheduled, even the meetings which sometimes became work landmark events when launching a new initiative. The convenience of our electronic lives is without question, but as always, a tiny something is lost to the shifting times.
Pam's Pictorama 