Getting to the Root of Burdock Blood Bitters

Pam’s Pictorama Post: These cat related bits wandered in together from Miss Molly (@missmollystlantiques) who said her mom found them. They are similar to a post I did a few months back with an interesting cat piece that Miss Molly sold me, but evidently not from the same point of origin. (That post, The Fish Eater can be found here.) My guess is that these did not relate to each other earlier in life either and the Burdock Blood Bitters and the cat head show evidence of having been hand trimmed. All show signs of having been pasted down so they came out of an album.

The Burdock piece was a trade card for a patent medicine. It still has some information about the product on the back, including that it hailed from the Foster, Milburn & Co., Buffalo, N.Y. Kittens seem like a benign if misleading representation of this particular stomach cure. These kittens also seem oddly placed in this basket – not really sitting on anything, floating. This piece is the heaviest, made of card stock. In a sort of sleepy state this morning (concert last night for work) I started down the rabbit hole of Burdock root and Burdock Blood Bitters online this morning.

One entry tells me that an 1918 bottle of bitters that was tested contained zero burdock and excessive amounts of alcohol and lead. Although it was ostensibly most frequently used to settle stomach and digestive ailments (think constipation and liver and kidney problems), the company also claimed that it would work to purify your blood (whatever that means) and cure nervousness. The internet seems to be willing to grant that Burdock root is high in fiber and especially high antioxidant and something called pre-biotic qualities. Herbal remedies with it abound on the internet today.

The seated kitty is holding a rat under one paw and whatever his origin, he is on very light paper, slightly embossed. You probably can’t see it, but he has a couple of fangy teeth bared. It presumably hails from some sort of rodent killing product ad. Although is bow is untied he looks otherwise unruffled, almost surprised that he is holding that ratty fellow.

For the Hobo fans, I will pause and tell a recent tale. (For those who are just entering the story, Hobo is the tough old male stray who visits our backyard in New Jersey. I fed him and even tried to trap him at my mother’s behest, but he is wily and although he enjoys his handouts he will never get that close.)

*A recent through the screen door pic of Hobo. King of outdoor cats.*

Anyway, after mom died we continue to feed him and the other day the caretaker of cats and house, Winsome, because to her horror she stumbled across Hobo behind the bushes in the front yard munching (and crunching – she sent a video) on a rat. (Evidently he had left a mouse for her earlier in the day so she shouldn’t have felt so bad!) I told her he deserved a promotion.

Lastly there is a cat head, slightly embossed, which appears to be the only one that was constructed for pasting down. Hard to see but even the whiskers and the hairs are defined and it is professionally finished although it seems to fit all of a piece with these two more recycled bits.

I’m sorry the original page of this Victorian album arrangement no longer exists, but happy to welcome these small bits to the Pictorama collection.

In the Bag…

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: This Felix bag was new old stock and offered with several other identical ones. The Felix is a jolly round slightly off-model version and, with oversized mitts for hands, he holds a sign bearing tidings from Felix’s Viroqua, Wis. He stands in what appears to be a puddle and the black mid-century token design is reminiscent of my 1960’s era childhood.

It is the sort of small flat bag that cards, a bit of stationary or bauble might have gone into when purchased. These ubiquitous paper bags eventually gave way to a plastic version. Now that we live in a bag eliminating society perhaps they will disappear altogether although, as a frequent buyer of cards I am still often offered one at the point of sale. It is perhaps too small to have converted to a lunch bag. (In a sea of precisely purchased lunch bags, my mother was an early adopter of the random bag for our lunches as children. I speculate that the waste of purchasing lunch bags once we grew out of lunch boxes must have annoyed her.)

Much to my surprise, when I ran the name on Google this morning the story of Felix’s poured out of the computer. It turns out that Viroqua, Wisconsin is a small town of perhaps declining fortune which is home to about 4,500. (I checked and the small town in NJ we call second home clocks in at a population of about 2,000 more.)

Felix’s closed its doors in 2007 after 101 years of being a local mainstay. The eponymous enterprise was founded by Max Felix who arrived in Wisconsin in 1905 and joined a wave of Jewish immigrants, like my own grandfather, who carved out a mercantile living with what was called dry goods or general store, in this case across the midwest. These stores sold everything from stationary to socks and catered broadly to the needs of their community.

Over the decades Felix’s was evidently handed from Max to his brothers, then to their children and to a final generation. The general store model morphed into a clothing store over time and that is what it is remembered for in the community.

The story of its closure seems to be inevitably wrapped in the broader tale of a town with a shrinking local economy, big box stores pushing out the long-standing, smaller and privately owned retail. There are articles and online posts about the demise of numerous other local retail establishments at the same time and concern for the future of the town.

Viroqua is described online as sparsely suburban which could certainly be viewed as damning with faint praise in several different ways. However, the schools are noted to be above average and the community heavily populated with retirees; it runs conservative politically. The town was founded with the name Bad Axe (certainly evocative) and did a stint as Farwell before the settled on Viroqua.

Viroqua appears to be known for something called the Driftless Region. For a description of what that seems to be, I share directly from the internet and close with this topological tidbit: The area is one of the only parts of America consistently missed by advancing glaciers over the millennia, hence the name “Driftless or Unglaciated Region”. This has preserved the unique topography of the region. The famous bluffs, coulees and small winding streams are mesmerizing. Fascinating!

Frank’s

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: When I purchased this tray last summer in New Jersey I bought it assuming it was for beer without really looking – Pale Ale is what I was thinking. Although I really just liked the bold red and green of it and what great shape it is in. However, ginger ale is what it is actually advertising.

I think Kim may have spotted it first. I was looking for a serving tray for the deck, but I think we realized almost immediately that although I should buy it, it would be unfortunate to use and potentially scratch it when it is relatively pristine.

We had found our way to an enclave of antiques dealers in Red Bank, New Jersey during our summer hiatus there and whiled away an afternoon or two. We had visited them before but not been in many years and although at least one of the storefronts closed, we still managed to make a number of scores, most of which are residing and decorating the house there. (A few of those posts about acquisitions there can be found here and here.)

Brief research shows that Frank’s Beverages was founded in 1895 by Jacob Frank in South Philadelphia. He was a Russian immigrant who made lemon soda from freshly squeezed lemons and hawked it on the streets of the city. It was in its day and for much of the latter part of the 20th century, the largest privately owned beverage bottling company in the Philly area. It evidently prospered on the slogan, If it’s Frank’s, thanks!, one that perhaps seems a bit bland by today’s standards. Youtube houses some Frank’s sponsored puppet films from early television however which are a bit more memorable.

Thanks for Frank’s commercials!

While Frank bottled everything from Yoo-hoo to Nestle’s Ice Tea, Frank’s Beverages was best known for something called black cherry wishniak, described as a fruity, dark-red soda that accompanied cheesesteaks, soft pretzels and other famous Philadelphia fare. Evidently the Polish word for cherry is wisnia and wishniak refers to a cherry liqueur from Poland, hence the name. (I am not a cherry soda fan so this sounds wretched to me actually!)

The company was bought out in 1990 and the locally famous cherry soda disappeared from the Philadelphia shelves. It was briefly brought back by a company in Delaware which sold it as a pricey novelty item – try $80 a bottle. I guess not surprising that it was not a success – especially as I can’t figure out why people in Delaware would be nostalgic for a soda that was only popular in Philadelphia.

Further reading about the ginger ale leads me to the conclusion that it was a hard ginger ale – more akin to beer than soda and I guess like a hard lemonade or cider. The cherry soda may have been the favorite, but the green bottle on a red background was popular advertising and my tray is very available as a result today.

Kitty Savings

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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.

Felix, Keeping It Clean

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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.

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!

Felix Smokin’

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: It’s a fully Felix post today with the first of a few advertising bits I bought as a lot a few months ago. They are fragile so I had to wait until I was settled back here at Deitch Studio HQ before I could share them. This following on the heels of last week’s wonderful advertising comic for Sportex shirts. That popular post can be found here if you missed it.

Black Cat Virginia Cigarettes and Felix may hail from the shores of the United States, but this ad came from Britain and a newspaper there. Both are marked in pencil as 1924, the larger of the two is from November 5 and the one with the offer of pearls is a month later, December 10. They appear to have been published in The Daily Mirror. That paper was founded in 1903 and survives today. From what I can tell these were not clipped recently, but saved and dated a long time ago. Ah, a Felix fan from the past?

Black Cat cigarette ads are of course of ongoing interest to Pictorama. I have touched on them previously with some of their cigarette tins I purchased many years ago. That 2015 post can be found here. But far more glorious is the Black Cat match safe which I hunted for years and purchased later in 2015. That post can be found here. Hot damn! Those folks knew their advertising and premiums!

In both ads Felix is drawn in the somewhat off-model style that the British in particular favored in the twenties. He is blocky and a bit doggy looking. Toothy and squared off.

I would have been somewhat torn between the camera offer and Felix, but I know I couldn’t have resisted a great big cuddly Felix. Oh bliss – what did he look like? Was he really a nice big one? BOTH OF THESE SPLENDID GIFTS FREE!

The ad urges the reader to consider using their Black Cat cigarette coupons for these items as Christmas gifts. The copy reads, Start saving now. Xmas will soon be here. Think of the joy these gifts will give you, your friends and the kiddies.(As it was already November some smoking had to be done to do this in time I think.) It goes on to say, Incidentally think of the house and hours of sweet contentment you get quietly smoking BLACK CAT Virginia Cigarettes, good cigarettes, the fun of saving coupons and the joy of getting these two fine presents. Think of it and buy “BLACK CAT” right away. The ad was worth five coupons free.

Meanwhile, the camera appears to be a sturdy Kodak brownie (another American product export) of the sort that proliferated so widely that they are still quite available today. (Kim volunteers that he had one. I too have used them.) I would have found this offer irresistible and would have had to take up chain smoking immediately. When you sent in the coupon in addition to your five free coupons you would get a Free Gift Booklet. I can only imagine the wonders within.

By December the ad had moved onto featuring a string of pearls from the Boulevard des Capucines, Paris in a Silk Lined Case. That would cost you 100 coupons more than Felix who is still featured in the lower left corner. They don’t explain exactly what you are getting with Felix, rather than large and cuddly it merely says, “Felix” for the Children. Felix is still as popular as ever. Give the kiddies a treat this Season. There is no coupon to clip here, just encouragement to send for the booklet and five free coupons.

I guess it is possible that one of my own splendid Felix-es hails from this premium package of yore.

Sportex: Felix Meets His Match

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: Yesterday I shared a rather wonderful wind-up bear which came as part of a buy from a British auction in July. I alluded to a small but rather magnificent box of Felix items which I have been lovingly posting about over the last few months. (See yesterday’s post which rounds up the earlier ones too here.) This is the final goodie disgorged from that buy and arguably the most interesting, a Felix special comic as advertising for Sportex Fabric.

Sportex was evidently a miracle sports clothes fabric invented in Scotland in 1923 and it would appear that they are still making men’s sportswear today. Even in its earliest incarnation it was said to be a durable, creaseproof fabric for sportswear. As the cover of the comic hails, Even the cat can’t scratch it! For those of us who groan over the pulls in our sweaters and the holes in our trousers made lovingly by our kits, this holds some real appeal and you know this advertising campaign was spearheaded by someone who had cats. Evidently they even made suits out of it so not just sport shirts or athletic wear.

The comic book story goes something like this:

A tailor is tormented by very cheeky mice in his house which eat his dinner and annoy him, dancing around and mocking him while he tries to sleep. The next day he runs into Felix, who is on hard times and for the price of a meal agrees to come to the tailor’s house and rid him of the mice. However, he is so redolent with food after the meal that he falls into a sound sleep and is subsequently tied up Gulliver style by the mice (these are the most entertaining pictures for me) who, after making fun of Felix resume their tormenting of the tailor. The tailor kicks Felix out unceremoniously upon which Felix forswears revenge on him. This revenge takes the form of inviting other cats in to shred the wares of the tailor. Alas, the fabric is Sportex and the cats are unable to shred it! They fall in exhausted heaps (another especially good picture) and the tailor sweeps them out the door.

*Interesting how the paper embossed when printed. You can see it clearly here.*

Along the bottom of each page you can see some Sportex facts such as Sportex was awarded the Grand Prix, Paris 1924. (Were the drivers wearing Sportex? Sponsored by them? I couldn’t find out.) On the back of the book, above a forlorn looking Felix in verse it states, Sportex defies the toughest stains – No cloth on earth can match it/A pin drawn sharply over its face/Will simply bend and leave no trace/And “Felix” and his feline race/Can neither tear nor scratch it.

Copyright is printed on the back but without a date. It was Designed, Engraved and Printer by Henry Stone & Son. Ltd. London and Banbury, England. On the front flyleaf there is a spot for Presented by and presumably this is where a salesman would put his name when he left the book. In this case it is blank.

The Felix drawings appear are credited to Pat Sullivan (see the cover) and are in the earliest blocky Felix design style with squared off feet and a toothy grin. The mice are consistent with the way they were portrayed in the earliest cartoons too.

Felix was of course no stranger to his sideline as ad man. One of my favorite shills is an entire cartoon done for Mazda car lamps which I featured in a post here. Meanwhile, his slightly off-model dopple ganger was featured in a bit of low rent Spanish advertising for girdles in a prior post here and a children’s laxative here. Obviously he did a lot of advertising for his own films and I’m sure a lot more will show up here at Pictorama.

I tried but I couldn’t find any tracks on the internet for this item, nor had I seen it before. I’m glad I could bring it to my Pictorama readers in all its glory!

Reddy, Set, Go!

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: This might best be described as a you may never have seen it coming post, but I do like to mix things up occasionally and these earrings were a recent unusual acquisition.

I believe my introduction to Reddy Kilowatt was the lightbulb lamp. I can’t now remember if I saw it on American Pickers or if it was an auction – I want to say I saw it both ways maybe and just can’t remember which first. I fell hard for it, but me and extremely fragile objects like this don’t have a promising future so I never pursued ownership of one especially at the rarified prices these fetch. Still, a seed of fascination was born.

*Listing photo from a Hake’s sale catalogue.*

I am surprised to learn that Reddy was designed all the way back in 1926, hailing from Alabama as a commercial ploy to increase electric consumption. (Yes, it is hard to imagine a time when we perceived the need to increase our use of electricity.) Wikipedia says he was imagined as an “electrical servant” and notes that his ears are wall sockets and of course his nose a light bulb. It is interesting to find that his image is still currently under copyright.

As for the earrings, I was late to stumble on a sale by one of my favorite sellers on Instagram a few months ago (I think it was a @marsh.and.meadow.overflow sale) and realized that I had just missed these rather splendid Reddy Kilowatt earrings. I had never seen this rarified item before and I had a significant ping! of disappointment. Much to my surprise and delight howevr, this pair which sports their original card, turned up in my feed about a month later via @oldghostsofhollywood who happily sent them right off to me.

As someone who cannot wear pierced earrings I was additionally pleased that these earrings re screwbacks so I can actually wear Reddy. The front of the card reminds you that Reddy is, The Mighty Atom and the Symbol of Your Investor-Owned Utility Company. Inside he greets you, Hello: I’m Reddy Kilowatt, your good Electric Servant who works long hours for low, low wages. Just think of the many jobs I do in YOUR home…office..farm…store or plant…then think of how little each job costs! The copyright here is 1955.

*Inside of earring card. Pams-Pictorama.com collection.*

He is also Your Favorite “Pin-Up” and on the back it reads, I’m a Busy Little Atom, I split myself in two and multiply as many times as I have jobs to do! I’ll work for you for pennies, I’m fast, efficient, steady…so any time…to ease your work – Just “plug in,” folks – I’m Reddy! Your Electric Servant!…

When I revealed today’s topic to Kim he shared that there was a Reddy Kilowatt comic book of some note. Although our research did not turn up one that precisely matched his memory, there was indeed a comic book which came out in 1946 as an EC giveaway. Stories and art are identified as by Del Porter and others in one listing. I am told that the book relates Reddy’s story from ancient times until modern day and evidently includes a special Reddy Kilowatt polka complete with music. A reprint seems to team him with the story of Thomas Edison in another edition.

The post war period created an opportunity for increased electric usage and Reddy grew in evidence with a proliferation of trinkets (tie, stick and lapel pins, cuff links and bracelets are all available online) and a litany of other giveaways. Disney was approached for a cartoon in ’43 which never moved forward and it was Walter Lanz who brought him to animated life in a short film which came out in March of 1946 and the comic book was actually produced in conjunction with this film.

*Page from the comic book which is available on various sites online.*

Wikipedia says that there was an attempt to trot Reddy back out in the 1970’s as a mascot for energy conservation, but somehow this spiffy little energy spendthrift dynamo could not make the transformation and he did not achieve renewed fame in his new role.

White Cat Union Suits

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: The brilliant advertising of the Black Cat Hosiery Company, brought to us by the fine folks in Kenosha, Wisconsin, is sort of a square one for the kind of cat collecting I do. While this is only one of several pieces I have managed to acquired (you can find a post about the first one here), given the opportunity (and unlimited funds – I am not alone in my affection for it and it is generally pricey) I would collect deeply in this area and more or less surround myself with it.

In another prior post (which can be found here) I briefly cover the history of this company and its cat committed advertising campaign. Better known for its smiling black cats and stockings, the white kitty takes over (appropriately) for the union suits.

I have opined on how the smiling black cat in their advertising looks remarkably like our fine feline fellow, Blackie. This white cat reminds me of a little white rescue cat my mom had many years ago named Kitsy. An all white cat, she was not deaf like many, and she was a bit neurotic. I don’t actually remember her origin story, nor much about her tenure – there was a wealth of cats at that time – but she was most remarkable and memorable for being extremely petit, almost miniature.

This hand mirror crossed my path a few weeks ago and I snatched it up. Here our smiling white kitty sits atop a cushion that reminds us it is a trade mark. While a black cat was employed to implore us to purchase black stockings and socks, this feline urges us to Buy White Cat Union Suits. He or she smiles benignly over a big black bow. Comically somehow the all white kit does bring a union suit to mind. For a less than sexy item, this cat does a pretty good come hither appeal.

Sadly the image is a bit damaged on the front of the mirror and the back no longer has enough detailed reflective space for most folks to apply lipstick. (Over many years I have developed a talent for applying lipstick without a mirror. Is this a good idea? I don’t know, but I have done it for years. Of course I would want a nifty little mirror like this to pull out if I needed one.)

Do people still wear union suits? A Google search offers you choices to buy (mostly red!), but also tells us these were mostly popular in the late 19th and early 20th century. I guess houses were colder. As someone who has rejected the jumpsuit craze for women repeatedly over the years (having to disrobe every time I go to the bathroom is just too much work for me) I cannot see embracing the all-in-one to wear – cat advertising notwithstanding.

Las Fajas Robert, or Robert’s Girdles

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Pam’s Pictorama Post: Continuing with my weekend theme of cardboard kitties, I present this splendid and unusual Felix as cardboard cat advertisement which comes to me from a friend north of the border with whom I exchange Felix pleasantries on an ongoing basis. He sells me the occasional item as well and this one came into the house a month or so ago.

I find this big footed slightly off-model fellow endearing. He is neither exactly the very round later designed Felix we are familiar with, nor the squared off early version, but somehow between and both. His claw paws are a bit more pronounced than I think is generally the order of Felix. Sort of like Felix’s kissing cousin.

He is from South America, Uruguay evidently. Latin America seemed to be fond of Felix and I think one could put together an interesting collection of off-model toys and advertisements hailing from this part of the world. (I don’t have many but posts with two other examples can be found here and here.)

*This one advertises a child’s laxative! Pams-Pictorama.com Collection.*

And as evidenced by this card, Felix was employed to hawk a wide variety of disparate things. Here he is shilling for girdles. All my translations are owing to Google and on the front it seems he says, Ma’am, do you know Robert’s Girdles?

And on the back, Surely yes, but if it were not so, all you have to do is grant me the honor of a visit to the Orthopedics Section where you will find any type of girdle either to dress or to correct the various topsis of the stomach. Always demand the Robert Antonio Rebollo (Casa Quadri) Avda. 18 de Julio 929 Rio Branco 1377. And on his feet: Imprinta German Urugaya Poisindu 756 m Bavio Maeso Prapanganda. (I don’t know where topsis of the stomach came from, but it is so descriptive I decided to leave it. Seems to me topsis of the stomach is something you have after you put the girdle on and I know I have experienced it.) Someone has written Felix in faded pencil at the top.

*Back of the card – some of you folks might do a better translation. Pams-Pictorama.com Collection.*

There is no way to know the age of the card. Girdles went largely out of fashion in the late 1960’s in this country. (They have returned in the form of shape wear now, a girdle by a different name and with contemporary fabrics. For those of you who have not experienced it, this is still an act of forcing your body like a round peg into a square hole of fabric.) The card could be from any period when Felix was popular enough to press into service.

He’s about eight inches high and made of a medium weight cardboard. There are no marks or indications that he would have hung somewhere, nor a way for him to stand so I guess these were just hand outs. He is a bit large as calling cards go though, but despite some fold marks on his legs he survives in good condition. Someone tucked him away safely and we will assume it was his Felix-y charm, not the need to remember where to get a good girdle.