Popeye

I Yam What I Yam!

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Pam’s Pictorama Toy Post: It’s a Popeye post today! I am not sure how much I have shared my real affection for the sailor man here, but I am a fan. Years ago I was in a particular funk and I cheered myself immensely reading all of the daily Segar strips over a period of weeks.

Some readers may know that I have an unusual predilection for daily strips rather than Sundays. I understand what the fuss is about when it comes to Sundays – they are gorgeous and I admit that it is an odd preference. There is something about the day in and out of a weekday strip that I love, a real whiff of the past, reading them as folks would have followed it in their paper daily. I feel the same way about Krazy Kat.

These were the volumes I read, but others are more available now.

Anyway, I had not given Popeye significant thought since watching an endless loop of the cartoons as a child. Seeing his origin and those elegantly drawn strips by Segar made me a fan. If you’ve never read them do yourself a favor and pick up one of the volumes – I think Fantagraphics has them collected again. I know they have a book of the Sundays too. At the time I read them I acquired a shelf of hard bound volumes that Fantagraphics had put out years before. I am in New Jersey or I would provide a shot of them in a place of pride in one of our bookcases there.

Not my toy, but this is what the parrot looks like.

Speaking of New Jersey – today’s toy was an unexpectedly great Jersey buy last weekend. Kim and I spent an afternoon poking around at the Antique Annex in Red Bank near here. I’ve written about this establishment which I have frequented for decades. When I was in college my Dad used to buy antique jewelry there for Christmas and my birthday. We’ve seen it through many iterations. A post about finds there last year can be found here.

While the merchandise had definitely turned over since our last trip at Christmas, it had a slightly picked over quality overall. This is their peak tourist season and a train leaves you just blocks from this couple of buildings of goodies so it is convenient for day trippers to our shore town.

We had lunch at a pizzeria called The Brothers – a blast from my past, Dad and I used to frequent it. Some very fine NJ thin crust pie here.

However, buried deep in a cabinet of toys which clearly bore investigation, there was Popeye. He was a bit dear, however a bit of bartering (cash is king) and he became quite reasonable. Frankly I have seen this toy for more previously at auction so I felt good about the purchase.

A rather great display of Santa’s at the Annex. I might have to go back for one of these.

In doing some research I realize he is missing a parrot which would have perched atop the cart. One auction site says that the parrot popped out but if that it is true it is a variation on the toy because that would not have been possible – he probably wiggled back and forth though.

I like Popeye’s striped trousers, his pipe and of course his identifying moniker on his tattoos. His cart, the Popeye Express, has labels for Asia, Turkey and China on one side and my beloved New York on the other side. (Sorry, New York was the only city worth mentioning guys!) His shoes are sort of funny, but of course are designed to help him scuttle along on the ground, rather than a sartorial statement.

Kim gives Popeye a little push this morning for this video.

There are some scratches and paint loss but he’s in pretty good condition. There is no maker’s label but it is identified online as Linemar Marx. I gather Linemar was the Japanese made division of Marx toys – manufacture was less expensive there and the toys were shipped back to the United States for sale. Many were character toys of the time. In the biz from 1918 to 1980, Marx holds a somewhat legendary name in toys. Known for their trains and cars in particular, they will always be character toys like this one for me.

My somewhat tattered Popeye lamp.

Some of you might remember a Popeye post from several months back, a lamp which currently graces Kim’s work table here in New Jersey, but may be making a move downstairs soon where I can see him more. (That post is here.) Maybe Popeye is becoming a sub-genre here at Pictorama. We’ll have to see what toy treats might be in store for me and all you readers.

Enlightening

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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 Jersey desk, 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.