JIF Peanut Butter in the 50's

Santa's Village Dream

I just woke up and remembered having a dream about Santa's Village. I went there and snuck in and was looking around the now shut down and falling apart park. In a barn I found 3 old Santa figures and 1 snowman. I figured I should rescue them by putting them in my car. Right then another car pulled up and 2 people came over. They were the new owners so they took me on a tour. We went through a kitchen where they were frying peanut butter sandwiches. The guy kept talking about a mule. Around the back were some big Easter eggs. As we were walking back the woman took me to the coyote pen and we saw a baby girl coyote with a big head. Then we were back in the center of the park. There was a weird ride like an old airstream trailer that was all rusted out but it was still running. Then a crazy roller coaster started running with screaming kids on it. All this stuff was racing around me and although the rides were working I was certain that they would fly off the tracks at any time. My head was spinning and the dream ended......

Disneyland Collection

A few days ago I posted about my friends Disneyland collection that I am going to be selling. Well it all finally got here and I am trying to sort it all out. So what I have done is create a set of photos on Flickr of all the nicer stuff. I have already shot about 100 photos and expect to shoot at least 100 more. What fun.

Disneyland Collection on Flickr

Mission San Jose de Guadalupe

Nabisco Snaps

The other day I did a post about Burry cookies being my favorite type of cookies. Well Nabisco Snaps ran a close second. As I remember they only came in little boxes you got at the liquor store but they were the best little boxes. Such classic design. They were still making them up into the early 90's but I have not seen them since then. Bummer.

Also on the topic of Burry's stuff, I ran across a Burryland Game that was a mailaway premium. Cool map format with all the characters.

New Mr Toast buttons

Well I got the Mr Toast buttons today and I guess I made a little mistake on the scaling so Joe and Shaky are a bit bigger then the others?!?!?!

Oh well. They still look great to me. A set of 5 is $5 + $1 shipping in the US. The first 20 people to order will get the "Mr Toast Tours Berlin" button that I will be giving away at the Pictoplasma conference. This maybe your only chance to get this baby....

Disneyland Records

A friend of mine who collected Disneyland stuff for many years has decided to sell his collection. So I will be posting pictures of some of the cooler stuff that he had. Today we have some of the early Disneyland records which featured color photos of the park. The last picture is of a great mailer from 1968 from the Wonderland Music Store. More Disneyland goodies to come....

Word Fun

I Love Hostess Cakes

Since I was a kid, I have been a big fan of Hostess Cakes. I love Twinkies and Cup Cakes and Ding Dongs. As an adult I don't have the capacity to consume them as I once did but as I am writing there is a package of Chocolate Donettes waiting in the refrigerator.

So when my good friend, David Welch, turned me onto a collection that included some Hostess grocery store display photos, I was quite pleased. The collection was put together by a guy who worked for Wonder Bread but eventually his wife made him sell it at their garage sale. Some nice paper dealers in Portland bought it and now it has a home my in collection.

Today's images come from a little catalog of display material from 1962. These were all displays that could be ordered for use in grocery stores and markets. The bottom two color photos are from 1956 when Annie Oakley had a tie in with Hostess. I will be posting more of this stuff next week.

The Wizard of O's

Shaky Bacon

I just finished up a couple paintings with Shaky Bacon. He is probably my favorite character to come up with ideas for because he is such a screwball. The b/w one is titled "The Hold Up" and is part of the series Silent Pictures. "Air Blaster" is from my Wham-o series.

Burry's Cookies

My favorite cookies when I was a kid were Burry's Gauchos. They were peanut butter sandwich cookies with a little diamond cutout in the center where the filling came out. They are still made but only sold by the Girl Scouts during their cookie sale drive. I usually buy a few boxes and eat them up pretty quick each year.

But as a collector, I really want to find an old box of Gauchos. So far I have had no luck but I did find a Burryland Stars box that features the Gauchos elephant. So the search continues.

Space Shoes for Space Kids

I love any old signs that use space as a marketing tool. These three signs all do that perfectly with rockets, planets and kids in space helmets.

West Hollywood Book Fair

Thanks to everyone that came to the Fair. We had a few old time fans come by and made some new ones. It was hot day and our location was not great but we had a fun time!

West Hollywood Book Fair Sunday

Come on down to the West Hollywood Book Fair on Sunday, 10am to 6pm. I will be set up with Mr Toast books, dolls and even some t-shirts in booth #65 right next to the Golden Apple Booth. I am always happy to sign books and do sketches and I will be giving out free posters. It is a great event and should be a lot of fun.

West Hollywood Book Fair

Dolly Madison Cakes labels

Mickey Mouse Pepsi Glass Display

Some items are so horrible they are kind of cool. This display is from 1978 and I almost didn't buy it when I saw it. I had an instant revulsion to the 70's Mickey. He is such a diluted version of himself. It is interesting to look at classic characters like Mickey and Superman that have gone through numerous looks and incarnations. Some are good and some are very bad.

Magic Mountain - 1970's

I dug out some 70's Magic Mountain photos. While looking at them I was really struck at how boring the park looked early on. Other then the Wizard and the Trolls, the park was pretty standard amusement park fare. But I loved it as a kid, going on the Gold Rusher , Swiss Twist and the Jolly Monster. But I could never get the courage to do Spin Out or the Mountain Express.

My Donut Shirt Design on Threadless

I decided to try out the site Threadless with my Donut T Shirt design. Threadless is a cool site where artists can submit T Shirt designs which then are voted on and the best ones are made into shirts which you can then buy!

I have been meaning to try it out and thought the 5 Servings Daily shirt would be a good fit. So if you want one go to Threadless and vote for it. Thanks.

VOTE ON THREADLESS

Giant Scary Jack-in-the-Boxes

The jack-in-the-box is a scary thing to start out with, add enormous size to that and you have some very creepy man made structures. The top postcard is from Mother Gooseladn in Canton, OH. It was used as the Administration building. Imagine going to work there everyday...

The next postcard is from Story Book Forest in Ligonier, PA. The final snapshot is from Santa's VIllage in Arrowhead, CA. That one was actually a snack bar where they sold Good Humor ice cream and popcorn. I just hope these things stay out of my dreams.

Silent Pictures