Even More Scrapbook Drawings

The Mechanical Smoker Robot

Read more about this amazing teaching tool on the Neato Coolville blog.

Platform 21 Show

If you are in Amsterdam in the next 6 weeks, swing by the Platform 21 gallery for their show Me and My Character.

"The heart of the exhibition consists of testimonials by character owners, collectors and designers about the creatures they love (or otherwise), accompanied by photos, descriptions, videos, and many characters 'in the flesh'."

And Mr Toast is in the show!

For more info visit the Platform 21 site.

It's Over Between Us

Recent Paintings

"Crossed Words"

"Psychedelic Bean"

"Stampede of the Eye Beasts"

The Evolution of Linus

As a wrap up to this weeks group of cereal posts, I thought I could show the initial evolution of Linus the Lionhearted. It all starts with rough ideas which are then refined. Big teeth and wavy mouths are tried but the final mouth turns out to be a big smile with a tongue sticking out. The pose might have been Linus tied to stake or carrying a gun, instead he is ready to dig in with his trusty spoon. All these little things coalesce into the final drawing which was then given to the painter who would make the final Linus that appears on the box. Thus another cereal icon is born for the ages.

Meet the Flintstones

As a kid, I ate a lot of Frankenberry and Freakies but as a collector I have come to really love the Post Pebbles cereal boxes. They are some of the nicest 1970's cereal boxes because there is no big bowl of cereal obscuring the character on the front. Also after the first few boxes Fred began to interact with the premiums. In addition the backs are equally stunning with great design and art. Of course as time went by the boxes became less interesting but those early years were astounding.

Post Cereal & Warner Brothers

In the early to mid 1960's, Post cereal hooked up with Warner Brothers and sponsered the Bugs Bunny Show. Only Bugs Bunny ever got on the front of the box but a number of great cut outs and activitys appeared on the backs. Perhaps my favorites were a series of cut out puppets which used the snack pack boxes to form them. Eventually Bugs and friends gave way to Linus and his pals but it was fun while it lasted.

Anatomy of a Promotion

The connection between Hanna Barbera and Kelloggs started with Ruff and Ready but it really took off with the Yogi Bear show. This incredible 1962 promtional folder shows the effort that was put into promoting Kelloggs cereals and the show. They created ad art, in store displays and the cut out premium art. Then showcased it all in this incredible folder to get grocer excited about the promotion and hopefully give it extra space at the grocery store.

Peanuts - part 2

Well I dug through my stuff and pulled out a few more Peanuts items. First up is a great Rival dog food can label with Snoopy from 1974. Also a nice big group of Sunday comic page ads, including one picturing some amazing Star & Stripes cupcakes boxes. I would love to find one of those.