Found Things

From my scanner to you, ephemera bits and pieces.

 Detail from a vintage tourist map of Tokyo.

 Front and back covers of a Japanese tourist brochure, most likely from Hokkaido, circa 1960s.  I acquired a packet of vintage travel ephemera from eBay.  I like the strong design elements in this piece--Japanese graphics never fail to impress.

Traveling back to the Pacific Rim, here's a shot of the Los Angeles International Airport on a postcard from the late 1970s or very early 1980s when deckle edges were the rage.  My husband and I once had dinner in the famous Googie-inspired revolving restaurant.

 

Enbiggen this postcard from Cairo, Egypt to appreciate the stamps and cancellations and to read about the journey.  I lived in Tripoli, Libya, when I was in junior high.

 

This postcard-size image of Waikiki at dusk is actually a tiny painting, done on canvas board.  I found it at Savers on O'ahu in 2000.

And from a vintage manual for Naval seaman:

This 1940 copy of "The Bluejackets' Manual" belonged to Raymond McAfee, A.S., and contains detailed instructions about every aspect that a Naval seaman might have needed to know in those months before World War II began for the American military.

In case you find yourself on a boat and need to know which way is "on starboard beam."

The Navy Standard Compass Card.  Love the fleur de lis at the North Point.  I hope you enjoy these scanned bits of history.

Summer Sunday

From my garden:

 

My latest foster, a tiny, cute Chihuahua boy who was starving to death in the Shelter due to stress:

Vintage compass on a vintage map.

My husband got me this lovely, palm-sized vintage compass at a ship salvage shop and antique dealer in Bangladesh.

 Vintage compass on a vintage map.

The walnut-toned wood box has a metal label reading "Negretti & Zambra, as does the compass itself, both on the cover, and under the glass on the rose's face. The outside of the compass lid reads "Edward VII Compass King & Emporer 1908". The date, 1908, and the word, "London" is inscribed on the compass rose under the glass. The compass has a fob, as well as a sliding knob to lock the floating needle in place when not in use.

The poem, Robert Frost's "The Road Less Taken" has been engraved on brass-toned metal and appears to have been attached to the inside cover. This poem dates to 1915 and was not really considered a classic until the mid-1920s. I'm assuming that the inscription was added later, particularly because the font-styles are more modern.

My husband isn't sure if the compass actually dates to 1908. Negretti & Zambra manufactured compasses, telescopes, monocules, barameters and other scientific items during this time period, but I was unable to find a similar compass style during a fairly comprehensive Internet search.

If you know anything about vintage compasses, please leave a comment. No matter whether this is a reproduction or an actual antique, it is still a wonderful addition to my collection of cartography and geographic ephemera.

Necklaces from Forever 21.  Owls and sweet Victorian designs are quite the rage at this trendy teen-fashion store.  A new, large store just opened in our local mall.  My 16-year-old is in swoony heaven.

Page scan from a vintage booklet about fuchsias.  It's far too hot to grow these beauties here in Houston.  During the 1980s, I worked in a landscape nursery, and fuchsias like these were very popular.  We would have quizzes from the boss to identify the blossoms by name.  I love the dreamy, soft hues of this old photograph.

Feelin' Groovy

Yes, she's feelin' groovy.

My birthday was yesterday, and now I'm 51.  Since I was the oldest of two girls, I didn't get the full "Baby Boom" experience, although I qualify as a boomer.  I don't recall when JFK was shot, I didn't know what Woodstock was or who The Beatles were until the early 1970s.  However, I remember that groovy, groovy style, especially as it appeared in book illustrations and on stationary.

 The poems are worse than mediocre, but the illustrations are trippy.

Today's finds include a few bits from my personal collection.  Several of the images come from Hallmark gift books, which were very, very popular in the 1970s.  Hallmark capitalized on the trend toward psychedelic grooviness by utilizing "hip" illustrators.  I found most of these little gems at my local Friends of the Library, in the 10-cent book bins.  Fred Klemushim illustrated the "Tell You That I Love You" Hallmark book, which was published in 1973.  The poems were copyrighted in 1942.  Go figure.

John Overmeyer lent his illustration talents to this upbeat, "give peace a chance" themed tome, published by Hallmark in 1971.

And what could be more groovy than a minstrel playing a flute on the cover of this happening 1970s school textbook, "Making Music Your Own."  I absolutely love this cover.  You can see the back cover on my Flickr page.

Greeting card illustrated by Jane Gilbert.

What time machine to the '70s would omit big-eyed kitties?  Although these aren't the famous Keane sad-eyed strays, the hypnotic, staring eyes of these pop-art Siamese kittens perched in a punch bowl makes men who stare at goats look like amateurs.

Click to see the bigger size to truly appreciate the shagginess.

Don't forget the fashionable carpet of the 1970s!  It's simply shag-alicious--and by Armstrong in 20 "flavors."  This ad was scanned from the July1976 "Reader's Digest".

 Jonathan knew he was different than the other seagulls.

Of course it wasn't all about shag carpets, Watergate and Leisure Suits in the '70s.  We had our best sellers, too.  This is a direct scan of my very own paperback copy of "Jonathan Livingston Seagull."  I read it several times, not a challenge since it's a short book--"a story," as the cover text assures us.

Playing card from the 1970s.  It just seems to say it all, doesn't it?

So have a nice day.  Smile.

Things on my Scanner

The Tinsel Trading Card and the applique were scanned separately and combined digitally. 

But I could have achieved a similar (but blurry) effect by hand.  

 Ephemera is my addiction.  And my scanner is my favorite gadget after my camera.  This is a post about things I have scanned.

We had dinner at this famous deli.  The pickles were crunchy.  The huge Reubens were delicious.  This is a cleaned up scan of the souvenir napkin I tucked in my messenger bag.  Now, instead of leaving the napkin stuck inside a tour booklet, I can post it on the Interwebs!

We went to Liberty Island and saw Lady Liberty for ourselves.  She was as magnificent as I expected.  In the gift shop, we bought Silly Bandz.  Silly tourists!

Here is the more conventional bit of travel ephemra--the ticket for our ferry ride to see Miss Liberty.

My daughter bought clothes at this trendy NY chain located on Broadway in the SoHo district.  I bought the fluffiest flower pins/hair decorations ever, one in shabby pink, one in purple (for my sister) and one in earthy browns.  I also bought a cutey-cute pink scarf trimmed with pink pom-poms.  I'm not normally a girl who goes for cotton-candy pink, but I do adore pom-poms.

I'm glad the Metro folks are serious about safety.  This is the back of the card we used to pay for our subway rides.  In the 1980s, I was a managing editor for a trade journal called "METRO Magazine," which focused on the transit industry in the U.S.  I wrote about the NY Subway system (and its buses and trains) on a regular basis.  This was the first time I'd ever seen the system I wrote about for so many years!

This is a scan of a "Walks in New York City" card from a deck published by the good folks at Chronicle Books.  A friend loaned me the deck before our trip.  I took some of the cards with us, but we didn't use them due to competitive agendas.  However, this card, which includes two stars (double points if you find them) added digitally by me, show the area where we stayed.

I call this little feline "Lucky Lucky".  She is a little Japanese kitty cropped from a hang tag on a little trinket picked up in Chinatown.  I love the simplicity of this drawing.

If you are looking for great Chinese food--I recommend this eatery.  The shrimp with almonds is divine.

What sort of ephemera do you save?  What do you do with it?  Leave me a comment and let me know!

Patriotic Fun Finds

The fireworks are finished, but Summer in America is prime time for red, white, and blue.  I was busy parading Shelter dogs and helping at Off-Site Adoption events over the weekend, but wanted to post a few patriotic items from my collections.  Above is a cleaned-up version of an awesome flag design, taken from a photograph of a vintage flag box.  I don't have the original flag, but this is a superb design.

This is the cover of a vintage educational game--from back when learning geography was truly a family affair and not just something for a High School AP class.

This game is intact, with the board, question cards and colored map pins.  No one in the family wants to play it--they think I'll win. They're probably right, thanks to my liberal arts education.

Here is a mantel display from last year, with a trio of ribbons affixed to the side of an old, blue-painted carpenter's toolbox:

I am addicted to "smalls"--the little items in antique and junk stores.  Below is an arrangement in a hobnail milk glass vase (probably Fenton) made up of a vintage eagle flag finial, a reproduction of a deck of French playing cards featuring American heroes of the Revolution, and a Bicentennial celebration button I found in a Rosenberg, TX, antique store two years ago.

A display on a bookshelf from our house in Hawai'i (circa 1998) includes a cowboy boot planter filled with colorful flowers, metal cookie cutters, a Cow Parade figurine and an Avon blueware plate depicting Independence Hall, plus some flags, a Liberty statue and a handmade (by me) votive to Virgin Mary.

Below--a copper bank from 1976 depicting the famous fife and drum scene:

The Spirit of 76 is one of my favorites--I was a Junior in high school in 1976!  Below is a new-old stock patch I snagged on Etsy.

And a bit of Texana--a thrift store find--a Marching Band patch. 

Last, here's a photo of some vintage Americana collected by the owner of the Ross Antique Mall in Ross, TX:

Best. Horse. Ever.

 A digital scrapbook of Trigger images.

The black-and-white television show, "Roy Rogers" was already in re-runs by the time I was a pre-schooler, but that is where my love affair with Roy Roger's horse, Trigger, began.  I wanted to be Roy Rogers--not Dale--because Roy got to ride Trigger.  I never owned any Trigger toys or books, but all my life Trigger has held the position of  First Horse in my Equine Pantheon.  The marvel of the Interwebs and the capabilities of my scanner and Photoshop have enabled me to corral a virtual museum of Trigger images, a few of which I share with you today.

Detail from the back cover of a vintage Whitman hardback book.  From my personal collection.  Over the past few  years, I've collected a few Trigger items, including a lunchbox, some show brochures, postcards and books.

Trigger, Victorville, CA.  Circa 1985, in front of the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum.  I visited the Museum several times and even had the honor of meeting Roy and Dale at the Museum.  This statue also once stood in Branson, MO, where the Museum relocated in 2003.  The Branson site closed in January 2010.  Some Internet reports indicate that the statue has been purchased and that there are plans to return it to Victorville.

Digital artwork based on a scan of a cover of Trigger Comic #4 by Dell Publishing; 1952.  I'm not sure who the cover artist was for that issue--Sam Savitt created many of Dell's Trigger covers, as well as covers for Gene Autry's Champion, Fury the Black Stallion, and other famous equine characters.  Comic Book image cover courtesy of eBay.

Digital artwork I created in Photoshop, then tweaked in Picnik, using the artwork from the Whitman Book cover shown above.  I love the rainbow effect.

Cute Happy Fun Time

I love my scanner.  With a few clicks of the mouse, ephemera bits take on a new life.  I love kawaii  (cute) Japanese graphics, and so I save the packaging from Japanese products, including snacks, household goods and craft supplies.

This happy kitty was cropped from a scan of the logo for a packet of origami papers.  I made the mosaic in Picnik, an online photo editing program.  I love Picnik--I have the "premium" package ($25 a year) so I can keep photos I like to use again in my history.  I doctored the colors on the kitty in Photoshop, then bumped the picture into Picnik.

We love Pokenmon in our household.  This is a header from a packet of origami paper that features the popular "pocket monsters" in a variety of designs.  Pikachu is my favorite.

This eye-catching girl in her kimono is another graphic from a packet of origami paper.  Not only is her kimono made with the prints featured in the assortment, she is styled like a kokeshi doll, the popular, collectible, small wooden dolls made by craftspeople in Northern Japan.

This sweet fawn was scanned from the lid to a Bento box that my daughter's best friend purchased at FIT, the Japanese "Dollar" store in Bellaire, below the I-10 in Houston. Deer are very popular kawaii subjects, in part because the deer is considered by Japanese who practice Shinto, a spiritual faith indigenous to Japan.

We'll end with a scan featuring Japan's most famous kitty, Sanrio's, "Hello Kitty," shown here sipping tea in honor of the biscuits in the box.  Although the biscuits are shaped like Hello Kitty and her family, she doesn't seem to mind.  And she looks as young as ever, even though last year she celebrated her 35th birthday!  What a kitty.