“What is the meaning of this?” “Oh, mighty Aesterorglym!” “Who said…oh, down there. Another human, is it?” “Yes, oh ancient wise one! I have performed your ceremony as called for in the Nekropedicon.” “That’s loaded with typos, but you’re here. Are long purple noses in style among you evanescent scum?”Continue reading “FICTION FRIDAY: Forbidden Rites for the Lovelorn”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Toes On Sand
I was on my way somewhere else. Not Fort Lauderdale “Action City USA”, as advertised on this beachfront postcard. I was really just listing some Summer Vacation postcards online, as I like my sales to be reflective, or a little ahead, of the season. And, anyway, I didn’t have all that much to sellContinue reading “Toes On Sand”
FICTION FRIDAY: Red, White, and Ballyhoo
“You around, Uncle Jack?” “Down here.” “So, Happy Quarter Mill…wow!” “Looks different, huh?” “What happened? Your lab used to be filled to the walls with bins and baskets of spare parts and broken handles and….” “Got rid of ‘em.” “That must have been a truckload or two forContinue reading “FICTION FRIDAY: Red, White, and Ballyhoo”
Where the Flavor Was
Keep reminding yourself, as we move into the fifth episode of a series on smokers on postcards which began with a statement that there AREN’T that many, that entire books can be written on smoking in the movies and on television. So there. Some postcard smokers were celebrities who needed tobacco to complete theirContinue reading “Where the Flavor Was”
Blowing a Cloud, Taking a Puff
Considering that the original premise of this series of columns was the relative scarcity of postcards showing people indulging in tobacco, compared to movies and TV shows of the same era, we have been showing off examples for a while now. But I maintain my original opinion. Joe Friday or Paul Drake probably litContinue reading “Blowing a Cloud, Taking a Puff”
Smoke, Smoke, Smoke That CIgarette
Now, as you’ll recall, in a blog titled “And Whiskey and Wild, Wild Women,” we examined the use od cigarettes on postcards. Although cigarettes are everywhere in mid-century movies and television, we argued, on postcards they were primarily used to indicate a young woman who, like the one shown on this Seventies poster ofContinue reading “Smoke, Smoke, Smoke That CIgarette”
He Called For His Pipe
As we have, in this space, considered the place held in postcard cartoons by cigarettes and cigars, it is only logical to move to the pipe. (I dislike to throw spoilers into my text, but those of you who were planning to come around next Wednesday to read about snuff, snoose, or other similarContinue reading “He Called For His Pipe”
But a Good Cigar is a Smoke
Last week, in this space, we considered what the cartoonists who worked on postcards had to say about the smoking of cigarettes. The subject is a little larger than we could cover in one column (which gives us an excuse to return to it later) but we did see how often a woman whoContinue reading “But a Good Cigar is a Smoke”
And Whiskey and Wild, Wild Women
This Seventies poster showing off a postcard from the Nineteen Twenties shows one of the matters of social history made obvious when one watches mid-century television programs. Everybody smoked. This can be explained only partially by observing that many shows were sponsored by tobacco companies. Those same companies had worked hard to make theirContinue reading “And Whiskey and Wild, Wild Women”
How To. Or Not
I’m used to hearing that the things I spent time learning in school are now obsolete, irrelevant or offensive. I was proud of my ability to identify British Guiana, French Guiana, and Dutch Guiana on the map of South America (they were in alphabetical order from left to right) but that’s a little lessContinue reading “How To. Or Not”
