FOUND PHOTOS: FOUR RANDOM SNAPS

HAPPY SAD FLIP FACE MILK CAP

FLEA MARKET FRIDAYS #68 

Now here's a fun old milk cap. Give the happy cap a flip and then he's sad that he didn't get his milk from C. L. Whatcott.

THE BANDIT IS HERE

For $6388 buckaroos, you could have bought the bandit and been the coolest dude in the neighborhood! Since this newspaper ad is from Pomona, California - I wonder how many bandits were driving around town back in '77? 

Now watch this old commercial. This video is guaranteed to make you want to drink Coors beer and get in car chases with Buford T. Justice!

Video uploaded to YouTube by racerboyroy.

THE WORLD OF MR TOAST VIDEO GAME

My new favorite game is The World of Mr Toast! Yep, now Mr Toast and pals can live inside your iPhone or iPad in the form of a highly addictive all-ages video game. For less than four quarters at the arcade, you can download Mr Toast from iTunes. Click here to get the game. 

The gameplay is simple and fun as you guide Mr Toast through your choice of the suburbs or the country. Who knew Mr Toast had such an appetite? Eating food will speed up his lil' toast legs. The clock is always running down, so pick up timers for extra time.

Pick up coins for Mr Toast's coin collection. You can spend them for more speed. Be on the look out for question marks, 'cause these are power-ups. My favorite is the Mr Toast ghost!

Lots of obstacles along the way, like the dreaded rake seen below. Watch out for other stuff that will slow you down; like cell phones, spiders, cow patties and banana peels. (Btw, those banana peels are the devil!)

Here's a nifty video of the actual gameplay. I love the music and funny sound effects!

The World of Mr Toast is a must buy. Heck, even Shaky Bacon downloaded it to his phone. Big congrats to my pal Dan Goodsell, the creator of Mr Toast!

CATS MIGHT BE THE SCARIEST VHS BOX COVER OF ALL TIME

I can't stop staring at this VHS box because I'm afraid when I look away, that evil giant kitten is going to make a fancy feast out of that poor girl. Back when I worked at a video store I rented hundreds of horror movies that featured bloody and gruesome box art, but none were as scary as this cover. I haven't watched it, but from the cover, I'm guessing this is one gruesome horror movie.  Oh, wait...

Wow, I'm so embarrassed. This isn't a horror movie about killer cats, but instead a wholesome look at the wonderful, whimsical world of cats. Ah, man! I want my fifty cents back from the thrift store. What a gyp? With a cover like this, it really should be a horror movie. Turner Entertainment released this tape with the deceiving cover back in 1994.

The example below is the version I apparently I saw in my mind's eye and it still scares the living litter box out of me!

BLOG BIRTHDAY NUMBER SIX

Whoops! Looks like I missed my blog's birthday. It was April 21, 2006 when I launched my blog of random nostalgia and childhood memories and here we are at post number 1314. I very much appreciate all the Neato Readers out there who have supported this blog. All of you are truly neato cool!

The video game birthday card was given to me by my grandma for my 13th birthday in 1983. Inside the card it reads, "HOPE IT SCORES LOTS OF POINTS WITH YOU!" My grandma added, "Thought this would be a suitable card for you." Ah, she knew me well!

Now I'm off to go take my blog out for some ice cream and cake. Feel free to join us!

THINKING OF THE TITANIC

Today we acknowledge the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. A tragedy that claimed the lives of an estimated 1500 people. Sadly, so many people could have been saved, but man's arrogance overshadowed caution and safety. It was a harsh lesson that man can never conquer or control nature and it will always remain a good reminder for the future.

Watch actual footage of the Titanic from British Pathe.  

The Titanic has thousands of individual stories. Click here and here to hear some memories from a few of the survivors. 

I found this 1912 newspaper clipping inside of the Sinking of the Titanic book. (I'm not sure what newspaper this was from.) 

A NEW ADDITION FOR THE SEAS COLLECTION

100 years ago, the Titanic was claimed by the sea and became the crown jewel in a grim collection of shipwrecks. For some reason I've always pictured this scene. The ocean reaches up and pulls the Titanic down into the depths. The drawing above is my version of that scene.

S.O.S. TITANIC

Premiering tonight on ABC is the Titanic miniseries.  I remember another ABC special from 1979, the made for TV movie S.O.S. Titanic.

On September 23, 1979 on ABC, the TV movie S.O.S. Titanic first aired. I've scanned the original two-page ad from TV Guide and I'm sure many will remember this TV movie. It's interesting to note that David Warner sailed the Titanic twice. Eighteen years after S.O.S. he booked passage on James Cameron's Titanic in 1997. (He was also in Time Bandits that had a scene on the Titanic but his character was absent from the ship.)

Here's a TV promo for a later showing in 1981. It aired after Those Amazing Animals. (Uploaded to YouTube by Robatsea.)

  

Watch the video below for some behind the scenes of S.O.S. Titanic.  This silent 8mm footage was uploaded by rhardyg. For some reason the S.O.S. footage starts at 1:08 after a random clip of Raise the Titanic.

Apparently the movie was released theatrically for the foreign market.  Here's a Turkish poster that was sold in 2010 by Heritage Auctions. 

ILLUSTRATIONS FROM THE 1912 BOOK "SINKING OF THE TITANIC"

FLEA MARKET FRIDAYS #67

This Sunday will mark the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. With Flea Market Fridays, I usually try to post items that I've found in the past week or two. For today we'll look at a find that I've owned for years.  

Soon after the sinking of Titanic, there was a rush to publish newspapers, magazines and books on the sea disaster. Most of these publications were sensationalized and filled with misinformation.

 

Sinking of the Titanic The World's Greatest Sea Disaster was published in 1912 only months after the tragedy. It was edited by Thomas H. Russell and published by National Bible House. This is not a rare book and can easily be found with prices all over the board. Back when I worked at an antique store during the release of James Cameron's Titanic, this was gold. Because of the feverish interest in the disaster due to the success of the film, anything we had relating to the doomed ocean liner was an instant sale. I did well selling magazines and newspapers with Titanic articles. I even sold two or three copies of this book. Luckily I managed to keep one for my library. Now let's take a look at some of the fantastic illustrations found in the book. The publisher took most of the illustrations from various newspapers in the United States.

FOUND PHOTO: EASTER BOYS

Happy Easter!  Hopefully everyone will have a nice Easter just like these unknown boys did back in the 1960s!

DISNEYLAND FRAME TRAY PUZZLE

FLEA MAKET FRIDAYS #66

The first lady of Neato Coolville will be thrilled to see what I managed to find.  You see, she loves Disneyland as much as I do, but she takes it one step further.  Yes, she collects stuff from the happiest place on earth.  This 1962 frame tray puzzle will find a nice home amongst her other DL goodies.  Shh....don't tell her, but I had one of these very puzzles and sold it.  In all fairness, that was many years before she started collecting, so I'm good.  Who knows?  Maybe this is the same puzzle I sold and now it's back.

VINTAGE BASEBALL MAGAZINE & NEWSPAPER ADS

Yep, I'm still talking baseball and today I scanned some cool vintage ads.  Click to make 'em bigger.

1953

1953

1953

1963

1973

1978

1983

1983

That's weird, I just noticed all these but one are from "three" years starting with 1963 to 1983.  Hmm...weird.

TWO 1980S CANDY BASEBALL ADS

Yesterday, my pal Jason of CollectingCandy.com posted a fantastic baseball themed candy post and I think Neato Readers will get a nostalgic sugar rush from it. Check out Part 1 here and Part 2 here. Also, if you haven't already read his in depth post on the history of Big League Chew here.

In my collection, I found two 80s baseball candy ads.  The Nestle is from 1985 and the Milk Duds/ Jolly Rancher ad is from 1989.  

FOUND PHOTOS: BASEBALL

In celebration of Major League Baseball's Opening Day, here are four old baseball related snapshots.

Going by the uniforms, this first photo is probably from the late 1800s or early 1900s.  I always love seeing trick photography, especially from way back.

I guess you can say these ballplayers are meeting their new shortstop.

This second photo makes me laugh every time I look at it.  The player looks disinterested and acts like it's no big deal that he just caught the ball.  He's even enjoying a smoke.     

Lets play smoke and catch!

I believe the baseball team in this next photo is made up of Air Force men.  The photo came with a bunch of snaps from overseas during WWII and after.   

Baseball is baseball no matter where it's played.

For the last photo we have a nice looking girl getting ready to enjoy a ballgame.  Looks like she has pretty good seats too!  I was curious to know what ballpark she was at.

Girls love baseball too!

After some internet searches, I realized she's at Sportsman's Park home of the St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Browns.  Here's a close-up of the scoreboard.   

I tweaked the image the best I could so we can read the advertisements.  Falstaff Beer, Gem Razors, Feld Chevrolet and Budweiser beer.  I was hoping to make out the name of the teams, but unfortunately it's too blurry.  Was this gal seeing a Cardinals game or a Browns game? Also, what year is this snapshot from?  Looking closer, the clue is in her hands.

It looks like she's holding a scorecard.  Yes, that's exactly what she's holding and to be specific she's holding a 1953 St. Louis Cardinals program like the one seen below.  Thanks to the pitcher's foot, I was able to find the scorecard and date the snapshot.  (Scorecard image source comes from ebay.)    

In 1953, Sportsman's Park was sold to Anheuser-Busch and the name changed to Busch Stadium.  This was also the last season for the St. Louis Browns as they moved to Baltimore and became the Orioles.