Vintage Novelties

I don’t often read non-fiction, and when I do, they’re mostly palate-cleansers, e.g. books I read in between books when I get bogged down by lengthy reads, and more often than not, they’re either trivia books or novelty books.

Now, I can never resist pretty books, and I love vintage art, so I’ve got a growing collection of novelty books that feature vintage ephemera. Four more were added to my collection recently: Cheap Laffs: The Art of the Novelty Item by Mark Newgarden and Picture Box, Inc., which I recently unearthed from my TBR (bought it two years ago, it was still wrapped in its plastic casing); Let’s Be Safe by Benjamin Darling (via BookMooch); Fireside: A Family Companion by Janice Anderson (book sale bargain bin, for P25); and What the Doctor Smokes and other inspiring adverts through the ages by Kate Parker and the Advertising Archives (Powerbooks Book Barter).

Cheap Laffs is a beautiful, full-color, hardbound book devoted to the novelty item — it’s one of those books I had to buy just looking at the cover!

The book starts off with an interesting introduction to the novelty item, which the book classifies “gags, pranks, jokes, snares, knick knacks, gimmicks, mascots, rib-ticklers, joy-makers, laff producers, and fun inducers,” in other words, items of questionable taste, origin, and production quality, with no apparent function except to amuse, entertain, and poke (harmless) fun. The book then traces the history of these novelty items and then a lament about the dying industry of what the author considers a significant art form of the 20th century.

The rest of the pages in this light-hearted, pop-culture book make for pure pleasurable browsing — a fantastic illustrated encyclopedia of nostalgic kitsch, like a Muggle catalog of Zonko’s or Weasleys Wizard Wheezes: rubber chicken, oversized spectacles, groucho glasses, joy buzzers, fake vomit, fake dog poop, the Smoking Monkey, stick-on third eye, dribble glass, smashed finger, drinking bird, the whoopee cushion, snake nut can (where Sheldon from BBT keeps his stash of money!), and many many more!

I spotted this book at a bargain bookstore, and at P200 (around $4) it cost way more than what I would pay for a bargain book, but the comical matte cover and wonderful photography were too much to resist! Being the novelty item junkie that I am, with drawers full of talking calculators, oddly-shaped coin banks, trick candy, fart-producing books, color-changing mugs, spy kits, disguises, theater makeup and whatnot, I was sure I would enjoy it, and it did not disappoint.

Clockwise: Drink Milk, fake vomit, whoopee cushion, sneeze powder, groucho glasses, super-specs.

Let’s Be Safe is a compendium of vintage safety lessons for school children, featuring materials from the 30’s to the 60’s.

Topics covered by the book include:  “Traffic Light Dangers,” “Street Crossing Etiquette”, “Banana Peel Caution,” “Who Gets Hurt on the Tracks,” “The Signs of Life,” “The Dont’s of Bicycling,” “The Cautious Twins,” “Campin’ and Whittlin’ Fun,” “Swimming and Skating Safety,” “Youth-Avoid the Penalties,” “On the Bus,” “Clean Parks and Clean Streets,” “In the Library,” “Matches and Electricity,” “Tooth Tales,” “Hygiene Hints,” “Small Cuts and Scratches” — all taken from schoolbooks, pamphlets, and other cautionary instruction materials schoolchildren actually used in the old days.

I came upon this book on BookMooch and the cover looked great so I mooched it, but I didn’t really count on the inside pages being a compilation of vignettes illustrated in various styles. Nevertheless, it was highly amusing to read about “the avoidance of strangers and their candy, how not to be run over by a car, and how generally not to cut oneself open.”

The most interesting thing about this book is how the concept of a safety manual came to the author. Apparently, he was waiting for a bus when he spied half a bagel on the bus bench. He was hungry and he took the bagel, and as he was biting into it, he had not noticed he had walked out on the street and he got struck by a car! Now, if only he’d looked both ways… Tsk, tsk tsk!

Clockwise: “What not to Eat,” “Keep away from Sneezeville,” “On the Bus,”
“Bicycle Safety,” “Signs of Life,” and “Always Be Careful”

Fireside is a compact volume that compiles everything that has to do with the hearth — games, craft projects, stories, fun facts, art, recipes, and traditions.

Among the selections of fireside lore to be found in this book are: an essay on Mark Twain and his fondess for the hearth; a recipe for Whisky Sour; the history of fireside games like jigsaw puzzles, snakes and ladders, and ludo; fireside nursery rhymes; how to make fluffy slippers; extracts from Silas Marner, Alice in Wonderland, A Christmas Carol, and David Copperfield; how to make toast (cinnamon, sardine, savory) by the fire; a feature on Hestia, goddess of the hearth (ahh, for Percy Jackson fans); The Night Before Christmas; tips on choosing firewood; the history of chimney sweeps; and many more.

In the Philippines, we really don’t have a very strong concept of the hearth, as it’s not a feature of tropical homes, although community bonfires are often a part of special occasions (er, basketball victories and  Easter vigil), more symbolic than anything else.  I can probably count in one hand the few times I’ve felt the need for a roaring fire for warmth — trips up North to the mountainous provinces, and getting caught outside in a storm. The book provides good insight on the hearth on the other side of the hemisphere: a gathering point since the start of civilization, and a place of comfort and togetherness in the home.

Clockwise: Rococo-style fireplace, extract from Alice in Wonderland, quote from Vanity Fair;
children’s fireside games; and Delft blue tiles

Finally, What the Doctor Smokes is a collection of bizarre product advertisements that range from strange to downright preposterous, “prescribed by doctors” and “guaranteed effective,” with emphatic testimonials to accompany them — and people actually fell for this stuff!

There’s alcohol for medicinal purposes; an electric corset that cures “weak back” and hysteria; a beautifying contraption that reduces the chin; miracle weight loss solutions (that people still fall for to this day); sunlamps that “vitaminize”; cigs that can cure asthma; sausages that will help soldiers win the war; a locket that immunizes against flu, colds, or any epidemic; and an electric typewriter that guarantees a perfect day!

The book packs a lot of laughs, especially because the products seem so strange to the modern reader. We laugh now, but the book points out that at the time these ads were released, these products were taken seriously by the general public.

The book also sends out an important, cautionary message — we might think we’re too sophisticated to fall for advertising tricks, but has anything really changed?

Clockwise: Doctor-prescribed rum, effervescent brain salt, chill tonic that will make you fat as a pig;
“Blow in her face and she’ll follow you anywhere” (sheesh!); and a 3-day slimming ad

***

Cheap Laffs, hardcover, 4/5 stars
Let’s Be Safe, hardcover, 3/5 stars
Fireside, hardcover, 4/5 stars
What the Doctor Smokes, hardcover, 5/5 stars

Books #93-96 for 2010

[amazonify]::omakase::300:250[/amazonify]