Recently, our local library held a huge sale of cast-off books, movies and music which filled a space formerly occupied by a Mervyn’s department store. Considering its size, the sale was a bit of a bust – but I did find a few goodies. An oversized booklet published in the ’70s by the U.S. Department of Transportation, geared toward elementary school teachers, was one. Un Viaje al Aeropuerto/A Trip to the Airport jumped out at me because of the strange cover art – psychedelically colored kids gazing at an airplane set against an oppressive, cloudy sky.

Un Viaje al Aeropuerto follows a boy named Carlos as he and his class take a field trip to the airport. About two-thirds of the book consists of wide-format illustrations with simple descriptions in Spanish and English, somewhat clumsily done to fill up the space allotted. The uncredited artwork honestly isn’t very good (much of it looks traced from photos) – but I love the way the artist went nuts with the zip-a-tone patterns and liberally applied spot color in hot red. It’s a trip, man, in ways the artist probably never intended.

The images link to larger-sized versions posted on my flickr account. Dig.

Sears catalog models, welcome aboard.

Aircraft parts never looked so groovy.

Strike a pose on the moving sidewalk.

Gettin’ crazy with the zip-a-tone.

This advertisement for Corning’s Creative Glass product line appeared in the June 10, 1972 issue of The New Yorker. It certainly has that casual-chic look, like something that Mary Richards would have strewn about in her Minneapolis apartment, dontcha think? I spotted this ad a few years ago on my Complete New Yorker DVD-ROM set, foolishly not taking note of the issue it was in. Since then, I’ve tried to start a collection. The only object I’ve gotten, however, is the double-decker serving piece pictured at left in the ad. These were unmarked (except for a small clear sticker in some cases), and the design is just generic enough to pass for dozens of other glass objects cluttering up thrift store shelves. Apparently Corning made this throughout the ’70s and ’80s, even though it appears that the line was just promoted early on to a more upscale audience. The CG line also included individual glass mugs and those groovy candles that floated in oil or water.

So here it is, the result of spending a couple of hours combing through dozens of early ’70s New Yorkers: Corning Creative Glass!

More vintage Bell Telephone ephemeral films — this 1979 tape trumpeting the products in their “Design Line” is probably the goofiest of them all. I actually remember these special phone designs being a really big deal at the time (and coveting the Snoopy and Mickey Mouse models!). Bell even had special stores in shopping malls set up to peddle this stuff, although I never personally saw one. The film is nine minutes long, but totally worth it for all the kitschy designs, fashions and set decor. The most puzzling phone would be the one that folds up into a discreet wood-paneled box. Disguising household technology as wooden furniture when not in use seems like a completely bizarre concept to wrap your brain around, and yet that was a huge thing in marketing radio and TV consoles going back to the ’20s. People who bought Bell’s Stowaway model could be secure in knowing that their phone could be mistaken for a Kleenex box when not in use. A very expensive Kleenex box — these specialty models retailed for anywhere from $39.95 (Exeter) to $109.95 (Antique Gold).

This and more at the fascinating AT&T Archives YouTube channel.

This older Peanuts music box was a recent Goodwill find for $2.99. Honestly, the first time I saw this I thought it was nicely made piece of fan-made handicrafts, but apparently it was a real United Features Syndicate-licensed product. When Snoopy’s tail is pushed down, a bar of “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head” plays and Woodstock eating from Snoopy’s bowl emerges from the doghouse’s door. The dog dish contains a slot for coins – yup, it’s a music box and bank in one! Christopher did a good job fixing the music box part.

This must have been among of the earliest Peanuts merchandise to feature Woodstock, who first appeared in 1967 as Snoopy’s bird pal and was given a name in 1970.

Today’s video is something that I uploaded to my own YouTube channel, the result of downloading and watching about 200 old commercials for Alpha-Bits cereal from the ’60s and ’70s. Alpha-Bits was and still is my favorite cereal. You might think watching a bunch of old ads would be boring, but au contrere mon frere — seeing how Post changed its approach to selling this simple food over a short time was an eye-opener. From ’60s straightforward to animated through psychedelic and health-nut ’70s, the shilling ran the gamut in uneven but entertaining fashion. It gives one the distinct feeling that Post’s ad agency during those years had a revolving door of executives.

Starting around 1969, Post started including extras with each cereal box. This started with bubblegum rock records actually printed on the box back, then moved towards assorted small toys mid-decade. This particular commercial was picked because it has one of my favorites, a plastic mini-terrarium. After emptying the included seed packet onto a tiny sponge, with regular watering a plant would grow (“in about 8 days!”). Groovy.

Post’s website says that they are still making Alpha-Bits, although it’s been years since I’ve seen a box. It was good, not horribly sweet like many other products currently clogging the supermarket cereal aisle.

Vintage video dept… a helpful YouTube user has uploaded two commercial breaks from a 1976 episode of Bozo’s Circus, the long-running kiddie show on Chicago’s WGN. Although I never saw this particular program, the commercials are a hoot and total blast of nostalgia. I was eight years old at the time, the perfect age for Lucky Charms cereal and that super-cool hovering Star Trek thingie (we had something similar, although I think it was a normal helicopter and not the U.S. Enterprise). The popcorn with oil and salt in a separate pouch also looks intriguing.

In this second commercial break, what stands out for me is the nice animation on the Cap’n Crunch commercial – a step up from the usual Hanna-Barbera fare of the time (do you recognize June Foray’s voice, too?). Although I remember the Magician Mickey toy, the build-it-yourself plastic straw kit wound up getting lost in the sands of time, for good reason. What a weird toy!

P.S. The title for this post comes from the affectionate nicknames that my grandmother gave my mom and aunt when they were young tykes. Totally appropos, for sure.