Odds & Ends

No, I don't have agitation, nor does mr. kenju (at least at this moment, he doesn't.... LOL) I saw this old ad in an email and thought it was funny. Current employees of GSK will notice the former company name.

This is a corner of a fireplace surround; one I saw at the Thomas Day exhibit at NCMH. I can appreciate the quality of the carving - but would you want this sad face staring out at you every day? I surely wouldn't!

Even if your chandelier isn't as fancy as this crystal beauty, you can add a fancy bow made with glistening ribbons and spice up your dining room. This one belongs to a woman for whom I did Christmas Decor. I thought it was 2006, but she says it was 8 years ago. I guess time flies when you're having fun! She thinks it might be time to take it down and dust it off. I tend to agree.

Leaving a restaurant in a local shopping center after dinner recently, I saw this interesting and colorful sky and of course, I wanted to share it with you.

I will be working today and starting on the day after Thanksgiving, I work almost 14 straight days. Posting and visiting may be slim to none during that period. I know, I say that every year, so we will see.....

Ephemera: Old Magazine Ads

What a load of crap these ads are!


What I've noticed is that those who "stick with Johnnie Walker" may not even be able to stride in the morning, let alone do it briskly!


Click to enlarge. "Toasting removes harsh irritants"??? Tell that to all the people who got mouth or throat cancer.


Camels promote "a peaceful feeling" and digestion? Who knew?

No one; because that is a load of crap for certain!

These came from the issue of Life Magazine dated November 23, 1936. It sold for 10 cents.

Ephemera: From Long Ago, Part 2 +

Click to embiggen.

There will be one more set of posters. I'm wondering why posters are not so much in evidence with the current war? Or the last 2 or 3, for that matter.

""\\""//""\\""//""

There is a newish development here in Raleigh, on the site of an old horse farm. It is called The Cypress of Raleigh, and it is a planned elder/continuing care community. We have a few friends who have moved in there and today we were invited to lunch and a tour of the facility. There's much to like about it, that I can see. It is beautifully planned and built, and the appointments in the clubhouse are first-rate. It resembles a resort and I am sure that living there would occasion moments of glamour and the feeling of being on vacation, especially in the beginning.

But there is a problem for me, which is......I don't think I'd want to live in a place where there are so few people younger than I. It can be depressing to be in the company of only older people, especially some of them. You know the ones I mean? People who see only the negatives in life, who are mad at the world because they are getting older (whether they are infirm or not) and those who are infirm in some way and mad at the rest of the world because of it. The only young people we came into contact with there today were the servers at lunch, and while they were charming and very good at their jobs, it isn't enough. I need to be around young people who have promise and hope for the future; it shows in their faces and you hear it in their voices. When you live in one of those places you have children and grandchildren visiting on occasion, but they might be the only younger people you interact with on a quasi-regular basis.

A community of bloggers (of any age), I think, would make for great living companions. Bloggers as a whole (in my experience) are more positive and show an attitude of making lemonade out of their lemons more than the general population. I wouldn't mind living in an area full of elder bloggers because it wouldn't be a negative place. Does that make any sense at all?

Ephemera: From Long Ago......

My good on-line friend Nancy Leitz, who many of us bloggers "know" through her humorous, thoughtful and intelligent comments, even though she doesn't write a blog, sent an email containing these wonderful posters from long ago. I like them as much for their artistic value as their historical importance. I hope you will enjoy them too!

These posters are just as pertinent today as they were in the old days.
There were 22 of them in the series. I will show you the rest in later posts.

Ephemera: Old Magazine Ads

This is from a commemorative of Life Magazine's premier issue - November 23, 1936. I love the old car ads. This one is very art deco and the diagonal lines created in the ad create the illusion of speed, while all the grill work says luxury and style galore!

I wonder what the executives of that time at GMC would think of what's going on in the industry at this moment? I suspect they never dreamed that 72 years in the future, General Motors was going to ask for a bailout!

//||\\//||\\

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!!

Ephemera: Correct English

Here's another of the gems found in my mom's bookshelves. My mom was the only one of her five siblings who didn't go to college, and she was very sorry about it. She was always trying to better herself and this magazine was one example of her quest.

Some of the articles in it are:
"The Glamour of Great Names", which focuses on well-known classical musicians.

"The Fallacy of Describing the Unfamiliar", about writers who attempt to write about places they've never been.

"Enriching Your Vocabulary", definitions of preternatural, proclivities and prognostic, among others.

and the last: "Boners in High Places". I didn't know that was a fit subject for English class. Did you? Maybe that's a story about Bill Clinton.......The subtitle is "Did you make any of these mistakes?" Yep....could be about Clinton!

This is the back cover; an ad for a correspondence course that purportedly would teach you how to communicate effectively. Mom had the idea that I should be a speech therapist, since studying that might also help rid me of my WV hillbilly twang. Alas, I didn't agree with her so I still speak with that twang, which gets worse when I am around home and family. I have always had the ability (or maybe curse is the right word) to be able to pick up quickly on accents and speech patterns. If I am with someone who has an accent, I tend to (unconsciously) speak like they do after only a few minutes. Put me with a native New Yorker, and I am slinging it with the best of them (albeit with a twang to the slang)......LOL. I am not sure that speech therapy would have ever rid me of that!

Ephemera ~ Tobacciana

Click to embiggen - and see all the details. I love all these old ads. There is a signature on this one (unlike most), but I can't read it. The number 38 follows it. Can we assume that it means 1938? Or was it #38 of the prints? This kitten calls to mind the one I posted climbing on me!


So that's where the firefly's light comes from! LOL. CLick to enlarge and see the bug's faces.


There are nice colors in this one. If she's a really good tennis player, I doubt she smokes. Right?



I am working this week, through Sunday. Don't expect to see me commenting......I'll be back Monday.

Old Tobacco Ads (and ...)

Click to embiggen. Do you like men in uniform? These guys are cute, I think, and I like that last line ....."Lest We Forget." It has resonance right now!

I like this ad; the man relaxing with his long, clay pipe (called churchwarden), his faithful dog, a light libation and the bee skeps off to the right. I wish my bees were contained like that, instead of hanging to the side of my house.

(Well, it DOES mention a tobacco product!) LOL. I received this in email today and I won't tell who sent it unless she gives the okay. I think it is funny!!

Can You Take a Few More Boxes?

Mr. kenju's corner on the bar area in our den. A wooden tobacco box, which I suspect was fabricated sometime in the last 25 years for sale at an antique show, and thus not really an antique. That didn't bother me, so I bought it anyway, and it holds some tobacco and matches (as well as the books stacked on top).

This is not specifically a box, but since it is an enclosed, wooden container, I think it qualifies. My mom picked this up somewhere; probably a re-sale shop or antique show.

This is an old dresser box. It used to be a part of a dresser; the boxes were beside the mirror and used to hold small items. I bought 2 of them at a junk shop, painted and antiqued them and decoupaged the design on top. It sits on my desk in the kitchen and holds junk of no consequence.....LOL

An old shipping/packing box. I keep it under the table between our TV chairs to hold magazines and crossword puzzle books.

Now.....would you believe this is not all the boxes I have? There are at least 3 more I haven't shown you, plus all the cardboard and plastic ones I have in the garage. So at this point, I probably classify as a real oddball, right?

Yet More Boxes!

Another set of mr. kenju's tobacco tins.

Box o' flowers! (silks, of course)

A flower-covered hexagon box; sometimes used to hold playing cards and small toys for my grandchildren. It is empty now, and I stood it up in the bookshelves in the den just to brighten up that area.

A tobacco humidor with a hand-made, inlaid wood horse head. I really admire the craft of inlaid wood, and I bought this at a silent auction fund-raiser ball for a children's advocacy group here in our area.

**********

I have been really lazy today. After working nearly 38 hours in 4 days, I was worn out, plus I have picked up either an intestinal flu bug or food poisoning. It could be the quality (or lack thereof) of the foods I ate all week: Monday lunch was a chicken parmesan pita wrap, and while it was tasty, it was full of fat. The accompanying zucchini strips; breaded and deep-fried, were wonderful, but sinfully rich. Tuesday: a grilled chicken sandwich from Mickey D's - only because it was near the flower shop. Wednesday: the flower shop provided chicken tenders from Chick Fil A, along with a veggie tray of celery, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes and cukes. I ate plenty of everything. Wednesday evening, they ordered pizza, which I ought never to eat, but did, with relish. Thursday, it was (someone's) homemade chili at the shop, of which I only ate a small bowl - thank Heaven for that. Either that did the dirty trick or it was a combination of everything else that did it. I also drank 3 diet cokes with caffeine; something which I seldom do and that may have added to the trauma.....LOL

It seems to be under control now, and I have had plenty of liquids today to offset the losses. Tomorrow brings a hot stone massage, to which I am treating myself for working so hard this week. I think I deserve it!

*********

I had already posted, but I forgot something I wanted to tell you. Yesterday at the flower shop, I was told to make an arrangement of 12 sunflowers. I searched for the perfect container, and found a golden glass pitcher. So I did the arrangement, with the sunflowers, yellow solidago as filler and some yellow acacia spilling out over the rim of the vase. I told my co-workers that they should title that one..."You Are the Sunshine of My Life". I didn't think it would sell, since most men want (or think their women do) red roses and babies breath (gag). But about 6pm on Valentine's Day, a man chose it to take home to his wife. I approached him and asked if he'd like to know what I called it. Of course, he had to say yes, if only to be polite. I told him, and he got a big smile on his face and said "That's perfect and I know my wife will love it. " Don't you know it made all those hard hours on my feet worth every minute?!

Ephemera ~ Old Tobacco Ads (and an extra)

This old ad came from a book, which I'll show you soon, of pipe and tobacco ads from years gone by. The artworks here fascinate me almost as much as the Rockwell paintings, and I cannot imagine that many of the artists represented herein weren't famous in their time.

This one appeared in 1933, and the copy says that cheerful advertising was doubly welcome in the dreary, lean days of the 30's. You'll notice that Santa has Player's Cigarettes in his gift bag. The sailor seems very glad to see him! Of course, ads like this cannot exist now (and for good reason!) Unfortunately, the artist is not named in this painting.

***********




This is a fitting postscript to the marriage license office shown yesterday, don't you think?

Sort of puts it all in perspective......LOL