Gifts for the Good Little Elves - The 1937 Zenith Long Distance Radio

It's amazing how time gets away. One moment it's spring and the next minute the candle of the year has burned down to a stub and the room is getting dark. It's been a tough and eventful summer for me and the unfortunate result is my ignoring my blog while I dealt with more pressing matters. Hopefully I'll have a little more time to post now and I can get back to posting regularly. And what better way to start than delving into the stacks of musty magazines for some time-worn tat that would make good gifts for the lover of all things vintage? The item on today's gift list is the ultra-modern Zenith Long Distance Radio from 1937.

Check out those Art Deco lines! As the Zephyr name suggests, this is a radio that looks like it's moving at 100 mph even when it's sitting in your living room. It's the embodiment of Art Deco's ethos of mass manufacturing as art - a piece of furniture that rolled out of a factory with style. Today every car looks pretty much like every other car, every toaster looks like every other toaster, and furniture has become practically disposable press-board cutouts.

I've come across a few similar radios in antique stores, but they're usually in really rough shape or unbelievably expensive (as of the writing of this  eBay had one listed at $2000+). Also it's interesting to know that, though Zenith's ad touts console radios as old and out, their Zephyr range included console radios. Maybe they were hedging their bet. Still, nothing add a certain flare to the study like a nice vintage radio end table sitting next to the Art Deco chair with a deco cradle phone nearby.

A Little Christmas Music - Santa Claus is Comin' to Town (1935)

I know that I've aired this classic in my Christmas Music series before, but no song sets the mood for December 24 like Santa Claus is Comin' to Town. And, if you ask me, nobody does this particular tune like Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra. Here's a 1935 Victor recording of the band swinging out with reindeer, peppermint sticks, and all that jolly stuff!

The Christmas List - Socks

From 1939, a few socks I wouldn't mind finding under the tree this year!

Thanksgiving Dinner - Heinz 57

We've already met Hunt's so how about the other Ketchup king, Heinz? This 1938 ad features, I believe, Norman Bates mother before what we'll call "the incident". She looks less like she's inviting us to enjoy a helping from her terrine of soup than threatening us with dire consequences lest we meet her demands.

Note the center, bottom image? Canned puddings. Apparently popular, though that doesn't explain why you'd dress in black and set fire to them. Probably why they're not sold anymore.

Preparation for the Big Night - Chase and Sanborn Coffee

Chase and Sanborn was a new brand to me, but they're an old American brand. The company came into existence in 1862 and it claims to be the oldest coffee company in the US. They're probably best known for an infamous ad featuring a husband spanking his wife.

In the early 80's Sanborn was bought up by Nabisco and eventually by Massimo Zanetti Beverage Group in 2006. Now it's just another brand you'll find at WalMart.

Indy 500 - Scoring the Race

Back in 1931, keeping track of the position of the cars competing in the Indianapolis 500 fell to a dedicated group of men seated in what used to be a symbol of the race, the pagoda. These photographs of the scorers and the clock they used come from the April 1931 issue of Popular Mechanics Magazine. An interesting article in that it focuses so much on the cost of racing. Probably a fact that owes to the ongoing hardship of the Great Depression.

A Little Christmas Music - The Santa Claus Express (Henry Hall and the BBC Dance Orchestra)

Twelve days 'till Christmas and the Santa Claus Express is pulling away from the station! Love this goofy little 1933 tune!

Singing for Thanksgiving Dinner - Pork Chops 'n Gravy (1939)

Ah, the main course is going strong and here's a more modern band. The Ink Spots with their rendition of Pork Chops 'n Gravy.

Singing for Thanksgiving Dinner - Good Cabbage (1937)

The first course is filled with good veggies, and today that means Good Cabbage by Victoria Spivey. Victoria was born in 1906 in Houston, Texas where, in 1918, she took up singing after the death of her father. This kicked off a career that would last over forty years and include working with notables such as Louis Armstrong, King Oliver, Clarence Williams, Luis Russel, Lonnie Johnson, and Bob Dylan. Her compositions include Black Snake Blues, Dope Head Blues, and Organ Grinder Blues. In 1962 she started Spivey Records which continued to operate until 1996.

Mr. Ghost Goes to Town - The Five Jones Boys

I wasn't able to find any specific information on The Five Jones Boys, the band that voiced this 1936 version of Mr. Ghost Goes to Town (yes, 1936 not 1938 as the video implies). I only know the date of the recording due to the good work of Mike the Barber and his wonderful weekly WFMU radio program, The Ragged Phonograph Show. I thought it'd make a good Halloween tune, though!

Happy Labor Day - Goodbye Summer 2014

Labor Day Crowds, 1938 Indiana State Fair

It's that time again, summer's had its splendid hour and autumn is waiting in the wings with her bright colors and bitter frosts. Kids are back to school and the holidays too far off to worry about. Time for the final cookout of what's considered the "official" grilling season, a cold one on the deck, and maybe a swim before the pools are drained.

The image at the top of this post comes from the 1938 Indiana State Fair, crowds of people strolling (I believe) in front of the Coliseum on a bright sunny day, enjoying the weather while they still could. Having strolled in that same spot, I hear the scene in my head - the distant music of the midway, the sounds of animals in the exhibit barns, the jumbled conversations, and the excitement of children. It's a time machine of the most effective sort, no chance of stepping on the odd butterfly, but all the emotional impact.

To say a final so-long to summertime 2014, I'm going back to 1905 and the master of summertime music, Philip Sousa's In the Good Old Summertime. Take it away, Phil!

Here's Wishing You a Happy Father's Day!

For father's day, here's a little tune from 1933 entitled My Old Man by the Spirits of Rhythm. Hope everyone's having a great day with their respective old man. Happy Father's Day to my old man!

Indy 500 - Wilbur Shaw (1933)

Nice image of Wilbur Shaw and his team from the 1933 Indy 500. Shaw would finish second in 1933. Shaw would go on to win three 500 races before being killed in an airplane crash outside Decatur Indiana in 1954.

The Funnies Bonus - Shucks the Pup (1938)

To kick May off, here's a Shucks the Pup strip from the May 1938 issue of Boy’s Life. I love the style of illustration even though the joke seems a bit stretched. Unfortunately Google knows nothing of Mr. (or Ms.) Comstock, maybe you do?

Then and Now - the Canaan Moravian Church

Here's a look at two images of a (not so) little church in the wilds of North Dakota. Both are images of the Canaan Moravian Church in Addison, ND. Not much seems to have changed in almost eighty years aside from the number of graves in the churchyard. The 1938 image comes from the July 18 issue of Life Magazine while the modern one comes courtesy of Google maps.

I really wish I could have gotten a little closer in the modern image. Apparently there are places the ubiquitous Google photo-mobile hasn't reached. For now I'll have to be satisfied with the NSA spy satellite style look. Who knows, maybe someday I'll pay a visit to ND to have a first hand look.

The MS Oslofjiord

Any of you who belong to a lodge probably recognize this sort of ad. It ran in the September 1938 issue of Rotary International. Two years later the Rotarians cruised from New York to Rio de Janeiro for the Rotary International Convention.

The Oslofjord was built by A/G Weser Shipbuilders, Bremen Germany for Norwegian America Line. She would strike a mine little more than a year after the Rotarians' convention and sink on January 21st/22nd, 1941.

A Doughnut Party!

Olivia de Havilland and Dick Powell starred in the Warner Brother's 1938 production of Hard to Get, which doubtless is the reason for their appearing in this 1938 ad for the industrial-sounding Doughnut Corporation of America, New York.

The movie recycles previous Powell plots - poor boy (Powell) falls for rich girl (de Havilland) followed by music and hilarity. I don't really see a doughnut connection, though. As for the ad, we start with a story line, Olivia and Dick are sitting around the Warner Brother's commissary (apparently Dick is playing an ice cream man in some flop movie) and they come up with the swell idea to throw a doughnut party for the cast. Apparently they get hooked on the round grease-cakes, and soon they're having them at every meal - doughnuts for breakfast, doughnuts for dessert, and a doughnut martini after dinner. We follow through to the "cast party", but...wait...they've got Halloween decorations? What the hell kind of movie is this anyway? If I were a member of the cast I think I'd be a little unimpressed - I mean they took the doughnuts from the commissary and used recycled decorations from last year's office Halloween party.

The Doughnut Corporation of America might still is in existence, though they're apparently more secretive than the NSA. They don't have a website and the repository of all knowledge that is Wikipedia has no valid information.

1938 Cadillac Ad

1938 Cadillac ad from Life Magazine. This is probably my favorite era for cars, you can see the impact of art deco on the styling, the hood ornaments, and the appointments. After the fifties the car industry would give up on stylishness, though you wouldn't know it by how often they use the word.

Old Quaker Whiskey

Old Quaker whiskey, apparently they thought Curly Joe would make a good spokesperson. Well actually it isn't Curly, but it must be his twin. I'm not sure who the guy is, apparently just a tux-clad whiskey enthusiast and part-time cue ball.

Schenley Industries, the outfit behind Old Quaker, had offices in the Empire State Building and a distillery in Lawrenceburg, Indiana where they distilled bourbon whiskeys including Schenley, Carstair's White Seal, and Golden Wedding Rye as well as Black Velvet, the only whiskey available to submarine officers at Midway during World War II (where it earned the nickname Schenley's Black Death).

Financier Meshulam Riklis bought Schenley in 1968 and then the company was sold to Guinness in 1987.

I've always had a thing for flying boats, so the China Clipper is a fascination for me. So, while shopping images, I perked up at seeing this shot in an article on Glenn Martin and Martin's construction of bombers and clippers from the May 1937 issue of Life Magazine. Take a close look at the nose of the plane and you'll see it, China Clipper.

I'll have to take some time to do a proper entry on the clipper soon, maybe this summer when the breeze is warm and a fellow's thoughts start turning to the sea.