From Zombos' Closet

Yogee The Amazing Answer Board (1944)

Amazing the stuff I've tossed into the closet over the years and forgot about. Here's one such item: the Yogee Amazing Answer Board. Maybe I should ask it why I keep tossing so much stuff into my closet. Then again, I may not like the answer, so best to leave sleeping ghosts lie. If you go to eBay you'll see this thing go for hundreds of dollars. Not sure why. It is rather cool, though.

The story behind it is even cooler. Some years ago I was on a nostalgia visit to 1000 Acres dude Ranch (a place where city-slickers learn how to fall off a horse). In a previous post I mentioned how I would vacation there in the 1960s summers for weeks on end (or more like stationed, considering we spent over a month there one summer). During my nostalgia visit I hopped in the car one day to go find a bookstore, somewhat close, that I had learned about. I like visiting small bookstores anywhere, any chance I can. This particular bookstore was noted as carrying magic books (I am a former member of the Society of American Magicians and the International Brotherhood of Magicians, so yeah, that was a good hook for me). When I got to the bookstore, it was a long, narrow, rectangle of bookshelves and books. I didn't see any magic-related books, though. As I was leaving, the owner, a pleasant fellow (the type you would want to run a bookstore), asked if I was looking for anything specific. He had noticed the look of disappointment on my face. I was kind of shy at that stage of my life so I was glad he asked. Otherwise, I would have left without realizing the wonderful secret hidden at the back of the bookstore.

He said "oh,yes," he had magic books, and led the way. Toward the back of the bookstore he opened a door. Behind the door was an honest to gosh magic shop. Props, tricks, books, posters, you name it, within the glass counters, on the many shelves, and hanging on the walls was enough magic to dazzle an amateur and professional alike. He said the previous owner opened it, it failed, and, well, there you go. It was a blip in time that got stuck, to my delight for sure. That's where I found Yogee: and, after I tallied it all up, quite a few books on magic, a poster or two, and some tricks. It was weird and special, and one of those wow moments that make living a lot of dull ones, in-between, not a problem. 

So that's how Yogee found its way into my closet. 

 

 

For the Flong of It

What's a flong? Glad you asked. I was wondering that myself for a while. I had them, but didn't know what I had. Collecting pressbooks for movies, an important part of each pressbook was the ad mat section. This is where various sized ads for promoting the movie were shown, with their ordering numbers, for use as newspaper ads. The theater manager would clip out the ads they wanted to run in local newspapers from the pressbook (a really necessary but naughty thing to do if you collect pressbooks like I do!),  then send the clipped ad mats to the regional office handling the movie. What they got back was a flong. Or flongs, if they sent in a few ad mat clippings. In stereotype printing, a flong is a negative mould made in order to cast a metal stereotype from it. The flong could be made from clay or papier-mâché. What the theaters received were the papier-mâché flongs. Here are a few examples below from my collection. The colors varied, but it didn't matter since the flong was only used to create the positive metal plate to print with. If you squint really good, you can make out some of the detail in these negative flongs, but they are, of course, hard to view as is. The positive image in ink was easier to see, once it was printed in the newspaper. 

So there you have it. Now go bring some nostalgia and coolness to your next party by asking "do you know what a flong is for?" 

 

 

Space Patrol Periscope Premium (1950s)

Look what fell out of the closet. Back when you got cool swag through cereal premiums (either in the box or with a cutout from the box to mail in), this Space Patrol Periscope was a nifty gadget (omg--just 25 cents!) for intrepid earth-bound aliens and humans. Space Patrol was a juvenile-oriented science fiction running from 1950 to 1955 on television, but an adult audience soon followed, making it a popular series. While not even at the unexpurgated Star Wars level of special effects, it was still fun to watch the space drama unfold each week for many. Filmed on the original soundstage that Lon Chaney's silent, Phantom of the Opera, was shot, Space Patrol boasted larger setpieces than other science fiction series like Captain Video and Tom Corbett, Space Cadet (as cited in the Wikipedia article, but the citing website link is no longer active). Due to the limitations of broadcasting at the time, episodes were recorded via kinescope for distribution to distant television stations. I have a fond memory of building a similar periscope to spy on the neighborhood kids, but I wish I had had this one at the time. It's way cooler than the one I built.

Captain Midnight Secret Squadron Code Book and Membership Manual

Captain Midnight's most dastardly villain turned out to be his ex-sponsor, Ovaltine, who owned all the rights to the name. When the television show (he appeared on radio, in the comics, and there was a serial and newspaper strip), went into syndication, Ovaltine forced a name change to Jet Jackson, Flying Commando (see Nostalgia Central). Here is the official code book and membership manual for secret squadron members (you know who you are).

ComicRack reader version: Download Captain Midnight Club Handbook

Cole Bros. Circus Program (1938)

For circus buffs, here's the Cole Bros. Circus program for 1938. After moving to Long Island (New York) some years ago, I discovered Cole Bros. one hot summer day. They would put down stakes for their big top a few times before I ventured into the magic of that bygone era. I had seen Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus a few times at Madison Square Garden, and here on the Island at the Nassau Coliseum, but being in the big tent, up close to the caged lions (I kept running through exit scenarios in case of trouble as I watched), there's been nothing like it ever since. I know that animal treatment was a problem, but there was still something special, nostalgic, and sad about it all. When I was way to young to worry about names and social politics, my dad took me to Madison Square Garden to see Ringling Bros. for the first time. I went looking for the freak show, in high hopes of finally seeing up close what I had only seen through television shows and movies. You can't imagine how crestfallen I was when I found out there was none. To me, the freaks, the sideshow acts, they were the real performers of the circus. Of note to Western movie fans, cowboy star Ken Maynard toured with the Circus and has a write-up.

ComicRack reader version: Download Cole Brothers Circus Program

Republic Confidential Prospectus

Jack Mathis's monumental book, Valley of the Cliffhangers, was published in 1975. Heavily illustrated and exhaustively researched, Mathis documented dozens of Repubic serials, first run in movie theaters in the 1930s and 1940s. Serials, made by Republic and other studios, were a staple of cinema for decades, bringing pop culture influences such as Flash Gordon, Captain America, Commando Cody, Superman, and Captain Marvel to life. Many western, crime, and jungle adventure serials filled the theater screens weekly too. In the 1970s, when fandom was coming into prominence, serials were rediscovered and re-examined for their important role in cinema history. Mathis's Valley of the Cliffhangers is essential reading, albeit an expensive one (the rare, coffee table sized, book usually sells for upwards of a thousand dollars). Also essential reading, but a bit easier to find and less expensive, is his Republic Confidential, a smaller-sized, two-volume set. RC was eventually released in the 1990s. Here is the prospectus promotion for RC. Two prospectuses were created and this is the first one.

Comic book reader version: Download Republic Confidential Supplement

Wizard of Oz Original Drawings

On a trip to Adamstown, Pennsylvania, on a collectible hunt with my wife (a big Wizard of Oz fan), she found this magazine clipping. I believe it's from an issue of Life, circa 1950s.

Sherlock Holmes Smokes Chesterfields Magazine Advertisement

Sherlock Holmes kept his cigars in a coal-scuttle. I'm not sure where he kept his cigarettes. When a problem vexed him, though, he would usually reach for his pipe, usually the oily black clay one, puffing away three pipe-fulls before the solution would present itself. Here's Basil Rathbone, one of the best Holmes actors, enjoying a Chesterfield and promoting his movie Dressed to Kill.

Gene Autry for Smith-Corona Magazine Advertisement

It's been a while since I've posted on vintage days type stuff. I like old magazine advertisements. A little nostalgic, a little revealing, sometimes made more interesting with notable movie stars. This one with Gene Autry hawking his script writer's Smith-Corona typewriter is wonderful. I like Gene Autry. I miss typing on my Smith-Corona. Not too much, but just enough. I don't miss carbon paper, messy typewriter ribbons, and grumbling through erasing inky letters. Thank the lord for the introduction of the carbon ribbon and replaceable type wheels. Somehow, plopping down a booze bottle and shot glass next to a computer keyboard isn't as romantic as pouring and drinking that shot, as you lean back in thought or desperation, from your Smith-Corona typewriter.

1960s Eveready Monster Flashlight Faces

Pesdudewelch on eBay had these Eveready Flashlight Monster Faces listed on eBay. Nice incentive to buy a magnet flashlight, especially for monsterkids. My favorite is the skull. Just another sign of how strong the monster craze was in the 1960s. 

Survival in a Nuclear Attack Watch That Radioactive Fallout! Circa 1960

10 Cloverfield Lane reminded me of this trusty guide I had picked up, a report to Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller regarding surviving a nuclear attack, prepared in 1960. Sure, I know aliens were wreaking havoc in the movie, but--insert sigh emoji here--the this report comes from the good old days, when we only worried about ducking and covering and avoiding radioactive fallout. I think this report is flawed, though, as there's no mention of using duct tape. And as the Mythbusters have clearly shown us, duct tape is good for everything. Of course, you can just watch a YouTube video now to be safe and sound in case of fallout, so don't worry. Here's the comic book reader version:  Download Survival in a Nuclear Attack 1960

Vintage Cabinet Radio Ad

Imagine what she could have done with Spotify, iTunes, and Prime Music. Imagine listening to Lights Out, in the dark, with this bad boy's vacuum tubes cranked up. (Imagine imoji sigh here.)