Superhero Stuff

Here are some snaps of a superhero themed display case I installed at my library for the month of May. Each year in May the comics industry sponsors Free Comic Book Day, a promotion run through comic shops that offers free comics to visitors. Public libraries have also begun participating in this event, and many run related events like superhero parties and comic drawing classes.

We had a really fun superhero party, and the display case served as additional advertising for the event. I filled the case with vintage Mego action figures, board games, Halloween costumes, and more. See what you can spot!

Vintage Batman and Batgirl costumes, a super-cool Bat-hat, and the Mego Batmobile.

A fantastic Fly Man costume.

A vintage Batman and Robin board game with spectacular graphics.

An old Captain Atom comic and a Mego Hulk.

Have a Super Day, everyone!

Big Eared Bear

Just found this funny antique teddy bear at a weekend show. The 14 inch ted dates from the 1920s, and has some of the biggest ears I've ever seen on a bear. His comical face caught our attention from an aisle away, and he just seemed to be saying, "Please take me home." So of course we did.

Gnome Bowling Game

Vintage games are some of my favorite toys to collect. This one, circa the 1950s, features a 16 inch wide tin litho playing board with wooden balls. The object is to roll the balls into the corresponding colored cups. (It is much harder than it looks!) Delightful little gnomes point the way to high scores.

The little gnomes are adorable:

It's Only a Paper Moon Postcard

Old postcards and photographs comprise some of the Other Stuff I collect besides toys. This is a real photo postcard from 1912, sent by a woman named Fannie to her younger sister on September 5. It's one of a type known as "Paper Moon Photo Postcards." These were real photos taken of people using a paper moon backdrop, usually done at fairs or carnivals and sold as souvenirs.

Some fabulous examples of paper moon postcards as well as the lyrics and music to the contemporary song, "It's Only a Paper Moon," can be found at the Daily Postcard site, here.

For some reason, the sender felt it was important to write this woman's weight across the top of the card: 158 1/2 pounds. At least, I'm assuming that's her weight, and not that of her little dog.

Antique Cracker Jack Prizes

At a recent antique show, one of the dealers had a little box full of tiny charms and Cracker Jack prizes dating from the late 1900s through the early 1930s. I selected several, including a teeny tiny cup and saucer, a wee little frozen charlotte doll, a miniature horse pulling a wagon, and a little figure of a comical photographer. Whenever I find things like this, I'm always amazed at their survival. Imagine how many similar items were lost over the past 100 years to vacuums or cracks in the floorboards!

The tiny cup is just .5 inches across, and the doll is 1 inch tall.

This funny photographer was my favorite prize in the bunch.

A little soldier on horseback still retained some of his original color.