Day 112: Salt and Pepper Shakers

My grandmother (my dad's mother) had a big salt and pepper shaker collection, housed in two glass cabinets in her Oak Park home. The summer after she passed away my parents helped clear the house and my sister and I got to take some home with us. I do remember that some of my favorites had been claimed by some of her friends, but I did come home with quite a collection, some of which are pictured here. 

These are probably my favorites. They must be cats, though they look a bit doglike in the nose and ears. That is a salt and pepper set behind them on the right, a mother bear and her two cubs, and I must have a photo of it by itself somewhere which I shall have to add later on.

 

My grandfather grew up in Anaheim, California, and when he and my grandmother visited his relatives, they liked to eat at Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant. I think this salt and pepper set is from the very early days of Knott's Berry Farm (and Ghost Town) in Buena Park. The fawns rocked back and forth and probably only held enough condiment for two people max. But did anyone ever use these things for the purpose for which they were made?

 

Pass the cheese, please...

 

Another favorite; Bambi and his girlfriend, Felice:



Oops, these aren't salt and pepper shakers; just a mama deer and her fawns, which were attached by chains to her. But they were also my grandmother's.




"Oh-oh-oh-oh-klahoma, where the salt and pepper shakers come on a silver platter..."

What's that about?!

How often do you see cats in this yoga position?

"London swings like a salt shaker do..."

"Pepper stroll by walking two by two..."

Day 111: My Career in Calligraphy

Well, not exactly a career, unless you count two temp jobs. I put calligraphy as an additional skill when I registered with agencies in the 90s, and had one job writing over and over all day "I [heart] SAN PEDRO" for buttons (this was in the early days of that I [heart] thing), and one job addressing a few hundred envelopes for a charity function at the Beverly Hills branch of Saks Fifth Avenue. (I remember doing one for Johnny Carson.)

But these photos are from the calligraphy class I took in the early 80s. Before that I had bought some pens and taught myself. I'm a little out of practice, but can easily get up to speed if anyone wants to hire me for wedding invitations or something! I did throw out my nibs as they were rusty and my inks as they had all dried up (yes, they were still in my kit at John Street; I gave Luke the case, which was my childhood sewing box) but I can always run down to Aaron's...

We had to do a poem in italic:

 

The finished version:

Yes, I know I have not spelt Haagen Dazs correctly! But it was not my fault; the calligraphy instructor wrote this on the board and we were meant to copy each line in various fonts. It was actually the first time I ever heard of Haagen Dazs, which has a weird spelling anyhow.

I made myself some letterhead:

One week we were assigned to do a Father's Day card. I felt that this font deserved a bit of Deutsch. I would have given my father the final version; these are the practice ones:

Day 110: Young Miss Part Two; A Familiar Face!

I didn't have time to go through all the Young Miss magazines I unearthed, but I pulled out a few of the best covers to photograph, such as this one:

Maybe I was hoping to find out how to talk to boys and make them listen, so I flipped through this issue. I had been wondering earlier if I would spot, among the readers' letters and tips, a name that would later become famous, but I sure wasn't expecting to see the name of someone who I actually knew!

Many of my friends will also recognize Plez, aka Princess Farhana. Soon after this she would move to Hollywood and become a charter member of the "Ramones family", a group of people from each corner of LA County who attended the Ramones first LA shows and formed the foundation of the LA punk scene. The multi-talented Plez started a fanzine called Lobotomy, has published several books, and sang in various bands before finding even more fame and fortune as a belly dancer. You can view her own blogs here:

http://pleasantgehman.blogspot.co.uk/

http://princessraqs.blogspot.co.uk/

I did not spot anyone else that I knew, but I got some handy tips for ruining the value of one's record collection!

Groovy gauchos, midis, knitted hats and vests... and just look at those shoes!

Handy guide to the new shows of the TV season with a very groovy titling font. I think the only one I watched was The Mary Tyler Moore Show. My friend Karen was on The Don Knotts Hour, which did not last very long. I guess it helped that Don Knotts was her father.

The Odd Couple soon moved to Friday nights, after The Partridge Family. I also watched Nancy, which, as I remember, was about the American president's daughter.

Weekend nights were boring in comparison...

Nope, I never made my own candy Christmas tree, and did not have time to find out what to do about nosy people...

But oh, I'm all for making a fake fur bedspread! Except for the fact I haven't had or used a bedspread since I discovered duvets existed.

Who remembers Skinny Dip cologne? I just remember the name and that I did not care for the smell of it. But look - it comes with a free terrarium - when was the last time you got a free terrarium, I ask you! - especially one that "adds beauty to your room just as Skinny Dip adds fragrance to your person"?! You can also add "non-powdery powder" to your face...

Of course this was at the time of the Sonny and Cher Variety Hour. I went to two or three tapings of that show, as well as Carol Burnett's...

Day 109: The Island of Misfit Toys!

Broke down and busted toys, more accurately. (By the way, what was wrong with the dolly named Sue on Rudolph's island?)

My sister and I used to collect china animal sets. I believe one of the parent zebras has gone missing here, and one of the foals became a paraplegic:

Tiger tiger burning bright... He has lost some legs, too.






A startled dirty panda:

A mottled brown bear:

This kitty was not a candle but it was made of wax. He still has at least one of his nine lives but has lost both eyes and his tail along the way, and his satin bow is a bit of a mess. I think I acquired him from my paternal grandmother so he is very old.

These slightly dirty bunnies were probably hatched from an Easter basket sometime in the 60s.

And here's their one-eared cousin:

I believe this deer came from the gift shop at the long-gone Japanese Deer Park in Buena Park.

Luke asks, "Who killed Bambi?" Well, he's still alive, just a bit crippled...

Poor Bambi; first he lost his mother, then his limbs!




Oh deer, what have we here? The skinny legs have survived being in storage for decades, but I'm afraid the antlers and the fawn's ears haven't... It's tough being a toy deer...




They still look happy, though, to be out of the box!





These here giraffes are salt and pepper shakers. They used to be able to neck, but as you can see, one of them lost its head. (You can also see a couple of repaired broken legs.)






Let's return to rodents:

Party favor!






Rust-stained sand dollar!



Here's the whole menagerie:

Someone should have listened to Bob Barker!