Still on vacation - CAN’T YOU TELL? Here’s today’s non-entry entry, which is just an illusion. The other day I dropped in to Hunt and Gather, to see if I could find an item my wife almost bought me for my birthday. She described it as a metal platter for some soft drink, with a pixie or a sprite, 50s / 60s style. I figured it was a White Rock item, and went to investigate it. Didn’t find it. Found enough matches to take us to the end of the year (not counting the six-year supply I’ve already scanned, which is poor quality) and some other items.
Change-0 Clown, the burn-victim skull-thing:
No eyes, no mouth, no nose, a melted face, but the hat assures jocularity along the usual clown lines. (Shudder)
This, being 50 cents, was an easy purchase:
If only to save it from destruction. What did the pin stick into? Some of that strange light foam you always found at the houses of relatives who arranged fake flowers? Meat? A lieve of fruit, sacrificed for the sale of the rest?
Stale coffee woes are over:
Nash was part of Nash Finch, I’m sure – a local company that’s still around, and one of the largest grocery wholesale distributors in the country.
I never quite understood this name as a kid:
And I still don’t, but it’s somewhat clearer now.
A kid’s record, sold at Woolworth’s:
1950. It pops up elsewhere on the web; they must have made quite a few. No MP3 versions can be found, alas.
Outside, rusting away to beautiful ruin:
Is that scale accurate? I should say so, my good man; it’s made entirely of steel.
Finally:
I’ll post some of the interior when I get the 1939 site up. (Someday.)
Oh, one more thing. You may recall the jaunty ceramic pots from the last trip to H&G. Found the same artist, doing a happy flower pot. You can imagine the wife showing it to the husband: Doncha love it?
Pass it along, if you wish
67 Responses to Tuesday, August 11
Host with the Most
“That’s probably a very small 78: I remember having a couple of similar “Little Golden Records” and our prewar Philco console certainly didn’t play anything else.”
Or it might even be a 16, if it was more a lengthy spoken story than a song. Apparently it was thought you didn’t need that great of sound quality in a kids record, and as I recall the few 16′s I’ve seen had the hole for the small spindle.
James writes “…A lieve of fruit”
I love typos like that. Do you think he meant a leaf? A loaf? A sleeve?
Any guesses?
I just looked up “lleve” to make sure that our host wasn’t using some obscure word that was new to most of us. But nope, the only thing that pops up is a couple of forms of the Spanish verb llevar, meaning “to take” or “to carry.” So unless he was trying to say “a take of fruit” (which sounds like the fruit was either personally harvested or won at an auction), then yes, an amusing typo.
A 1939 site?!? I swoon. Perhaps it will not grieve me as the Gerlernter book did. I have an unhealthy 1939 NYWF addiction to the point that my kids think the satellite dish we can see on a mountain top across from our house is the Perisphere. and the radio tower is the Trylon. Bless ‘em.
Well call me Ishmael, Ishmael Gray that is. I was wrong about design alone (bad patent search which is sort of like my job).
Press on my name to the left to see image of US1738892 (improvement over US1410402 03/21/1922).
Issued patent 1,738,892 12/10/1929 Ishmael H. Gray:
This invention relates to a swinging support for price tags and the like.
The chief object of this invention is to provide a relatively cheap, substantially permanently connected assembly of few parts adapted to swingingly (sic) support a price tag or the like.
it is designed to be able to place price tags on shelves that could move out of the way and not get knocked off by customers in apparently self service stores. The wire is definitely part of the original design in a version where it sticks into the shelf.
My take on the price signage is a little different. I think the original design allowed the tab at the bottom to insert into a slot (perhaps a metal clip attached to shelves had the slot–or a “swinging support” as noted in the patent description). This allowed for quick price changes. It looks as if the piece was stapled at one time, but then wisely shifted to a pin with the wire twist at the top. If the pin is original, it’s an option to the tab/slot use.
@Jennifer
You are correct, the pin goes into clip on the shelf, the clip is below the tag rather than above in the earlier patent.
The improvement seems to add extra flexibility or swing at the pivot point.
I am not much of an engineer which is why I do support work at the firm
I’ll try to post the earlier patent image somehow. The USPTO uses an odd plug-in for images.
I tried looking for patents on the price tag. No luck with anything obvious. I wonder what exactly was patented? A spring loaded card holder? A way of advertising a price? A printing process? A stick pin sign holder? a kind of card material?
@HunkybobTX
it is all right there in my post, numbers and all. Simply it is a price tag holder that would not be in customers’ way and that customers would not knock over.
here are some more with the later pin:
>>>>http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2378/2328663267_efcff3aeb2.jpg<<<<<
@bgbear (roger h)
I swear I didn’t see your comment… Thanks.
It’s OK, I feel like a geek finding it.
@bgbear (roger h)
Thanks! I feel pretty savvy right now. I work in print production and have worked on a lot of point-of-sale, so I geek out on this stuff as well.
Have my own little “obsession” with coffee tins. Love the Butter Nut you have there. Also the Nash. Folgers in those plastic jugs doesn’t seem right. Those little “one shots” are a little annoying as well. I need more than just “one” cup of coffee in the morning, more like a cup and a half.
Clip here sure would wake me up in the morning.. some stranger hanging from my ceiling and all..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jY4wAMhjFEU
I dunno. It also looks pretty cool to jab your little sister in the fanny with. :::boink::: “MOM-M-M-M!!!”
James writes “…A lieve of fruit”
I love typos like that. Do you think he meant a leaf? A loaf? A sleeve?
Any guesses?
I will guess “piece” “p” is close to “l” on the keyboard as “v” is close to “c”.
The World’s Fair road map probably should go with the World’s Fair subway, which was built just for the 1939-40 Fair, and then abandoned (New York City built it on their self-owned Independent system to compete against the two private companies operating on what is today’s Flushing Line. I suppose it’s also worth noting that the city prohibited the two private lines from raising their base fare above five cents and forced them into bankruptcy during the second year of the fair, while the city charged customers an additional five cents to ride on their World’s Fair line. Not quite national health care vs. private insurers, but the similarities are interesting).
I don’t recall typing anything scandalous in my comment last night, so what, good mine host, made it disappear?
I found a world’s fair item I would like to share from my blog:
http://videomartyr.blogspot.com/2009/05/worlds-fair-lifes-not.html
It’s just a spoon, but what a cool spoon. Again I say, this is a great site(s)