Tell It to the "Chaplin!" ~~ Originally Posted on 10/15/10

If I ask you, "Who is the man pictured in the above photo?" what will be your reply?

"Charlie Chaplin," you say, right?

"Nope," I reply. "It's definitely NOT Charlie Chaplin!"

"Okay," you say, "So maybe it's one of the many Chaplin 'wannabes' who sprang up in silent films after Chaplin -- and his famous "Little Tramp" character -- had burst upon the scene (such as the gent pictured in the following stereographic photo, issued circa 1925)?" (Please excuse the "eBay" text partially obscuring this and some of the other scans in this post, by the way. I'll explain about that later!)

"Nope!" I reply again.

"Okay, Mr. Fox! Maybe you did a little bit of computer voodoo with a still pic of Robert Downey, Jr. portraying Chaplin in the 1992 eponymous biopic? Or maybe you did that with a shot of someone else playing the role of Chaplin?"

Nope! (I'm enjoying this far too much, by the way.)

Here's a little background, fellow babies:

Charles Spencer Chaplin (1889-1977) had barely begun his film career when his second film premiered in early 1914. This film was the very first to introduce the character known as the Little Tramp.

Here's Chaplin's own tale of how the look of the character came to be: "[On] the way to the wardrobe I thought I would dress in baggy pants, big shoes, a cane and a derby hat. I wanted everything to be a contradiction: the pants baggy, the coat tight, the hat small and the shoes large. I was undecided whether to look old or young, but remembering Sennett had expected me to be a much older man, I added a small moustache, which I reasoned, would add age without hiding my expression."

The use of this superb illustration of Charlie Chaplin's Little Tramp

has been graciously permitted by its artist, Jason Pruett.

Yep. That's how Chaplin himself explained the look of the character, and its origins.

"Fine. Whatever!" you say. "So who is the guy on the freakin' postcard?"

Postcard? Yes, it's a postcard. I actually own it. And the reason that the stereographic photo of the Chaplin impostor above and two of the scans below have "eBay" superimposed on 'em is because I (unsuccessfully) tried selling them as a pair several years ago, on eBay. That's when I made the scans. I would have made new scans for this post, but I'll be damned if I know where the freakin' postcard is right now!

Okay, let's take a look at the entire front view of the card (and note that the hat is normal-sized, and that the coat is somewhat baggy, not tight, and also note the absence of a cane)...

And a close-up of the front view (Sure looks like ol' Charlie, dunnit? But it isn't!)...

And now, the back view...

And a close-up of the back view...

And...

"Wait a minute, Foxy!" you say. "1909? WTF?!?" (Or maybe you say "WTH," if you're so inclined. Heh.)

Yeah, 1909. Five years before the Little Tramp showed up on-screen, and one year before Chaplin ever set foot in the USA!

So, is this a remarkable coincidence? Maybe. Or did Chaplin see this outfit on the very same postcard -- well, another one just like it, I mean -- and decide to improve upon it? Maybe.

And is this li'l ole century-old postcard a one-of-a-kind, mouth-watering collector's item? Maybe.

It's also for sale... if and when I can ever find the damned thing, that is!

By the way... I hope you're not too disappointed by the fact that after all of my exposition, I've only told you "what" it is, and not who it is. 

I really don't know who it is, y'see... just that it's not Charlie Chaplin!

Thanks for your time.

P.S. ~~ COMING SOON! (Watch for it!) A Re-Posting of One of the Best (and Longest) Stories I Ever Posted on This Blog!

Finger Lickin' Good!

Here's one of the crazier things I recently sold on eBay!

eBay

Collectibles >  Kitchen & Home >  Kitchenware >  Cookware >  Other Collectible Cookware

Have one to sell?Sell it yourself

Vintage Colonel Sanders KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN Pressure Cooker, Circa 1950s david47jens ( 2415)  Item condition: -- Sale date: Oct 11, 2018 Quantity: 1 Price: US $177.00 Learn more

Shipping and handling

Item location: Webster, Massachusetts, United States

Shipping to: United States

Shipping and handling	To	Service	Estimated delivery*
US $34.99	United States	Economy Shipping (USPS Parcel Select Ground®)	Within 6-13 business days

Seller's description

Back in the 1950s, before he had his own restaurants, Colonel Harland Sanders used
to drive around the country trying to talk individual restaurateurs into selling his
Kentucky Fried Chicken. This is one of the original pressure cookers the Colonel
would bring into your restaurant. It has its metal Kentucky Fried Chicken plaque with
its serial number 28621 (see Scan #2), and still has the original black rubber gasket
(see Scan #4)... although I would be leery of actually trying to cook with it. It weighs
about ten pounds.

Whoever wins  this auction will also receive a free Colonel Sanders hand puppet from
(I believe) the 1970s. See Scans #7 and #8.

If you are pleased with your item(s) upon receipt, please leave positive feedback at
your earliest convenience. That way, I’ll know the transaction was satisfactory. I will
leave feedback for you only after receiving feedback from you.

Listing images

Thanks for your time.

One of My Earliest Memories

Today's post is one of those "just because I feel like it" posts.

I have only three memories from when I lived in my first home, but since my family moved away from there when I was just two years old, I think that's not too shabby.

One of those memories involves the very first toy I can remember getting (shown above). It was called Mr. Joggi. My sister Kathy and I both got one. The toy's hidden wheels, adorned with a series of suction cups, would stick to most surfaces. All we had to do was pull their strings, and then my sister and I would watch the little b@$t@rd$ crawl right up a wall (or, as I can vaguely remember, up a door jamb)!

Mr. Joggi originated circa 1952, manufactured by a company called Tigrett Industries. I've seen three different colors online. There's a blue version, like the one I got when I was roughly two years old, a red one like the one my sister got at the same time, and one that's kind of an aquamarine. I've only seen that last one on eBay.

And speaking of eBay, you know I went on eBay as soon as I thought of it to find the thing, right? I didn't even know what it was called, nor did it look exactly as I remembered it. (I recalled it looking more like Archie Andrews' jalopy in Archie Comics.)

This, of course, is not what Mr. Joggi looked like!

It took a few months, but every so often, I would do an eBay search in the "Vintage & Antique Toys" section, using only the term "suction cup," believe it or not, and eventually, I found the sucker! I bid on the first one I saw, so I ended up with a red one (still in its original package), like my sister had gotten, rather than a blue one like the one I'd owned over fifty years earlier.

Anyone else out there recall any of their earliest favorite toys?

Thanks for your time.

Technology ~~ A "Sepia Saturday" Post!

This is the 200th anniversary of Sepia Saturday! I've participated off and on during the past four years, and didn't want to miss being part of its special week. Therefore, in accordance with this week's guidelines, I'm reprinting my favorite Sepia Saturday post, from March 26th, 2011. This and most (if not all) of this week's other Sepia Saturday entries will be published in a book called -- appropriately enough -- The Best of Sepia Saturday.

(Be sure to check out other Sepia Saturday entries!)

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Every parent, so they say, dreams that his or her child (or children) will have a better life than the parent had. A better education, better financial status, a better marriage (if that applies), etc.

There were more technological advances during the span of my mother's life than I could list, even in a post of my usual entry's length. And say what you will about some of the downsides of "progress," we certainly have it easier in many more ways than those who lived in 1917, when my mother was born.

My mom lived to see high-definition, flat-screen televisions. When she was born, radio hadn't even entered its golden age. Commercial air travel hadn't even gotten off the ground... errr... so to speak. And I could go on.

Even during my own childhood, computers were enormous monstrosities that filled half a room. Using one of those babies as a "laptop" would crush you to death.

Now, of course, we have "personal computers."

And we have eBay.

Thanks to eBay, I now own something my own mother never got to own (due to its expense), but should have: Her high school yearbook, from 1935!

Northern Lights was the name of the yearbooks issued by North High School in Worcester, Massachusetts (during the 1930s, anyway). I recently purchased one at a relatively modest sum from an eBay dealer. The copy I own was originally the property of Alice I. Maki, an attractive blonde whom I can only assume is no longer with us... like my mom.

Upon receiving it, I read the thing cover to cover before leaving the post office lobby, looking for my mother's main yearbook entry, and any other listings, photos, etc. of my mom's senior year. There weren't many. I'm sure her chores at home kept her from being a social butterfly.

But I did expect at least one or two music-related activities, and I wasn't disappointed.

It didn't take me long to spot my mom's photo among the many students shown above.

It would have been nice if I'd thought to look for this a few years ago, when my mom was not only alive, but when her vision was still good enough for her to appreciate such a find. At least I have the comfort of knowing that it's not something I thought of and then characteristically put off doing until it was too late. That would bother me.

Before I even received my package, it occurred to me that, even if she had never owned one herself, my mom might have autographed Alice's copy. And I was right!

That was a nice touch. Almost like a brief note from my mom to her son and daughter, which "only" waited 75 years before we got to see it.

Gotta love eBay.

Thanks for your time.

"Who Knows What eBay Lurks in the Hearts of Men?"

Okay, fellow babies, here is (probably) the last post I'll be doing related to my dealings on eBay circa 2003-2004. But it's not an old listing of mine. Instead, it's comprised of someone else's eBay auction listing, which I forwarded to a friend only after having added my own comments!

A very quick explanation here... although someday I may do a lengthy piece on this subject. (You've been warned.). I am a very big fan of the various incarnations of The Shadow, a character who had a long run in the pulp magazines of the 1930s & 1940s, and an equally long life as a program during the Golden Days of Radio. In the years since then, he's branched out to comic books, motion picture serials & feature films, comic strips, paperback novels, and -- IIRC -- an ill-fated TV show pilot in the late 1950s!

Yeah. Someday I may do a lengthy piece about The Shadow. Hm.

So anyway, here's the unedited text of the original auction -- which, I stress, was not written by yours truly -- but with my own smartass comments added in green text here and there! And keep in mind this was actually emailed to a friend of mine, so its tone may be a bit more conversational than you might expect.

*  *  *  *  *

I don't have the photo (if there was one) from
the original auction listing, but this is the issue of
The Shadow which the seller had up for sale!

Up for auction I have one pulp fiction Shadow. It is The Keeper's Gold. It is dated October 15, 1937. This is one of numerous pulp fiction books I found that belonged to my grandfather. The condition is ok (I know nothing about this stuff). When I say ok, I mean that the pages are all there, you can read them all, the cover and binding are in tact. (Hmm. I've spoken with tact, but in tact? Whuzzat? Or maybe he meant that the cover & binding are in a tact -- whatever "a tact" might be -- rather than a plastic bag or something similar for protection?) THe cover was in better condition until I accidently ripped it today. (I don't think I would have admitted to having done that. Maybe he should have put it into a plastic bag, instead of in a tact.) It is not ripped in two, but the rip does go about 1/2 way across the bottom half of the cover. Go figure, I will be more careful with the others I list. (I hope so, for his sake. That little rip will cost him approximately $20-40!) Anyway, you could sit back relax and read this without any fear of pages falling out or ripping or anything like that happening. (That's comforting... I wonder if you're protected against tornadoes, floods, and famine, too?) I was stored in an outdoor building (He was? Or do you think he meant "It was stored..."?) so the frays on the corners could be mouse bites. I hate to imagine since mice scare me beyond belief. (Okay, maybe this is a woman...  hope so!)

I took photos of what I thought would be of interest to the buyer, but if you need any additional photos or information drop me and email (I don't know if I'd have the nerve to e-mail him/her after dropping him/her, unless it was to apologize. Seriously, lately I have noticed a lot of people using "and" when they mean "an." And spell-checkers naturally don't catch that error.) and I will be more than happy to provide you with any additional information you may need. I am a novice in this area so I may be way off in what is deemed important in this area. I took the basics, cover, back cover, spine, pages and for this one, the inside front cover so you can see the rip, it is displayed better when looking from behind. (Yeah, I had a girlfriend like that... ) It is hard to detect when the magazine is laying down flat. (Yeah, I had a girlfr... wow, deja vu, man!) 

* * * * *

No further comments necessary!

Thanks for your time.

The Ghost with the Most! (Yet Another Woeful Tale from eBay)

I guess you'd have to call today's post "part three in a two-part series," or something. It's an afterthought to my last two eBay-related posts.

A few years ago, at about the same time that my eBay ads were occasionally becoming goofy, a true eBay phenomenon occurred. Briefly: A guy with the user name Teajay101 -- Tommy Johnson, as it turned out -- put up a jar for auction, a jar which (he very seriously proclaimed) contained a ghost! In no time, his detailed listing had received thousands of hits. The final bid was for fifty thousand, nine hundred and twenty-two dollars. The winning bidder stiffed Mr. Johnson, however.

Reaction by eBayers was almost immediate. Countless other dealers put up their own spoof versions of the ad. Some were jokes. Some were actual items offered for sale. The folks at eBay were not amused, and they pulled almost all of the ads, legitimate or otherwise. (The original ad by Teajay101 was deemed okay, though.)

(If you're interested in a little more detail, go here. There's even a book about the whole thing!)

Anyway, I was "there" when it happened, and not to be outdone, I too put up an ad. Two of 'em, in fact.

The first -- a short one which I didn't bother to save -- was called "GHOST in a BAR," and as best I can recall, went something like this:

This ghost walks into a bar, and the bartender says, "Hey, pal, why the long face?" Get it? Oh, wait, silly me! That was supposed to be "This HORSE walks into a bar..." Makes more sense NOW, huh? Sorry.

As you may expect, eBay yanked that one immediately... not that I cared.

Then I decided to offer something that would still be a joke, but would also be a real item to sell. I entitled it "GHOST IN A JAR... I mean, in a Packet!!!"

And here 'tis...

*  *  *  *  *

Yes, this is a real auction!

Okay, did you ever hear that old saying, "Just because you're paranoid, it doesn't mean they're not out to get you?" Well, the other night, I was doing an eBay search for "Space Ghost" items, and I found -- You guessed it! -- the now-infamous Ghost in a Jar listing.

Curious? Of course. I read the description with more than casual interest, but at that time -- at that time, I stress -- I didn't expect it to impact my life. And I might have lived on, unsuspecting, if I hadn't gone back to that search. That's when I discovered that there were now several listings for ghosts in jars, bottles, and other containers!

If these ghosts were indeed so prolific, could there be one -- or more  -- in my apartment?

It took hours, but I tore my apartment apart, looking for ghosts in every covered container. I looked in jars and bottles. I checked the refrigerator; I checked my DVD and videotape cases; I looked in my lunchbox from the 1994 film, The Shadow; I looked in my vintage glass Alka-Seltzer bottle; I even lifted the lid of the head of my Robot Commando.

I was tired, and frustrated, but I knew there had to be at least one ghost in my apartment. There were, by now, dozens on eBay alone! Who knew how many more existed, that were not being auctioned?

Giving voice to that selfsame frustration, I screamed aloud, "Darn you, ghost, where the heck are you?!?" (Actually, "darn" and "heck" weren't the exact words I used... but I digress.)

A tiny voice nearby squeaked out, "Not here!"

I am not easily fooled, trust me! "Not here," indeed! I made my way to a small collection of sealed objects. Specifically, seven packets of Equal sweetener, a well-known sugar substitute. Sealed packets.... Hmm.

I examined them all carefully. All seven appeared to contain powdered sweetener, but I knew that only six held Equal, and one held ectoplasmic residue! I'm about 99% sure I've identified the right one...

And that's the one I've scanned and put up for auction. Why, you may wonder, do I want to get rid of a ghost which wasn't even bothering me in the first place? Well, I've always been one of those people who goes out of his way to avoid looking "fannish" -- I refused to see "Jaws" and "Star Wars" in the theatres when they were initially released, for example -- and since it's obvious that almost everyone else has his or her own "Ghost in a Jar" (or "in a Whatever"), I don't want one.

By the way, as stated above, I'm only 99% sure the packet I'm selling has the ghost in it, so if you buy it, and open it, and get nothing but artificial sweetener for your trouble... Sorry, no refunds!!!

*  *  *  *  *

Of course, the humorless schlubs at eBay yanked that one, too. *sigh*

My next post will be the fourth and (probably) final entry in this... errr... two-part series.

Thanks for your time.

My "Fans" on eBay, Part Two

As mentioned in my last post, I haven't put anything up for sale on eBay for at least a couple of years. Having said that... There was a time when I had a lot of fun with it. Most of my item descriptions were pretty straightforward, but once in a while, especially around 2003 (for no particular reason), I got a little loopy... and something along the lines of what you generally find here on my blog ensued!

The item description reprinted in my previous post received what I can only refer to as "fan letters." So did this, the second one... but I unfortunately don't have any of those emails to share with you. 

So I'll say this now: Thanks for your time!

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1950s HARTZ MOUNTAIN Pet Catalog MUST SEE!!!!

Now, here's an interesting little item. It's called Hartz Mountain® Pet Care, and as the title not-so-subtly implies, it's a pet care booklet...

No, it's a product catalog...

No, it's a pet care booklet!

No, it's a product catalog!

It's a candy mint! It's a breath mint!

It's a floor wax! It's a dessert topping!

*Ahem!*

Sorry...

Actually, it is a Hartz Mountain® product catalog, disguised as a pet care booklet. It purports to tell you "What you should know about canaries, parakeets, dogs, cats, goldfish, tropical fish, turtles..." and then serves as a 32-page (from front cover to back cover), profusely-illustrated shill for (I assume) every contemporary product in the then-mostly-bird-related Hartz Mountain® line! In other words, "what you should know" about your pet is that without Hartz Mountain® products being an omnipresent influence in its life, your silly ol' pet will soon be -- or is better off -- dead!

In addition to food, toys, living quarters, etc., almost any ailment and preventive treatment (and a grooming product or two or three or four... which border on cosmetic surgery!) is effectively handled by our friends at Hartz Mountain® as well. This little (4 3/4" X 6 3/4") book is just too good to believe. And, as you can see by the scans, it is simply full of nifty illustrations (and of course, 100% of them are actual Hartz Mountain® products!)

Speaking of the scans: The booklet is in fairly nice shape for something approximately 50 years old (I received it in a collection of pet books ranging from 1954-1957, so even 'though it's not dated, I'm assuming this catalog is about the same age). The only really noticeable flaw is that, on the front cover, someone traced the inside of the "a" in "Hartz"® in pencil (see first scan, if you have really good eyes). There are no full-color illustrations, but as you can see (once again) by the scans, the entire book is done up in black & white, and Hartz Mountain's® bet-they-woulda-trademarked-it-if-they-coulda orange!

But wait, there's more!

Do you want to teach your parakeet to talk, but don't have the time to do it yourself? The wonderful folks at Hartz Mountain® will sell you a record (78 rpm or 45 rpm) that'll do it for you! And, on a similar note (pardon the pun), if your canary doesn't sing, Hartz Mountain® has another record to sell you, featuring the Hartz Mountain® Orchestra, and their own canaries, as featured on the then-popular (?) coast-to-coast Hartz Mountain® Radio Programs!

Folks, I'm not making this stuff up!

Disclaimer: "An excellent tonic, if your cat is a bit under the weather -- it's a good idea to give him a Hartz Mountain® Catnip Mouse every once in a while." The preceding quote is from the description for Hartz Mountain® Catnip Mice. However, the seller of this eBay auction in no way endorses the supposedly-therapeutic effects of catnip or other kitty stimulants, and furthermore does not advocate substance abuse among felines, canines, porcupines, Gregory Hines, power lines, clinging vines, land mines, venetian blinds, melon rinds, street signs, or anything else, for that matter!!!

(Sorry, folks, it's after 5 A.M. as I write this, and... well... you know...)

My "Fans" on eBay, Part One (Updated)

Although I haven't put anything up for sale on eBay for at least a couple of years, there was a time when I had a lot of fun with it. Most of my item descriptions were pretty straightforward, but once in a while, especially around 2003 (for no particular reason), I got a little loopy... and something along the lines of what you generally find here on my blog ensued!

Believe it or not, two of my more off-beat listings received what I can only refer to as "fan letters." Here's one of those listings. My next post will feature a second example.

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1930s MOVIE STAR SCRAPBOOK Famous & Obscure

This is an incredible collection! Forty-seven pages of clippings, comprising at least seven years of Hollywood history (1931-1937 inclusive, from all indications)! Someone lovingly glued all this stuff on lined paper, then just-as-lovingly placed them in a 2-ring binder. They even took the time to use glued reinforcement stickers on all the little punch-holes! On both sides of the paper, even! Serious project, this!

There are some incredible full-page shots of Maureen O'Sullivan, Fredric March, Lillian Bond, an overwhelmingly sultry-looking Myrna Loy, Gilbert Roland, Robert Montgomery, Marion Marsh (see scan), Anita Page, an even younger Robert Montgomery, John Barrymore as "Svengali" in, well, "Svengali," Lupe Velez, Nazimova, June MacCloy, Loretta Young & Spencer Tracy in "A Man's Castle," John Boles, Norma Shearer, Marion Marsh, Pola Negri, Miriam Hopkins, and your favorite & mine, Alexander Kirkland (see third scan)! "Alexander Kirkland?" Uhhh, yeah, Alexander Kirkland. I never heard of him before I started going through this scrapbook, but he gets a whole darned page to himself. Who'da thunk it?

Oh, yeah, almost forgot: There's one more full-page photo. It's an absolutely gorgeous shot of Jean Harlow aping "Venus de Milo." (Sorry, I won't scan that one fer ya. Bid, baby, bid!) Ummm... okay... I didn't actually forget it... I was gonna scarf it for myself... Heck, you never would have known! But I didn't... because I'm honest... because I'm fair-minded... because I'm stupid...

[By the way, fellow babies, I'm gonna share something with you that the eBayers never got to see! Here's the scan of the Jean Harlow shot. I sold the scrapbook, but scanned Ms. Harlow -- and bled out the color to "reverse" the aged look of the scrapbook page -- for myself before I did so!]

 

So, what else? Some pages has... Oops, I mean, some pages have... (Starting to sound like Leo Gorcey, here!) gorgeous two-shots of such luminaries as Garbo, Bebe Daniels, and Vilma Banky. And admit it, you've always wanted to own a scrapbook with an entire page dedicated to Vilma Banky, haven't you? Come on now, 'fess up. Haven't you?

Rounding out the issue are one or more shots of the following (Deep breath, here): Toby Wing, Shirley Temple, Alice Faye, Rochelle Hudson (*sigh*), Billie Dove, Baby LeRoy, Johnnie Weissmuller, Dorothy Mackaill, Joan Blondell, Marion Davies, Leila Hyams, Peggy Shannon, Bette Davis (in a swimsuit, believe it or not!), Lilyan Tashman, Marlene Dietrich, Ben Lyon, Constance Cummings, Arline Judge, Jack Oakie, Douglas Fairbanks (Senior) & Mary Pickford, Helen Twelvetrees, a stunningly exotic-looking Claudette Colbert (see photo above, lower right -- but don't get your hopes up, guys, or haven't you heard...?), Dorothy Lee, Warner Baxter, Janet Gaynor, Jeanette MacDonald, George Brent, Ruth Chatterton, Ricardo Cortez, Hugh Herbert, Dickie Moore, Ann Harding, Dolores Del Rio, Joan Bennett, Mary Astor, Bert Wheeler, Jack Mulhall,Gary Cooper, Max Baer, Walter Huston, Sally Eilers, Flora Robson, Victor Jory, Mae West, Cary Grant, Jack La Rue, Ida Lupino, Virginia Cherrill, Jackie Cooper & his brother Bobby Cooper, Mae Clarke, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Alice White, Marion Shilling, Kaye Francis, Lyle Talbot, Rose Hobart, Constance Bennettt, Carole Lombard, Natalie Talmadge, Mary Brian, Kathleen Key, Betty Furness, Marjorie Rambeau, sultry Mary Duncan (I never heard of her before, and I am so sorry for that!), Tallulah Bankhead, Lee Tracy... *yawn*... Oh, darn, I really wanted to name everybody (Can't you tell?), but I'm beat! I'm about a dozen short of the whole list. Anybody else worth mentioning? Oh, yeah. Clark Gable.

Seriously, I wonder why people like Clark Gable, Fred Astaire, and Gary Cooper get one crummy little still here or there, while Alexander Kirkland gets a full page?!? What is up with that?!?

By the way, anybody who is really interested in Alexander Kirkland and his films should click here. (I tend to research things once my interest is aroused!) I know I learned a couple of interesting facts! Kirkland's third wife was Gypsy Rose Lee, but the child born during that marriage was actually fathered by director Otto Preminger!

And hey, kids, see that scan with the shadowed profile hovering expectantly over Anita Page? Guess who that is! "Valentino?" No, he was already dead. "John Barrymore?" Nope, wrong again. "William Powell?" Wrong again! "Rod La Rocque?" Nope, he didn't play "The Shadow" for a couple more years! Give up? It's Buster Keaton!

(Now, how'd I arrive at the page count? Well, the front cover of the binder has the cover from an old issue of Movie Classic glued to it. This cover features a Marland Stone painting of Ruby Keeler and a rather effeminate-looking Dick Powell (see scan). So I counted it. The back cover sports a 1937 Modern Screen cover (It's not dated, but I happen to own a copy of the original... ) featuring an Earl Christy painting of Olivia de Havilland... ummm... enjoying a peppermint stick (see scan... Lord, things seemed so much more innocent, then...). So I counted that. The inside front cover sports a large color photo of Anna Sten, and the inside back cover lists the addresses of  dozens of movie stars, whether said stars worked for major studios (Paramount, MGM, Universal, etc.) or were "free-lance players," like Harold Lloyd, Ralph Bellamy, Neil Hamilton (and this was years before the Batman TV show!), etc. So I counted both of those. Finally, the binder holds 22 pages of loose-leaf notebook paper, and all but one side has something on it!)

Last Chance!

Hmm. I ran this sucker for seven days with an opening bid of $24.99, and nobody bid. (Wahhh.) So this is it, folks: This time I'll run it as a five day auction with an opening bid of $14.99. If it doesn't sell this time, I'll grab the Jean Harlow page mentioned above for my own collection and burn the rest. No joke. 

*  *  *  *  *

Well, fellow babies, as mentioned in my brief aside above, I didn't have to burn the thing. It sold for about $30, if I recall correctly.

I received a few emails from fellow eBayers, as I mentioned. Here are quotes from two of them:

~~"I don't have a question. I just want to compliment you on your auction. I thoroughly enjoyed reading through it. Your comments about Alexander Kirkland cracked me up! It's not often that I get to read something so enjoyable. Thanks and I hope you do well on this auction."

~~"Hmmm, it's spectacularly detailed, grammatically correct, and there's that delightful hint of being off color without possibly offending the severely conservative. Even more disturbing than that rather suggestive peppermint stick illustration (someone passed their casting couch audition with flying colors!), is that the name Alexander Kirkland was ringing a dim bell. I plead guilty to reading the autobiographies of Eric Lee Preminger and Gypsy Rose Lee. It's nice to meet you. I'll keep an eye out for your future auctions."

Today's post was for Subby... kinda. Part Two will be for Betsy... again, kinda.

 Thanks for your time.