It was a hoarder sale....one of those houses practically exploding with junk. Packed to the rafters with treasures of all sorts.
As ramshackle a sale as I've ever been too....the upstairs packed with old newspapers and magazines from days of old to the present.
I braved the mildewy stench, as did a few brave others, just to see what may have been hidden beneath the rubble...and there I found it.
Cover design by Rex Cleveland of Rhinelaner, WI (Home of the HODAG!)
An "Art" magazine of sorts. "Success" from 1933.....never heard of any such mag....for a buck who could go wrong?
Well....a little research filled in the blanks....remember those adds in the back of old comic books & Sports Illustrated that asked "Do you like to draw?" Yuppers, this magazine was basically an advertisement for the company selling the home course teaching a person to become a "Commercial Artist."
The front cover has the remnants of some 1968 "Happy Easter" stamps stuck to it....I'm not going to attempt to remove them....why damage the cover?
"The Federal School of Applied Cartooning, founded in 1914 as a branch of the Bureau of Engraving, Inc., to train illustrators for both the growing printing industry and the Bureau itself. Artists who received this training through these home study courses entered the fields of newspapers, printing and advertising.[1] Joseph Almars (1884–1948), who was born in Minneapolis, was both the vice president of the Bureau of Engraving and the president of Art Instruction, Inc."
A pretty snazzy way to show off the people who had actually completed the courses and gone on to a career as an artist! Charles M.Schulz, the creator of the PEANUTS comics (Charlie Brown & Snoopy....you blockhead!) was an instructor for the school at one time!
Anywhoo....this ancient mag is from 1933 and has some awesome art in its pages....some brilliant examples of "Art Deco" and "Art Nouveau"!
Lets assume the magazine was sent to a "Ms. Jean A. Watch" of apartment 12B
And now...the art! Enjoy!
Magazine is in great shape.
Good old "Shedd's"! Estate sales & Antique malls alike stock the artifacts of a once thriving business....a throwback to an age when DETROIT was the manufacturing center of the USA.
The Shedd's-Bartush Co. of Detroit began life as a producer of margarine & peanut butter in 1945. Salad dressing and other food-stuffs would follow.
You can still see a remnant of the original company in the name of the popular (not so much these days) margarine "Shedd's Country Crock". Numerous sell-offs and mergers stuck the blade in the Shedd's-Bartush empire.
I recently picked up a SHEDD's brand coffee tin....the 1lb variety circa the late 1940's/1950's.
Same color scheme as the peanut butter jars. I'm always looking to add to a "set"! Shedd-Bartush Foods, INC of Detroit Michigan!
Big fan of the old school tins....Das Bobo's sire related to me how he can still remember his Mother cutting her hands on the sharp edges of "those coffee cans"! No wonder the plastic lid was soon to be en vouge!
I have several other Shedd's containers.....Glasses,other jars from other eras & other products, various other buckets....but I prefer the older style with the Elfs.....just seems to represent that whimsical optimism of the 1950's...as if the "good times" for DETROIT and the USA would never end.
Everybody knows "Mr Peanut", Robert Downey Jr was his voice for 5 minutes recently! PLANTERS Peanuts are the industry standard, the Coke-a-Cola of snack foods. But Peanut butter? Yeah, they had their hands in everything at one time.
I came across this old jar in the Metro area, LOCAL estate sale....one of those that catch your eye & you can't believe what you're looking at!
One of those rare old jars that not only has the paper label intact but the original lid to boot! I usually pass on all but the most desirable jars without labels....otherwise its a lid on any old jar, right? But this gem had both! And it's pretty exceptional condition!
Dating this old relics can be a bit sketchy....I'm not the type to obsess over old ads on microfiche....OCD for you, not me!
But these ads did recently appear on Ebay....one an actual ad & the other an ancient PLANTERS Coloring book....which help to date the jar.
The top ad is dated 1949...showing a jar of PLANTERS PB with a different label.
The second, a picture of a PLANTERS coloring book from 1947, shows the PB jar with the label the same as the one in my possession! VIOLA!
The lid is in outstanding shape....and the label still has very vivid coloring....a few rips, but otherwise great shape. I did show a picture of the jar to a guy selling PLANTERS memorabilia at a local Bottle & Jar show this fall. He practically flipped out over the condition of the label itself....it was in better shape than anything he had for sale....my luck...."Some days you're the dog, some days you're the hidrant".......
2 ancient(???) Whitman Chocolate tins.....
The 1st, the 1lb tin of the right, I picked up last winter while traveling the West coast of MI with Nosferatu...I liked it due to its style and age....the Art Nouveau style was a favorite of my greatly missed Godmother....she who passed too young & too soon. She had an Art degree from the University of MICHIGAN & passed her love of art on to me...being that I was the only other person in our family with any artistic skill! HA!!!
Anywho....these tins utilized the art of the GRATE Alphonse Mucha (1869-939). Look him & his works up if you're so inclined.
Whitman licensed the art from him & had the Tin-Deco Co of Baltimore make the candy tins in the 1920's.
I picked up the larger 2lb tin recently.....I like sets! I don't have the obsessive malaise...yet!
Reproductions of these tins were made in the late 1980's/early1990....
Now the question: Are these two 90+ year old tins or recent creations?
I've come across the repros....rounded edges and shallower boxes.....but I'm not so optimistic to think these two have survived all these decades in such incredible shape...
Some fading....the occasional dent & scratch....but I've come across others that looked like they'd been dragged down country roads behind a V-8 Ford!
I'll use 'em to store personal effects & heirlooms.....
The image of the woman was produced for the magazine La Plume in 1897...known as "Zodiac" it was a calendar. The image on both tins are stunning...
And regardless of their being authentic or reproductions... I think they are brilliant examples of how everyday items once where made with a dedication to craftsmanship that is long forgotten.
Keep an eye open...I've seen one recently in a nearby antique shop...for a reasonable price at that!
