Intl. Notebook

March 28 2018

FUN KIST

How about a taste of something different?

This nice pin-up style sticker was painted by legendary illustrator Rolf Armstrong for Kist Soda around 1930. Kist was created in 1922 by Citrus Products Company of Chicago, and was soon being manufactured in orange, ginger ale, lemon, and grape flavors. By the time Armstrong was brought in Kist had been licensed by the Quality Beverage Company, also based in Chicago. There’s a bit of conflicting information online concerning the whos and whens, as always, but we just wanted to show you this very rare and pretty piece of Armstrong memorabilia.

Chicago, Kist Soda, Rolf Armstrong

Hollywoodland

October 26 2015

THE BIG SCREENLAND

Screenland was one of the earliest and biggest cinema magazines.

Actress Claire Windsor appears on the front of this October 1923 issue of Screenland magazine, one of the U.S.’s most venerable celeb publications, launched in Los Angeles in 1920 and surviving, under the control of several owners, until finally folding in 1971. The beautiful cover was painted by Rolf Armstrong, and within the magazine’s sprawling 108 pages are Gloria Swanson, Rodolph (aka Rudolph) Valentino, Phyllis Havers, and many other personalities, plus art from John Held, Jr. and writing from Delight Evans and Robert E. Sherwood. You can download your own copy of this here.

Los Angeles, Screenland, Claire Windsor, Alma Rubens, Nita Naldi, Phyllis Haver, John Held Jr., Robert E. Sherwood, Gloria Swanson, Rudolph Valentino, Natacha Valentino, Winifred Shaughnessy, Mae Murray, Rex Ingram, Alice Terry, Martha Mansfield, Rolf Armstrong, Delight Evans, magazine art

Intl. Notebook

March 16 2014

LUCKY PENNIES

Winning against the Odds.

Punchboards such as the one you see above originated during the 1700s, and by the early 1900s were being produced at a rate of millions per year. They hit the peak of their popularity during the 1930s and 1940s and were generally found in bars and other places of merriment. So, what were they? Basically, you’d pay pennies to select numbers and if you punched out the right one you’d win something. That something used to be money, which made these similar to lottery tickets, but when that type of gambling came under legal pressure from state governments, the prizes became goods such as beer, cigarette lighters or, in this case, cigarettes. What makes this Odd Pennies punchboard particularly collectible is the art by pin-up king Rolf Armstrong. Probably 1940-ish on this item.

Update: We got an email from Joe R., who writes: “RE: the Lucky Pennies post, the Lucky Strikes package went from green to white in 1942 (the famous “Lucky Strike Green has gone to war” ad campaign), so there’s a good possibility that this punchboard goes back to the 1930s.

Joe: Thanks for writing in. Now that you mention it, we think you’re right. We took a detailed look around the interwebs and some of the other punch boards Armstrong illustrated actually go all the way back to the late 1920s, apparently. So mid-1930s seems like a good deduction on the date here.

Rolf Armstrong

Vintage Pulp

December 3 2013

DEAL US IN

What do you say we scope out some girls?

In 1894 a motion picture device called Mutoscope was invented. It worked by flipping a series of cards printed with still photographs. The cards featured slightly different versions of the same scene shot in sequence, and viewing them in rapid succession created a motion picture. Basically, the Mutoscope was an arcade attraction, and the films, viewed by one customer at a time through a peephole, often featured racy material. Much later, during the 1940s, a company called the International Mutoscope Reel Company began publishing what it called mutoscope cards. These were never meant to be used in actual Mutoscopes—instead they were cheaply printed pin-up paintings that people bought as novelties. We came across a set at an auction site recently, and so you see some here. These are collectible today because the artists were luminaries such as Earl Moran, Zoe Mozert, Billy Devorss and Gil Elvgren, and we have examples from those four and others below.

International Mutoscope Reel Company, Earl Moran, Rolf Armstrong, Zoe Mozert, Billy Devorss, Gil Elvgren, mutoscope cards

Vintage Pulp

October 22 2013

FUNNY SIDE UP

So these two fraternity brothers walk into a bar...

Below are five more covers of College Humor magazine with art by Rolf Armstrong. During the 1920s and 1930s, Armstrong made his income illustrating sheet music covers and magazines, and later he became known as a portraitist, painting likenesses of Mary Pickford, Greta Garbo, and Boris Karloff, among others. He also worked in advertising for RCA, and was a sought after calendar artist. We’ll have more from him soon, and you can see our previous post of five College Humor covers here.

College Humor, Rolf Armstrong, magazine art

Vintage Pulp

September 25 2012

SCHOOL GIRLS

Learning to have a good laugh.

Above, five covers of the American humor magazine College Humor, which ran from the 1920s to 1940s and counted among its contributors Robert Benchley, Groucho Marx, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Zelda Fitzgerald, and many other leading literary personalities of the age. This group, with covers by pin-up artist Rolf Armstrong, appeared between 1928 and 1930.

College Humor, Rolf Armstrong, Robert Benchley, Groucho Marx, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Zelda Fitzgerald, magazine art

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

September 12

1994—White House Hit by Airplane

Frank Eugene Corder tries to crash a stolen Cessna 150 into the White House, but strikes the lawn before skidding into the building. The incident causes minor damage to the White House, but the plane is totaled and Corder is killed.

September 11

1973—Allende Ousted in Chile

With the help of the CIA, General Augusto Pinochet topples democratically elected President Salvador Allende in Chile. Pinochet’s regime serves as a testing ground for Chicago School of Economics radical pro-business policies that later are applied to other countries, including the United States.

September 11

2001—New York and Washington D.C. Attacked

The attacks that would become known as 9-11 take place in the United States. Airplane hijackings lead to catastrophic crashes resulting in the collapse of the World Trade Center in New York City, the destruction of a portion of The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and a passenger airliner crash in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Approximately 36% of Americans doubt the official 9-11 story.

September 10

1935—Huey Long Assassinated

Governor of Louisiana Huey Long, one of the few truly leftist politicians in American history, is shot by Carl Austin Weiss in Baton Rouge. Long dies after two days in the hospital.

September 9

1956—Elvis Shakes Up Ed Sullivan

Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time, performing his hit song “Don’t Be Cruel.” Ironically, a car accident prevented Sullivan from being present that night, and the show was guest-hosted by British actor Charles Laughton.