Sunday, September 2, 2012

From the readers: Contest results, great illustrations, Cairo and more

Wow! There were so many wonderful responses for this caption contest. I love the time that everyone put into it.

Here are your suggested captions for this vintage photo of young lady on the telephone:

  • Justin Mann: "You cancelled your credit card. I need you not to cancel your credit card and I need you to up your limit."
    (Bravo, Justin! A pitch-perfect reference to Paul Thomas Anderson's "Punch-Drunk Love.")
  • Flowerbell: "Hi Grammy. Thanks for the phone you sent for my birthday. Am I supposed to text by banging it against the wall in Morse Code?"
  • Leslie Ann: "Oh Golly, Mr. Smith, I will be a swell receptionist! You won't be sorry!"
  • Wendyvee: "Gee Willikers, Betty. The new partner at Daddy's practice looks JUST LIKE Davy Jones ... only taller!"
  • Man of la Book: "In a moment later to be lost to history, Wendy Watson asked the famous inventor if he would like to 'chat' or order a pizza."

The grand prize goes to Justin Mann. But, to paraphrase Oprah, EVERYBODY GETS EPHEMERA!!!

So, I need Justin, Flowerbell, Leslie Ann, Wendyvee and Man of la Book to email me at sportseditorotto@gmail.com with their snail-mail addresses. And I'll be sending out some groovy ephemera to thank you for your participation.

I might also be sending Justin a lot of pudding.

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Here's the rest of latest roundup of Papergreat reader comments...

"Mind not the Blush that burns your cheek" (plus gratuitous goats): Cindy Snyder writes: "I love the cat ... and the goats. I also think the vintage advice is still applicable today."

The "vintage advice" on how to handle "proper conversations" that Snyder is referring to included: "Conversation is like the measles or chicken-pox -- contagious. If your friends are ungrammatical, vulgar, coarse, or profane, it will be hard for you to become a clean, forceful speaker. Associate with a good conversationalist if you would speak well."

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Saturday's postcards: Two greetings from 100+ years ago: Blueskyartist, who authors the Blue Sky Journey blog, writes: "Hey, I have that Remember Me postcard with the gorgeous rose on it! I love old postcards! I like to use them in my collages, but some of them are so wonderful that I can't part with them! The beautiful illustrations, the messages on the back from 'the voices of the past' ... how can I let them go? A lot of times I just use my copier and make copies to use in my art!"

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Faint doodles inside a very old arithmetic textbook: Eggcup writes: "The doodle of the bunny looks exactly like a page from Beatrix Potter's Benjamin Bunny or Peter Rabbit — there's an illustration where Peter is crying. Not sure if the timing would line up, though!"

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The wonderful world of comic book advertisements: Keir writes: "I remember the Meat Loaf ad and not knowing who the hell he was, or why he would be referred to thus."

Keir, by the way, authors a fascinating blog called Traces of Evil, which discusses remaining Nazi sites in Germany and has topics ranging from Nuremberg to Leni Riefenstahl to "Star Wars" to Königsplatz to Hitler's bunker.

And so now we've connected comic books, Marvin Lee Aday and Adolf Hitler, through the strange interconnecting power of Papergreat and its readers.

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"Safety on the Farm" — a nightmarish coloring book for kids: There were many responses to this one.
  • Anonymous writes: "The hapless farmer has the same eyes as 'the Man'! Now THAT'S scary!"
  • Justin Mann of the Justin's Brew Review blog writes: "Note the incorrect caption at the bottom of page 8 of the PDF booklet, which I thank you for sharing. These are some crazy coloring book pictures! My favorite is the one you featured that says to check the position of people before starting up machinery. I suppose one can never be too careful. I certainly hope I never suffer such a fate!"
  • And Dianne writes: "'Stop machinery before making adjustments...' is applicable to my great uncle who lost his right arm in a corn picker. A tractor rolled on a steep hill and killed a second family member. My uncle was killed as a child when the horse he was riding bolted out of the barn. Farm life IS dangerous, and that doesn't include the pets that were killed in farm accidents."

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Saturday's postcard: A color-coordinated Holiday Inn: Anonymous writes: "The hotel now serves as an assisted living facility."

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Standard Farmer's Almanac 1905 excerpts, Part 2: Anonymous, referring to the almanac's advice regarding medical emergencies, writes: "If someone pushed a pin into my skin when I wasn't quite dead, I'd rise up and punch their lights out!"

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Three old postcards from Cairo: Origano writes: "The view taken for the historic city is taken from its eastern side, you can see in the back the two minarets of bab Zuwaila, and the mosque in the front with the two domes is Um al-Sultan Shaaban mosque."

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Afternoon Potluck: Vintage dust jacket and a Motor Girls book cover: There are two comments so far on this one.
Unfortunately, I was unable to get out of any of the three speeding tickets I've received during my lifetime.

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"Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you're fired.": Mel Kolstad of Ephemeraology writes: " I love this, as 'Glengarry' is one of my favorite movies of all time. Thanks for the laugh (and your 'Shopping skills are above reproach!)."

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1970s Woodsy Owl bookmark: "Give a Hoot! Don't Pollute.": Some comments on this one focused on the new version of Woodsy owl.
  • Anonymous writes: "The 'modern' Woodsy is definitely creepy."
  • And Mel Kolstad adds: "So awesome. And like most recognizable characters, the redux is always worse. If Woodsy ain't broke, don't fix 'em, I say! P.S. Don't forget - Frank Welker also did some wonderful Simpsons work, too."

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Halloween Countdown #1: Nightmare toilets: Wendyvee writes: "Oh, that zany Aunt Lydia. My paternal grandmother was obsessed with bathroom accoutrements ... she would have loved these booklets."

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"The Book of Lists" and my love of browsing books #fridayreads: Wendyvee writes: "My grandparents were big fans of 'browsing books' and I used to love skipping back and forth through their copies of Guinness World Records, strange facts compilations, and other such tomes. Hmmmm, I might have to dig out one of my old copies of Roger Ebert reviews."

And my mom adds: "What? No browsing of the 1892 reproduction of the Sears Catalog??!!" (Yes, that was a great one, too, when I was younger, Mom!)

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Get duly inducted into the Silent Mysteries of the Far East: Robert Rainey writes: "My grandfather has one of these Imperial Domain of the Golden Dragon cards. He also had an Order of the Deep card, along with many diary logs of his time in navy. I never knew my grandfather for he died before my birth."

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Guest post: Smull's Legislative Hand-Book for 1881: Wendyvee writes: "That book is gorgeous and the map is even cooler! I got a real chuckle out of 'Beach Bottom.'"

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Wonderful illustrations from two old school textbooks: Buffy Andrews of Buffy's Write Zone writes: "This post cracked me up. How about 'The Barefoot Boy' who looks more like a man."

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"Remember the Golden School Days and the fun we've had together...": Mel Kolstad writes: "Chris, this is really cool! Thank you so much for sharing this. Thanks to you, I've discovered the best name in the universe — Ruel Funkhouser."

And Wendyvee adds: "I love how researching one thing leads to another. I agree with Mel on that gem of a name. Ruel Funkhouser is a fantastic name."

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