Santa Catcher, Naughty or Nice?

When I was young, Santa was held in awe. A respected, slightly feared, mysterious man that knew all, saw all, and rewarded the good while reminding the bad that there were consequences for their actions. Would I have ever considered trapping him? I don't think so.

That's why this vintage "Santa Claus Catcher" and last week's Cul De Sac Sunday comic strip are a bit surprising to me. They both involve catching (trapping) Santa with some sort of device. It must be some sideline Christmas thing that a fringe element of children want to do. It's downright crazy...or is it? I mean, getting his current bag of toys is obvious, but are there other unknown benefits? Does trapping Santa give you ultimate power over him? Do you get anything you'd ever want, all year long? Does Santa have to do your bidding, like a Genie, or to a lesser degree, a Zombie? Perhaps there is more to this "Catching Santa" thing than I care to admit. It is intriguing, but walks the naughty line dangerously close. Santa might not take to kindly to an attempt to trap him, or the greed it implies

This trap (most likely from the '60s) is great, it's like a toothed bear style, you set it, and then place it in hopes to catch big red. I guess Santa doesn't feel any pain, or you better hope he doesn't. You'd need to open your own Coal store if he does. But lets be honest, the odds of it working...zip. This is Santa we're talking about, you don't even see him, let alone trap him. There are also a couple of sheets of paper on North Pole stationary, they basically say "...better luck next time." and then a secret parent's envelope with a small piece of red cloth they're supposed to put in the trap. Kind of a "Shucks! Just missed him!" thing.

I just don't want to know if Santa ever has to chew his own leg off because of one of these traps. Ahhh heck, what am I saying, nobody will ever catch him...I hope. I guess I still hold him in awe.

Merry Christmas!!

Cool Finds: Santa Claus Funnies

Last weekend I ran across a stack of old comics at a show, lots of great Dell, Gold Key, and some '60s Marvel. This one is perfect for this week's cool finds, a 1957 Santa Claus Funnies. Santa is no different than any other hero, maybe better. He has "seeing" powers, only is needed one night a year, and he gives you stuff instead of just saving you...well that last one's a toss-up. Anyway, it makes sense that he gets his own comic. I can't wait until there's a Ghost Rider, Santa Claus crossover.

The cover art is pretty impressive...fun stuff.




Happy Holidays!!

I'm still...

... in the process of moving my office. So here's a YOUNG Stevie Wonder and Diana Ross. Don't ask why, just watch...

A Pause for Fall

Worst Game Ever

Oh Milton Bradley, what were you thinking? I mean the title alone is snooze worthy, "Conserving Natural Resources Game and Poster Cards". You could have at least tricked us with "Eco Eco Dinosaurs" and just not had any dinosaurs involved, or "Don't Break the World" with a cartoon guy balancing the earth on a stick...and then make the boring contents be the same. But you made the title a warning, which I suppose is a good thing. Because no kid (nor adult) in their right mind would consider playing this game. Was this some sort of community service in game form, did some kids choke on the small plastic pieces from one of your fun games, so the government punished you into making this? That's gotta be it, because this is like cardboard Ambien.

Now, I'm all for conservation, and I love the earth, but I don't like to be tricked. Educational stuff that's disguised as "fun" bothers me, in fact it even bothered me when I was young, and I didn't fall for it then either. Oh, word games...lame, flash cards...lame, conserving natural resources game and poster cards...lame squared. See, I just squared "lame", and it was somewhat educational...that was lame. School's supposed to be boring, and toys/games are supposed to be fun. We go through one...to get to the other. I'm not sure which one didn't get the memo, Milton or Bradley, but they both needed to be fired.


"Who wants to play Conserving Natural Resources Game and Poster Cards??"

"I wanna be Stripmining!" "I'm Clearcutting!"

It's not lost on me that this game is for schools, and since it's from 1971, this ecology theme was popular (Hippies). But even back then, if I saw the teacher grabbing this down from a shelf, I'd be like "Ohhhh crap!", and my mind would think about Scooby Doo.

When I first got this, I thought the cover was sun faded, but no. It's monochromatic blue, like the printer ran out of the other two pigments needed to make the full spectrum. "Ehhh, no big deal. Nobody's gonna play it anyway. Ship em out!". It sucks, and the game board, conservation cards, spinner, all of the game parts, they all suck too. I know that's a generalization, but what do you expect from me...I didn't pay attention in school!

Here's the scene, a large cave-like room, flames, distant screams, and a devil guy sitting at a desk. There are all these tattered, soot covered lost souls wandering around and sitting at tables. A fresh guy walks in, suit is still clean, hair all combed. Devil guy looks up. "Hello, Mr Jones. Welcome to Hell. You'll be spending eternity in this room, but the good news is, the game closet is right over there." He points his pitchfork toward the closet doors. Mr. Jones walks over. "Oh, well...this isn't so bad." He opens both doors wide, and all he sees are dusty bare shelves, except for one thing...Conserving Natural Resourses Game and Poster Cards. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"


Fin

Down Time

I'm a bit busy re-arranging my office space right now...soooo, I won't have a lot of new posts. I'll be back at it in a few weeks. In the mean time watch some fine television shows, read a book, take a walk, enjoy the internets. The world is your oyster!

Cool Find: Sept 12

If you were a kid in the '60s or '70s, you might remember Funny Face drink mixes by Pillsbury. They were a Kool-Aid like drink mix, but each flavor had a character, rather than one main guy like Mr. Kool-Aid...OH YEAH! Funny Face had some pretty cool mail-order promo stuff too, the drink cups, some ramp-walkers, pillows, and the larger item in my picture there, the Pitcher.

I've had all the cups (mugs) for some time now, but have been looking for a pitcher. I finally found the Goofy Grape pitcher at the Coburg Oregon Antique Fair this last weekend. It'll look cool in my advertising collection.

An interesting note about the character names. There were two flavors, Injun Orange and Chinese Cherry, that were changed out of race sensitivity. They were later called Jolly Olly Orange, and Choo-Choo Cherry. You can see them in the below commercial.