Collected Oddities

German Love Postcard Besiegt

2011-02-15T14:47:00.000-06:00

A day late, and at least a few dollars short on posting this vintage German postcard. Love, love, love. I hope all had a reasonable Valentine's Day. I don't know about you, I'm not real attracted to children with guns and spike-head helments kissing on me. My German grandmother is spinning in her grave right now...sorry. This is pre-nazi Germany, around 1910-15 or so. WWI era. Oh yeah, yet another time Germany tried to rule the world. It's really hard sometimes (ok, most of the time) to have pride for my ancestral homeland. Don't hate on me because I'm more than half German...

Frosty Winter Day

2011-01-31T09:35:00.000-06:00

This is kind of how I feel at this stage of winter...It's cold, there is crap on the ground, I'm wearing way too many clothes and I've got some stupid lump of snow with a couple of sticks poking out of it in my yard. Is this Frosty on a bad day? Is this me on a bad day? Where the hell is his face, hat, etc...this little girl seems somewhat confused. Me too. Maybe this is an alien and he wants to phone home. Help me out here folks, my brain is frozen. I found this photo in a pile of junk at an estate sale, maybe this is your long lost self, I sure don't know who it is or how everything turned out after the snow melted...

Saturday Night Fever at the Scientific Supply Store

2010-12-26T15:33:00.000-06:00

Ok, ok,ok...now I know it looks as if this dapper guy is ready to go bust some moves with John Travolta at the disco, but what the hey is he doing at the store with all the microscopes?? Maybe preparing some slides to examine after going to the club? Slides of what you might ask? Use your imagination on that!

Good god almighty, I'm glad folks don't dress like this intentionally any more. What were we all thinking back then?? Probably about the same thing we think now when we buy a snuggie or other weird crapadelicious thing. But hey, Merry, merry xmas and such to all and Happy New Year!

Happy Birthday White Bread Beer Boy!

2010-09-12T21:33:00.000-05:00

Oh lordy, lord. What the hell kind of party food is this? I see cake, white bread, beer and ketchup...oh yum! Looks like an endless childhood nightmare of mine. My Grandpa Bob used to make me pickle sandwiches..and the best of the best, butter and yellow mustard on white bread. What were these adults thinking? It's a damn wonder I didn't end up in a trailer park with about 3 dirty babies hanging off of me!

Don't Look!

2010-08-28T21:43:00.000-05:00

Ok, here's a great shot! I think she was finally sick of all the picture taking....At least that's what it looks like to me. Or maybe she just doesn't like the way she looks? I've been away from the blog for a while. Moved and I'm still getting adjusted. Will try and post on a more regular basis.

Party Time Paradise!

2010-07-15T08:45:00.000-05:00

What can I say about this image? What will Scott say? What will the numerous asian character comments be? (damn, I wish I could read those...anyone, anyone?) One guy, two women, beer bottles and a straw hat...sounds like a party to me! Let 'er rip folks...give me all the comments you can, I've been living up on a mountain top in the woods and the internet is hard to get up there, so I'll post when I can, yee haw!

Dancing Girl

2010-06-24T13:36:00.000-05:00

I'm a dancin', dancin', dancin' fool! Here is my odd photo for today. No idea of who she is or what or why she is doing...I'm sitting in a coffee house in the middle of nowhere soaking up the ac and jesus music. Wow, got to love that!

WW2 Soldier Photo

2010-06-10T15:03:00.000-05:00

Interesting posed WW2 soldier...Love the backdrop,maybe in the Pacific, but hey, then again, maybe in New Jersey. And no disrespect meant, I would swear this is really a woman in soldier boy drag. Hey, it's possible...comments please?

I Got a White Tee Shirt!

2010-05-21T16:26:00.001-05:00

I don't know why, but the full on, white tee shirt boy, staring straight into the camera, and the starkness of this shot really speaks to me. Does that even make sense? (I know, maybe too many comma's or a run on and on sentence...) Don't care, I just think it's such a great shot, I may have to do a piece of art based on this. It's all about the boy and his shirt! Maybe it's just that all of my shirts have coffee and food stains down the front of them now that I am older, and I'm jealous of his 'whitey whites'...

Ride 'Em Cowgirl!

2010-05-06T09:51:00.000-05:00

...and run away little doggie! This is so incredibly strange I hardly know what to say. The dog is frightened, the horse looks freaked and I don't know what else...I hope she doesn't have a gun in that hand. Yee haw, ride em cowgirl!

Bunches of Babies

2010-04-29T20:37:00.000-05:00

This is a kind of creepy vintage German Postcard. Why would anyone want to send a postcard of babies sitting on the pot?? I'm so confused. The toddler on the left is smaller than the babies...what happened here? Radioactive waste perhaps? And how about the happy dancing egg? The baby in the center somewhat resembles George W. Bush I think. Come on folks, especially you Scott...I'm looking for comments!

Famous for being famous #2

2010-04-26T08:40:00.004-05:00

More of the 'Famous for being famous' Iris Love dog party at Tavern on the Green invitations from past years. Manhattan socialite and her ga-jillion dogs! I had the extreme dis-pleasure of staying at her 'dog house' in Vermont several years ago (I think that's where it is...I have tried to wipe away all memory of this experience). She literally had (and I have no way of knowing if this is still so) a real house that is full of dogs and a 'dog wrangler' living there taking care of them. That's all I'll say about this. I prefer to leave it up to your imagination....suffice to say, it was 'interesting'.

Famous for being famous #1

2010-04-21T22:51:00.002-05:00

Here's some really fine weirdness for your viewing pleasure! It just so happens that at one time in my life I had 'access' to the finer things in life...and oh yeah, the strange relatives that go with it. My ex is related to Ms. Iris Love, who is known as 'being famous for being famous". We were always invited to these 'dog parties' at Tavern On The Green in NYC during Westminster, but I never had the opportunity to go. I'm quite sure it was a freak show, and so I'm not so sad about that. But, saving the invites and posting them here is even more fun than hanging with the rich and famous and their dogs. La-te-freaking-dah!

Good Golly, What a coat!

2010-04-12T21:13:00.000-05:00

Good lord, what a coat this guy has on. His wife looks so demure and washed out in her bland white dress. He is one fine dandy in his bowtie, hat and oh my god, that coat. I kind of wish I had one of those myself! I wonder where he got that? It looks like it is around the 1920's and in the middle of no freaking where!

Happy Girl-Happy Wallpaper!

2010-03-28T22:02:00.000-05:00

Isn't this just the happiest little girl ever? Standing in front of the most bizarre 'happy' wallpaper! I really don't know what more to say. Don't know who she is or where this photo was taken. I hope the rest of her life turned out as happy as she was on this day. This photo is from the 50's I think, so she may be around my age. I know I'm pretty darned happy today looking at this photo!!

2 Women with Dog

2010-03-16T22:51:00.000-05:00

I don't even know what to say about this strange photo...what in the world is going on here? I'm quite sure this is way before LBJ and his famous' lifting of the beagle by the ears' event. Maybe they, in fact are related to him, or even taught him about lifting the dog's ears?? God only knows who these gals are and why they are wearing those clothes and lifting that poor dogs ears.. I just dug this out of a bin of old photos at an estate sale, so I know nothing about it. Ok, Scott...comments??

Brother and Sister

2010-03-12T14:49:00.000-06:00

Such a great image! I believe this is a brother and sister taken in the 1940's. Not much to say about them. I bought a big box of photos from the best estate sale ever. They were in it, along with many other captured moments in their family. I wonder what happened to all of them that their earthly belongings ended up in a big metal warehouse with the likes of me digging through them?

Little Boy with Turkeys

2010-02-28T20:13:00.000-06:00

OMG this is such an strange image. Love the helmet and goggles! I bet the turkeys wonder what is up with the football. Hell, I wonder what is up with the turkeys, football and the parents setting this shot up?! Are the turkeys on this guy's team or what?? And who or what is the other team?

2010-02-19T20:17:00.000-06:00

These two cowboys look like they are out of central casting...I'm pretty sure this photo is from around the turn of the last century. These guys are the real deal, I wish I knew who they were and where this photo was taken. Just another snapshot from my collection. Please note: Who ever keeps leaving the comments in asian characters....I can't read it, so I delete it. Sorry, I invite and love comments, but they need to be english or english translation folks!

What Happened To Baby?

2010-02-06T21:56:00.001-06:00

This is a vintage 1950's snapshot from my collection. Have no idea who or where this is. I think the image is amazingly strange. What's the story here? We've got a car, a baby, and a baby doll. Where are the grown ups? And who drove the car over the doll? And is the baby sad about this? Hard to tell. Maybe the baby was driving...

On Prom Night

2010-01-26T19:20:00.000-06:00

I have to say, I am so glad I did not go to a single Prom night during my high school years, ever. I know some folks might say I missed out on a true ritual or rite of passage. That's ok. After looking at this photo of unknown teens with their ruffles and balloons, I am sure I missed nothing! Yet, I do love this photo. It captures a classic time and place. I'm guessing this is 1970's or 80's.

2 Dancers

2010-01-11T19:20:00.000-06:00

Here are a couple of very happy dancers! Great image, love his shirt, love her glasses! I don't know anything about them. This photo was in a large box of photos I bought at a sale that was very curious to me. It was in a small town outside of Austin, in a large metal storage building. I could not figure out what happened to the family. It was as if they were on this earth and then, all of them were gone and all that was left was a storage space full of personal effects, art supplies (I think they had a frame shop) and mechanic supplies and a huge supply of mesquite wood for BBQ. I bought a lot( including the box of photos) the first day, then everything was free on the last day of the sale. Needless to say, I went back and got more good junk. One doesn't come across sales like this very often.

Two Snowballs

2009-12-23T19:56:00.001-06:00

It's that time of year.... falling snow and weather 'events'. This is a great 1920's-30's photo of a cowboy and his gal holding some big ol' snowballs. Even looks like she might be taking a bite out of hers! I love that they are not all bundled up....almost like they don't have a clue about how to dress for winter. I want to travel for Xmas and yet the weather in the midwest/plains is blizzard like. Guess I'll wait. Merry, Merry!

Dec. 67

2009-12-15T21:54:00.001-06:00

I love this random snapshot of Nanny and FuFu. Well, really, I don't know who this is. But I love the fact that the dog is looking right at the camera while the woman has her eyes closed! The display on the TV is classic, I guess, if you consider a fishbowl classic Christmas. The painting hanging on the right is pretty awsome. Pretty cool 60's feel to all of it.

The Artist's Brain

2009-12-04T20:55:00.000-06:00

I love this vintage page that I got from an old encyclopedia. This is it folks, 'How the Artist's Brain Paints a Picture'. Fascinating! I'm sure this is exactly how my brain works...yeah right.

Little Girl with a Tipi

2009-11-24T14:57:00.000-06:00

Here is a great vintage image of a young girl decked out in her finest native american clothes (I'm assuming this...no writing on the back of the photo, so I'm just making this up folks!) standing in front of a sweet Tipi. (or Tee Pee..as I spelled it when saving this photo) I was sorting and organizing some of my ephemera collection today and this popped up as needing to be posted. So there it is, enjoy!

Taming the Lions

2009-11-21T22:41:00.000-06:00

This is a great German postcard from the early 1900's. The gal in the center of all of the lions is Tilli Bebe who was a German actress in about 4 films. At least that's all I have learned from doing a google search. (not even a Wikipedia page on her) I'm not sure which film this is from, or if it even is from a film. But really, what would it be? Who in their right mind chooses to pose in a cage with a bunch of lions? I love this photo, because they all look very relaxed, like 'hey, no big deal'. And honestly, she looks as though she could handle this very well, thank you very much. I love strong, capable women!

Feeling Kind of Crazy!

2009-11-19T17:13:00.001-06:00

I've got to say that sometimes this is exactly how I feel. Mixed up and jiggled around! Well, really this is just another of my collected, off the wall, odd ball snapshots. Not exactly sure what happened here, either somebody moved or they double exposed. Anyhow, I really like the motion....two jumbled faces.

Almost Picasso like.

Boy With No Head

2009-11-07T07:25:00.000-06:00

This is a curious snapshot I found at an estate sale. The little girl (who to me looks like a little adult) and her brother? posed in the yard. Unfortunately her brother has lost his head. Was this a glowing orb? Sun spot? Alien abduction? What ever it was, it looks to be early 1960's (I'm pretty sure my family had a station wagon like theirs...) I really love these odd found family photos. Treasures indeed. I wonder what the treasures will be from this era of digital photography? If you took this shot today, you would look and delete. Instead, someone saved this for years until it ended up in the sale box.

2009-10-22T20:21:00.000-05:00

Here's another of my odd photos in my collection. I love this little guy on his 'horse' waiting for his haircut. I wish I had this chair...

Looking at his shoes now I'm not sure it's a he...there's that gender question. What makes us he's and she's? Well, besides the obvious equipment thing...

5 Farm Women With Hats

2009-10-18T20:43:00.000-05:00

I have no idea who these women are or why they are assembled here with their hats. But I would love to have had any one or all of them as a relative. At least three of them look like they are having a ball. Two in the middle look a bit gruff and yet they are wearing the hats! What a great group of gals! They remind me of my Great Grandmother and a couple of her daughters (my Aunts) who were farm wives through and through. Boy oh boy could they cook. And Xmas at their house was fabulous!

5 Women in Hats

2009-10-09T08:03:00.000-05:00

Interesting photo of 5 women in fancy hats walking on what appears to be a boardwalk. No idea who they are but I've noticed that photos of people walking always make me think they are somehow 'known' or famous for something. I think it's because most of us stop and pose when we see a camera pointed at us...the famous are so used to the camera they just go about their business.

Don't you just wonder what happened with the color coordination here? The gal in the dark dress didn't get the word that all would be wearing light dresses! Or maybe she wanted to stand out. And oh yeah, they are all holding hands. Love this!

2009-10-04T13:28:00.000-05:00

Wonderful vintage snapshot of two young beach goers. Love the outfits. I'm guessing this is from the early 60's. I would have been distressed to be the girl in this photo, as the boy's outfit is so much cooler than hers. What's up with the swim cap head? I wouldn't mind having a hat and shirt like his right now!

Just another day in paradise, and another example of the odd things I've got in my stash of collectibles.

2009-10-02T20:17:00.000-05:00

Love this vintage photo of a young boy and his wagon! He's got his 'rambler racer' and his leather cap on to protect him from injury should he crash...I would imagine this is from the 1920's or so.

Be An Artist

2009-10-01T16:29:00.000-05:00

And Earn a Fat Income! Oh yeah, right. I got your fat income right here bubba! But hey, I'm doing ok considering the economy is in the crapper. I make art, I sell art. I sell antiques and collectibles and I do house/dog/cat sitting. Odd jobs and not so odd jobs. What ever it takes. As long as I still get to play in the studio and make my 'pictures' I can't complain. This obviously is a vintage ad from I think sometime in the 30's. I wonder how many people responded and eventually found out that few make the fat income while the rest just get by?

Daddy Rite Comes Home

2009-09-26T21:04:00.000-05:00

Here is 'Daddy Rite' on his way home with toys for his 'Rite' children. So strange..the house looks relatively normal. Daddy? Not so normal looking.

The 'Rite Family' illustrations from the vintage children's book continue. Dang, these are like a car wreck, freaky and yet fascinating.

Daddy Rite

2009-09-25T13:13:00.001-05:00

As promised, more of the vintage 'Rite Family' children's book. This here is 'Daddy Rite'. (said in my Northern Indiana, Central Texas drawl...) Very odd guy with his stumpy little arms with no hands. What kind of work do you think he does? He's got the uniform of an upper class businessman, banker maybe, well, kind of...The pants remind me of my Father who always wore plaid, sometimes three different plaids at once in the form of a hat, shirt and god awful golf style pants. His last wife broke him of the pants but no one could stop the hat and shirt combo. That being said, I never saw my Father in an outfit like this. Maybe he wasn't a 'Daddy Rite'? I don't know, this guy scares me a bit with his freaky eyes and lack of hair and ears...good lord what a nightmare!

Mother Rite

2009-09-24T11:16:00.000-05:00

This is a page from a vintage turn of the century children's book about the 'Rite Family'. Very bizarre stuff I think. I will add more of the 'Rite' folks in the coming posts. In the meantime, here is 'Mother Rite'. Put that in your head and have weird dreams!

Temporary Container

2009-09-23T10:11:00.000-05:00

I took this photo of a cardboard box containing the ashes of a friend a few years back. After we distributed them around the property I then put this box into the bonfire. Fitting I think. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust and ashes back to fire. I was struck by the idea that we all are just 'Temporary Containers' and that someday we will either be in a cardboard box, an urn or a fancy box underground...Whoa. Maybe to dark for this rainy Weds? I don't consider this depressing, just a reality that needs to be looked at once in a while in order to keep pushing me forward in my life. Having experienced death firsthand and up close and personal two times made it less frightening to me. Once really was enough, but the second time helped to cement my feelings and attitude toward it. Not afraid of it, I just want to live a very full, good life. And then have a good death. That's it for today from this 'Temporary Container'.

Brother and Sister

2009-09-21T18:15:00.000-05:00

This is a great CDV (carte de visite) photo of a brother and sister. I know, they both have dresses on, but believe me I studied this carefully and determined that the seated one is most definitely a boy! I guess this was the tradition back then (1860's) I sold this on ebay a few years ago but kept the copy of the image because it was so nice. I guess you can say this blog and my life, has a bit of a focus on gender and questions regarding it. From one who has spent most of her life defending her 'sex' I am very interested in the gender bending. One example is the typical double take that women make when walking into a restroom when I'm standing at the sink washing my hands. I really do try to femme it up, but I can't help who and how I am. Even with toenail polish and a purse I've had people call me sir. Really? Really!

2009-09-19T13:18:00.000-05:00

This is kind of how I feel today...although without the big boobs or hot night on Bourbon St. I picked up this small gossip mag from a great antique mall in the Boston area. 1960's era. Great stuff! My face and neck are swollen from an infected molar that will be leaving my mouth first thing Monday morning (I hope!) I spent most of yesterday trying to back up my new computer which was crashing and burning left and right....which caused me to practically pull my hair out! In spite of all this, I am still a very happy camper. I have antibiotics and pain pills and I am better off than most of the world.

Two Garden Sprites

2009-09-18T17:35:00.000-05:00

I have no idea where this photo came from. But I've got to say I like it a lot. They look like two little garden 'sprites' or elves or fairies or somethin' like that. I especially like the girl on the right with the big bows in her hair staring directly at the camera. And what is the story with the gal on the left with the garden gnome hat on?? Today has been a troublesome day loaded with lots of computer drama rama. I have had a hard time not screaming or crying or tossing my computer. I don't know if it's even fixed or not, but I am stopping with all the disc cleaning and defragging and trouble shooting. My next step is to re-install the operating system and I am loathe to do that and lose all my files that I've not backed up. Oh good lord help me!

Two "Broke Back" Cowgirls

2009-09-17T19:46:00.000-05:00

I picked up this photo of these two 'cowgirls' with a friend of theirs at an estate sale here in Central Texas. I believe that this is at least a couple of gals from the 1920's who like women... a lot. Like Ellen likes women, got it? There is no writing or identification on it, but other photos from the same estate have boys dressed as girls and so forth. I'm hoping my 'gaydar' is still working...god only knows the older I get, everyone looks like a lesbian to me. Well, except the boys. I will post more in the days that follow.