Toy Hitler

A popular toy in Nazi Germany was a miniature model of Hitler. It came in six action poses, including Hitler in an army jeep and in an open car doing the Nazi salute.

Not many of these toy Hitlers survive, so if you have one, for some reason, it's probably worth some money. One of them was featured on Antiques Roadshow in 2012.

Newsweek - Dec 26, 1938

Posted By: Alex - Wed Dec 16, 2020 - Comments (5)
Category: Dictators, Tyrants and Other Harsh Rulers, Toys, 1930s

The Vibro-Helmontholator

A fancy name for a worm catcher.

The Elizabethton Star - Jan 12, 1938

San Francisco Examiner - Dec 16, 1937

Posted By: Alex - Thu Dec 10, 2020 - Comments (4)
Category: Inventions, Odd Names, 1930s

Midget Coins

1935: The U.S. Treasury considered introducing a "midget coin" that would be worth one-tenth of a cent. It would have been called the "mill". The idea was that people could use it to pay the sales tax on small purchases. As we've seen in a previous post, the sales tax often came out to fractions of a cent. However, Congress nixed the idea.

The only businesses that continue to charge tenths of a cent are gas stations. And apparently they began doing that back in the '30s because of the fractional sales tax.

More info: Wikipedia

Baltimore Evening Sun - Aug 7, 1935

Fort Worth Star Telegram - Aug 2, 1935

Posted By: Alex - Mon Dec 07, 2020 - Comments (1)
Category: Money, 1930s

Unauthorized Dwellings 15

Bonnie and Clyde took over an abandoned house for their last hideout.

Full story here.

More pix here.

Posted By: Paul - Thu Dec 03, 2020 - Comments (0)
Category: Death, Domestic, Scary Criminals, 1930s

I’m Going to Give It to Mary with Love

Here's a new cover version of a song once banned by the BBC for lewdness.

Posted By: Paul - Wed Dec 02, 2020 - Comments (0)
Category: Innuendo, Double Entendres, Symbolism, Nudge-Nudge-Wink-Wink and Subliminal Messages, Music, 1930s

Corkhill Meat Loaf Monster

Was Corkhill's spokes-creature supposed to be a snowman, or some kind of living, talking meatloaf? The body seems all wrong for a snowman. So I have a suspicion it was a meatloaf monster.

Wilmington News Journal - Aug 4, 1939

Posted By: Alex - Fri Nov 13, 2020 - Comments (2)
Category: Corporate Mascots, Icons and Spokesbeings, 1930s

The Spare Tire Cover as Advertising Medium

The earliest surviving instances of this mode of advertising seem to be really rare. If any WU-vie can find more examples, that would be great!

Of course, nowadays you can have custom-designed spare tire covers at the drop of a hat!



Source.

Second Honeymoon (20th Century Fox, 1937). Spare Tire Cover. Throughout the thirties the studios would offer in their pressbooks what were spare tire covers that would advertise their upcoming feature. This silkscreen cover for the Tyrone Power and Loretta Young romance has elastic bands in back which allow it slip right over the tire that was always visible on the back of the automobiles of that time. Probably the theater owner, ushers, or cab companies would be paid to use these. Very interesting novelty that are often seen in pressbooks but few have survived.

Source.



Source.



Source.

Posted By: Paul - Thu Nov 05, 2020 - Comments (3)
Category: Advertising, 1930s, Cars

Court refuses one-cent suit

October 1939: The Supreme Court refused to hear the case of C. Leon De Aryan, thereby ending his legal campaign to recover the one cent of sales tax he believed he had been incorrectly charged.

Actually, it was worse than that. The actual amount of the excess charge in question was closer to one-half a cent. De Aryan had bought 15 cents worth of cardboard, and had been charged one cent of sales tax on this purchase. He noted that the tax was three percent. Therefore, he should only have been charged approximately one-half cent of tax, but the retailer rounded up.

I'm guessing De Aryan spent a lot more than one cent in court costs.

San Pedro News-Pilot - Oct 9, 1939

This recalls the 1979 case of Frank Makara who felt he had been overcharged $1.95 at the gas station and took his case all the way to the Supreme Court — which then refused to hear it, as it did with De Aryan's case.

Posted By: Alex - Wed Nov 04, 2020 - Comments (5)
Category: Lawsuits, 1930s

Horrific Halloween 2020!

Posted By: Paul - Sat Oct 31, 2020 - Comments (0)
Category: Holidays, Horror, Music, Supernatural, Occult, Paranormal, Superstition, 1930s, Fictional Monsters

Roy Mack’s milk-diet tour

Roy Mack set off from New York on May 2, 1939, intending to walk to San Francisco. To make this more of a challenge, he decided to do this while living on a diet of only milk — about six quarts of it a day. He said he wanted to "prove you can live on milk." The media dubbed him the "human milk bottle."

By August he had reached Oklahoma City and had also lost 10 pounds in weight. He maintained this was due to all the exercise, not his milk diet.

I have no idea if he ever did reach San Francisco, because I can't find any news reports about him after Oklahoma City. Perhaps the milk diet got the better of him.

Pittsburgh Press - June 3, 1939

Posted By: Alex - Fri Oct 30, 2020 - Comments (0)
Category: Food, Publicity Stunts, Travel, 1930s, Dieting and Weight Loss