Follies of the Madmen #359

Source of ad.

"Susan Smart," Woolworth's spokeslady, is definitely one of those characters I refer to as Lesser-Known Ad Icons. It might have helped her longevity if the ad people could have settled on one particular appearance for her.

Second ad from MODERN SCREEN for Feb 1952.

Posted By: Paul - Thu Apr 12, 2018 - Comments (2)
Category: Business, Advertising, Corporate Mascots, Icons and Spokesbeings, 1950s

Old Cawlija

Info at source: "Old Cawlija, a five pound black bass, eats from hand and drinks Falstaff Beer from the can. The tank is placed in front of the Didda-Wa Restaurant."

Posted By: Paul - Sun Apr 08, 2018 - Comments (1)
Category: Regionalism, Restaurants, Fish, 1950s, Alcohol

Follies of the Madmen #358

These people look abnormally happy, considering that they have such mutual bad breath and are in close proximity.

Original ad, alas, now locked away behind the CHICAGO TRIBUNE paywall.

Posted By: Paul - Thu Apr 05, 2018 - Comments (1)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Hygiene, 1950s

Space Patrol Haircut

Back in 1951, young kids, inspired by the science-fiction TV series Space Patrol, started giving themselves the prematurely bald look, aka the "Space Patrol haircut."

"Teddy Hoff, 9, Hollywood schoolboy... wears a 'space patrol' haircut, a new fad of the vast and growing legion of juvenile TV space drama fans." (image source)

Los Angeles Times - July 8, 1951

Posted By: Alex - Wed Apr 04, 2018 - Comments (2)
Category: 1950s, Hair and Hairstyling

1958 Rocket Queen

"Karen Barger, 14-year-old queen of Van Nuys-Sherman Oaks Water Carnival of 1958, steps down from simulated rocket ship to open show."

Original photo here.

Posted By: Paul - Tue Apr 03, 2018 - Comments (2)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Contests, Races and Other Competitions, Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy, 1950s

Man Beast

More in extended >>

Posted By: Paul - Sat Mar 31, 2018 - Comments (3)
Category: Cryptozoology, Ineptness, Crudity, Talentlessness, Kitsch, and Bad Art, Movies, 1950s

Follies of the Madmen #357

Implicit message: drinking beer is the same as being a scientist.

Source of ad.

Posted By: Paul - Tue Mar 27, 2018 - Comments (2)
Category: Business, Advertising, 1950s, Alcohol

Rock ‘n’ Roll From Outer Space

The Wikipedia page of the artist.

Posted By: Paul - Sun Mar 25, 2018 - Comments (0)
Category: Music, Space-age Bachelor Pad & Exotic, Avant Garde, 1950s

Peekaboo Mask and Triffids

Continuing with the theme of odd masks...

London designer Hugh Skillen created this unusual "peekaboo" mask in 1952.

He later went on to design the man-eating plants in the 1963 horror movie The Day of the Triffids.

Newsweek - Jan 5, 1953

Janette Scott being attacked by a triffid — via IMDb.com

Update: I tried to track down more info about Hugh Skillen and have concluded there's some confusion about his biography. Seems there were two Hugh Skillens who both lived in London at around the same time.

There was a Hugh Skillen who was a military officer who helped to develop the Enigma machine at Bletchley Park during World War II, and then later worked as a schoolmaster at Harrow County School for Boys. More info about him here.

And then there was the Hugh Skillen who was a costumier, designing costumes for theater productions in London and occasionally working on movies such as The Day of the Triffids.

I don't think these two Hugh Skillens were the same, but IMDb lists the birth/death of the costumier as being the same as the military officer: Aug 22, 1915 to Jan 4, 2004. I'm betting the info is only correct for the military officer.

Posted By: Alex - Sat Mar 17, 2018 - Comments (0)
Category: Fashion, Headgear, Special Effects, 1950s

Dinner With Drac

Posted By: Paul - Fri Mar 16, 2018 - Comments (0)
Category: Music, Superstition, 1950s, Fictional Monsters