Bottle Dolls

Dolls in bottles. Why?

I was tempted to leave it there, but I was afraid you might feel short-changed, so I will try to expand on this mysterious subject. I think the whole bottle thing may have been started by the 1960s dolls called 'Liddle Kiddles'. As you might guess, these dolls portrayed kiddles, who were very liddle, sorry, little. In the range, there were 'Kiddle Kolognes', who came in garish plastic perfume bottles, and a liddle later, there were 'Kola Kiddles'. 

These cheap knock-offs I acquired, bear a remarkable resemblance to the Kola Kiddles. But these dolls have an added feature - they are 'Multi-Purpose'! Yes, the bottle can be used to hold coins! Wow!

And, if the picture on the shop card is to be believed, they might also be used to launch liddle dollies into space...

Sooper Snooper

The 'Sooper Snooper 4-Way Scope' was launched in the 1960s, and was one of those toys that promised so much more than it delivered. Essentially just a simple periscope, it had the addition of a swivelling mirror that allowed you to look to the right and left. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that could have been achieved just as easily by turning your head, surely?

My brothers had one of these, and apart from learning what a periscope was, I don't remember there being much to be gained from playing with it. However, the adverts for these and other periscopes always showed an amazing amount of fun to be had by being able to see round corners or over the top of high fences. It could turn you in a submarine captain or James Bond or soldier in a trench or... well anyone who wanted to look round corners or over high fences.

 I couldn't find an ad for the Sooper Snooper, but it looks like it was rebranded as the 'RamJet 4-Way Scope'. The advert makes it look pretty fearsome!

Chinese Neck Pillow

I love this crazy thing! A present from my good friend Tessera, it's the sort of the thing that 'other people' look at with bemusement, or even puzzlement. What, why, how?

Or maybe you're familiar with Chinese neck pillows? I've never actually used it as a pillow, but it's pleasingly filled with the muffled crunch of buckwheat, and I suppose it would work.

I thought that it was a cat, but I now discover that it is a tiger - a far more powerful and auspicious animal for the Chinese. Here's a description   

I love these stylised features! I wish I could draw with this kind of bold stylisation, but I end up veering towards realism or more conventional styles. If I try to draw things in a folk art or naive style, it often feels false. I could draw you a cartoon tiger, but not one like this. I suppose it just depends what you've been brought up with. Tony the Tiger on a Frosties packet, or one of these?

Friday Postcard - Come to Harpurhey

I've had this postcard for many, many years. It delighted me so much when I found it, that I framed it, and it has been part of my eccentric home decor ever since.

I'm not sure what it is that makes me so fond of it. The pugilistic little boy in his rather comic short trousers? The jingoistic message of defiance to Johnny Foreigner? The randomness of Harpurhey as the place to be celebrated? The colours? The graphic style of photography? All of those things and more.

There's no date on it, but I imagine it dates from the First World War. It's very poignant to see these domestic notions of British courage and defiance, knowing, as we do now, of the mass bloodshed and the horrrors for the soldiers in the trenches.

Sad too, to note that in 2004, Harpurhey was deemed to be the most deprived area in Britain. (Although this is no longer the case, I understand.)

"We'll Show You", indeed.

Personal Instructions

Learn Golf from an LP? This is what happened in a world before DVDs were invented, and where videotape was purely for TV companies.

Arnold Palmer gives you 'Personal Golf Instructions'. We have to assume that 'personal' in this case does not mean the instructions are personal to you, just that Palmer is delivering them in person.

 Hearing Arnold Palmer give the instructions might imbue them with authenticity, but obviously spoken instructions alone are next to useless, so the two records come with a 24 page book with photographs and text. That sounds useful. So useful in fact, that I'm not sure what the point of hearing the record would be. But then I'm not a golfer, so what do I know?

Actually, I'd prefer to imagine that the track titles - 'The Grip', 'The Stance', 'Chipping and Putting' etc. all refer to 1960s dance crazes anyway. 'C'mon and Do the Grip, Yeah, Yeah!'

Gonks and Glooks

 Do you remember gonks? If you were young in the 1960s or 1970s you probably had some sort of gonk. There was nearly always a gonk on the contestants' desks on University Challenge (or was it Top of the Form?).  I remember the one I had very distinctly. It had pink fur, orange eyes and black feet made out of a sort of plastic-coated wire.

It was a pretty good marketing idea - stick googly eyes on some fake fur and sell it as a toy. These two are even cheaper - with feet and faces made of cardboard.

These ones with 'beaks' are reminiscent of  Tivvy, the TV Times mascot, who in turn is reminiscent of a Finnish Fauni troll. I bet you didn't know there were so many varieties.

In a mood of vigorous enquiry, I decided to throroughly investigate the origin of gonks. Well, I googled it, anyway. Turns out that, officially, these are not Gonks at all, but Glooks. Gonks were a different sort of toy, like Humpty Dumpty with a Beatle cut. And, rather marvellously, there was a film called 'Gonks Go Beat' made in 1965.

You can even buy it on Amazon. I'm a little bit tempted now...

The Bats

I recently rediscovered my collection of vintage enamel badges. Oh, didn't I tell you about that collection? Mmmm, yes, another one.  Well, anyway, they'd been put away in a box in a cupboard for a few years and I finally turned them out again. I'll share some of the fun ones on Kitsch and Curious soon, but I thought I'd share a strangely random one here.

'THE BATS'. A club perhaps? Or just a badge in praise of our flying friends?