1978 TRAVELER'S NOVELTY CATALOG

We see so much cool stuff pass across our screens each day that I'm afraid I'm starting to grow desensitized to awesomeness. But here's one fruit of the internet that I won't soon forget. Last October the über collector known as Toyranch shared a complete set of scans of a 1978 catalog from the Traveler Trading Company. The set got some attention but I think it's worth revisiting since it's full so much eyeball-pleasing stuff.

As you are about to see, Traveler was a novelty distributor that offered a wide array of glorious plastic goodies such as toys, jokes, magic tricks, trinkets, cake decorations, carnival prizes and yes, masks. Many of these very items have found themselves in my own collection.

I find it interesting that my pal and novelty biz royalty, Chris Adams, was actually on the Traveler's payroll for a time before taking the reigns at the S.S. Adams prank and magic company. Traveler reached its final destination in the 1990s and Gary, the man in the werewolf mask, is no longer with us.

The catalog can be viewed on Toyranch's Flickr account, or for the sake of convenience and blog beautification I've placed them below. Furthermore, for anyone like myself who wishes to experience these to the fullest, I've compiled all the high-res pages in this downloadable PDF.

Thank you Toyranch for wrangling up this stampede of joy.





















UPDATE: Thanks to Chris Adams, here's a more recent catalog cover that reveals the unmasked face of Gary the proprietor...

THE SKULL PEN

I remember my dad showing up in the doorway of my bedroom one afternoon with this plastic skull-lidded ink pen that he'd pulled fresh from a cereal box. I'm still unclear as to why I wasn't aware that we possessed a prize bearing pack of cereal. I happily accepted the grinning utensil and proudly placed it on my desk.

Before long it was time to draw something spooky so I grabbed my new treasure and took pleasure in simply handling the skull cap as I removed it. Immediately I was faced with a common case of new pen ink flow blockage. So I tried the old loop de loop scribble technique to free up the ball point, but still no ink. All of my pen revitalizing procedures were fruitless and I was forced to accept that the coolest pen I owned did not function.

Still, I couldn't just throw away such a piece of art. For years I kept it wedged in my mug o' pens on its aesthetic merit alone. Ultimately, in a rare stuff-purging session I decided to toss it.

Recently, for whatever reason, the focus of my nostalgia has turned to old premium items: mail-aways, Happy Meal toys, and cereal prizes. The bony old pen popped up in a routine ebay session and the frustrating memory returned at once. Then I noticed the name of the auction and all became clear, "INVISIBLE INK MONSTER PEN- Post cereal premium."

I had no choice but to "win" the right to pay top dollar and redeem my childhood mistake.

Some further googling lead me to a familiar place, the Flickr stream of Brandon, AKA the Waffle Whiffer, a master of vintage food marketing, and thus the owner of all the Invisible Ink Monster Pens, as well as the Super Sugar Crisp box they originally came in...


It taught me that the invisible ink is revealed when it's wiped down with good old water.

And so, once again I am the owner of the green skeleton head invisible ink pen and best of all...

THE HUXTABLES IMPROVED AGAIN

Well, well, if it isn't the very latest addition to my unending series of fictitious family portraits. Look familiar? Mighty brash of me to assume that anyone remembers my post from last December (which sadly, is only about five posts ago.) So, to recap... last year I made a custom Huxtables portrait for comedian/actor Nick Kroll but in a new twist he asked me to include the childhood incarnation of his friend (and comedian/SNL writer) John Mulaney. This is what it looked like...



Not long after that, one of my favorite entertainers in the world, Kristen Wiig (!) (of SNL and Bridesmaids fame) saw it and commissioned me to do something quite similar. She asked for the very same Huxtables portrait except with her long time beau, Brian Petsos in boy form. Thus the portrait at the top of this post.

Recreating an earlier piece was an interesting exercise for me. I tried not to use the first one as a reference, and ended up approaching it a bit differently. So somehow I've found myself in this cottage industry of inserting white people as their childhood selves into the Cosby Show family via colored pencil.

Equally crazy is the fact that it's all for the amazing Ms. Wiig. I mean, c'mon! For years I've been professing her genius and the fact that she's on par with all of the most notable SNL alumni. Making art for her was one of the greatest, wackiest honors I've had in my creative life.

MONSTER SIZE SKELETON WALLPAPER

Hey folks, I just changed my desktop background to something more skeleton-y! If you'd like to do the same then by all means click on the pic and grab the full size image. Then consult a local computer repair service (possibly Best Buy) for instructions on how to apply it to your desktop. Remember, it's not your "screensaver!" Avoid that confusion and save yourself about 15 minutes of phone time right there, which saves you money considering their $85 an hour fee. But it's worth it. At least it was to me. Plus they defragged my hard drive and removed all my unwanted script kiddies, although that required three nights in the shop. : (

Ad courtesy of Todd at Neatocoolville!

CRAZY 4 CULT 5

None More Black Light Poster
Florescent acrylic on art board

UPDATE: You can get original art from Crazy 4 Cult 5 here, and prints are here.

Once again I'm ever so thankful to get to take part in the annual Crazy 4 Cult art show at L.A.'s Gallery 1988: Melrose. It's my fourth year to participate, but it's the first time that I've deviated from my series of film family portraits to cover a new, equally gimmicky format—the black light poster (as seen above). It's a concept I've had in mind for a very long time and I figured Spinal Tap, the fictitious heavy metal act as well as the stars of one of my very favorite films, has long-deserved this treatment. (This isn't the first time they've inspired my work.)

The image you saw earlier shows it under normal lighting, and this...

... is the way it looks under a black light (which is included with the piece).

In an effort to make it seem even more authentic, and to give it "that extra push over the cliff" I applied black flocking (fuzzy stuff) to some areas...


The show will be on display at the Gallery 1988: Melrose from Friday, July 8th through July 30th.


Speaking of C4C (as I smugly call it) they just released a big, beautiful book filled with selections from the first four years of the show...


Whoops, mine keeps opening to this page for some reason...


The book is available on Amazon and all over the place.

THE HUMAN GIANTS

(click to make them more gianter)

Just wanted to present the latest in my series of colored pencil family portraits. This is my humble tribute to Paul Scheer, Rob Huebel, and Aziz Ansari of Human Giant. For anyone unfamiliar, Human Giant was a hilarious comedy sketch show that aired on MTV for two seasons back in good old 2007 and '08 when the world was a simpler place. Once they got a taste of the trio, the entertainment industry seemed eager to pluck them from their home on MTV and put them all over screens both big and small.

This is my contribution to Is This Thing On, an art show at LA's Gallery 1988 that's dedicated to funny people awareness. The opening reception is Friday, January 7th, and I will be there to soak up the hilarity.

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

It brought be great joy to see Nick Martinolich's perfect reaction as he receives a print of my McFlys family portrait for Christmas. I've never even considered the possibility of such a great response. I'll certainly keep it in mind the next time I'm toiling over another one of these wacky portraits.

It reminds me of a quote I recently read by the legendary street artist Banksy...
"I’ve learnt from experience that a painting isn’t finished when you put down your brush – that’s when it starts."

IN NEED OF NOVELTIES

UPDATE: This post was made in regards to my book Mail-Order Mysteries. The book is finished but I'd still love to know if you dig up any of these items. Email me at kirkd (at) centurytel.net

My unending fascination with stuff that was sold in old comic book ads has lead me into yet another project based on the topic. I'll be able to go into more detail later but right now there are a handful of mail order novelties that would be nice to include, but I can't seem to track them down. I can offer a gift (and credit) to any fun spotters who can provide high res photos of, or point me to, or lend me any of the following items....

UPDATE: How to Draw Monsters, Pocket Gym, and the original Bag Full O' Laughs have been found! Alas there's more on my wish list...

Frontier Cabin- This "playhouse" is a plastic tablecloth that's big enough to cover a card table. I've heard from folks who had it but nobody kept it. (Which is no surprise.)

Grow 7 Monsters- These are little cardboard things that grow "hair" when you water them. Please tell me you have a box of them in your warehouse.

Like the Johnson Smith horror record this one is a 7-inch that plays at 33rpm. I don't know who the hypnotist is (though it's possibly Melvin Powers) or if it had cover art.


UPDATE: FOUND! Electrostatic Generator- This silly thing was offered for decades and yet I can't even find a single photo of it online. Did they all break? Do they go by another name? Is this a government cover up?


Motorized Submarine- I've found about a half dozen motorized submarines that look extremely close to this (though many are 12 inches) but I can't locate one that matches this illustration exactly. It was sold in the late 70s, early 80s.

Height Increase Pads- There's a vast supply of shoe lifts old and new, but I'd love to find some from this place, The Liftee Company (Though Liftee may just be the name of the distributor.) These seem like a tough find.

Missile Firing Tank- This is in the same vein as the Polaris Sub and the Jet Rocket which is to say it's a lot of cardboard. Never seen the real thing.

This is not to be confused with the more common Haunted House Mystery Bank that features a little plastic ghost in the doorway. This one is nearly identical except that it has a hand that grabs your money.

I've got the bat but I'd love to assemble the "Horror Outfit" which consists of...
-Flying Creepie [sic] Monster with popping eyes
-Wierd [sic] Skeleton Head
-Dangling Black Widow Spider
-Shrunken Head (I have this)
-Surprise Slimy Creature
Did you ever order one of these? Do you remember what these looked like? I've got lots of goodies that would fit those descriptions, but I want the exact ones that came with the bat.

This is a poster that I can't find.



There are plenty of modern smoke bombs out there but I'd love to find a vintage package of these in particular, though I have no clue what they look like.

Certainly you have this very pair of Weighted Wristlets laying around that I could photograph.


These are monster balloons that I doubt I'll ever find. As I understand it the lower one came with a crude device that makes sound when you run your finger across it, almost like the grooves of a record.

If you have any leads for me on any of these please leave a comment or email me at kirkd at centurytel.net Like I said, if it works out that I use an image of your item (or find one based on your lead) then I'll give you full credit and reward you less-than-handsomely, with a product inspired by this theme (and I would be extremely thankful.)

You can also contact me if you have access to anything similar, or just tell me if there are any old mail order novelties that you were particularly fond of or curious about.

None of these are essential to the project, but I just thought I'd ask. In the future I'll serve up a more satisfying post in which I'll share some of the stuff that I actually have tracked down.