Tattered and Lost...

[Tom Murphy]

In my ongoing surfing of the web, I continue to run across some wonderful blogs about our favorite subject... Ephemera.

Today I ran across Tattered and Lost, which unfortunately does not indicate who the author is.

The site is about some of the items in or her collection which she says includes letters, postcards, menus, magazines, greeting cards, paper dolls and many other odd things found in her house.

Given my interest in vintage magazine advertising, it's this ad that perhaps caught my eye the most. Talk about politically incorrect!

The author's comments are worth repeating:"I think it's hard for younger people today to really grasp how far we've come. This ad for Del Monte pineapple juice is from a 1937 Better Homes and Gardens. I don't really think I need to make any comment. Each person will bring what they want to it. It's like a scene from one of those 1930s Hollywood musicals where the women were bejeweled and white like snow and the servants were always black and spoke broken English. Even the height difference between the two women was calculated."

Click on the image to see the larger version.

The other ad that caught my eye was this one for Taperette - a device use to "taper, shape and thin your hair - safely, easily and at home". I don't know much about the product itself, but the ad, and the history of the Richard Hudnut family (his daughter was married to Rudolph Valentino, while Valentino was still married to another woman) are very interesting to read.

The blog author has taken the effort to point us to a bit of history of Mr. Hudnut who is regarded as the first American to enter the cosmetics field in a major way. Hudnut's company eventually was bought out and is today what we know as Pfizer. It formerly was Parke-Davis and before that the Warner-Lambert Pharmaceuticals Co.

Click on the image to see the larger version.

If you'd like to take a look at this fine blog, and see numerous other interesting Ephemera items, click here. If only we knew who the author of this site was...

I'm Tom Murphy and thanks for helping me give Ephemera the encore it deserves.

Tom
Take a look at my current Bonanzle items or
Visit my storefront.

Technorati tags: Bonanzle, Encore Ephemera, Ephemera, The Ephemera Network, DelMonte, Pfizer, Taperette, Hudnut, Tattered Ephemera

[Dave Dubé]

Tom,

I found this by 'other means', but you're absolutely correct - The authore perhaps wishes to remain unidentified, however I will note that there is an equivalent site called Tattered and Lost Photographs...

[Frank DeFreitas]

Great find, Tom!

[Valerie MacEwan]

What a fantastic blog... she is certainly talented. Thanks from me too!