Tag Archives: packaging

Always remember to budget some time for creative research.

I feel the need for seed. Wait…

I thought I had a chance at this Northrup King Northern Grown Tested Seeds box at Saturday’s North Star Auction, but I’ll skip the middle part of the story and say it ended at $775 and I didn’t even get my hand up. One of the best vintage illustrations and designs I’ve seen, and also one of the best preserved. Magnificent!

Northrup King Northern Grown Tested Seeds box
Northrup King Northern Grown Tested Seeds box
Northrup King Northern Grown Tested Seeds box

Salt Petre

This stuff is mentioned in quite a few old stories, mostly for making gunpowder and causing impotence.

Gunpowder & Impotence would be a good name for a country album.

These Suds Ain’t Duds

Midcentury-ish boxes of soap of the following brands: Oxydol, Ivory Snow, Nola, Vel and Duz
Midcentury-ish boxes of soap of the following brands: Oxydol, Ivory Snow, Nola, Vel and Duz

This last Saturday was laundry day at the North Star Auction in Mandan, North Dakota.

Also, back in the day, laundry soap and dish soap were often the same soap.

Check out the sweet package art.

If you drink decaffeinated, you might be a…

A vintage can of Kaffee Hag Coffee
A vintage can of Kaffee Hag Coffee

Mulva the Macaroni Girl

At an auction on Saturday, I was digging the packaging for Minnesota brand macaroni shells.

I can imagine the girl having a Selma Diamond voice and she says — “I like to stick the macaronis up my nose.” — followed by a strange rattling noise as she laughs.

Wipe Out The Competition

At the Bismarck, North Dakota, Target store, Tuesday, March 3, 2020.

I have a theory that the only reason Red (strong) Charmin exists is to take valuable shelf space away from other brands so that people buy more Blue (soft) Charmin.

What we need is Plaid Charmin, bringing soft and strong back into one toilet paper. And as a bonus, the Plaid Charmin Poopbears would be friggin’ adorable.

Alternative Juice — A good part of this Kellyanne Conway breakfast.

(Note: It’s actually “alterative juice”, but I’m sticking with alternative juice because it amuses me.)

If you got syphilis, yo, this’ll solve it.
Alternative juice will prolly dissolve it.

Succus Alterans Alternative Juice
Seen at a North Star Auction preview in Bismarck, North Dakota. Alas, I did not win it the next day.

Let’s check out these Succus Alterans Alternative Juice ingredients! According to Wikipedia…

Stillingia sylvatica was used by Native Americans for syphilis and as a cathartic, diuretic, laxative, and emetic. In large doses, it causes vomiting and diarrhea.”

Smilax ornata (sarsparilla) “was a popular European treatment for syphilis when it was introduced from the New World.”

Phytolacca Decandra (pokeweed) is poisonous and was used for skin diseases, rheumatism, weight loss, mumps and arthritis.

Lappa Minor’s (lesser durdock) larger cousin, Arctium lappa, was used as “a diuretic, diaphoretic, and a blood purifying agent” as well as a cancer, skin condition and cold/flu treatment.

Xanthoxylum carolinanium (Hercules’ club) is also known as the “toothache tree” or “tingle tongue” and was used to treat toothache.

Who needs orange juice with a delightful concoction like this!

Continue reading

Now with more diarrhoea!

Nyal Diarrhoea Mixture
Mmmm… 84% pure diarrhoea…
Continue reading

Respect to Siggi’s for not being afraid of awesome words like “vexatious”.