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.

Just Four Spiffy Little Ads From 1948

Sylcon Quilted Mattress • Simonis Billiard Cloth • T-N-T Popcorn • Saf-T-Hed Thumb Tack
Sylcon Quilted Mattress • Simonis Billiard Cloth • T-N-T Popcorn • Saf-T-Hed Thumb Tack

Simonis might be the only one still in business.

The Maid’s Dilemma


In 1971, the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Co. sent out fancy-looking replicas of one of its 1906 advertising pieces to… oh, probably bars, package stores and, who knows, maybe even courthouses and Girl Scout troops. It was a different time. Anyways, here’s one of them.

Schlitz — The Maid's Dilemma
Schlitz — The Maid’s Dilemma
Schlitz — The Maid's Dilemma
Schlitz — The Maid’s Dilemma

Walkin’ in a Maker’s Mark Whisky Wonderland

Christmas 2020 and 2021 Ambassador goodies from the fine folks at Maker’s Mark.

I’m being fashionably late.

Maker’s Mark Playing Cards
Maker’s Mark Puzzle

Bad Girls sucks your balls.

Flyer (front) for the Bad Girls pinball game, circa 1988. Gottlieb / Premier Technology
Flyer (front) for the Bad Girls pinball game, circa 1988. Gottlieb / Premier Technology

Back in the 1990s when I was living in Grand Forks, North Dakota, there was a building that housed Sensations Nightclub, the Down Under Pub, Campus Liquors and several other businesses. In the inside hallway was a pinball machine that one of my friends decided to play one night. After a bad game, she shouted, “Bad Girls sucks your balls!” and something like that is hard to forget.

I randomly happened upon this Bad Girls flyer while scrolling through some eBay listings and, yeah, I had to get it.

Ahh, good memories of Bad Girls.

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No other car in the world will satisfy you.

Magazine ad for the 1950 Chrysler Crown Imperial Limousine found on the back cover of an issue of Flair magazine, if I’m remembering correctly.
Magazine ad for the 1950 Chrysler Crown Imperial Limousine found on the back cover of an issue of Flair magazine, if I’m remembering correctly.

What did the 1950 Chrysler Crown Imperial Limousine look like for real? Check out General Douglas MacArthur’s, one of 209 built that year.

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Do you have under-par children like High-Strung Helen?

Magazine ad for Ovaltine, circa 1934
Magazine ad for Ovaltine, circa 1934

The History of Ovomaltine, err, Ovaltine

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How to Impress a Biker Chick

1944 magazine ad for Hart Schaffner & Marx
1944 magazine ad for Hart Schaffner & Marx

Illustration by Jay Hyde Barnum. Not a lot of info online.

I’m not quite sure what sort of action went down in the illustration, but they both look great!

A History of Herringbone, courtesy of King & Allen Bespoke Tailoring

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Scrubbing is for the living.

Magazine ad for Sani-Flush found in the March 25, 1944 issue of The Saturday Evening Post
Magazine ad for Sani-Flush found in the March 25, 1944 issue of The Saturday Evening Post

Looks like the original Sani-Flush was still being sold until 2009 or so. With its main ingredient being sodium bisulfate, when some people didn’t follow directions and mixed it with chlorine bleach (drain cleaners like Liquid-Plumr or Drano), it created chlorine gas, which can be fatal.

Grocery shopping in 1964 was much more exciting thanks to Sani-Flush!

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Nobody’s Business

Magazine ad for Ice-Mint found in the March 25, 1944 issue of The Saturday Evening Post

Magazine ad for Ice-Mint found in the March 25, 1944 issue of The Saturday Evening Post
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