Spooky Abandoned Farmhouse

Here's a spooky abandoned farmhouse Mrs. Phillips spotted on a two-lane highway outside of Modoc, IL:

I should have waited for Halloween but I haven't posted much of late.

More of Cape Girardeau

 Coca-Cola Ghost Sign!

 Stag Beer Ghost Sign!

 Spooky Abandoned Restaurant! Inside and Out!

 And finally, the Cape Wiggery Shop, sadly defunct but with its sign intact.

Two-Dimensional Celebrities

 More treasures from the Pink Elephant! Above, the King. Below, Cher, even more weathered than the real one.

The elephant has been repainted since this pic was taken. That is all.

The Cabinet of Dr. Sweeney, plus Bonus Ghost Sign

 A couple of years ago my filmmaker friend Mark W. Stone took me on a tour of the neighborhood where Dr. Francis Sweeney, almost certainly Cleveland's infamous Torso Killer, had his practice.

 Which building it was is impossible to say at this point, but these were the buildings that held those sorts of offices at that time.

 This one still houses some medical offices.

 On the right, a library converted into a chapel.....

 And here, windows both broken and boarded up.

And finally, a really nice Ghost Sign, in multiple languages (Czech?) advertising Mail Pouch tobacco.

Alfred E. Neuman twelve feet tall!

These giants can be found around the nation, often holding a giant axe or a colossal tire. This one, however, is the only one I know of with Alfred E. Neuman's head, missing tooth miraculously restored!

 I took this at the intersection of 43rd and Cambridge in Kansas City around 1985. Does anyone know if this is still standing? The film was motion picture print stock (don't ask) which made it unusually hard to scan and correct. Note, please, the image of Alfred E. on the banner above the storefront!

This has been your obscure midwestern signage report. Next: Vintage erotica!

Illinois Haunted House

 After dropping my kid off at camp this summer Mrs. Phillips and I passed by this Haunted House attraction in rural Illinois.

 I imagine that in-season this portasign is illuminated and marked with directions. Or maybe it isn't. Maybe it just sits there.

 "In season" would be right about now. I should go up there and check it out! Or you should.

 Here's the sign you see as you're driving away. See the tiny little car next to it for scale!

That's all I have in terms of rural haunted house attractions.

Used Thrift-Store Underwear for the Discerning Woman

Today was supposed to be the day I thrilled you with some vintage erotica from the 1930s. Unfortunately, the lab I used only scanned one-half of the stereoscopic glass slide , thereby robbing you, my loyal readers, of the full 3-D experience! And so while I return to the lab to explain to them the concept of stereoscopic photography, I present a slightly less exotic but still titillating spectacle:

 Yes, somewhere in eastern Kansas is a flea market selling used underwear! And cheap used underwear at that.

 In case the fifty-cent bras don't meet with your standards of excellence, here are some fancier ones hanging on the wall.

 The lady who runs the place is very sweet so I'm not going to name the town here. But boy howdy, ladies, if you're ever traveling through the Sunflower State and you run out of underwear, you could do worse than hitting the thrift stores.

Church Sign

 Near Benton Harbor, Michigan, a Seventh-Day Adventist church with a cool mid-century sign.

 That's all for today and maybe for the weekend as I'm heading out on the road.

More pics when I return!

Dead Squirrel

Now this is some good taxidermy, in that he looks alive, rather than looking as though he'd been dead for a while then re-animated (see entries on Bobcats and Camels). See how pointy his whiskers are! They almost seem to be twitching. And he's wearing a Peace medallion.

The little fellow is spending his eternal rest in the Glenview Hotel and Shops in Mt. Carroll, Illinois, the same charming little town that houses the slightly eerie General Store. You should stop in and see him.

"Happy Birthday, Mr. President, Versions One and Two"

Two images from the Pink Elephant Antique Mall about an hour north of where I live, both of them taken because they remind me of Marilyn Monroe singing "Happy Birthday, Mister President." (Can't post the original copyrighted images, but look them up on Google, the ones taken from behind while she's at the podium.)

 

The above image I shot a week or so ago....

 

And the Furry version comes from a couple of years back. It's an elephant costume, which is of course less evident when seen from behind. 

Portions for Taxidermied Foxes

 From an Antique Mall in Michigan, a fox kept on a high shelf that made him difficult to photograph:

 Even at this angle, though, you can tell he's a bit moth-eaten:

Here's a prettier one from the flea market at Porte de Clignancourt in Paris, circa 1986:

 

And look, he's got flowers in his mouth. Just like a real fox.

For Amusement Only!

Here are a couple of one-armed bandits from the old days. With the top one you put in a penny and if you got three of a kind on the reels you got free smokes.

 With the second one, you put in a nickel, but if you didn't win free smokes you got a gumball as consolation.

Not quite related but I found it on the same day, so here's your beer-related memorabilia for the day:

It's an old National Beer crate from Baltimore, featuring an early version of Mister National Bohemian, better known as Mr. Natty Bo!

TOMORROW: The Triumphant Return of Troy Cutcross!!!

Vintage General Store Madness!

In Western Illinois, in the small city of Mount Carroll sits a small building on the town square that still bears a sign reading GENERAL STORE. The day we were there it was officially closed but still accessible through the café next door.

Holy Mackerel! This place was a wonderland of dead-stock toys, clothing and other gimcrack doodads and assorted gewgaws. Click to enlarge and savor the outdated electronic connection devices!

 I think the General Store is where Charlie Arglist would buy his Christmas presents if he were still around. Enlarge to get a load of the cheap old plastic playthings: 

 Ladies, are you looking for vintage accessories and odd articles of clothing preserved in metaphorical amber? A "No-scuff" Heel Pad, perhaps? "Ped" brand sheer nylon stretch shoe liners? Would your fellow enjoy seeing you in a "Temptease" brand leotard, circa 1980? It's got "Terri Guard,"the Knitted -In Seamless Cotton Terry Crotch!

 Non-flammable hair extensions of the finest quality!

More toys! Does your child require a Dr. Beverly Crusher action figure? It can be had here.

Finally, a classic, old-timey scale. I wish I'd bought it.

A Bygone Pleasure Palace

 Near Rockford, Illinois (home of Jane, the world's most complete juvenile Tyrannosaurus skeleton!) stands this weatherbeaten sign, advertising what must once have been a splendid place to wine and dine and––I'm guessing––gamble.

Was gambling legal in Illinois back then, and was the name of the club a nod and a wink to the discriminating seeker of frolicsome entertainment? I don't know, but I wish it was still there.