The Air at the Top of the Bottle

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Entries from February 2012

Children’s Card Games (122)

December 31st, 2010 · 1 Comment

Parker Brothers published “Hidden Titles”; as usual, there’s no date.  It contains thirty cards, “representing many different geographical titles in pictures.”  I like its flamboyant lettering and deft charcoal sketches.
(Posted by Doug Skinner)

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Tags: Card Games · Ephemera · Liminal Graphics

An Ullage Dozen (36): The Castor Oil Casserole

December 31st, 2010 · 1 Comment

2-D glasses
“Symmetry” and “cemetery” are fitting homonyms: what is more moribund than the mirrored bilateral?
Coin new words; otherwise, you’re just cooking with leftovers.
a single signal
The best way to be offensive is to be strongly defensive.
I cannot recall my christening;
I suppose I wasn’t listening.
bad bon bons: mauvais mauvais
With animation, you don’t have to look at actors.
Since […]

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Tags: Education

Children’s Card Games (121)

December 23rd, 2010 · 2 Comments

“Cheery Families” was published by Thomas de la Rue & Co, in London.  There were thirteen families in the deck; all headed by contented tradesmen like Mr. Butt.  I suspect brewers would be barred from a children’s game nowadays.
(Posted by Doug Skinner.  Thanks to Angela Alverson.)

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Tags: Card Games · Ephemera · Liminal Graphics

An Ullage Dozen (35): Sweets for the Sweet

December 22nd, 2010 · 1 Comment

Observation is obfuscation.
The umbrella protects rain from humans.
musk scum
a broadcaster’s pleonasm: “constitutional rights according to the Constitution”
Birds of a feather fight together.
cartons of cartoons
A drawing is less successful the more it resembles its subject; fiction the more it resembles fact.
white noise from a wet nose
To gauge the social acceptability of your behavior, simply imagine how […]

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Tags: Education

Children’s Card Games (120)

December 16th, 2010 · 2 Comments

We have here an old, isolated card; I don’t know to what game it once belonged.
(Posted by Doug Skinner)

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Tags: Card Games · Ephemera · Liminal Graphics

Wooden Nickels

December 14th, 2010 · 1 Comment

Wooden nickels serve many functions in our society: souvenirs, coupons, business cards, promotional items.  The graphic design is usually based on some stylization of a nickel.  For some reason, the older Indian or buffalo nickel is preferred.  I offer here a variety of designs, including a dime and “dickel.”  The “round tuit” is meant to […]

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Tags: Liminal Graphics

An Ullage Dozen (34): Plucking Posies

December 14th, 2010 · 3 Comments

a smelling aid: a device you clamp on your nose to amplify odors
a spontaneous portmanteau word from a newscaster: “Buffany” (for Buffalo and Albany)
heresy / hearsay
Can’t we just yell at each other without disagreeing?
the 88 keys of the piano: one for each constellation
sellphone
Amour and toujours, love and above: the rhymes in different languages affect cultural […]

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Tags: Education

Locovores

December 6th, 2010 · 2 Comments

The recent neologism “locavore,” meaning “one who eats local food,” has caused some confusion.  Its spelling is not yet standardized; one often sees the variant “locovore.”  Those wishing to use the word are paralyzed by indecision, unsure what to put for that fourth letter.
To solve this problem, I propose that “locovore” be treated as a […]

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Tags: Dietary Mores · Suggestions

Children’s Card Games (119)

December 2nd, 2010 · 1 Comment

“Reformed Lesson Cards” were distributed in Sunday Schools.  Each card carried a picture and Bible verse; and, on the back, a brief sermon and quiz.  After twelve lessons, there was a review card.  The above card was handed out on June 27, 1897.  And here is Lesson XII, from the week before.

(Posted by Doug Skinner)

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Tags: Card Games · Ephemera · Liminal Graphics

An Ullage Dozen (33): Inburst

December 2nd, 2010 · 1 Comment

Some anti-depressants carry warnings that they may increase suicidal tendencies.
food-doofus
What part of “what part of” don’t you understand?
Joan of Arc’s story arc
newscaster slip: “chiefs of stash” for “chiefs of staff”
Are deists monarchists?
If you give a man a fish, you can feed him for a day.
If you give a fish a man, it will only swim […]

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Tags: Education · Uncategorized