Playmore’s 1986 “Old Maid” deck offered a variety of professions: carpenter, ballerina, magician, cook, bricklayer, veterinarian, clown, witch, baker, rock star, deep sea diver, grocer, astronaut, gardener, mountain climber, pirate — and, of course, artist.

And here’s the Old Maid.

(Posted by Doug Skinner)

We have another edition of “Old Maid,” this one from the Whitman Publishing Company.  The glamorous nurse depicted here seems to have been named for a quack medical device.  And the Old Maid is particularly winsome.

(Posted by Doug Skinner)

Some local news and gossip.

There were often staff photos.

This unsigned cartoon illustrated an article on the dangers of “Sneaky Pete” (cheap fortified wine).  Maybe that’s to blame for the crooked paste-up.

There was always verse in the paper, often narrative poems in the style of Robert Service.  This one is by Hobo Benson, one of the regular contributors.

(Posted by Doug Skinner)

This 1897 edition of “Authors,” from the Fireside Game Co., was devoted to “Young Folks’ Authors.”  It was an interesting selection.  Joining Mary Mapes Dodge in the juvenile pantheon are Louisa May Alcott, Charles Carleton Coffin, Eugene Field, George Bird Grinnell, Joel Chandler Harris, Nathaniel Hawthorne, James Otis Kaler, Charles Kingsley, Howard Pyle, Ernest Thompson Seton, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Francis Richard Stockton.

(Posted by Doug Skinner)

I didn’t mention it here, but I was interviewed about John Keel for a Disinfo Podcast.  Matt Staggs asked the questions; it can be found here.

(Posted by Doug Skinner)

We performed the ceremonial opening of the ullage with a bottle of Long Island Ice Tea, which our hostess, Lynette Wiley, said “tastes like high school.”

Anthony Matt unveiled the mess of myths, rumors, and sheer weirdness circulating about Montauk Point and the purported “Montauk Project.”

Doug Skinner talked about John Keel’s interactions with contactees and supposed androids in Long Island in the ’60s; Lisa Hirschfield joined him to read excerpts from a transcript of a phone call with a contactee.

Lisa Hirschfield investigated some Long Island legends, particularly “Mary’s Grave.”  Doug Skinner joined her at the piano for two old songs, “The Montaukers” and “Down in Oyster Bay.”

We then retired to the Jalopy Tavern for beer, talk, and stereo pictures.

(Posted by Doug Skinner)

The National Airlines “Jet-Deck” provided restless travelers with 28 puzzles and games.  The other sides of the cards illustrated different cities (all National Airlines destinations, of course), for a game of rummy.

(Posted by Doug Skinner)

(Posted by Doug Skinner.)

Sam Green is part of the cast in this old version of “Old Maid,” along with Mattie Plump, Gussie Gossip, Jockey Jim, Jack Hawser, Tim Conley, Pansy Violet, Charley Washee, and Jennie Smart.  I can’t show you the Old Maid, since she’s missing.  Maybe she eloped with someone from another deck.

(Posted by Doug Skinner)

The Ullage Group announces its eleventh event, “Long Island Beyond the Pale.”  We will unearth some of the mysteries, rumors, and folklore that have haunted that troubling region.

Anthony Matt will speak about the Montauk Project, and elaborate on the sources of this mad all-encompassing super-conspiracy.

Doug Skinner will draw from the late John Keel’s notes, to stumble through the knotty webwork of rumors and hoaxes that plagued Long Island in the ‘6os: alien babies, Mount Misery, Men In Black, android bases, and more.

Lisa Hirschfield will spook you with tales of Long Island’s ghostly glitterati, and perform a short selection of Island-centric songs with Doug Skinner.

You can enjoy all this on Sunday, April 22, at 4 pm.  It will be at the usual place, the Jalopy Theater, at 315 Columbia St., Brooklyn.  Admission is the usual pittance, $5.  Directions to Jalopy are over here.

(Posted by Doug Skinner.  The picture above is a photo taken by Jaye Paro on Mount Misery; it first appeared in the July 1969 issue of Beyond magazine.)