This deck, “Animal Snap,” is another low-budget entry, with no indication of publisher other than “Made in Hong Kong.”  The cheap paper and printing give it, to me, a particular grainy charm. (Posted by Doug Skinner)

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I found this anonymous pencil drawing at a flea market.  There’s probably a story behind it; perhaps it’s just as well that we don’t know what it is. (Posted by Doug Skinner)

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The Western Publishing Company left posterity this aggressively cute version of “Snap.”  The colors are a treat, though. (Posted by Doug Skinner)

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[As a postscript to our event about hoaxes, I’ll post this account of a memorable literary hoax that may be unfamiliar to American readers.  It’s taken from my article “Boris Vian for Anglophones,” on the life and work of that French writer/musician, in Strange Attractor Journal Two.]  The war had ended, Paris was free, and nightlife […]

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Another “Snap” deck; and another based on nursery rhymes.  This one comes from Thomas de la Rue & Co., in London.  Like the frog, all depict delicately colored figures against crisp black and white backgrounds.  I particularly appreciate the distinctly froggy hands. (Posted by Doug Skinner.  Thanks to Angela Alverson for this one!)

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While perusing eBay recently, I happened upon the work of Vernon Grant.  Not Vernon Grant the wonderful graphic artist (and father of Kellogg’s Snap, Crackle, and Pop) but Vernon E. Grant the wonderful cartoonist, whose work has never been reprinted to my knowledge, and which seems to be all but unavailable.  I’m not a scholar, […]

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A holiday weekend marred by beautiful autumn weather and massive transit disruptions didn’t keep the curious from turning out for the Ullage Group’s presentation, “Straight Talk About Hoaxes.” Anthony Matt’s multimedia exegesis of the 1969 “Paul is Dead” hoax was a rousing success. Original tapes of radio shows and phone calls, furnished by the DJ […]

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Our next “Snap” is a cheaply printed deck from China, still available in 99c stores.  Each card shows a character from a nursery rhyme.  Note that a couple of musical notes seem to be coming from Tom’s kilt.  Has our bored artist slipped in a fart joke for his or her own amusement? (Posted by Doug […]

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The Ullage Group excitedly presents its fifth hodgepodge, “Straight Talk About Hoaxes.”  Doug Skinner will talk about pseudo-hoaxes, botched fictions, and accidental lies: stories intended as fiction, but accepted as fact by those bent on belief.  Lisa Hirschfield will discuss storytelling and seduction in Nigerian love letters.  Anthony Matt will discuss the intricacies of the […]

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