Another Old Maid has entered my life.  This deck was published by Playtime House; in addition to the artist (and I can’t help but suspect that we may have a self-portrait here), we meet such characters as Tommy Tuff, Hedy Hula, Billy Bum, Ubangi Bess, and Shirley Strut — all with clean lines and oversized heads like […]

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[As a postscript to “Pandora’s Music Box,” let me add this lovely imaginary instrument from Boris Vian.  It appears in his novel L’écume des jours (The Scum of the Days).  A number of artists have built plausible models of the Pianocktail; documentation can be found, here and there, on YouTube.  But let me translate the […]

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The Ullage Group’s sixth public outing attracted our largest turnout yet.  We ran out of chairs and pews; some had to stand, fidgeting. After an introductory sermonette, Lisa uncorked the ullage, and poured out the traditional offering to our hosts at the Jalopy Theater, Geoff and Lynette Wiley.  She then discussed the cultural history of […]

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In “Wings: The Air Mail Game,” a 1928 game from Parker Brothers, you deliver mail across the country, from Boston to San Francisco.  This offers the opportunity for some deft pen sketches of aerial views.  Nicely done, I think. (Posted by Doug Skinner) 

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For your listening pleasure, the Ullage Group returns this coming Sunday, January 24th with a cacophonous and fun-filled afternoon of unusual, under-appreciated, forgotten, and one-of-a-kind musical instruments. Part show-and-tell, part performance, all noise! Your ears will never be the same again. Doug Skinner will discuss and demonstrate some of the patent instruments and “gizmo harps” […]

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“My First Card Game” was published in 1983 by Discovery Toys; the original publisher seems to be the German firm of Altenburg-Stralsunder.  It’s certainly bold, as designs go.  And I’ve seen worse monkeys. (Posted by Doug Skinner)

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I’m puzzled by the word “spiritual.”  I understand it as a noun, meaning a genre of vocal music.  But as an adjective, it has me stumped. When I meet someone who spatters his or her sentences with it, I sometimes ask what it means.  She or he usually refuses, often with projectile hostility.  One woman […]

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