“Easy 3’s” — a 1959 confection from the Ed-U-Card people — offers a somewhat startling design.  A variety of familiar cartoon characters are depicted in black and white, trisected, against bright color backgrounds.  Once you assemble three of a kind, you can piece together your cartoon pal, much as Isis did Osiris. The selection of […]

[Read more →]

Dreams are often no better than reality; but do offer variety. The role of the internet has changed. It used to promise diversity: people with unusual or specialized interests could find one another. Now it quantifies popularity. The proof was in the pudding, but the dog ate it. Did you really feed that troll a […]

[Read more →]

What could be jollier than a rousing round of “Bible Action,” a 1994 game from the All Church Technical Service, in Fayetteville, AR?  There were two decks, one per Testament; as the booklet says, you can also combine them “to form a much larger and somewhat more difficult game that includes all Bible books.” (Posted […]

[Read more →]

Uh oh, look at Thomas Edison: He forgot to take his medicine. hellfire / heavenwater One nice thing about chocolate is that the roach parts and rodent droppings blend so well with the color. claptrap with a clicktrack Don’t bolt your curry: We’re in no hurry. Books are usually considered more valuable when signed by […]

[Read more →]

It’s another version of “Authors,” this time an undated deck from Whitman.  This one not only has dignified portraits of the selected writers, but a thumbnail sketch illustrating the book in question.  A charming extra touch, I think. (Posted by Doug Skinner.)

[Read more →]

…that you can write things in a notebook?  Many stores offer packets of paper, held together with glue, thread, or wire spiral; and a selection of pens and pencils that you can use to make marks on the paper.  Simply open the notebook the way you would a laptop, and “make believe” that the bottom […]

[Read more →]

This evocative image was taken in Shaver’s home in Wisconsin sometime in 1961 or 1962.  From left to right, it shows Richard Shaver, his mother Grace, Dorothy Shaver, and a friend, Richard Horton.  Dorothy is holding Horton’s daughter, and the photo was taken by Horton’s wife (sorry, I don’t know their names!).  As Horton says, […]

[Read more →]

In addition to his stories and his paintings, Shaver also regularly wrote poetry.  It was often published in a wonderfully unpredictable little magazine called Ray Palmer’s Forum, published by Shaver’s long-time editor, friend, and occasional adversary. I believe this one, though, was unpublished. (Posted by Doug Skinner)

[Read more →]

Here’s another item from the Shaver household: a pretty little ashtray by Dot Shaver.  She signed it on the base, and identified it as “slab work” — a piece worked up from a slab of clay, rather than shaped on a wheel. (Posted by Doug Skinner; thanks to Angela Alverson for the photo.)

[Read more →]

Despite his mental problems, Richard Shaver seems to have had a relatively happy marriage with his wife Dorothy, or Dot. And he always praised her cooking in his letters. Among my Shaver mementos is Dot’s hand-written cookbook. I’m intrigued by these recipes for fig wine and rhubarb wine. They sound like intriguing down-home concoctions. I […]

[Read more →]