We have another “Old Maid” deck to add to the survey.  This one is from the Whitman Publishing Company: there’s no date, but it’s fairly early in the illustrious career of the Old Maid brigade.  It was hard to choose, but I’ve picked Mr. I. Never for his unusual anatomy and coloration. And here’s the […]

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If you’re so smart, how come you’re not intelligent? Children hate everything they learn in school.  Perhaps we should re-institute school prayer. Beat the drum and sound the trumpet! Take the garbage out and dump it! The penny is unique, currency worth so little it’s liminal: a financial schwa. a book whose text negates itself […]

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Cold weather is here; now is the time to relax in a comfortable chair with a hot beverage.  May we recommend the Ullage Group Toddy?  It’s a simple drink: ginger tea, honey, and brandy.  We cannot guarantee that we were the first to combine those ingredients (ginger and brandy are, after all, soulmates), but we […]

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Parker Brothers put out the “Quiz Kids Own Game Box” in 1940, based on the popular radio show.  It contained a variety of educational games: a map puzzle, anagram tiles, a board game, and several card games.  These cards seem to come from some kind of number game.  Unfortunately, the rules are missing from my […]

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Why are people so fond of positivism? Do they really trust their own senses and intellects? I have another anecdote that shows my sister’s personality. She was a committed member of the Daughters of the American Revolution; when I mentioned that I thought they were wrong to bar Marian Anderson from Constitution Hall, her response […]

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Gather around, students of “Old Maid,” I have another specimen.  It’s a 1968 version, from Milton Bradley.  The choice was difficult, but I’ve picked “Go Go Gertie” as particularly representative of the year. And here’s the Old Maid. (Posted by Doug Skinner)

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I don’t know much about Prince Robert de Rohan Courtenay.  He was, apparently, a familiar figure in Greenwich Village in the ’50s and ’60s; he claimed a number of grandiose titles, and was said to live in a cheap residential hotel around Times Square.  His name shows up in accounts of parties and funerals (he […]

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The old game of “Authors” was given a different twist in “Bible Authors,” published back in 1895 by the Zondervan Publishing House.  Samuel, Moses, Christ, and others (14 in all) are celebrated in these gray, but lushly ornamented, designs. (Posted by Doug Skinner)

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a narrative in which adjectives are used as nouns, and adverbs as verbs psnack A blood orange is more appetizing than orange blood. Possible project: pinback buttons of fruits and vegetables. a hell-bat with a bell-hat newscaster flub: “nobody should be reported” for “nobody should be rewarded” making things whole / making holes in things […]

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