Let me add that the stories meant to amuse children often teach different lessons than the textbooks and tracts. This toy magic lantern slide, for example, has an unusual moral: no dinner until you destroy the furniture. Your teachers do not want you to emulate the pig; but every child will admire its inventiveness, envy its contentment, and […]
Entries Tagged as 'Animals'
The Pig’s Lesson
August 2nd, 2008 · 2 Comments
Tags: Animals · Belief Systems
Children’s Card Games (14)
July 5th, 2008 · 2 Comments
The old game of dominoes is recast with lambs, puppies, kittens, turtles, cattle, pigs, and other creatures — and a stylish job, too, in my opinion. It was published by E. E. Fairchild (no date, as usual), and cost 19c. (Posted by Doug Skinner)
Tags: Animals · Card Games · Ephemera
Houses of Flesh and Bone (3)
June 25th, 2008 · 2 Comments
(We conclude here a short story by Paul Vibert, translated by Doug Skinner.) I can repeat the celebrated procedure of the rats’ father, a prosthetic graft, and so join together two elephants, or two whales; then, when the graft has taken, all I need do is cut a small incision for communication; and as I […]
Tags: Animals · Literature
Houses of Flesh and Bone (2)
June 24th, 2008 · Comments Off on Houses of Flesh and Bone (2)
(We present here the second part of a short story by Paul Vibert, translated by Doug Skinner. Please read the first part for your greater enjoyment.) Obviously, there can be no question of a spacious apartment, but simply a small lodging, warm and convenient. It could be relocated at will; and man would thus solve […]
Tags: Animals · Literature
Houses of Flesh and Bone (1)
June 23rd, 2008 · Comments Off on Houses of Flesh and Bone (1)
(We have a serial for you this week: a short story by Paul Vibert, carved into three portions, so you won’t get sick by eating it all at once. I know almost nothing about Vibert, except that he wrote stories in the 1890’s, often based on scientific fantasy. His curious tales can sometimes be found […]
Tags: Animals · Literature
Amazing Talking-Tape Card
May 24th, 2008 · 6 Comments
For 35¢ you could give your beloved the gift of sound — in the form of an Amazing Talking-Tape Card. This particular example was made by the now defunct White & Wyckoff Manufacturing Company of Holyoke, MA. Since 1889, White & Wyckoff had been part of a thriving paper industry in Western Massachusetts towns such […]
Children’s Card Games (8)
May 23rd, 2008 · 1 Comment
It’s Friday at the Ullage Group, and time for another children’s card game. For late arrivals, or for the perplexed, we explain that we offer a sample from this most marginal, disposable, anonymous, and overlooked field of graphic design as a weekly lagniappe. I have no date or publisher for this edition of that perennial […]
Tags: Animals · Card Games · Ephemera
Children’s Card Games (6)
May 9th, 2008 · Comments Off on Children’s Card Games (6)
“Trail Drive,” a western themed pack from Arrco, claims to be “a game you’ve never played before.” Once again, no indication of date. (Posted by Doug Skinner)
Tags: Animals · Card Games · Ephemera
Children’s Card Games (5)
May 2nd, 2008 · 3 Comments
“Rummy,” in some version, has long been a mainstay of game publishers. This elegant edition was put out by the Whitman Publishing Company: once again, no date is given. (Posted by Doug Skinner)
Tags: Animals · Card Games · Ephemera
Children’s Card Games (2)
April 10th, 2008 · 1 Comment
We have another one for you: this comes from “Farve-Firkort,” a game from Denmark. No date or publisher is given. I think the name means “Four-card in color”; any Danish speakers please chime in with corrections. (Posted by Doug Skinner)
Tags: Animals · Card Games · Ephemera