“Forfeits,” from J. & L. Randall, Ltd., in England, offered activities for party guests.  The art is snappy, and the red and green color scheme is attractive; but I can’t imagine that some of the suggestions would turn out well.

(Posted by Doug Skinner)

John Keel’s birthday is March 25; to mark the occasion, Anthony Matt and Doug Skinner will chat about his life and work on “In Other News,” hosted by Geoff Brady on WBAI, on Monday, March 28, at 10 pm.  WBAI is at 99.5 FM in NYC, or at wbai.org.  For more on John Keel, please consult the twin blog over here.

Doug Skinner will lead his ukulele students in the class recital at the Jalopy Theatre on Sunday, April 3, at 3 pm.  This is your chance to hear eight or so ukulelists (depending on who shows up) in a stirring orchestral version of the Tampa Red composition “Ducks Yas Yas.”  Jalopy is at 315 Columbia St., in Brooklyn.  Directions are here.

Doug Skinner will also be at Jalopy the following Sunday, April 10, at noon, to offer a workshop in music theory.  Again, details are at the Jalopy site.

Doug Skinner will also make it down to the INFO FortFest in Baltimore, May 14-15, to give a talk, “Sketches of Strangeness,” analyzing some unpublished “silent contactee” art from 1967.

And the next Ullage Group event is in the pipeline.  More information soon.

ADDENDUM:  Our appearance on “In Other News” has been archived here.

(Posted by Doug Skinner; the drawing is by Jimmy Swinnerton.)

Glen Morley (1912-1996) had a busy career as a composer, conductor, and arranger, particularly in Canadian broadcasting.  In the ’50s, he worked for the Rochester Philharmonic as ‘cellist and music librarian; in his younger years he also worked as a cartographer and newspaper cartoonist.

Throughout his life, he produced a series of cartoons about music, as well as the vagaries of life as a ‘cellist and music librarian, all under the title “Symphoniphobias.”  A bit of research tells me that he published his last batch in 1980; this portrait of a conductor is from a 1953 portfolio.

(Posted by Doug Skinner.)

We have another “Old Maid” deck, old, worn, and incomplete.  It features imitations of comic strip characters, such as this approximation of Buster Brown.  Other personalities include Old Foxy (Foxy Grandpa) and Katz’s Kid (Katzenjammer Kids).  The Old Maid seems peevish in their company, but she does have a nice hat.

(Posted by Doug Skinner)

transparent venetian blinds

As finance and communication become exclusively digital, two unexpected casualties: stamps and coins.

ice in the shape of flames

suits with two pairs of pants; shirts with three sleeves?

smorgasmortgage

Why plastic wood, but no wooden plastic?

a globe aquarium, with opaque land and clear oceans, so tiny fish will seem like sea monsters

Is that glass 1/16 full, or 15/16 empty?

What a nasty little aye-aye!
Why’d he have to target my eye?

a Gideon Bible that contains a picture of Darwin on a spring, that pops up when the book is opened

aspirin in muted colors, for those times when white is too bright

(Posted by Doug Skinner)

“ABC Educational Cards” was published by Ed-U-Cards in 1956.  The deck contained both number and letter cards, all in this breezy, colorful style.

(Posted by Doug Skinner)

Doug Skinner will be performing at the Fabulous Jalopy Theatre, in Brooklyn, on March 12 at 9 pm.  I’ll sing mostly Skinner songs, with perhaps a couple of covers.  I’ll be on uke and cuatro; David Gold will join me on viola.

I’ve asked the incomparable Brian Dewan to share the evening with me.  He’ll hold down the fort at 10:30, with both original and historical songs on accordion and autoharp.

Admission is $10.  Directions to Jalopy can be found here.

(Posted by Doug Skinner)

The good doctor is shown here extolling Cow & Gate’s “Milk Food,” in the “Cow & Gate Happy Family Game.”  The other families — Allsmiles, Carr, Pill, Cowangate, Churn, Cheerful, Dunkley, Giles, Feedus, Nice, and Allwise — also seem to enjoy the company’s line of dairy products.

(Posted by Doug Skinner.  Thanks to Angela Alverson.)

(Posted by Doug Skinner)

The U.S. Playing Card Company published these “Nation’s Capitol Souvenir Playing Cards” in 1909.  Photos of places of interest were overlaid with pastel tints: blue for hearts, green for diamonds, and pink for spades and clubs.  The Joker was Dupont Circle.

The backs are unusually lovely:

(Posted by Doug Skinner)