- Cape Rolling Out Bloomfield Road Art Trail (8/21/19)1
- Donors Pledge Almost Two Grand To Replace SEMO's Possibly Sentient ‘Gum Tree' (8/16/18)
- SEMO and The Will To (Become A Consultant) – Part 2 (6/14/18)
- SEMO and The Will To Do (You Really Want To See That Legal Notice?) – Part 1 (6/4/18)
- Judge, Jury... Trashman (6/1/18)
- Diary of Cape Girardeau Road Deconstruction (5/11/18)
- Trying To Save A Tree From City “Improvements” (4/30/18)2
DC Travels Part 1 - Kitsch
I went with my wife on a business trip to Washington, DC last week. We flew out a couple days early and one of the highlights was going to the Georgetown Flea Market on Sunday morning.
My wife and I both like antiquing, but to be honest I often attracted to quirky, kitschy stuff. My wife says this is probably because I have squiggle tendencies according to geometric psychology. She's more of a triangle.
Anyhow, one of the vendors had uncut sheets of point-of-purchase display artwork from the 1940s and 50s that would have been used as advertising in restaurants and ice cream shops. For instance, one sheet had ten chocolate sundaes pictured on the page (see photo below). Very Andy Warholesque.
Originally these sheets would have been mounted on cardboard and then each individual image would have been trimmed out or "die cut". In the 25+ years I've been going to flea markets and antique malls, I've only rarely seen or noticed these cutouts. Frankly, these aren't normally the type kitsch that interests me. Paper signage rarely catches my eye, but these were too unique to pass up. I bought 4 different pieces. Now I just have to figure out where to use them.
This vendor also had uncut sheets of an entire series of bubble-gum stickers which Topps made in the 1970s. They were stickers that made fun of real products and used Mad magazine-like artwork and copy (see photo below).
For instance, Head and Boulders rather than Head and Shoulders shampoo, and L'oggs instead of L'eggs panty hose. I know the humor is stupid and juvenile and in many cases just plain dumb, but it reminds me of my childhood and it makes me laugh.
What more can you ask for?
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