Swapatorium

The Grocer

Photo and business cards found in a photo album purchased at an estate sale.

Hop to It

Souvenir photo, circa 1940s.

  Bus ticket, 1945.

  Souvenir photo, circa 1960s.

Thrill Show

This thrill show booklet is only five pages. It showcases three acts. Maybe you like thrill shows. Maybe you are from Cannon Falls. Or maybe you just like free junk. Either way, I have two extras, so if you want one, you can leave a comment or email me. First come, first served.  NO LONGER AVAILABLE

Preserved for Posterity

The Wedding Gown of Mrs. Van Lloyd... Preserved for Posterity by Heirloom Process.





Your Heirloomed gown prior to sealing, July 1954.

Interior booklet reads: You may rest secure in the knowledge that your wedding gown will be perfectly preserved until the sealed container is opened; whether it be twenty-five, fifty or one hundred years from the time it was Heirloomed. It will be as fresh and dainty as the day you were a bride...

Howling Success

This is a cool birth announcement from 1946. It's the actual size of a ticket. 

Stormy's

The Funny Place

I bought two of these Coney Island admission badges yesterday at an antique shop for 50 cents each. I love the graphics. I found one on eBay for $90.  I didn't do too bad with my dollar investment.

Yellow Pages Party Pak

This is an ad from 1969 that I found in a Better Homes & Garden magazine.  I wonder how many Yellow Pages parties were thrown?  Probably not too many.  The record is titled FINGER POPPIN' PARTY and you get a diagram that shows you how to do the dance.  Some of the signs read, HELP please, YIELD, Yellow is Beautiful, The Yellow Payges Can't Spell, etc.  The piece you mail in reads, To get your Yellow Pages Party Pak, walk your fingers to a pen, fill out the coupon and we'll sock it to you by return mail!  Please enclose $2.  Groovy, man.

I Get a Bang Out of You

This small booklet contains 4 cheesy risque photos of a lady in a fez.





When you get to the last image, a cap snaps that is hidden in a metal contraption on the back page.




It's similar to the book from an old Swapatorium post.

Glurpo 2

The old Swapatorium is still getting comments and one recently caught my attention. It was in response to the post about Glurpo. Robert Grier wrote:

hi, i was also glurpo in the late 60's. it was a blast. the pigs, ralph, baca baca, nepa taca, and poco loco were the highlite. after a while they were all called ralph since the audience reacted the best to that name. i was there in 67/68 right as we changed from the clown to the witch doctor/volcano show. we all started as the native boy job and moved up to bublio who swam with the pigs, and then to glurpo, who was of course the star!!. as i remember there was a ms backus?? who ran the show. i had some good times there in the volcano and the underwater cave where we hung out between acts. the water was sooo cold, we had to get out after 3 or 4 shows and announce a show to get our temp back up. i made 1.25 per hour and the aquamaids made 4.00 per show i think. they were in the water for only about 7 minutes out of the 45 minute show.seems a little unfair!! when i was there the submarine held 150 people. the one they are about to demolish may hold as many as 450. we did 14 shows a day during the summer months. we wore white pants and a flowered shirt and straw hat when we were out of the water.

Thanks for reminiscing with us Bob!

Be sure to check out his blog too. It's fascinating!

Donkephant

Welcome Back, Carpenters

Photo and flyer found in a photo album purchased at an estate sale.

Love Mate

Found in a teen girl's scrapbook. Obtained at a 1941 fair which she attended with a guy named Bill. I'm guessing that these cards were dispensed from some sort of penny arcade machine. The bottom is stamped, Copr. 1941 Ex. Sup. Co., Chgo.

The Malaria Kid

Found inside a letter from a GI writing home.

Moon

Ephemera found in box lot purchased at an estate sale. Photo from my collection.