The Very Hungry Cater-pumpkin-pillar!

Presenting: This year’s TVTA Halloween pumpkin…

“The Very Hungry Cater-pumpkin-pillar!”

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a 1969 children’s picture book, designed, illustrated, and written by Eric Carle. The book features a very hungry caterpillar eating foodstuffs before pupating and emerging as a butterfly. It has won many children’s literature awards and major graphic design awards. Furthermore, it has sold upwards of 50 million copies worldwide, selling roughly a copy per thirty seconds since its publication.(Info from Wikipedia)

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, 1969.

Problem is… the Very Hungry Caterpillar is just too cute for Halloween! Let’s monster it up right now, TVTA style!

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TVTA pumpkin teaser, my new wife, and an ad-blast from the past!

Greetings vintage mates. Here is a teaser for this Halloween’s TVTA pumpkin creation… possibly my most ambitious pumpkin to date as it comprises more than 20 components across 3 elements, plus a background! Below are 4 mini pumpkins to be used along with some acrylic paint and, erm, chopsticks. Long-time readers will know that I make a pumpkin creation each Halloween for TVTA 🎃🎃

Clues: the creation is based on a classic piece of children’s literature which is known across many generations as a popular and fun story to read!

The protagonist is a type of creature somewhat prone to change!

750 vintage points up for grabs if you can name the title of the story the pumpkin is based on. Bonus points galore for just wildly guessing anything! All being well I should have the creation ready for posting on Monday 31st! 🎃🎃🎃

In other news…

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Asking for a friend…

Asking for a friend…

Letter addressed to the Wisborg branch of Herr Sargmacher & Sons, Fine German Coffin Manufacturers, January, 1838.

Dear Herr Sargmacher,

I am writing on behalf of a friend to ask if you might, by perchance, be able to supply a specialist coffin?

Length-wise you will be looking to accommodate a cadavar of approximately 6 feet 4 inches (1.92 m) tall, and with sufficient elbow room to allow for exceptionally long arms.

The lining must be of your finest red velvet, with the casing constructed of your sturdiest wood, and with a lid which may be opened and closed with minimal effort.

It is desirable that the coffin can stand upright as well as be laid flat.

As I say, asking for a friend,

Yours sincerely,

Count Orlok,

Transylvania.

Asking for a friend… written by Ford Waight for Six Sentence Stories: a weekly writers’ challenge hosted by Denise at Girlie on the Edge blog. This week’s cue word is BRANCH.

Digital art by Ford with images from the 1922 film Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (German: Nosferatu – Eine Symphonie des Grauens) directed by FW Murnau and produced by Prana Film.

TVTA & Atomic Mage Editor, Ford Waight. There’s a wasp? Where?

Creepy Toys Diorama, 1965

Greetings Vintage mates. As TVTA prepares for its annual Halloween pumpkin creation, here is a nice jolly toy image to get you in the mood…

Toy Diorama. Marie France 118. 1965. Photo Jacques Primois.

Some readers may remember a similar post I did a couple of years back: Top Ten Toys That Are Freaking Me Out Right Now. Today’s photo could probably qualify for a Top Ten in its own right!

Need to look closer? Dare you…

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Some days, you just can’t get served…

“We don’t serve bats here”

We don’t serve bats here. Art by Reuzé. Fluide Glacial N°551. 2022. France.

… Some days, you just can’t solve crime without a little help from Hostess Fruit Pies…

Detail. Hostess Batman. 1976.

… It’s as if the whole world has been turned upside down…

Hostess Batman. 1977. US.

… Some days, only a Batman Bike Horn can help you get through traffic… 

Batman bike horn. 1977. US.

… and, some days, you just can’t get rid of a bomb!


Happy Sunday, vintage mates!

 

A vintage shoutout to my friends at Bande Originale…

Bande Originale moodboard

Greetings vintage mates. Please check out the website of my collector friends from Lyon in France who have recently opened a concept store to sell vintage clothes, fashion accessories, movie posters and vinyl records: Bande Originale

The site is still in its infancy and has ambitions to become a physical presence with artistic collaborations as well as its web presence selling authentic vintage items.

Says Marie:

“Bande Originale was born from a shared love story for cinema, music and fashion. Romantic and dreamy collectors, our purchases have always been favorites. We wanted to take a new step by creating together a concept store that would allow us to share our universe. Bande Originale is not only a vintage ready-to-wear shop or a cinema-music corner, it is a proposal to live your life like in the cinema, choosing the original soundtrack of each day so that it is unique : it’s up to you to compose your style and your playlist…”

Bande Originale Courrèges and Yves Saint Laurent
Bande Originale posters and photographs
Bande Originale Barbarella
Bande Originale photographs

All images from Bande Originale

Thanks for looking 😊

Pop Culture Postcards

Greetings vintage mates. Presenting, a selection of postcards from the collection of TVTA, featuring Barbie humour, Star Wars, flea market fashion goodness, opera lithographs, a French vintage toy salon, and Scooby-Doo!

BARBIE

Nostalgic Barbie. The American Postcard Company and Mattel 1989.

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