325. Hooray for Hollywood! 40s AND 50s MOVIE MAGAZINES

Just  perfect for my post-Oscar fever! These stash of U.S. movie magazines from the last 40s and 50s were just given to by my longtime antique dealer. Talk about loyalty rewards!! They come from a collection of a female fan who's into Hollywood, its movies and its stars. Represented are such classic mags as Photoplay (established in 1911, one of the very first fan magazines), Screen Stories, Motion Picture (also started in 1911) and Movie Story.

Many familiar movies are featured here, including synopses, cast and crew, many now considered classics. The latest "chismis" from Hollywood, dished by Hedda Hopper and cohorts are constant features of these magazines. There are tearsheets of James Dean's "East of Eden", "Rebel", "Giant", Garland's "A Star is Born", Deborah Kerr's "The King and I" , William Holden's "From Here to Eternity", and many more.You would also known why the period was considered the golden age of movie glitz and glamor: there are many colored pages of veteran stars--from Jane Russell, Vivien Leigh, Shirley Temple, to Roy Rogers, Laurence Olivier, Joan Crawford--to the up-and coming ones--like the young Robert Wagner, Liz Taylor, Rock Hudson, Marlon Brando, Tab Hunter, Debra Paget, Doris Day, Shelley Winters, Pier Angeli, and Marilyn Monroe.

Just look at the very young Ronald Reagan above--the future U.S. president, in a beefcake pose with his leading lady. Below, is the mild-mannered looking Joanne Crawford, soon to be the evil 'Mommie Dearest ' in the 1981 movie. And look--there's even a double spread ad for "Demetrius and the Gladiators", a staple TV movie during Holy Week!!

Some magazines have special features tucked between the covers like this rare Marilyn Monroe 1954 collectible calendar. It's a collectible within a collectible.

I thought I'd won my own Oscar after getting these magazines for free; the movie stories, pictures and features on these magazines are sufficient enough to give me a semblance of the Hollywood experience, allowing me to peek behind-the-scenes, in front of the camera and into the private lives of glamorous movie stars. Once again, I would like to thank the Academy.....

324. Lessons Learned from a Pioneer: DANIEL BOONE SCHOOL BINDER

Daniel Boone was an adventure series aired on NBC (from 1964-70) based on the life of the pioneer in Kentucky territory in the 1770s. It starred Fess Parker who, ten years earlier portrayed Davy Crockett on the “Disneyland”TV series. Many materials were produced and copyrighted by 20th Century-Fox TV.

An unusual item from the Daniel Boone era was this 3-ring plastic school binder I got pre-ebay, from the mail order auction, Hake’s Americana & Collectibles. Made of tan plastic, the front cover features the silkscreened photographic likeness of Fess Parker. Other than that, it is your typical binder with a sleeve inside to hold your various paper items. With your Daniel Boone cooncap and binder, you’re all set to conquer new frontiers in school

323. Almost Victorian: VINTAGE PAPER CUT-OUTS

In one of my morning pickings, I chanced upon these 3 paper-cut-outs of religious characters under a heap of paper items. The cut-outs reminded me of  Victorian "scrap"--those  colored printed papers and usually embossed die cuts that were used in Victorian times by both children and adults for various crafting and scrapbooking activities. Scraps first appeared i the 19th century, sold in sheets connected with small strips to join them together. Many people group their collections by themes or special occasions with verses and poems. These local scraps were probably hand-cut from religious prints, and not estampitas (holy cards). Cardboard easels have been added on at the back to make the figures stand--maybe for play purposes. These vintage ephemera are not worth much, but I am keeping them anyway, reminder of an age when people saw value in everything--including paper scraps!