384.Boxed: HEE-HAW, 1970

At the National Museum of American History, one can find on display a tin lunch box of HEE-HAW, a musical comedy show on CBS, which ran from 1969-1972. The popular show starred Buck Owens and Roy Clark.

The lunchbox was made in 1970 by King Seeley.  The lunch box has a metal snap for a hinged lid and a collapsible red, plastic handle. The exterior features images from the country variety television show.The TV lunchbox is shown with an unused coloring book, an authorized edition from the same HEE HAW TV show.

369. FREE BOOKS!! McDonald's, Maggi and Esso Collecti-Books

Wonderful premiums for children all! From McDonald's comes a Ronald McDonald Coloring Book with a few coloring pages, fro the 1980s. Maggi Rich Mami Noodles also came out with its own activity book of Nursery Rhymes with games and dot-to-dot pages (I saved this while working for Nestle; in fact, I illustrated a few pages). And lastly, a 1960s Esso Coloring Book featuring the "Tiger in your tank" mascot, with a promo to match! These should make kids busy and keep them quiet...until the next boredom attack!

311. Advertique: PLANTERS PEANUTS' PRES. OF U.S.A. PAINT BOOK

One of the earliest Chirstmas gifts I can remember was a 1960s coloring book of the U.S. Presidents given out by Planter's Peanuts---that peanut company with that ever-present Mr. Peanut mascot gracing the front page. The coloring book, purchased by my Mother from Johnny's grocery in downtown Angeles City, featured all the American presidents--from Washington to Kennedy. It was one of the few color books that I did not keep, so when I found this smaller paint book version--I knew this would be a perfect substitute!

Planters Peanuts was founded by Italian Amedeo Obici in 1906, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. In 1916 the company held a contest to create a company logo and the contest was won by a 14 year old . schoolboy named Antonio Gentile who drew a Peanut Man. Artist Frank P. Krize, Sr., improved it by adding a top hat, a monocle, and a cane to the drawing, and Mr. Peanut was born. By the mid-1930s, the raffish figure had come to symbolize the entire peanut industry, appeared on packages, advertising and premium items like this paint book.

The paint book features side-by-side illustrations of the U.S. presidents--one in black and white and one in color, to be used as a color guide. Defining events from the president's term are also drawn; in the case of Pres. Kennedy, the age of space exploration is shown. The paint book is unused and dates before Kennedy's assassination.

Planters Peanut products were available in limited quantities in the Philippines--through the military PX goods mostly. Even today, Planters are imported, available in select groceries and supermarkets like S& R. It just goes to show how popular the brand has become globally, with Mr. Peanut winning acclaim as one of the most recognized character trademark in marketing history.

307. True Colors: TV CARTOONS MINI-COLORING BOOKS

I first saw this set of small coloring books being sold at Visual Mix, a 2nd-hand book shop that has evolved into the giant used book shop chain, Book Sale. Of course, I just had to get them; they were no ordinary color books to me--they depicted cartoon characters which I watched avidly back in the 70s and early '80s. There was PAC-MAN, based on a Japanese computer game, Pakkuman;  MARVEL'S SECRET WARS that featured all my fave super heroes like Thor, the Hulk and Spiderman; HERCULOIDS, a Hanna Barbera cartoon that had characters out to save the planet like Zandor, Tara, Dorno and Gloop & Gleep. Finally, there was POPEYE, THE SAILOR MAN, that had its beginnings in 1933, although the cartoons I remember were produced by King Features Syndicate from the 60s.

These were cheap Philippine reprints, nostalgic paper relics of  Saturday mornings of marathon cartoon-watching, when the world and I were younger.

260. ESSO COLORING BOOK

ESSO stands for  Standard Oil Company (S-O, hence, "Esso") which originated in New Jersey. On September 7, 1933 Socony Vacuum Oil Company of New York and ESSO merged to form the Standard Vacuum Oil Company or Stanvac.

In 1945, after the War, Stanvac promptly resumed its operations. In 1957, Stanvac started constructing a refinery in Limay, Bataan to meet the country’s growing fuel needs. It was inaugurate in 1961. Soon, ESS stations began sprouting all over the country and to promote travel, it gave away premium items like this Esso Coloring Book, made especially for children.

It featured the mascot,  the Esso Tiger, which was further popularized by Esso's slogan, "Put a Tiger In Your Tank". The scarce 8" x 7" coloring book featured 14 pages to color, showing the Esso Tiger saving the day in a whimsical fairy tale.

In 1973, the Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) acquired Esso Philippines at the height of the first oil crisis and renamed it Petrophil Corporation. It is now known as Petron Corporation.

237. ANNE SHERIDAN PAINT BOOK

Coloring books are one of my fave collectibles--I saved a few from the 60s and 70s, which were largely based on TV programs like Brady Bunch, Partridge Family, Bonanza, etc. But the earlier coloring books--or paint books--were based on glamor girls, screen hunks, vamps, vixens and singing stars of Hollywood. The lovely Ann Sheridan, the original "Oomph Girl" is one such subject of this large (11 x 14), scarce paintbook that dates from 1944.

Ann was the winner of the "Search for Beauty" contest that earned her a screen test at Paramount Pictures. At 18, she was put under a contract under the name Clara Lou Sheridan. She moved to Warner Bros. in 1936 and became a leading star of many comedies and light romance movies
She remained active in the 60s, appearing in "Another World" (1964) and the western series "Pistols 'n' Petticoats" (1966). 

This paint book has 48 pages of Ann to color, showing her activities on and off-screen. It was publihsed by Whitman Co., a leading juvenile publications company. This is an ebay find, worth about $25, with a few pages colored.