Shape up you tubby bitches!

From the 1913 edition of the Journal of Health and Longevity. More to come here, on my scan blog, and on Facebook because some of the stuff in this publication is too good not to share.

Thrift store score!

I discovered this series of books at my local library recently:
They are a treasure trove of bad '70's fashion. Today I found and bought five of them at one of my local thrift stores. I also scored two Family Circle Do It Yourself books that were published in 1972 that are chock full of pictures of 1970's retro home interiors and exteriors. I can't wait to share all of the cheesiness with you on this blog and on my retro/vintage picture blog, Dr. Monkey's Retro Blog.

I love my local library

I do, I love my local library.

I love my local library waaaaaaaay more than any human should. And it's not just because my friend Bob is the new big cheese at the library, although that's part of it. I love my local library because it's huge, it's well lit, it has books, magazines, CD's, DVD's, graphic novels, and because it's within walking distance of my house. But the reason I am loving my local library today is because they had a massive used book sale there today.

They had a deal where you pay $20 bucks and you could get all the books you could pack in a box. When we found that out we went wild. Sparky got a bunch of novels and a few non fiction books as well and I got these books:
A Foot in the Grave has some really cool and creepy illustrations in it. Zhou Enlai has great shots of vintage Communists in it. Puppet Making spoke to me and it said, "Touch the puppet head." I look forward to reading the slim novel about how Napoleon cheated death.

I really made a score when I picked up those two USDA books about our nation's food supply, one is from 1966 and the other is from 1969. They both are packed with great vintage photos of farms, animals, people, and food from that era. I got a book about by a guy who directed exploitation movies in the '50's, '60's and '70's, a book about the history of wine, and a book of essay's on food.
Speaking of food, I found four, count them four, cookbooks that are filled with pictures of bad food. I can wait to share them with you on my blogs and on Flickr.

Thanks Johnson City Public Library!

My name is Dr. Monkey and I'm a vintage magazine addict

Have you ever driven by a store for years and years and said to yourself that one day you'd stop in and see what they had for sale at that store? Well today was the day that we stopped at "that" store. For us "that" store was an antique/flea market store just off Interstate 26 just outside of Erwin.

Let me tell you people, this joint is a wonderland of a store that's stuffed full of everything.
It's got all kinds of knick knacks, odd food items, junk, and most every kind of this and that ever made. But for me the best thing about it is it's got tons of vintage magazines and paperback books. But these aren't the usual vintage magazines that you find in stores like these, the usual being scores of Life, Look, Newsweek, and Time, no siree. I found a bin full of 1950's era Vogue magazines, two of which I bought.Is that not a wildly cool cover? We're going to frame it soon and hang it in our new place. The great old mags didn't stop at just Vogue, I also found a Punch magazine from 1953. It's chock full of great British cartoons and ads and I may end up framing that cover too.

Earlier in the day I bought these magazines at an antique store in Erwin for a dollar each:

I actually got three Argosy's. Two of the Log, which was a magazine put out by the Naval Academy.And finally I bought this copy of True.

These purchases would not have been so bad if I had not bought those vintage mags yesterday, which I blogged about here. I'm staying out of antique and thrift stores for the mext month. Maybe. I swear.

You can bet...

...you'll be seeing stuff from this great magazine soon on this blog or on Monkey Scan. It's full of wild pictures, cartoons, and insanely funny ads. I picked it up today for $2.75 at a comic book shop in Bristol, TN. I swear I hope we sell our place and buy a house soon so I will stop buying stuff like this to scan, I've got three old yearbooks, some Jack Kirby comic books, and now this magazine to scan, it's crazy I tell ya, crazy.

Safety tip and positive news item of the day

I found that great vintage photo in here:
This was one of a series of four books published by the folks who did Weekly Reader. They all came out in 1947 and they are little more than pro growth propaganda that advocates wild consumption of virtually every natural resource that we had at that time. I got two of the books in this series for free today, they were in a box marked "Free!" in front of one of the stores where I buy used books. I also picked up a children's song book from 1951 and it is chock full of great illustrations. And I also picked up a geography book from 1920 that is full of great vintage photos. I'll be scanning all the great photos and illustrations soon and I'll post them to Flickr when I get the chance, I'll let you know when I get them all up and you can rummage through them and use them for whatever nefarious purposes you may have.

I found my promised land during Holy Week

And it's on the top floor of the Haggle Shop antique store in Kingsport, TN. Check it out:

Yes people, those are stacks of old magazines from the '50's, '60's, '70's, '80's, and upwards on those tables. And there's three more just like them on the other side of the room. And all along the walls of that big room are filled shelves filled with all manner of cheesy paperbacks, old Time Life series books, kid's books, and more. But let's get back to the magazines for a moment. There's old copies of Time, Newsweek, Vanity Fair, Theatre Craft, True, Argosy, Life, Look, People, Sphere, Holiday, Modern Farmer, and many many many more. I bought a National Geographic from 1957 and a 1956 Argosy, which was an old men's general interest magazine, and I got them both for a buck each.

It's a good thing I live in Johnson City or else I'd be in that store every day buying old magazines. I've been working my scanner hard as it is, I can only imagine what I'd do to it if I was in that joint all the time. I've got to be strong and limit my self to only one or two trips to the promised land a month.