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We’re Having a Party . . .

August 18, 2012

jimpageadmin Guitars and Music , , , , , , , , , , 4 Comments

Got the FJ Cruiser all packed up with gear. In addition to the stuff shown, which is my rock/rockabilly/Bakersfield country rig, there’s my ’51 Reissue Fender Precision bass, D-41 Martin acoustic, spare amp (Fender silverface Vibro Champ), my trusty Shure SM-58 mike and stand, essential cables and other little goodies.

Dave Martin is having his 23rd Annual Adelphi Music and Arts Festival this afternoon and evening, and the weather is certainly cooperating. Live music will be going on from about 3pm till midnight and there’ll be a wide variety of music; from authentic Islands reggae to Flamenco to classical to rockabilly and Appalachian folk tunes.

We always look forward to this event and have a lot of fun. Yee-hah!!!

Who Killed the Burma-Shave Poet?

August 16, 2012

jimpageadmin Strange and Pointless , , , , Leave a comment

Actually, Burma-Shave brushless shaving cream, sold in tubes or jars, died from the growing popularity of shaving cream packaged in aerosol cans, and their advertising signs were killed by the growth of the U.S. interstate highway system. Drivers were moving too fast after that to read the Burma-Shave signs.

But, as a marketing guy, I have to admire the spirit and fun of the Burma-Shave signs, which were sequential red-and-white signs along the sides of roads during the period from 1925-1963. They were usually a comic verse, and during the time they were used, they were the most effective marketing device known.

Here are some examples of the more than 600 verses used to sell Burma-Shave. You can find plenty more on the Web.

Within this vale
Of toil
And sin
Your head grows bald
But not your chin–
–Burma-Shave

Eeny-meeny
Miny-mo
Save your skin
Your time
Your dough–
–Burma-Shave

When the stork
Delivers a boy
Our whole
Darn factory
Jumps for joy–
–Burma-Shave

If you
Don’t know
Whose signs
These are
You can’t have
Driven very far–
–Burma-Shave

The big blue tube’s
Just like Louise
You get a thrill
From every squeeze–
–Burma-Shave

The tube’s
A whopper
35 cents
Easy shaving
Low expense–
–Burma-Shave

From New York town
To Pumpkin Holler
It’s half a pound
For
Half a dollar–
–Burma-Shave

Many signs cautioned drivers to drive safely.

If daisies are your
Favorite flower
Keep pushing up those
Miles-per-hour–
–Burma-Shave

Thirty days
Hath September
April, June
And the speed offender–
–Burma-Shave

What you shouted
May be true
But
Did you hear
What he called you?
–Burma-Shave

Past
Schoolhouses
Take it slow
Let the little
Shavers grow–
–Burma-Shave

Don’t lose
Your head
To gain a minute
You need your head
Your brains are in it–
–Burma-Shave

A man
A miss
A car–a curve
He kissed the miss
And missed the curve–
–Burma-Shave

My favorite:

A peach
Looks good
With lots of fuzz
But man’s no peach
And never wuz–
–Burma-Shave

Why were these signs and slogans so effective? They were funny; people slowed down to read them. Folks talked about them and remembered new ones they’d read or old favorites. A very effective job of advertising! They made consumers feel like friends.

John Buscema: Giant Artist, Giant Heart

August 15, 2012

jimpageadmin Comic Books, Old Jobs , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 7 Comments

As a high-school kid, I’d fly up from Naples to New York City in the summers to do what I could at the comic-book publishers there. DC and Marvel were the biggies. DC was at 575 Lexington Avenue, and they wouldn’t give me the time of day; they were corporate. Marvel, over at 635 Madison Avenue, was more welcoming.

The wonderful man who took me under his wing, for some reason, was John Buscema. He was big, bearded and a bit scary at first to a green kid. And, man was I green. Within a few minutes, though, I realized that Mr. Buscema, in spite of his being a “real” comics artist– and one of the very best– was also a sweetheart and remembered what being green felt like. I worshiped him. I don’t know if he usually worked at the Marvel office, or was just there hanging out, but I was glad he was around!

He didn’t give me a lot to do and what I did do I probably did to excess. I bought an electric eraser and some various eraser sticks for it and reported in every day. I remember cringing whenever I saw a Jack Kirby page ready for erasing after being inked. Mr. Kirby drew with the softest pencil imaginable on a plate-finish board and it was all a smudgy grey-graphite mess for me to clean up!

The prime memory I have of that time was the day artist Gil Kane came to the “Marvel Bullpen,” which wasn’t a bullpen at all. I worked in a crowded closet using a cardboard box for a drawing table. Mr. Kane sat at one of the real drafting tables in the bigger room and started roughing out something in pencil. I sneaked over to watch, and was stunned. Kane could draw faster than I could think. It shattered me. I slunk back to my little closet and burst into tears. Here’s one of Kane’s rough sketches found on the Web:

Mr. Buscema found me and sat me down for a lecture: “Jimmy, we get paid by the page, not by the hour; no salary in this business. Gil’s fast and good because he’s smart and talented, but also because he’s been doing this for 25 years. Don’t over-react; you’ll get there.”

But I knew in my heart that no; I would never get there. I didn’t want it bad enough. As I went back to Newark that evening I knew my comic-book career was over before it really started. But I also knew that I had gained a friend who was a rare person; a giant with a giant heart.

John Buscema was called the Michelangelo of comics and take a look at some of his work to see why. His anatomy’s as good as Kubert’s and his ability to frame a scene is almost scary. He also had some of Jack Kirby’s ability to convey power and force:

A wonderful man; best known today, I guess, for his work on the early Silver Surfer and Conan the Barbarian.

The wonderful coloring on this Buscema Conan drawing is by a fellow in Morocco who goes by the name of bekkouri, and he did a stunning job:

And I still have my old electric eraser:

How To Make A Granddad Feel Great . . .

August 15, 2012

jimpageadmin Family Fun , , , , Leave a comment

And the answer is not a quart of Old Grand-Dad!

As mentioned in an earlier entry, I visited my daughter and grand-daughters today in Hanover, Pennsylvania. Patty had to work and Aaron is away for the week, so I drove up by myself. Being the world’s worst driver made me nervous about the trip, and I couldn’t stay as long as I wanted to.

So we toured the Utz factory, explored Hanover a while, and then, back at Neenie’s, I got to play with Sophie (nine months old and now crawling) and Maddie, who’s three. Maddie and I did a jigsaw puzzle, watched some TV, and Maddie played her pink Dora the Explorer guitar for me.

After I got home, I was a bit downcast that I couldn’t stay longer than a few hours, and then Neenie emailed me something that made my day. When Greg came home after work, he asked Maddie. “Did PopPop come visit you today?”

And Maddie replied, “Yeah; it was awesome!”

Didn’t See THESE In Hanover . . .

August 15, 2012

jimpageadmin Food , , , , , , Leave a comment

Before we leave the subject of potato chips, here’s a product that was years ahead of its time: Sealtest’s Chipnics Homogenized Potato Chips:

Years later, when Pringles came out with basically the same product, the potato growers had the government prevent them from being called “potato chips;” they could only be called “potato crisps.”

Here’s an ad for the ill-fated Chipnics starring comedian Marty Ingels:

I bet if they’d used Alvin the Chipmunk to sell those things they’d still be around today. And the odd layout for the ad text makes me think those lines should rhyme.

Is It Uhtz or Ootz?

August 14, 2012

jimpageadmin Food, Interesting Places , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 4 Comments

The movie at the beginning of the tour pronounced it Uhtz, so I suppose that’s the official way to say it! As long as you don’t say Frito-Lay or Planter’s, the folks at Utz are probably happy.

My daughter and grand-daughters and I visited the main Utz factory on High Street, in Hanover, Pennsylvania, today. It was impressive, though the term “tour” implies that you are guided through a facility by a person. Not so. The folks at Utz barely have one toe in the water when it comes to promoting their history and manufacturing technique. Seems odd.

They don’t allow photography inside the plant unless someone in authority has okayed it first and I couldn’t find anyone to ask. So I can’t show you the manufacturing there; you’ll have to imagine what it looks like.

If I were Utz, I’d be fine with folks taking photos of their chip-making process. It was modern, efficient and ultra-clean. The sight of all those raw potatoes whizzing through chutes and conveyers and turning into mounds of tasty chips seems worthy of a picture or two, wouldn’t you think?

Before the tour, which is self-guided, one walks up a flight of stairs into what looks like a medium-sized company’s break room. There is a small theater running an endless-loop 15-minute film, which I didn’t watch once they said the word “Utz.” As I mentioned earlier, I wanted the official pronunciation.

Here’s the Utz Mission Statement at the foot of the stairs. Since I hadn’t gone up the stairs yet, I hope this photo isn’t in violation of the Utz no-photo policy. This is a typical over-thought mission statement, which I guarantee you won’t finish reading and that no employee there can recite. A mission statement shouldn’t be over twelve words. So something like “Making the World Happier With the Best Snacks We Can Make” would probably be better and about 60 words shorter:

Also below the stairs is a display showing some old machinery:

Hey; it’s an iPhone photo! Be nice!!!

A few displays inside the break-room show the early history of Utz and gave my daughter and me a clue as to where the firm started in Hanover. More on that in a minute.

The main portion of the “tour” is a walk down a long corridor where the various stations in the chip-making process can be viewed through large windows. You can press a button and a recording explains what’s going on at each point.

This reminded me of the corridor in a brushless car wash.

The Utz staff as seen through the glass windows was friendly; some waved at my grand-daughter and she was delighted. Also, they have cute little wooden stiles where kids can climb up and see through the glass. My older grand-daughter thought they were the best part of the tour.

The pototoes are turned into a variety of chips and packaged before your eyes. Too bad I can’t show you any photos, as it really was impressive. It is a huge operation.

My thoughts drifted back, as I looked at this lackluster effort at a factory tour, to the Tampa Busch Gardens tour setup back in the early 1970s. It was much the same as the Utz tour is now, except they had people walking you through the place and there were gardens and exotic birds outside the facility. Now there are rides, shows, music and other entertainment and the whole place generates revenue.

After the tour, my daughter and I decided to try to find out where Utz started. We knew it was a house on McAlister Street in Hanover. We also knew that, as the company grew, William and Salie Utz, who started in 1921 by selling chips cooked in their kitchen, enlarged their home. After a few years of growth, they built a small factory behind the house.

The house isn’t marked, but Neenie found it by spotting the factory (now closed) in the alley behind the house. Notice the additions on the back of the residence:

Here’s the front of the original Utz factory, which reminds me somehow of the Alamo:

Quite a history and quite an impressive operation. I hope the firm someday decides to showcase it properly!

Welcome, New Readers!

August 14, 2012

jimpageadmin Uncategorized , , , , Leave a comment

Wow! Thanks to WordPress’ Freshly Pressed highlight of my blog, I’ve had well over 1,000 visitors so far today from 13 different countries. Welcome to you all! And thanks for the nice comments.

I hope you found the blog worth your while, and will come back to visit often. Today, I toured the main Utz snack factory in Hanover, Pennsylvania, with my daughter and grand-daughters and will be posting on that in the next day or so. As always, I’ll try to come up with a different outlook on the subject and explore a bit to provide you with a unique and fun report.

Thanks again!!!

–Jim

Update:
By the day’s end (and it seems that WordPress runs on Greenwich Mean Time), there were over 1,200 visitors here. Thanks, all!!!

Here’s a screen-grab of a breakdown by country which I took a few hours before the day ended. It gives an idea of where the readers were from at that point. How cool!!!

Ice Cream Soda; Delaware Punch . . .

August 13, 2012

jimpageadmin Family Fun, Pets, Weird , , 2 Comments

I’ll show you who is my Honey Bunch:

Murphy!

Of course, he joins Patty, Neenie, Aaron, Greg, Maddie, Sophie, Katie and a honey-bunch of others, but Murphy is such a wonderful little friend. The funniest thing about Murphy is that he is not in the least intimidated by anything or anyone, and he keeps me in line by yapping at me when he feels it’s time to play tug-of-war, or go watch TV or go to bed.

He’s shown above as he barks at me to COMPLY! The photo doesn’t show his tail, or what passes for his tail, wagging a mile a minute. You can see that he’s exasperated, though.

Here’s another photo from a few minutes ago, where he’s jumping up on my leg. Please notice his magic eyes and stylin’ Hawaiian collar. Murphy is all about style, though he doesn’t impose his preferences on me:

Thanks for being my buddy, Murphy.

Thanks, WordPress!

August 13, 2012

jimpageadmin Weird , , 2 Comments

Just received an email from Kevin, an editor at WordPress, that they’ve chosen my most recent blog entry, about the passing of Joe Kubert, as one of their daily Freshly Pressed featured blog entries. It should be in tomorrow or Wednesday’s edition (link below).

Evidently, Freshly Pressed, on the WP homepage, highlights 19 blog entries a day from the over 428,000 blogs they publish as being worthy of note. So I’m excited, honored and pleased to be included in such a group!

I started this blog at the encouragement of two special friends, and am still feeling my way through the process. During my current job search, I find myself with idle hands and you know how dangerous that can be!

My main goal is to provide entertainment to whomever stumbles across this space, and maybe start some discussions that are worthy of interest. I love writing and graphics, and this blog allows me to keep my hand engaged in both.

Anything else, like this Freshly Pressed mention, is gravy!!!

–Jim

Freshly Pressed from WordPress!

Joe Kubert Has Passed . . .

August 13, 2012

jimpageadmin Art, Comic Books , , , , , , , , , 27 Comments

I never met Joe Kubert in either of my stints in the comic-book world, but I spoke with him on the phone a few times. Mr. Kubert, a pioneering artist who worked mainly for DC Comics, had started a school for cartooning and graphic arts in Dover, New Jersey. There were two young friends and employees of mine in whom I saw great potential.

I spoke with Mr. Kubert about them both. These conversations were about ten years apart, but Mr. Kubert had the same two questions about the young men I was touting: “Are they good? Will they listen?”

Both young men attended his school to their decided benefit. He and his staff taught them what they needed to know to augment their talent with real-world chops. After a couple of years at the Kubert School, both these young men were not only pro-level cartoonists, but could handle any graphic assignment someone might throw at them. They not only knew the theory but how to get it done without a lot of floundering around. Both young men have done well in their careers, thanks to Joe Kubert. There are many others who can say the same thing.

When I first saw Joe Kubert’s work, in some of the DC war comics, I didn’t like it. It was gritty and a tad ugly to my eye.

Then I saw his work on the revamping of the Hawkman feature in the early 1960s. His work on Hawkman soared; it was lyrical and clearly showed the joy and freedom of flight.

Thus I began to realize that Joe Kubert was simply a better artist than I had encountered before. He was capable of creating more than pretty drawings; he was gifted enough to produce emotional drawings based upon realism. War was ugly, so he drew it ugly; flying was about grace in the air, and he drew it that way.

His composition skills were equal to his draftsmanship; he did tons of covers for DC where his covers were the best thing about the book and where the poor artist who did the interior pages just wasn’t Kubert’s equal.

He was a pioneer, yes, but he also was driven to teach what he had learned to new generations of artists. He gave back and provided leadership to many young people who will carry his legacy into the future.

Thanks, Mr. Kubert.

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