Pulp Fiction

 Bring out the Gimp... Oh, wait.  Not that Pulp Fiction.

This pulp fiction:

"a magazine or book containing lurid subject matter and being characteristically printed on rough, unfinished paper ."

A couple of years ago we went to a really neat museum showing of the history of Pulp Fiction.

 On one wall was enlarged cover art.

 On the other wall was A HUGE timeline.

The timeline was impressive, both visually and informatively.

 In the middle of the show was a newsstand.  It had reproduction magazines on the shelves and advertisements for smokes and chewing gum on the walls.  Most of the items on the shelves were brochures about the show and history of pulp fiction, which were cleverly disguised to blend in with the newsstand look.  

 In the showcases, protected from greasy fingers, were bunches of antique and vintage publications.  

I love shows that are like this, fun subject matter that is looked at from a historical point of view, with the viewer's atmosphere balanced between the two.

If you need more of the same, see these past posts:

Lunchbox Memories
Atomic Age Stuff
Tin Toys
Dollhouses

I, myself, have a hankering for a Royale with cheese.

Play-Doh Day

Today is the day to buy a fresh tub of Play-Doh, crack it open and shove your nose into it.  Well, that's my plan anyway.  I love the way that stuff smells!  I also love the smell of a fresh box of Crayola crayons.  I look forward to when school supplies come out because I grab a couple of boxes, sneak around the corner to open them and then inhale their glorious waxy scent....I think it could be an addiction.  But we aren't here today for an intervention.

It's National Play-Doh Day! 

 I love learning about the history of stuff.  Play-Doh has a fascinating background!  I am going to give a few highlights but highly recommend reading this more in depth history. 

Play-Doh, while showing up as a kid's modeling dough in 1955, was invented in 1933....as a wallpaper cleaner.  

During those years coal was the prime material used for heating in most homes.  Also during this time period, paper wallpaper (not easy to wash vinyl) was in most homes.  As you can imagine the terrible soot that quickly built up on the walls was difficult to remove.  The Kutol company came up with a malleable material that could be rolled along the surface to pick up the debris. 

After WWII, coal was replaced by gas and easier to clean wall surfaces replaced paper wall coverings.  The company was not doing so well, as their product was becoming obsolete. In 1955, a nursery school teacher and sister-in-law to one of Kutol's owner's, Kay Zufall (1926-2014) had read a newspaper article were grade schools would use wallpaper cleaner as an inexpensive way to make Christmas ornaments. She picked up a tub of the product and had her classes try it out with results just as much fun and imaginable as they are with today's children.  Kay also came up with the name "Play-Doh", as the owner's were going to call it Rainbow Modeling compound. Kutol set up a subsidiary called Rainbow Crafts to carry the Play-Doh brand.  Over the next few years the company worked on adding color (the wall cleaner was white) and removing the detergent from the original recipe.  They approached educational firms to buy the material for their schools in gallon sized tubs successfully.   

The biggest break for the company that placed them nationwide was when they approached Captain Kangaroo to use their product on his television show.   Rainbow Crafts didn't have a budget yet big enough for major advertising but made a deal with the Captain that he would get 2% of their sales.  He loved the product and used it on his show three times a week.

A set of Captain Kangaroo endorsed tubs.

Soon several other shows, Ding Dong School and Romper Room, started showcasing Play-Doh and it became a world wide phenomenon. Rainbow Crafts owned Play-Doh until 1964 when it was sold to General Mills/Kenner.

I really like how this product came about.  An obsolete product from a bygone era that cemented it's place in history through imagination and creativity. 

 As a side note, I wish they would release some of the old sets again.  This Pee-Wee Sculptor is odd.

I have fond memories of  playing with PB when he was little with Play-Doh.  When he was 3 years old he really liked Monster Trucks.  I came up with this idea for using the Play-Doh in a Jello mold we had that was of cars.  We then would set the Play-Doh cars up for his Monster Trucks to pounce on, smash, and leave nothing but flat pieces with tire treads behind. So much fun! Truthfully, he and I still pull out this stuff and play with it on occasion!

National Peanut Day!

Today is National Peanut Day!

Let's celebrate with some peanut laden fashion accessories...with googly eyes of course!

Several months back I was asked to review a dress from a company called eShakti. The company makes clothing in general sizes but specializes in custom sizing and fitting...without you having to leave the comfort of your own home.  You send them your specific measurements and they will customize your selected outfit piece to fit you personally (and I believe this is not an extra charge).  By the time I selected my dress to review the pickings left were very slim.  As you can imagine they don't want 350 bloggers all reviewing the same dress.  I decided to select something that I could customize myself as well, since most of the dresses left I didn't love.  This simple black fit and flare design had a detailed band with rows of khaki ribbon on the waist. Black: yep! Fit and flare: perfect!  But I am not a fan of khaki.  It must be covered up! So I had this idea I was going to make all of these detachable waist bands with matching detachable peter pan collars, maybe even a detachable trim around the edge of the skirt in an array of fun fabric patterns....I would wear matching patterns for all sorts of special holidays: 

National Something on a Stick Day, National Play-Doh Day, Pet Rock Day, National Frozen Food Day, Deviled Egg Day....So so many!

  Yeah, right.  Like I have time for that. 

 As far as I got on the whole detachable accessory fun fabric holiday plan was... a belt.  But not just any belt!  It was already a fun fabric with a repeating print of peanuts but I customized it with puffy paint googly eyes on some of the little guys.

 I also made a matching googly eye peanut buddy hair clip.

I also jumped out of a moving car to snag this abandoned Jumbo Boiled Peanuts sign off the side of the highway.

March is National Peanut Month so maybe I will have the collar done by then...
but I wouldn't bet my bag o' peanuts on it.

eShakti has some really super cute dresses to pick from, kinda Modcloth-ish.  As far as the custom sizing goes, the dress fits fine!  Perfect for someone who has a hard time finding clothes off the rack that fit right. 

Happy National Peanut Day!

Celebrate by picking up some Jumbo Boiled Peanuts roadside....creepy toothless vendor optional!

Apple Crisp

I like to find interesting ways to use up stuff in my fridge and pantry.  It's how I get my kicks.  Well, the fam recently put a hold on their apple consumption leaving me with half a bag of sadden apples.  I also had some oats left over from these cookies.  I like to peruse my cook books, similar to how one may approach picking up somebody at a singles bar.
What looks good and easy.

Well hey there sweetheart!
What's shaking Apple Crisp?

This recipe comes from Betty Crocker's New Cook Book 1961.

Like I said, good and easy!

Little Itty Bitty Pie

I found this adorable little pie pan at a thrift store a few months back....almost Easy Bake Oven sized!  I have been in a 'use stuff up' mood and I concocted this little pie from a bunch of scraps of this and that which needed to exit the premises.  The pie crust is from a half used box of Jiffy pie crust mix I have had in the fridge for quite some time.  I had a 1/2 jar of apple jelly that I bought about 9 months ago, a 1/4 bag of coconut and some sliced almonds.  People, I can't just throw stuff away.  I have to USE it somehow.  I don't know...turn it into a deep cleansing beauty mask or use it to clean the stove with.  I decided to take the chance and use it as food still.  Despite the questionable expiration dates, it turned out really yummy. Apples with coconut may be the next chocolate covered bacon.

I made the pie crust, and then layered the apple jelly with the coconut.  Then topped it off with the almonds and more coconut.  An 'adult' sized pie full of jelly would never fly in the real world but an itty bitty one certainly can!

The leftovers fit perfectly in the little toy refrigerator.  Just have to watch out for any fridge raiding dinosaurs getting a hold of it!

Apple Pie Bars

School is back in session!  So of course apples have been on my mind and in my fridge lately .  I have a few apple dessert recipes for the next few posts that came about because I had bits of this and that leftover which I threw together to see what would happen.  I am pleased to report that no trips to the emergency room for stomach pumping came up as a result. 

This recipe comes from a 'Bar Cookies' mini booklet that was included with the recent Food Network magazine. Surprise!  It is not a vintage recipe!

Apple Pie Cookie Bars

Line a 9x13 inch baking dish with foil, leaving 2 inch overhang on two sides; coat the foil with cooking spray.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

 Saute' 3 diced apples in 1/2 stick butter with 1 tbsp sugar and 1 tsp apple pie spice until softened. Set aside.

Melt 2 sticks butter; let cool slightly.  Whisk in 1 1/2 cups sugar, 3 eggs and 1 tbsp vanilla.  Stir in 2 cups flour and 1/4 tsp salt. Add apples to batter. Spread into prepared pan.  Sprinkle top with coarse sugar before baking. Bake until edges are set but the center is soft, about 25 minutes.

However, I did add a Penuche Icing drizzle on the top, which comes from Betty Crocker's New Cook Book circa 1961:

The bars really need the icing, they tend to be a smidgen dry and missing that 'something' . The bars are quite good though.

I like that this icing dries firm so the bars can be wrapped in saran wrap keeping the icing on the bar intact.  This is something that is always on my mind from years of making stuff for bake sales and school fundrasiers (a couple of examples: Homemade Twinkies, Spooky Strawberry Cake Batter Bars)

If you need more appleness, in the mean time see some of my past posts that feature apples in some form or trickery:

Peanut and Apple Butter Twist Ups
Applesauce Cake
My That's Huge Wedge-O-Pie
Monster Apple Lips
Appless Pie

*****

As a side note I wanted to put something on here about the start of the new school year.  If you are a regular reader of this blog you very well know that I can go on and on about volunteering at my son's elementary school.  PB just started middle school this year and it has been a hard adjustment for the both of us.  Truthfully the adjustment hasn't taken hold yet.  He gets out of school way later and has a crap ton of homework for the afternoon.  I don't get to spend as much fun/free time with him anymore.  I don't have the option of driving the few blocks from our house to his elementary school to do stuff for his teachers and then have lunch with him anymore. I used to just drop by and surprise him at lunch.   I knew that the end of his elementary years were coming and I knew to enjoy them for everything he and I could.  When the last day of elementary school came in some ways I was ready.  I was so exhausted from room parenting along with all of the end of the year parties, activities, banquets, and an out of state field trip that I helped with.
Today it hit me though.  It hit me hard.  I decided to attend the volunteer meeting for clearance to volunteer at his old elementary school.  (I am hoping to be able to continue doing the Bone Soup reading to any interested classes around Halloween.)   PB and I walked our old route to go into the school and then went up to see his fifth grade teachers.  We hadn't gotten the chance to go in and see them since school had started.  It felt like it was fifth grade again.   PB catches his middle school bus from his old elementary school so he went that way and I headed for the auditorium.  As I was sitting there and listening to the same rules and regulations I hear each time from the past 6 years, I thought back to being there last year.  About signing up to be room parent, about it being PB's last year there and it became a moment of realization of the here and now.  We are no longer a part of this wonderful elementary school family anymore.  I can still volunteer there but it will never be the same as it was.  I felt a tear roll down my cheek but I hurriedly brushed it away and focused on the matter being discussed..how to use the copy machines.  When I got back to my car I had myself the cry I probably would have had the last day of elementary school if I hadn't been so exhausted.

The Donut Hole

I have this dream. 

I am driving through a doughnut hole and then I come out the other side with a box full of yummy doughnuts!

"You can't just wish and hope for something to happen.  You have to make it happen."

as Pee-wee says.

The final 'must go' destination for the single day we spent in/near Los Angeles was 

The Donut Hole.

The Donut Hole is located in La Puente, California has been in business since 1968.

By the time we drove out to the dessert to see the dinosaurs and then back to eat at Pann's it was getting pretty late.

Luckily, The Donut Hole is open 24 hours!

Here is the Drive-Thru for you to experience it yourself!

Now, just point to what you want.

And then you come out the other side of the donut with the yummy box of your dreams!!!!

As I said, it was getting pretty late so we didn't get to take any fun pictures with the ginormous donut.

I love going to neat places like this and California is full of them!  We have a pretty long list of 'next time we go' of places we have to hit up.  Most of them include doughnuts and cemeteries!

Pann's Restaurant

 Our second stop as part of the top 3 places we picked to go to while in Los Angeles was Pann's Restaurant, built in 1958.  When people talk about time capsules, it doesn't get any better than this place!

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

 We made it there before the dinner rush so I was able to get some awesome pics of the interior sans costumers.  

What a great place!  The food was excellent and it had wonderful staff hospitality.

Us at Pann's.

We found out about Pann's from one of my idols, Charles Phoenix.  He is always posting images of neat, vintage, quirky places to check out.

Here is a excellent video by Charles Phoenix about Pann's that includes history and an interview with one of the original owners. Next up, making my dreams come true!

Large Marge Sent Me...

To continue my Pee-wee fix...!

While we were in California, primarily for Disneyland,  we did carve out a day to seek other fun things to experience in the Los Angeles area. One day is certainly not enough but we narrowed it down to three 'Must-Do' places.   On the top of my list was somewhere I honestly never dreamed I would ever get to go to in my life!

The Cabazon Dinosaurs!
You know the ones, featured in the 1985 Tim Burton classic film, Pee-wee's Big Adventure.
I love dinosaurs and I love Pee-wee.

Now, Let's talk about your big but.

Here is a scene from the movie with PW trekking in front of Mr. Rex and Dinny.

I am not sure how, but I captured almost the same image sans Pee-wee!

In modern day, Mr. Rex has his ass behind a privacy fence, along with a creationist museum.

One of my favorite parts of the movie is the Large Marge /Trucker Diner/ Big Dinosaurs section. The scene when PW and Simone are watching the sunrise while within the T-Rex mouth's vast tongue and teeth laden auditorium is quite lovely.

I longed to be able to sit in the same spot and gladly paid the 9 buck entrance fee for that chance.
Well, as I have mentioned before I lead a bit of a sheltered life and didn't know that spot was mostly movie magic.  Tim Burton inspired for sure. 

 This is the view that is actually to be had.  At least Pee-wee accompanied me up there so we could discuss our dreams.  Mine involve doughnuts as well.

Here is a view sans me.

And this is the sight behind the mouth area...no big tongue to sit on.  However I thought that cover-overed doorway was interesting.  With a bit of sleuthing into the history of the dinosaurs I think I figured it out.

But first things first:

The dinosaurs were designed by a Knotts Berry Farm sculptor and artist named Claude Bell. He was looking for a way to attract customers to his roadside restaurant, The Wheel Inn, which opened in 1958.

First came Dinny (pronouced Dine- ee) the Apatosaurus, whose construction started in 1964.  He took 11 years to finish.   This was in part because Mr. Bell was doing most of the work solo, though it is rumored he paid a friend one dollar and a pack of Dr. Pepper to paint Dinny. It also took time to collect the materials which were salvaged from the construction of near-by Interstate 10.   Dinny wound up being a 150 ton 45 foot tall concrete sculpture with a gift shop held in his innards. 

Mr. Rex came along in 1981, weighing 100 tons and being 65 feet tall, and taking 5-6 years to complete.

Originally, Mr. Bell wanted to install a large slide down Rex's back but this never quite came to be. Mr. Bell passed away in 1988 and the slide was filled with concrete.

So that's the deal.  Visitors could climb the steps inside Mr. Rex, enjoy the view from his mouth and then slide back down on his tail, hence the doorway.  Magical. 

The dinos have been used for several other Hollywood features: films, music videos, a video game, an album cover and in a novel.   Most notable is Tears for Fears, 'Everybody Wants to Rule the World' video and in a flashback scene in Pixar's movie "Inside Out".   

On the commentary track of Pee-wee's Big Adventure is a sweet story told by Paul Reubens and Tim Burton about getting to met Mr. Bell and having such an admiration for him.

Here is an image of Claude Bell during the construction of Dinny.

When we went in February Dinny's innards were not open for perusing. But we did have a good time running and weaving around his legs as Pee-wee did when hiding from Simone's boyfriend, Andy, in the movie. 

As part of the ticket price, as I mentioned above, is a creationist museum. It is self guided with a few winding overgrown paths with different species of dinosaurs, in varying scale size, that I doubt lived during the same periods in time.

...or that had this stripey color scheme!

It's a world where lambs and velociraptors can be BFFs!

But please don't feed the stegosaurus!

On a night just like tonight... now on to the other 'attraction' on this site from Big Adventure.  I get off right up here...

The Wheel Inn

The Wheel Inn is located in front of the large dinosaurs and has remained basically unchanged from when the movie was filmed there.

But, sadly, Large Marge can never send anyone else there again.  It closed in September 2013.

The Wheel Inn is not owned by the same management as the dinosaurs.  It was forced to close due to economical pressures.  It was known for it's peanut butter cream pies, working phone booths for collect calls, and velvet painting gallery where John Wayne and Elvis painting were big sellers. I have read a couple of articles/reviews about the restaurant and it seemed to be a fairly decent place; good food, good prices, and employees that were like family to each other.  Five years ago the waitresses dressed like cave-women as a quirky reference to the beliefs of the dinosaur museum behind them.

I have also heard good things about the Tuna platter accompanied by a milkshake.

I was able to snap a pic of the interior through the dusty windows.

This is the bar Pee-wee sat at!

It is a shame the restaurant is not open anymore.  I saw them together as kinda like getting a packaged deal; two fun locations from the film in one spot.  

I haven't read anything about what will become of the Wheel Inn property.

Well.. That old highway's a-calling.

I have two more stops to make!

Have a nice day!

Be sure to tell them...