We were not bombarded with the kind of collective, commercial, high-volume, all-purpose noise that surrounds us today. After the evening news, we turned off the radio and did our homework or read or went for a walk or went to watch a sandlot baseball game or went to the movies or met some friends and hung around the corner or sat on the porch. Our radios played much of the day and we could listen to adventures in the evening, like Superman and The Green Hornet and Batman and The Shadow and Intersanctum and Johnny Dollar, and news and soap operas during the day and news programs after supper.īut that was it. The point is, that our heads were not as full of noisy distractions as they are now. I was still in grammar school at the time. I would go next store many evenings after supper to watch it with Bill. It was very sophisticated and literate for a kid’s show. That’s where I first saw Kukla, Fran, and Ollie, a witty, bright puppet show out of Chicago, with Fran Allison as the only human. My neighbor and friend, Bill Doheny, had a TV with a 4-inch screen and a magnifying glass installed in front of it. It was all in black and white and the screens ranged between 6 and 12 inches. And we had morning and afternoon newspapers, many delivered to our front door. And we had movies and many movie theaters. We had radio, thank God, which was wonderful. So there was very little broad-based commercial noise. We grew up at a time, in the late-1940s, early ’50’s, when there was no color television, let alone 50-inch, color, high-definition TV, no Internet, no cell phones, no Walkmans, no DVDs, no CDs, no cassette tapes. That was especially true of my generation. They were worth keeping.There are certain songs, certain jingles, that get into your head when you’re young and stay there forever. However, some items sell for thousands of dollars.Ĭongratulations to anybody who had the foresight to keep some of the Buster Brown items. That’s right, Buster Brown whiskey.Įxamples of the prices of some Buster Brown collectibles include: An art wall clock, $27 a Buster Brown and Tige puzzle, $22 a spice can, $50 a pinback button, $15 and a wooden store display stand, $230. Other Buster items included games, toothbrushes, soap, wallets, cameras, perfume, pocket books, knives, banks, ceramics and even whiskey. The rare tins depict a man in a chair smoking a cigar and blowing the smoke around his ears, with Buster and Tige standing near the chair. Cigar tins and cigar boxes are quite rare. They are much more rare than the paper items. ![]() At the end of each bit of mischief, he would resolve to be a good boy “from now on.”Ĭollectors are very interested in Buster Brown figures and dolls. Buster Brown books were printed, describing pranks that Buster would play. There were paper dolls, playing cards, fans, postcards and trade cards. ![]() ![]() There was also Buster Brown hosiery, as well as coveralls.īuster Brown paper items were very popular. The Buster Brown suit was common for boys under age 12. was named for George Warren Brown, not for Buster Brown.īesides the shoes, other clothing was named for Buster. There were also the adult shoes Barbara Brown and Burton Brown. Shoes were named after characters, such as the one-strap Mary Jane’s, named after Buster’s sister. Buster Brown is likely the most famous shoe name. Outcault offered the characters of Buster, his sister, Mary Jane, and dog, Tige, to any company that would pay the price. He wore a wide, saucer-rimmed hat on top of his pageboy haircut. The Buster Brown character was the creation of Richard Fenton Outcault, a famous cartoonist of the early 1900s.īuster was a wealthy boy who had short pants, a little jacket and Victorian shoes. Look for him there, too.” Actually, you may be too young to remember that slogan, but starting in the early 20th century it was quite popular. The well-known slogan was: “I’m Buster Brown. ![]() Louis.īuster Brown and his dog, Tige, were the characters of the Brown Shoe Co. Right on the top of that list is the Buster Brown Shoe Co. You would not think that there would be collectibles related to shoe companies but there are.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |