A Very Nervous Santa

In keeping with the theme of yesterday's post, today I'd like to show you another Santa from my collection.

Also from 1952 - but this time, the very nervous Santa!


Whoa Nellie!
Since there's just so much to think about here, we'll not get bogged down in the fact that he has no legs. We'll just focus on his face. That face that brings to mind someone who is getting a way too personal pat-down from airport security.

Or perhaps a man who is trapped on the tiny ledge of a skyscraper and is inching slowly towards an open window. Both things that you never think about Santa being involved in.

And once again, just like yesterday's Santa, the box is pretty deceptive:


On the left: Police Lineup Santa
On the right: Santa Glo

That said, he's also nothing like the advertisement from the Sears catalog either:


I remember watching this Western once where the bad guys (yes, I said "bad guys" like an eight year old) tied up a man in the middle of the desert to torture him until he slowly died from baking in the sun. That's what this illustration reminds me of. Picture rope around his wrists and men in black hats snarling through chewing tobacco stained teeth..

Until next time,
x's and o's,
Eartha

Santa Follows You

Yesterday I noted that there should be a "Scared Straight" program for holiday blow mold addicts like myself. Then I remembered this awesome wall Santa that my Mom gave me a couple of years ago:




Adequately scary, huh?
This guy should come with a light bulb and a restraining order.

Here's an ad for him from the 1952 Sears catalog:


Is it just me or does he look jollier...friendlier in the ad?

They briefly mention that he's made so that his eyes appear to follow you around the room. Because leering is festive.

But wait until you get a look at the company's name that made him....


Eep.

Of course, I had big hopes that this place would still be open and sending out Santas to follow stalk the masses after all of these years but alas:


A strip mall restaurant

Records show that Santa Follows You, Inc. filed to be a for-profit business on Thursday, April 03, 1952 and then, not a single mention of them ever again. Not a peep. Not a ho ho ho.

Being a huge fan of The Twilight Zone, I like to imagine that this company was set up for a short time only to send these Santas to follow us out into the world (for an eerie purpose that has yet to reveal itself) and then as the clock struck midnight on that Christmas night in 1952 they evaporated into thin air.

Tomorrow (in an attempt to keep the Crazy Santa train rolling on down the tracks), I'll share with you a very nervous Santa.

Until next time (he sees you when you're sleeping..he knows when you're awake),
x's and o's,
Eartha

Coming Soon....Huge Freakin' Santa Head

There should be a "scared straight" program for blow mold addicts.

Pam's Christmas 1961

I wanted to share this bit of Christmas past from the Pam films with you today. The part where she dances with her doll is so sweet and I know that some of you vintage toy and doll collectors will recognize that tiny little kitchen set - glorious! This film was taken in 1961 when Pam was five years old. I wish that she were still around. I would have loved to have met her and shared these films with her this Christmas.

For more backstory on the Pam films, please go here.




Until next time,
x's and o's,
Eartha