Weekend Finds (Dr. Doolittle, I presume?)

 Good morning!

I woke up this morning, got ready for work, walked into the green room, and had a little Twilight Zone style thrill of horror as I sat down at my computer to check the day's forecast. Perched on the top most part of my couch? Rex Harrison!

We need to build some trust in this relationship, Harrison. And those beady eyes are NOT. HELPING.

You may remember from previous posts (I mentioned him just last week in the Santa Fe Line entry, as well as again here and here), that I've never been a massive Rex Harrison flag waver. However! I was at an estate sale Saturday morning (bright and early, out near Briley Parkway in Donelson), and as I was processing my grief over how nonsensically expensive the tables-full of costume jewelry was (family run sale, so strands of glass beads and matching earring sets were like $20 instead of $5, and no discount on the second day...cue me weeping into my own elbow), I turned around to see a shelf full of cameras and THIS GUY.

         

But can you WALK with the animals? TALK with the animals?

Marked $15, and no worse for wear excepting that his original pull-string (which would have made him say 11 unique phrases when he was new!) yielded only a weird, wheezing spinning noise when pulled, I immediately picked him up. Me to Dad: "LOOK!" Dad to me: "Ah...it's Dr. Doolittle, huh?" ((as we discuss his size and condition, the eerie, plastic human face atop a doll's cloth body, the nonworking pull-string)). Dad to me: "Well, I guess the animals can talk to him, but he can only listen. And walk." Fair enough, Pappy. Fair enough. I picked up a blue caftan from Hawaii and a straw mail carrier from the same, and headed for the checkout table. Protesting against the non-functioning voice box, I talked them down to $10, and left a happy camper!

When I got home, I did some ebaying (naturally) and realized he is a) missing his top hat but even in that condition is, b) worth about $40! Too bad for prospective buyers that he's a $1,000,000 worth of creepy to me and is ranked second only to Snappy in the house now for "things that bring joy and sunshine into my heart by their sheer weirdness".

I need to display him alongside this:

I bought this jack-in-the box (or, giraffe in the box?) a year or two ago at another estate sale in Donelson. She still works! I (don't) need to round off my collection with the other Doolittle tie-in merchandise, which include this wind-up toy guitar (same illustration as the front of the giraffe box), this pushmi-pullyu (Rae has one! I'm secretly jealous!), and ton of other stuff you can see here on this listing. Who knows what weird subsets of collections I'll fall into next! In the meantime, I need to watch the movie again so I don't get embarrassed when someone asks me why I have so many tie-in items laying around the house when I-don't-even-like-Rex-Harrison.

Also this weekend, we had a party to celebrate school being back in! (And all of us being old enough not to have to go back to school!). For the occasion, the theme was "early 90's", which was when this young pup was in elementary school (I know, I know; it's shocking to me, too). While I somehow forgot to include the love-of-my-heart Sonic into the décor, I DID include an homage to one of the nastiest/best juice box drink of that decade, the now-extinct ECTO-COOLER. I meant to print out a picture of Slimer from the box while I was at work on Friday, forgot, and made this 3D-ish guy out of construction paper in about 10 minutes the day of the party, eyeballing it from a picture on the web. I think it turned out really well!! The actual "ecto-cooler" drink we had at the party bore little resemblance to the original, and was mostly made up of equal parts of diet ginger ale, diet Mountain Dew, lemon juice, yellow and blue food coloring, sliced limes, and vodka. We somehow went through about four punch bowls! I was very pleased with the success of this drink choice.

For the food, there was every kind of conceivable junk/stuff that ants wouldn't touch if you left it outside, but I have to say it was kind of neat to drink a Yoo Hoo and eat a stack of Pringles as a fully grown adult.I don't know what I've been doing with my life for the last fifteen years, but I know whatever it was, there were not enough NERDS candy boxes involved.

I took really fuzzy pictures, and none at all of the actual party in full swing (shame! on! me! I was too busy slinging hot cheetos as the supply dwindled and playing Apples to Apples), but imagine all but two of the people I made name tags for (below) made an appearance. My friend Jesse even brought me a butter curler as an early birthday present! It does exactly what the name would imply it does, and looks like this one on ebay... you'd better believe I'm using that next get together IN SOME WAY.  Great turn out, great fun!

How was your weekend? Find any good stuff? Start any collections you didn't ever intend on collecting? Brainstorm any party punch recipes off the cuff using mainly food coloring to create ambience? Do tell!

See you guys tomorrow!

How To Make 44 Party Drinks (early 1960's)

Forty-four! Count 'em! :)

I finally got around to scanning the bounty of paper goods given to me by Barry a few weeks ago at karaoke... can you imagine the two-step beat of my heart as one of our favorite Corner Bar regulars handed me a package with pamphlets deeee-rect from an inheirited dry bar?! He and his equally awesome girlfriend Kimmy were at my house for a Mad Men themed dual birthday party in August, when Barry first mentioned the possibly of handing down these sacred texts to me. Being the complete nut I am for any kind of 1950's/60's recipe cards, much less DRINK recipe cards, I was bowled over both by how neat the finds were and how kind Barry was to pass them on to me. So, first of all, big shout out to Barry!

The first in the set, "How To Make 44 Party Drinks" was published by Southern Comfort, to the greater glory of Southern Comfort, in the early 1960's. Couldn't place an exact date on it, but the address on the barware order form on the last page is zip code less, so I'm guessing pre-1963?



I've noticed that many party manuals from the Kennedy era stress pre-planning and convenience-- in the atomic age, one needn't spend hours bent over elaborately arduous-to-make canapes. Just pop some Chex Mix out, shake up a couple shakers, and laisse rouler les bon temps, mssr.

Here's me, enjoying the solicitous attention of a drink-bearing, blue blazered gentleman, while simultaneously complimenting myself on both my choice of green wiggle dress and lovely purple furnishings in my well appointed living room. I mean, duh. Man in the tab collar, please stop touching my faux objets d'art. They are not to be handled.



This page explains the various measuring methods and bar set up you're going to need to get this party started. If you don't already have a fully equipped Darren Stevens living room bar cart, this, even without a witchcraft savvy wife, would get you well on your way to at home bar competency. Despite my ridiculously large barware collection (Lord, if you don't want me to buy Your kitschy hi-ball glasses, do not make them so cheap and available), I admit I'm yet missing the last three of these glass types, but I'll get there. Also, the ratio of booze-to-guest table is particularly helpful. Multiply by three if you're drinking at Dean Martin's house.



Lunch time, brunch time....breakfast-time....just after you wake up time....anytime pre-cocktail hour is appropriate to drink these cocktails. I really want to try the last one, The Alamo, which is simply whiskey and grapefruit juice. The flavor combination there, when served alongside a plate of "Bacon suzies" (pancakes dusted with powdered sugar, filled with bacon, and then covered in syrup...Olé!), must be something very close to heaven. The dainty glasses remind me, as mentioned in the last paragraph, that I really must get some of the smaller ones. If not only to curb the voracious thirst of my guests, then to show off my hosting prowess in having a glass for yes, every drink and occasion. The cherry and orange garnishes sure make for a pretty cocktail.



"Yes, I remember you, Mister Butler..."

A French Quarter favorite, apparently, the Scarlett O'Hara is Ocean Spray, Lime Juice, and SoCo. As they promised in the introduction, the authors of this booklet provide you with the correct measurements for batches of 1, 4, 6, and 12. After that, you're on your own, scamp. "Strawberry Blonde" is a new one to me, but looks good! That hair classification always reminds me of the turn of the century set James Cagney movie of the same title and saying "23 skiddoo" over and over again for the next week after having seen it.

Always have been fond of the practice of putting the product name in the drink name, like a "7 and 7". In this instance, we get a "Comfort Collins", as well as a "Comfort Cola" (do not look for the latter in vending machines). "Comfort n Tonic" just seems like a waste of an opportunity to play with the name.

"Host special: mix now, play later"...that's right, kids, you can mix, and then you can relax, and then you can serve these drinks. I love preplanning! I never manage to pull it off at my parties though... you'll see me three hours in, still scuttling around, drink in hand, trying to make sure everything food-wise has come off as planned, no one needs anything, and that my slip isn't showing. The life of a bab.

Crab meat canapes, very fanciful! Has anyone every ordered a Gimlet in a bar? Or a Brandy Alexander? I'm always afraid they'll look at me cockeyed. Similarly, I always get jealous of the GQ man of the year looks my friend Brian gets when he orders something cool/tough guy, as he has when ordering Johnnie Walker or similar "your grandad's booze" choices. With girl drinks of the 60's, you are more than likely to get a blank stare or asked "what's in it, I guess I can make that"? Which leaves me stammering and red-faced. "I don't know, Lee Remick ordered one in a movie once. Can't you ask the other bartender?" I live in a world of inequity and strife.

Here's what we needed during that snowstorm. I have to say, the illustration of the punch bowl is one of my favorites in the booklet. Look at all the paper lanterns! Also, where can you get little sword shaped toothpick skewers outside of the internet now? I went to Krogers and a party store last time and the best I could come up with were some mildly festooned affairs with not a jot of the "gibe" of these little swashbuckling swords. Sigh.

The aforementioned Alexander, SoCo style, and a Grasshopper, and a Stinger. Put em all together, and you've got the liquid lunch of the century. Again, I wonder where I could comfortably order these? Must commit ingredients to memory, then insist.

I love that "Comfort on the Rocks", consisting of only So Co and ice, is a recipe pleasantly presented to you "As served on TWA Super Ambassador Jet Flights". Exactly what I would want with me at 30,000 feet. That's why I keep seeing that dude in the fuzzy suit on the wing, ok? I'm not crazy. Look!

((Monster: "Is that Southern Comfort you're drinking, Bill?" William Shatner: "There's a man out there!!" ))

Last but not least, has anyone spotted these gorgeous, teal-and-gold Steamboat glasses? Supposing this is 1960, a set of eight of any of the three varieties (Long Drink, Double Old Fashioned, On the Rocks) would cost about $25.00 in today's money. Matching napkins? $1.25. Steals, people! Steals!

What I should refer to in the future as "The Barry Collection" also includes two pamphlets on games of chance, and a flip book of drink recipes called "A Guide to Pink Elephants". Go ahead and start your weekend off right with the above recipes, and I'll bring you some more this time next week. Til then!