Vintage Wallet Inserts

An unused but apparently vintage wallet I recently picked up included two wallet-sized pieces of extremely cheap paper printed extremely cheaply with various features, warranties, seals, and an ID “card.” I scanned in the four images:



The American Designer Award for Finest in Leather. Impressive! Something tells me that perhaps there was no such thing, nor was there an entity called the “Leather Industries of America,” but perhaps I am being too cynical.

I guess the warranty is as to the materials, not the workmanship or construction. If the wallet falls apart in a couple weeks, that's on you, buster.

(Two months in, the wallet seems to be holding together fine.)

Now, where to find these “additional windows”...




Good to know that this is an “Approved” identification card. Or is it the bearer of the card who has been approved? And “card” is a stretch. These inserts are printed on some of the flimsiest paper I've ever encountered, several notches below newsprint.

In the vital stats section: Blood type. Good thinking, I guess.

Notice how the “Zip” is in a slightly different typeface? Looks like Helvetica regular as opposed to the condensed sans-serif used for the address blanks. (Typographers: In the condensed font, I notice that the a, y, and r have distinctively curved elements. Is this maybe the special font that Bell developed for phone books, designed to be legible at extremely small sizes? ) The addition of the “Zip” later on indicates that the original design of the insert dates from the pre-zip-code era, that is, before the early 1960s, but that the wallet itself is newer than that.

Basic standards of tomfoolery would of course require one to write in “Federal Bureau of Investigation” in the “Employed by” blank.

Maybe not the best idea nowadays to just give out your SSN to the random stranger who finds your wallet.

Great Deal on Roasted Mealworms

BOGOs are always irresistible; sign me up. I do wonder if the birds prefer the roasted mealworms or the plain. I would have thought plain.

Source: Duncraft Inc.

Flags at Half-Staff Here at Cheeze Blog

Morrie Yohai, ‘Mr. Cheez Doodles,’ Dies at 90 - Obituary (Obit) - NYTimes.com

Reaching into the Past

Whether you agree with some, all, or none of its points, there can be no doubt that the Tea Party movement has had an impact on American politics here in the 21st Century.

From my vantage point in the 8th Dimension, it strikes me that this is likely due in large part to the marketing genius of reaching into the past and resurrecting a once successful American idiom from the 18th Century -- the Boston "Tea Party." Perhaps there is a Jungian collective unconscious dynamic at work here.

Let us have some ideas for hijacking old themes for today's movements. I shall start by taking over/under bets on the following proposition --- Within 14 months, Chris Hartman will be advocating for monetary reform with the following slogan:

Free Silver!
16:1

Send all checks and money orders to me c/o John Big Booty, Planet 10.

Buyer Beware

The adverse effects of investing in companies that sponsor sports celebrities likely to be involved on some sort of sex scandal...

Business Idea

The Immaculate Concepcións: Cleaning service in which all the housekeepers are named Concepción.

Marketing for Dummies

At the supermarket checkout aisle last evening I noticed a new product: a "Gardening for Dummies" book in a flimsy little $3.95 supermarket-checkout-aisle edition. I think there were some other titles too -- Cooking for Dummies or something.

I'll criticize capitalism until the cows come home, but sometimes you gotta hand it to the Manufacturers of Desire. I know a great brand extension when I see one.

On the other end of the scale, we have the Frito-Lay Corporation of America. According to their new labeling, their Tostitos tortilla chips are "Now Even Tastier!" One wonders: What were the slogans that they rejected? "Now Even Cornier!" "Now Slightly Less Dusty!" ""Now with Even More Air Inflated into the Bag!"

And what's the ROI on the research and development of a slogan like "Now Even Tastier!"? After-tax, of course. Got to love that R&D tax credit.

And does anyone remember Taco flavored Doritos from the 1970s? My favorite, now rarely found anywhere. Once again, capitalism fails me.