Two More Days!

Happy Easter! Pictorial Review - March 25, 1951

Happy Easter!  In celebration I give you this very colorful cover to the March 25, 1951 issue of Pictorial Review, a Sunday supplement magazine.  No article inside, but really, who needs more than the cover anyway?

David Lesjak from Toons At War recently posted the original line drawing for this cover on the Disney History Institute facebook page, go check it out!  And look for his forthcoming biography of Hank Porter, the artist on this and many other covers.

Wonderland Exhibit Setup Complete!

Whew!  Last week I delivered the last of the items and Monday I went up to help setup.  As of today the exhibit is up and ready!  Can't wait to see it in its final incarnation.  Hope to see as many of you there as possible over the next six months!

Chicago Biscuit Company Alice Tea Party Sugar Wafers Store Display

Well, here's something I've never heard of before.  I know that there were several food items created during the original release, but I've never heard of these.

Apparently CBC (Chicago Biscuit Company) - which was a division of Leaf brands (of baseball card fame) - created some sugar wafers (probably like nilla wafers) and themed them towards tea parties for their Alice tie-in.  But I've never seen packaging nor heard of them before I acquired this store display/price card.  The little rosette in the bottom corner would show the price of these lovely confections I'm sure.  Would love to know more about them if anyone out there knows anything.

Yowza! Cookie Cutters A-Go-Go

Today a complete set of Domar cookie cutters sold for almost $700.  Very nice indeed.

GEM Preview Articles in SCOOP

Looks like I made some ink!  Geppi has an online magazine called SCOOP that publishes lots of stories about pop culture related items, and they published not one, but two preview articles on the exhibition.  Go check 'em out!

Royal Stars of Wonderland Card Album

Wow, something I thought I'd never find.  You may recall this post from 2009 on the Royal Pudding premium cards that appeared on the backs of the boxes.  Each box bore one of sixteen different images from the film (I still need five - hint hint), and also on the back was an advertisement to send away for a collectible album in which to store your fantastic cards.  This is that album.  Woohoo!

 I confess, I was expecting something a little more impressive, but I guess I shouldn't have done.  After all, Royal made MANY different 'Stars' sets, and I'm sure it was way more efficient to create a single album that could contain any set.

The album contains 8 pages with very thin plastic envelopes, holding a total of sixteen cards.  Now if I could just find the remaining cards ....

Mary Blair Alice at the Tea Party

Well, I don't know about you, but I certainly can't seem to get enough of Mary Blair - certainly not in the past few weeks anyway!  I consider myself extremely fortunate to have been able to acquire this Mary Blair.  It features Alice, the White Rabbit (?), the Mad Hatter, and the Dormouse all at the mad tea party astride a very large tea service.  How cool is this!

I just love the swirling steam and the detailed line work in the objects and flora.  Genius.

Coro Alice Heart Charm

A newly discovered Coro piece is this Alice Heart charm, most likely from a pendant necklace.  It is a manufactured piece and not something altered after the fact as can be seen by its construction.  While the CMD only lists a few items, there have been several items discovered that aren't a part of that page.  I would love to find a Coro catalog to see if there are any other items yet to be discovered.

Lost in Wonderland Exhibition Update!

We now have official advertising on the Geppi's exhibition.  Alice will be joined by Harley Quinn as depicted by the amazing Amanda Conner.  Plan your trip now!

In case you are wondering about the art for my exhibition, Disney is notorious for their ... reluctance to grant permission to use imagery for things like this, so they opted to avoid it altogether.  But, as you know there will be plenty to see inside the exhibition.