NBC Bread End Seal Label Fill-In Picture

And here we have it, a completely filled in NBC Bread Fill-In Picture. Somebody back in the day had a lot of patience and a steady hand; some of those corners are really tight.

This is what one looks like not filled in. But the best part is on the back.

I have never read anything quite so horrifying as the ad copy on the back of this thing. It reads like some sort of gruesome fairy tale. "Hey kids, here's our anthropomorphic whole grain friend about to be crushed to death and baked in a commercial oven. Zingo!"

Just last week I discovered a variant of this fill-in picture, for the Schmidt's Blue Ribbon brand. Schmidt's is a regional bakery out of Baltimore, MD that is still in business today. In fact, according to their (very outdated) website, they are the largest independent bakery in the mid-Atlantic. I am particularly fond of their potato-based hamburger buns (yum!).


This item is available in the Wonderland Bazaar.

NBC Bread End Seal Label - Card Painter

Continuing the NBC label series we have the Card Painter. I must say this is a very odd character to feature, there are several other characters I would have thought would warranted inclusion before a card, like the Caterpillar or the Dormouse.

NBC Bread End Seal Label - Alice

Back in the dark ages, before twist-ties, commercially produced bread was wrapped in wax paper and the ends were sealed with gummed labels. All throughout the 1940s and 1950s Disney had promotions with various bread companies, and TONS of these gummed end seal labels were produced with illustrations of Disney characters. Even though there were gazillions made, very few survive today, mostly due to the way they were made: they were glued to the bread wrapper to keep it closed; if you wanted to remove one intact you had to use an iron to release the wax and peel it off.

The series of labels that were released as part of the Alice promotion with NBC White Bread are some of the most difficult to find - which is pretty much par for the course with vintage Alice items in general. Over the next few days I'll be posting the complete set of twelve bread labels from Alice, starting with Alice herself!

We've seen this pose before, although here we don't have the cool striped stockings.

NBC Bread End Seal Label Fill-In Picture Comic Advertisement

The primary goal of any promotional campaign is to sell more stuff. When you are targeting children, what better place to advertise than in the Sunday comics?

This is an advertisement for the Alice series of end seals on NBC bread, as printed in the comics pages. I never knew that Nabisco also baked bread. When I first got this I was hoping there was a comic strip or something other than another ad on the back side of this, so I could date it. But alas, such was not the case, no date to be had.

NBC Bread End Seal Label - Tweedledee & Tweedledum

As with most items, the Tweedle twins share a label. Perhaps they were once Siamese twins, and don't like to be apart?

NBC Bread End Seal Label - Walrus

The Walrus with his trusty stogey and cane, a more shiftless character on a bread label I've never seen.

NBC Bread End Seal Label - White Rabbit

Last but not least we have the White Rabbit, looking particularly excited in this rendering, perhaps he's finally ahead of schedule.


This item is available in the Wonderland Bazaar.

NBC Bread End Seal Label - March Hare

Jerry Colona would be proud, the March Hare even looks like him!


This item is available in the Wonderland Bazaar.

Skylark Brand Bread End Seal Label Comic Advertisement and Picture

Imagine my surprise when I came across this newspaper comic ad for the exact same bread label promotion as the NBC one, this time not only with the fill-in picture included in the ad, but for yet another different brand of bread!

Skylark was apparently the Safeway store brand of bread. This now makes a total of three bakeries that carried this promotion that I am aware of. I wonder how many other regional bakeries participated? I'll probably never know for sure.

But most importantly, this ad has something that the previous ad does not: a comic strip on the back. Why is this important you may ask? Because comic strips are all dated.

The back contains the full Sunday strip for a Red Ryder comic strip. And it does indeed have a date. Sunday, March 2nd. That would place this ad in 1952. Wow.

That is VERY late for an Alice promotion. At least for a successful one. Perhaps this is why the labels are so hard to find? By spring of 1952 Alice was pretty much gone from the theaters, and was considered a "less than successful Disney release" (ahem). Any promotion occurring so late in the game was most likely doomed to failure.

NBC Bread End Seal Label - Cheshire Cat

Finally, a vintage item with the Cheshire Cat! You would've thought there'd be more stuff with him on it...

TV Forecast Magazine - Week of December 30th, 1950

By now most of you faithful readers should be aware of the Christmas Day television broadcast of Walt Disney's One Hour in Wonderland, Disney's very first TV show. This edition of TV Forecast magazine (predating TV Guide by a couple of years), is from the week of Christmas 1950.

Inside is a one-page article with photos from One Hour in Wonderland, featuring Kathryn Beaumont, Edgar Bergen with Charlie McCarthy & Mortimer Snerd, Bobby Driscoll, and the Firehouse Five + Two.

The exceptionally brief article - practically a caption - says that NBC expects there to be more of these kinds of programs.  They were certainly correct!

NBC Bread End Seal Label - Carpenter

Next up is the carpenter, getting ready to ply his trade and whip up a Seafood shack.


This item is available in the Wonderland Bazaar.

NBC Bread End Seal Label - King of Hearts

And the king (hooray!).

NBC Bread End Seal Label - Mad Hatter

Mad Hatter's looking more testy than mad in this pose, perhaps his tea was off.

Mayfair Record Featuring June Winters "The Lady in Blue"

The Lady in Blue, a character popularized by singer June Winters, released a number of children’s records beginning in 1947, with the Alice in Wonderland title Songs from Walt Disney’s Alice in Wonderland being released in 1951.

Issue in both 78 RPM (K-128) and 45 RPM (K-128-45) formats, the record includes the songs Alice in Wonderland, I’m Late, All in a Golden Afternoon, and The Unbirthday Song.  The paper sleeve features art inspired by the original John Tenniel illustrations; the art on the 78 RPM label  features Alice, but not based on Tenniel.  The 45 RPM label is just a standard 45 RPM label with no art at all.  Based on this one might assume that the 78 was more targeted at the children's market whereas the newer 45 format more at the adult market.  But who can say for sure.

Founded in 1946 by June Winters and her husband Hugo Peretti, Mayfair Records specialized in children’s records featuring “The Lady in Blue,” June Winter’s character made famous throughout the late 1940s and 1950s.  By 1949 The Lady in Blue's popularity had increased dramatically, with her own fan club, comic strip, and numerous appearance on radio and television.  By 1951 The Lady in Blue radio show was airing nationwide on NBC Radio.

Mayfair was acquired by Roulette Records in 1957, with Hugo Peretti staying on as head of the children’s record division.  The Lady in Blue continued to release records on the Roulette label until June Winters retired in the 1960s.

NBC Bread End Seal Label - Dodo

Aside from the Goebels, when have you ever seen a Dodo?

NBC Bread End Seal Label - Queen of Hearts

Looking surprisingly good natured here, the Queen is a particularly tough label to find.