Sid & Marty Krofft are familiar names to children of the 70s like me. Although I was just a tad bit too young to fully appreciate the surreal genius behind such Saturday morning programming as H.R. Pufnstuf, Lidsville, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, and The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, I was completely in tune to Land of the Lost and it was certainly one of my favorite childhood shows. And incidentally, it is worth noting that the Kroffts produced The Brady Bunch Variety Hour as well.

After meeting Marty Krofft at the show, I worked my way through the remaining few celebrities, concluding with Billie Hayes, who had portrayed Witchiepoo in H.R. Pufnstuf. While at her table, I was able to witness a very fortuitous reunion as Krofft and Jerry Maren (who was a regular in another Krofft series, Lidsville) both meandered over to her. A photographer snapped a photo of them together and I quickly shoved my camera into his hand so that I could get on the amazing Krofft action.

Celebs of the 2009 Hollywood Show will continue…

By Spring of 1982, we were the proud ownes of our own beautiful ‘57 Chevy (as seen following restoration at the top of the posting). Our first outing to show off the car was a regional car show in Columbus. Although mostly faithful to the original parts and pieces, Dad did install a modern-day cassette tape deck inside the glove box. We would alternate between listening to songs from the ’50’s or sections or Laurel and Hardy dialogue captured from the films, recorded from (coincidentally enough) old Mark 56 records.

The Chevy in its original state. It had its original green paint job when we got it, and Dad was relatively faithful to the color

Denise and the new old car

A nice rainy day for restoration – the Chevy and our next acquisition, the 1968 Corvette

Dad still owns this Chevy and back in 2007, he began restoring it again. He completed it in the Spring of 2009 – this time dramatically changing the color and look of the car.

Dad and the Chevy in March 2009

1981 will continue…

Overall, this was an issue I was quite please with – other than the photos which continued to look like crap. I mimicked issues of Pratfall and Intra-Tent Journal and did what I called an Art Issue. The Art-themed meeting, which included animation featuring L&H, had already been held in May. The cover was the great drawing by Al Kilgore that graced the cover of Leonard Maltin’s Laurel and Hardy Book, and the manufactured UPC barcode, ripping off a joke found in Mad Magazine.

I am including several pages from this issue below. It was another 20 page issue (with the 20th merely being the mailing label area). Not included is the three page article I did about the visit Lisa and I made to the Block-Heads 30th Anniversary meeting in Minneapolis; the article The Great Rascal Search about John Lester Johnson, who starred as Bumbo in The Kid From Borneo (this was written by Bill Cappello); the text and one piece of art by Walter Lantz from Gee, That’s Swell Photography, and the two pages of meetings from May 5 and May 26.

Here is the entire opening editorial. The artwork at the top is something I painted as a senior in high school.

Here is a page from Gee, That’s Swell Photography. This section usually included rare photos, but since this was the art issue, I decided to use artwork. (Stan’s line “Gee, that’s swell photography” from the film Flying Dueces was actually referring to a characture of he and Ollie). The top caricature is by Fernando Llera and the bottom right sketch of Arthur Housman is by Tony Hawes. But of particular note is the drawing by my own Ashleigh.

This article about Larry Harmon, who had long been at odds with the Sons of the Desert members, might have been controversial had it had a wider circulation. I got quite a few comments on it, including from Ali Stevenson, the editor of the ITJ. She said she’d love to run a similar article, but was afraid Harmon might see it and sue.

The signed photo seen above (and in higher resolution below) was actually acquired for me by Bill Cappello, who new someone who worked for Harmon. This is actually a very prized autograph in my collection. Controversial or not, Harmon playd a huge role in Laurel and Hardy history during his lifetime.

And finally, this issue’s installment of Recent Events – which by July 4, were no longer all that recent.

And that was that. Although I began issue #17 almost immediately, for one reason or another, it didn’t see the light of day until the following Summer.

1996 will continue on a boat…

Among her many other credits were a nude pictorial in Playboy, a role in Friday the 13th: The Series, and a recurring part in Curb Your Enthusiasm as Cha Cha.

After giving Tia my sob story of how tapped I was, and the fact that I still had to take my Mom to the Hard Rock Cafe on the way back home to Dayton, she made me the deal of selling me both of the pictured signed photos for $30 – one to satisfy my Disney collection and one a nice, hot picture of the model-turned-actress as she was seen in Wayne’s World. And then she sweetly posed for a picture with me as part of the deal.

This concludes the celebrities and autographs of the Fall 2009 Chicago collectors show. Return to the show here…

The signatures that were likely gathered on the set of the 1936 movie Small Town Girl (Janet Gaynor’s signature was featured in the last posting). The next three come from three legendary performers: James Stewart, Andy Devine, and Robert Taylor. Stewart represents one of three actors from whom I acquired signatures either through the mail or in person – at a much later date of course.

It is only speculation of course, but I assert that the next six autographs were obtained on the set of a Laurel and Hardy film at the Hal Roach Studios. Pick a Star was shot in late 1936 and early 1937 as a musical comedy vehicle for Rosina Lawrence and Patsy Kelly. Also in the cast was Jack Haley, Mischa Auer, and adding comedy relief, Laurel and Hardy.

Two of the minor cast members found in the book are Lyda Roberti and Tom Dugan. These are followed by a cute inscription from Stan Laurel and … Bing Crosby! Why, you may ask, did Bing Crosby sign the book on this set, considering he is not in the film? Well, that’s a question I’ve been asking as well. He and Oliver Hardy were good friends, so it is certainly not beyond the realm of possibility that he was visiting the set with Hardy, but unfortunately conspicuously absent from this set of autographs was Oliver Hardy himself. (And before you ask, the missing page is not located in this section.)

The last two performers to sign Mildred’s book were Patsy Kelly and Rosina Lawrence, who was the only person to sign the book whom I actually met. Clearly from her inscription, Rosina was as kind in 1936 as she was in the 80’s and 90’s when I met her. Her handwriting never changed either.

So this is quite a cool piece of Laurel and Hardy memorabilia and has caused me to speculate that Mildred may have been employed as an extra in this film – although I’ve never been able to spot her. This seems to be validated by the inscription that was left by Patsy Kelly. Or perhaps Mildred was just visiting her father who was employed as a still photographer at the Roach Studios.

The final two signatures are from two Hollywood biggies: Adoph Menjou and Frederic March. These two were appearing in the Janet Gaynor version of A Star Is Born during this time period, so it is likely that Mildred was on this set as well. This film went on to be nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

As a bit of bonus, the inside back page of the book includes the handwriting of Mary and Mildred’s mother Verna Kornman. The purpose of this list of names was to try out some potential screen names for Mildred to employ in her film career. She never hit the one that Mildred would eventually use when she became a fashion model (as seen at the top of the posting): Ricki Van Dusen.

This concludes Mildred’s autograph book. Return to the beginning of the book here or my 2005 visit with Mildred here…