Little Golden Book Monday #68

Sometimes you find things in unexpected places. That's what happened yesterday while doing my grocery shopping. My local grocery store has a discount book bin which is always filled with all kinds of old overstocked books. My son found a Wall.E book in the bin and picked it up asking if we could buy it? To my amazement, the book under the Wall.E book was the Little Golden Book version of Disney's upcoming film Bolt. I have been looking for this book ever since seeing it on another blog over a month ago. I have made trips to all kinds of book stores, drug stores and other assorted stores hoping to find this one, as well as the Little Golden Book "Presto!". I was so excited to find this book in the discount bin of my local grocery store that I actually said to myself... "Awesome!". Ironic that the next book I found was a Bolt coloring book with the title "Beyond Awesome".
I quickly snapped up the Bolt book, along with the Wall.E book for my son, and a copy of the most recent Little Golden Book version of Sleeping Beauty.
Tonight, just before adding this blog entry, I saw an ad for the Bolt film, and I can't say that I was terribly impressed. I'm sure that since its a Disney animated film, I will go see it - probably on opening night - but it didn't look nearly as good as the recent Pixar films. Other than popping this book open to have a look at the artwork (which looked great), I don't plan to read it yet, as I don't want to read the book before seeing the movie on November 21st.
I also saw David Copperfield yesterday afternoon. Too bad a copy of Pesto! didn't 'appear' in the discount bin as well huh!? Now that would have made for a great blog!

Mad Magazine Fold In

Remember those great Mad Magazine Fold Ins they used to have on the inside back cover of the magazine? I do, and I loved them, which is why I was thrilled to find this ad for Dodge on the back cover of issue #465 (May 2006) of Mad Magazine, which I picked up at a recent library book sale for 10 cents.
Just click on the slick graphic I have whipped up to recreate the all the excitement, without the headache of trying to fold these things just right to get them to work.

Little Golden Book Monday #67

Today, I have another Sleeping Beauty Little Golden Book. This one is from 1997 and features totally different text and artwork from the 1957 and 1970 versions that I posted a few weeks ago. This version is adapted by Michael Teitelbaum and illustrated by Sue DiCicco. I much prefer the 1957 version, both for the cover and interior artwork, but being such a big fan of Sleeping Beauty, I had to add this to my collection, even though the gold foil edge was peeing off a bit. Still all in all, well worth the 25 cents I paid for it!

CARtoons '69 Camaro

The other day while checking out all the great stuff at our favorite used toy store (Toy Traders), I found this Muscle Machines die cast Adult Collectible '69 Camaro, with a collectible CARtoons magazine collectors card (it actually says "Adult Collectible" on the packaging. It is hidden under the collectible card. You can just see the last 'e' of the word collectible under the ES of Muscle MachinES).
I loved the CARtoons magazine as a kid, and still do to this day. I have even been picked up many old issues of the magazine here and there as I scour the local thrift shops. I always thought the jacked up cars with all the flames on them in the magazine were pretty cool.
This was the only one the Toy Traders had, and it was in the discount bin, so I decided to pick it up to add to our cars collection. My son loves playing with Matchbox / Hot Wheels cars, and has a great collection of cars from the Disney/Pixar movie Cars. I decided to buy this car, so I could have a 'cool ride' when playing 'cars' with my son.
It was really hard to actually bust it out of the package, as I usually keep everything 'mint', but once I did, my son couldn't wait to play with it. I broke the rules and let him play with it, even though it clearly stated right on the package that this is an "Adult collectible".

Check out these photos of the fun that ensued...

Little Golden Book Monday #66

I picked up a bunch of interesting old Little Golden Books this weekend at the local thrift shop. Today, I thought I would share "The Tawny Scrawny Lion and the Clever Monkey" from 1974. This copy is the second printing from 1976.
Not much to say about this one, I just love the illustrations, including this great cover illustration by Mary Carey (great name!). And... I love anything with a monkey in it!

Little Golden Book Monday #65

Today's Little Golden Book is Walt Disney's Donald Duck in Disneyland, from 1955, the year Disneyland opened its doors for the first time.
Being that this book came out at the same time as the park was first opened, its fun to see the things that they feature in the book, along with the names they give things such as The World of Tomorrow, aka Tomorrowland.
From the inside of the book: "This is a brand-new book, illustrated especially for Golden books. The Little Golden Books are produced under the supervision of Mary Reed, PH.D. Formerly of Teachers College, Columbia University."
"In this Little Golden Book adventure from the Walt Disney studio, Donald and his nephews started out on what was planned to be a quiet visit to Disneyland. But Dewey, Louie and Huey had their own ideas of fun. we think the story will be for you, too."
Here is the complete text from the story, along with the drawing from the inside front cover."
Here is the complete text from the story, along with the drawing from the inside front cover.
Hurry up, boys. Keep together. And stay right with me," said Donald Duck anxiously as he and his nephews moved along with the crowd toward the gates of Disneyland.
Soon they found themselves in the rialroad station entrance to Disneyland. Beyond the open doorway stretched Main Street, U.S.A. And beyond that, as the boys well knew, spread a magic wonder world.
"Come on!" cried Huey, tugging at Donald. "Let's go to Fantasyland!" cried Dewey. "No, the World of Tomorrow!" said Louie. "Rocket to the Moon!" Huey broke in.
"Wait!" said Donald, holding up his hand. "First we must take the train ride around Disneyland for the splendid over-all view." So he bought four tickets. But when he turned around, not a single nephew was in sight.
"Huey! Louie! Dewey!" Donald called. "This is no time for a joke. Come on now, the train won't wait." Down the track the locomotive chuffed impatiently. But not a boy appeared.
"Now where could those boys have gone?" Donald fretted. "Train rides a fine way to spot lost boys," the conductor suggested. "From up here you can see the whole of Disneyland. Hop aboard and keep your eyes open. You'll soon spot your boys."
So Donald hopped aboard and found himself a seat. The train started up and soon was streaming past the tropical jungles of True-Life Adventure Land.
As Donald watched, dazzled by the bright flowers and brilliant birds in the trees, a river boat chugged into view. And there at the rail lounged Huey Duck.
But Huey could not see an alligator which was waiting just around the bend, with wide and grinning jaws.
"Watch out, Huey!" Donald cried, but the train chugged out of sight before the boat reached the bend. "Stop the train!" cried Donald. "I have to get out!" But the train went chugging on.
Ahead a whistle hooted. Donald looked around. The scenery had changed. Here a paddle-wheel excursion boat was steaming down A River of America, and on the far bank sprawled a quaint old river town.
Donald scanned the steamer's decks. Just then the steam whistle screeched toot-a-toot toot! And there, hanging on the whistle cord, was grinning Dewey Duck!
Z-z-z! Crack! A rifle shot echoed in the air. Uncle Donald jumped. Around a curve in a desert road, a stage coach came lurching at full speed.
Just behind it raced wild Indians, crouched low in their saddles, waving their bows and tomahawks, and shrieking war cries that curdled the blood.
At the window of the stagecoach two faces appeared-surely Huey and Louie Duck!
"Down, boys!" shrieked Donald, as the train raced past. "Get out of their range!" Drop down!"
Poor Donald! He was trembling as the Disneyland train left the Painted Desert far behind. Had his warning come in time? He could only hope it had.Toot toot! Down below ran another train, the Casey, Jr., on a dizzy ride. And in the cab of the engineer, whom should Donald spy but Dewey Duck, waving to Unca Donald.
"Keep your eyes on the track!" shouted Uncle Donald. "Watch where you're taking the train!"
As Donald sank trembling into his seat, down the aisle the jolly conductor came.
"No sing of your nephews yet?" he smiled. "Well, don't you worry. They'll turn up safe and sound." With a pat on Donald's shoulder, he went on his way.
"Turn u!' Donald gasped. "Safe and sound!" he shuddered. For a few moments then the train chugged past a green and shady grove. Donald stretched and took a deep, happy breath./ Everything looked to peaceful here.
"Whee! Look at me, Unca Donald!" cried a familiar voice. Donald spun around. A pirate ship was sailing toward the clouds on its way to Peter Pan's Neverland.
From the deck Louie Duck waved both hands at uncle Don. But far ahead Donald could see Captain Hook with a drawn sword, waiting for the shop to come near.
"Get you head down and hang on tight!" called Donald. But Louie had not heard. As he disappeared, he was waving still.
"Some fun, Unca Donald. Look at me!" Down a streamlined highway small cars were running - an intent young driver at each wheel. In one car was Huey Duck, steering with both hands.
"Huey! You don't know how to drive!" called Donald, not knowing that Huey had just passed his Disneyland Driving Test. Then the train took Donald out of sight; and to his relief he saw the station ahead.
Donald was the first one off the train. But his shaking knees would not take him far. He had to stop and lean against a post, one hand over his eyes. Where, he wondered, was the hospital? He supposed he should look there first.
"Unca Doanld!" "Hurry up!" "The train's about to leave!" Huey, Dewey, and Louie were dancing around him.
"We've had a wonderful time!" they said."Now we're ready to go with you for a quiet trip on the train."
"Quiet!" squeaked Donald. "You boys go ahead. I can't stand that excitement again."
So while the boys hopped onto the train, Donald tottered off to take a peaceful rocket trip to the moon.

International Talk Like a Pirate Day

Today (Sept 19th) be International Talk Like a Pirate Day, so avast there mattie and swabs me poop deck while I missin this mast... or something like that! Here is a great cartoon from PVP from last year poking fun at one of my all time favorite movies, the Pirate Movie from 1982. I saw the movie 10 times when it was in the theater back in '82 (I broke that record with 12 when Disney's Atlantis came to theaters in 2001). I own the laser disc of the movie, the 2 LP soundtrack, the official and unofficial DVD releases and am looking to add a promo poster to my collection.

Little Golden Book Monday #64

Today's Little Golden Book, is a pair of books. The original 1957 Sleeping Beauty book along with a 1970 reprint of the book. The 1957 book has "A Little Golden Book" across the top, while the 1970 version has a Golden Book logo at the bottom right.
As I may or may not have said before, I am a huge fan of the Sleeping Beauty film. I think the artwork and look of the film are amazing, and Malicifant is one of my favorite Disney characters. As far as Disney princesses go, Aurora is my favorite, and the soundtrack to the film has some great music.
As a child, my favorite books were by Bill Peet, and years after I had decided that Sleeping Beauty was my favorite Disney film, I found out that Bill Peet had worked on Sleeping Beauty, and now when I look a the film, I can really see his creative style and input.
So, being as Sleeping Beauty is my favorite 'classic' Disney film (my favorite newer Disney film is Atlantis), I love adding anything Sleeping Beauty to my collection. I actually found these two books at the same antique mall, and funny enough the 1970 reissue was $5, while the original 1957 version was only $3.
Other than the covers, the only other real difference is the back cover which has the 1957 version offing Golden Stamp Books, while the 1970 version simply tells us that "More than one billion Golden Books have gone into the homes of children of all nations", and "They are far and away the best-known series of books for young people every published."

Fall Preview 2003 Disney Store Catalog

While hunting though my room the other day, I found this great looking Disney Store catalog from 2003. I can remember how excited I would get when we would make it to a Disney Story and I was able to pick up a catalog, although it seems that more times than not they were out of them when I would ask. That was back when there were very few Disney Stores, and we didn't have any here in Canada yet. As they added more stores, and moved into Canada, it seems the stores become less of a 'must visit' destination and more an extension of WalMart. What had made the stores so much fun to visit, was all but disappearing from the stores. Now, on the rare occasion that I visit my local Disney Store, I am in and out in a matter of 4 or 5 minutes and since I don't meed any plush characters or any Disney Princess items, I never end up buying anything. Flipping though this old 2003 Disney Store catalog reminded me of how much cool merchandise the used to have for us Adults / Disney collectors.

Little Golden Book Monday #63

Today's Little Golden Book is another of the Disney / Pixar films, Finding Nemo. It's kind of interesting to see the art in done in a simple 2d drawing style, as compared to the crisp cgi animation of the film.
I picked this one up in 2003 when it was released, and I must say, that after only 5 years, it is already showing signs of wear, even though it only sits on my shelve in my collection. One can only guess what it would look like it if was actually being read by a child! I have found that many of the more recent LGB's (from the past 5 to 10 years), have extremely poor binding, and the gold spine is a very cheep sticker that seems to start peeling within days of getting these things home! Kind of a sign of the times that my LGB's from the 50's though 70's are all still in great shape, but the books I bought in the last year, are already falling apart!

Little Golden Book Monday #62

Today's Little Golden Book is Disney's Tale Spin: Ghost Ship, from 1991. I borrowed this book from my sons collection, as I liked the ghost ship on the cover.
I don't really know the characters from Tale Spin, as I was a little too old by the time The Disney Afternoon came along with shows such as Tale Spin, Dark Wing Duck, the Adventures of the Gummi Bears, and Chip and Dale's Rescue Rangers. There are a few shows from this period however that I did watch, and still enjoy to this day including; Goof Troop, Raw Toonage, Bonkers and Gargoyles. I have tons of episodes of these four shows on video tape which I taped off of TV back while the shows were still in first run. I used to get up early on Saturday mornings to tape my favorites and set my VCRs to tape the shows in the afternoons when I was still at school / work. I thought it was going to be so cool years from now when these shows were no longer on TV. I would be the only person with all this stuff in my collection to watch any time I wanted. Little did I know that years later these shows would be available on DVD in pristine condition, in season order.
In any event, I am now having fun sharing my hard work of preserving these animated gems with my son who is becoming a huge cartoon (animation) fan!

Some Mad Summer Reading

Here are a few Mad paperbacks I picked up recently. I have shelves full of these things. They are always a fun read, and I just about always love the covers.
The four I found this time include: Clods' Letters to Mad, illustrated by Al Jafee from 1981, The Rip Off Mad from 1978 (first printing 1973), Mad Horses Around 1981, and Pumping Mad from 1981.

Happy 2nd Birthday to Ronn's BPoS!

Today marks the second Birthday of Ronn's Big Pile of Stuff. I started this blog on July 30, 2006 as a goof, and just keep going. I remember back in 2006, I was starting to find and visit a lot of blogs and I remember thinking to myself, there are so many of these blogs, that sooner or later there would be more blogs than people looking at them. I wanted in on the ground floor (or close to it) and started this blog, which now I am thrilled to say gets up to 100 visits a day. That may be small numbers compared to many of the blogs I visit, but I am still amazed that anyone is visiting, let along 100 people a day! So to those of you visiting... thanks! I'd love to hear from you all, so please take a moment to post a comment on the blog to let me know what you are enjoying or not enjoying in my posts.
And if you enjoy this blog, you can now check out two new blogs I have started the Disneyland Records Blog and Ronn's Minor League Hockey Mania Blog.
Before you go, be sure to enjoy a piece of our virtual birthday cake.

Touche Turtle and the Fire Dog

Ever since 1983 when I started Firehouse Magazine (1983-2000), I have always liked collecting things with a firefighter theme. Here is a great Whitman book from 1963. It is Hanna-Barbera's Touche Turtle and the Fire Dog by Jean Lewis and illustrated by Mel Crawford. Check out this great artwork on the front and back covers. This cover alone was worth the $4 price tag I paid for this at the local used book shop.

Little Golden Book Monday #61

Today's Little Golden Book is Cars. We are almost at the halfway point of the summer vacation, summer vacation usually means lots of car trips to fun and exotic new places. But with the gas prices what they are this summer, I am thinking our family will be taking a lot less car trips, and spending a lot more time around the home.
So, in honor of those fun car trips of yore, I present this great book from 1973, which celebrates the automobile and all the fun you can have just driving around.
There are lots of great illustrations inside this book, including this great drawing of the ABE Motors. I love that retro looking showroom in the background.

Then there is this great drawing of a suburban home. I just love the architecture of the 50's and 60's. The cars in these drawings, lack a little pizazz though.

Sgt. Rock from REMCO

While reading some old comic books, I came across this ad for the Remco Sgt. Rock action figures and vehicles. As a child of the 70's, I was overly excited to play with war themed toys, tanks being the coolest of them all! I remember having the A.T.C. Amphibious Armored Troop-Carrier "with working action gatling gun" as shown in this ad. How cool was a vehicle that could drive on land and cruise on water, AND had a BA (Big Ass) Gun to blow stuff up! I also had one G.I. Joe figure, but because it was the larger size figure, it was only good for being the attacking giant that all my other action figures would battle. My G.I. Joe was also pretty rough looking, as I remember trying to burn off his beard!
Sgt. Rock first appeared in G.I. Combat #68 (Jan. 1959). His rank is not given in this story; instead, he is merely called "The Rock." The Rock returned as a sergeant in Our Army at War #81 (April 1959) with his unit, Easy Company (the precise US Army infantry regiment to which Easy belonged was never identified during the history of the character). Sgt. Rock steadily gained popularity, until, in 1977, the name of the comic was changed to Sgt. Rock. The comic ran until Sgt. Rock #422 (July 1988). In addition to the semi-regular comic, several "digests" were sold, under the DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest banner, reprinting stories from Our Army at War or Sgt. Rock. Some were subtitled as OAAW or Sgt. Rock, some as Sgt. Rock's Prize Battle Tales.
A line of 3-3/4" action figures bearing the SGT. ROCK name was released in the 1980s.

Little Golden Book Monday #60

After a short absence, I'm back with another LGBM - Little Golden Book Monday. Todays book is Walt Disney's Mickey and Friends Lets Go to the Vet.
This book is from 1997 and one of the last Disney themed titles for a period of time. I'm not sure of the exact dates and titles, but I do know that there was a period of years where Disney and Little Golden Books parted ways. I remember being very disappointed about this as in 2001 when Disney released Atlantis the Lost Empire, one of my favorite Disney animated films, I found out there would be no Atlantis Little Golden Book for my collection. You can check out my fake edition of the Atlantis Little Golden Book here.
Luckily, some time after 2001, Disney and Little Golden Books kissed and made up and have been putting out Disney themed books ever since.

Cracked: Jason Goes to the Hellton!

I picked up this great old issue of Cracked magazine from April 1993, with a parody of Jason Goes To Hell on the cover.
Along with all the horror movie parodies inside, it also has a 4 page listing of "Jason's Body Count". I scanned in the pages and am presenting them here for all of you trying to keep score at home. Of course this list only goes up to Part VIII Jason Takes Manhattan, so this list is for amusement only... no betting please!

Batman's Got Milk

Here is a "Got Milk?" ad from 2005 with Batman sporting a milk mustache. This ad tied in with the release of Batman Begins in 2005.
There is also a brand new "Got Milk?" ad once again featuring Batman, this time, to tie in with the upcoming "The Dark Knight" movie. I'll scan and post it soon.

Who Knew, Batman uses Onstar?!

Here are two ads I found in some old magazines from 2000. I always thought that Batman was so cool when he was driving around in the Batmobile. That car could do just about anything, and made KITT look like a remote control kiddie car. But it turns out that Batman actually had a little secret up his sleeve, or under his suit... or whatever you want to call it.
Have a look at these two ads which reveal his little secret!

Little Golden Book Monday #59

Today's Little Golden Book is from the forth coming Disney / Pixar film WALL.E.
While at my local book store on the weekend I noticed they had lots of various WALL.E books in the kids section and decided to look for the Little Golden Book . I did not find one on the shelves, but asked the clerk in the children's area if they had received a WALL.E Little Golden Book. They went in the back and brought one out for me. It was in back, waiting to be part of a large display for the movie they will be putting out later this week.
Being as the movie is not out yet, I have been trying to keep myself in a media blackout as to the plot and look of the movie. I like going into a movie with little to no idea what its about, so as to make it all the more exciting. I did open the book to peek at one of the pages, just to wee what the art looked like. I was happily surprised to see a small drawing of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit on the edge of the page I had opened it to. With a smile on my face, I closed the book. I'll wait until after I have seen the movie to check out the book.

Little Golden Book Monday #58

Today's Little Golden Book is Disney's Mulan, based on the 1998 animated feature Mulan. I am not a huge fan of the film, but I do love the Jerry Goldsmith score, which does get stuck in my head any time I hear it. And the comedy provided by the Mushu, voiced by Eddie Murphy provides for lots of laughs.
According to Robert D. San Souci, who retold and researched the original story, Disney didn't like the idea of putting in a dragon as a companion for Mulan; they feared it would be too big and menacing. San Souci explained to them that in Chinese lore, dragons can be any size, so a small dragon was approved. Thus, Mushu was born. This change is acknowledged when Mulan calls him "tiny" and Mushu replies, "Of course! I'm travel size for you convenience! If I was my REAL size your cow (Khan) here would die of fright!"

Squirly Puffs Cereal

Here is an ad for some video game web site, but that's not important. What's important, is that there are some great 'fictional' cereals on the selves of the store in their ad.
There are; Fruity Kitty Pebbles, Okay, Honey Buzz, Honey and Nut Oatsy Dotes, Mallow Yellows, Shredded Shreds, and my favorite Squirly Puffs... they're crazy good!
(*If you haven't figured it out yet, click on any of the images to make them larger!)

Parker Brothers Continental Game Risk!

I love board games, and I am always on the look out for fun and interesting new games to add to my collection. I recently found this 1959 edition of Parker Brothers Risk! at a local thrift shop.
I wasn't that interested, as the box was in pretty rough shape, but I kind of giggled when I saw it. It reminded me of a joke Triumph the Insult Dog made at the premiere of Star Wars episode 1, about Star Wars geeks playing risk in their parents basements. While chuckling to myself, I realized I had never actually played Risk! before and decided to have a look at the game.
When I opened it up, I was first, amazed to see that all the parts seemed to be there. And instead of little plastic parts, all the markers etc were made of wood, and were all stored in little clear plastic boxes that were inset into the book for safe keeping when the games was put away. I then opened the game board and realized this was well worth my $2.
The game board is a map of the world, and, although my geography is not great, I was a little confused by Canada. On the map, is Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and Northwest Territory. Then it all began to make sense. All these years I have wondered why, every time I watch a TV show where they ask Americans about Canada, they always seem to know Quebec, Ontario and Alberta, but can't seem to name any other Canadian provinces. I now realize it is because they have learned their Canadian geography from the map included in the game Risk!

Invasion of the Nibble-Bots

I picked up a pile of magazines at the Library book sale last weekend. I always love going though magazines and pulling out all the cool ads to add to my ad collection. I have a bunch of binders with page protectors in them, all full of ads. I have a Coke book, a Disney book, A Macintosh book, and a few miscellaneous books for everything else.
Here is an example of the sort of ad I am interested in. Its an ad for Cheez-It, which I am not 100% sure what that is. And from this ad, I am still not sure. I assume is it some sort of cracker product. But, who cares whey they are selling, the artwork is an awesome ode to old 1950's sci-fi movies.
I would go see this flick if it was showing at my local googaplex!

Thunder Road from Milton Bradley

Thunder Road, The Ram and Wreck Survival Game from Milton Bradley, 1986.
I picked up this very cool board game recently at my local thrift shop. Amazingly, it still has all its parts, which includes; 2 Switch & Link game boards, 12 cars, 4 choppers, 8 wrecks, 3 yellow dice, 2 red dice and 1 black dice, as well as a set of game play instructions.
Drive and survive on the never-ending road!
Its a desert road race played on a unique gameboard that never ends. Drive on the road and try to survive. Outrun opponents and dump the stragglers left behind. Switch & link the gameboard to create a new road every time you need one.
You have three attack cars and one aerial assault chopper. use them to ram and shoot at opponents' cars. Wreck them and ride to victory.
The last surviving car owns the road and its driver becomes the ultimate survivor. Will it be you?
Today, my son and I decided to set it up and have some fun. Once I got it set up, I decided to get some photos so I could share it with you!

Little Golden Book Monday #57

Todays Little Golden Book is Miss Piggy, Queen of Hearts from 1997.
I have always been a big fan of the muppets ever since I first saw them on Sesame Street as a youngster. I loved Kermit the Frog, especially when he was the reporter on the street. And Ernie and Bert were pure comedy gold for a young kid! And when the Muppet Show came along, I had a new favorite Muppet, as Fozzie Bear was introduced. I loved all the Muppets... except for one - Miss Piggy.
I never liked the Miss Piggy character, she was always very one dimensional, very annoying and the voice was horrifically awful! I was really annoyed when her character started getting so much of the spotlight. It seemed really odd to me, as I never knew anyone who actually liked the character. To this day, I hear people tell me how much they hated the Muppets, and when you ask why, they always say they disliked Miss Piggy.
At this point, its been almost 10 years since the last poorly received Muppet movie "Muppets from Space" and the most recent TV movie Muppets Wizard of Oz from 2005, was a huge disaster. Now that Disney owns the Muppets, I am sure they would love to reinvigorate them and introduce them to a new generation of fans. But, if they continue to put Miss Piggy in the spotlight, I am sure whatever form they take, they will continue to fail.
Here's hoping Disney has the smarts to leave Piggy in the past and move forward with the rest of the Muppet gang that everyone actually loves!

Little Golden Book Monday #56

Today's Little Golden Book is The Little Red Caboose from1953. When I found this book, I immediately thought of my favorite book about a caboose called The Caboose Who Got Loose which was written by Bill Peet in 1971.
The story of the Little Red Caboose see the little caboose saving the day when a large train full of cars beings to loose steam going up a mountain the the little caboose puts on its breaks and stops the train from rolling back down the mountain long enough for another large steam engine to come up behind them and push them all safely up the hill.
The Caboose Who Got Loose on the other hand is about Katy Caboose. She is sad that she is always at the end of the train, and nobody ever bothers to wave at her like they do the engines up front. One day, she accidentally becomes detached from her train and ends up rolling out of control until she flies off the tracks and ends up high in a tree. She ends up finding happiness in high in the tree as as she has a wonderful view of the valley, and many of the animals end up using her as a shelter from the weather.

Morning Funnies Cereal

My 3 year old son has been really getting into superheros recently. This past weekend we attended the Emerald City ComicCon in Seattle, WA and had a blast! My son entered the costume contest as Batman. He also got some used Batman action figures, and a ton of comic books out of the 25 cent boxes, including all his favorites; Batman, Iron Man, Spider Man etc. We have been having lots of fun reading though all the comics, and as an added bonus, I am finding lots of great ads, including this full page ad I found in the Batman, issue #432 from April 1989.
It's an ad for a kids breakfast cereal called "Morning Funnies" and from the box artwork in the ad, it looks like the box featured lots of famous comic strip characters such as Dennis the Mennis, Marvin, Hagar, Beetle Bailey, etc., but the cereal looked to be pretty generic looking little happy faces.
The box looked very interesting, as it had a flap on the back that opened like a comic book to revel more comics to read while sitting eating your Morning Funnies.
Back in 1989 I was already a big cereal box collector, and was always on the lookout for new boxes to add to my collection. I don't recall ever seeing this cereal, but since its been almost 20 years, maybe I did see it, but didn't like it enough for it to leave a lasting impression.
In any event, I would love to add one of these boxes to my collection. At least now, I have the ad - that is, if my son will let me have this comic from his collection.