26Jul 2009

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Mr. Bali Hai Tiki Mug For Two

26Jul 2009

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Mr. Bali Hai Tiki Mug For Two

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Nothing better on a Sunday than to lay back sucking on Mai Tais, Fog Cutters, Shirley Temples or whatever else you want to fill this vintage Mr. Bali Hai Tiki mug with. Custom made for the Bali-Hi Restaurant in San Diego, CA. and patterned after the 6′ tall Mr. Bali Hai sculpture that greeted diners at the front door, these 6.5″ x 4.25″ mugs are the Big Kahuna of Tiki mugs, larger than most with a top of the head lid and holes for two straws for maximum Romantic imbibing.

Manufactured by Otagiri Mercantile Company, there are matching salt & pepper shakers as well as newer repro shot glasses.  All eight of my Mr. Bali Hais are full size and original.

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24Jul 2009

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Black Pride Beer

24Jul 2009

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Black Pride Beer

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Debuting in 1969, Black Pride Beer was was concept first – “A Beer As Proud As Its People” – and beer second. Black Pride was the brain child of Edward J. McClellan, then Urban Program director of the NAACP in Chicago where the hope was that brewing the beer would pump the pride and stimulate the economy of black communities nationwide starting with Chicago’s south side where a large segment of the Black population lived. 
Black Pride may have stopped brewing in 1972 but Black pride has thankfully lived on.
From the December 1969 edition of Brewers Digest:
For A Brighter Future… Black Pride, Inc., in the best tradition of the free enterprise system, seeks to provide a means of … achievement for its stockholders as well as for its employees and for those with whom it does business. At the same time, as an economic institution within the black community, Black Pride, Inc., hopes by the example of its success to reveal to blacks the ability of the free enterprise system to measure to their needs if they are willing to measure to its demands. Further, as an economic institution within the black community, and with its stockholders and employees being members of that community, more revenue in the form of profits, dividends, salaries and wages will be available for the assumption of greater local responsibility for community services and improvement. Finally, and here the marketing implications are obvious as well, the promotion of a Black Pride product intrinsically involves the promotion of the idea of blacks having pride in themselves and the necessity of personal effort and involvement if that pride is to be justified.”

Debuting in 1969, Black Pride Beer was was concept first – “A Beer As Proud As Its People” – and beer second. With the hope of pumping pride and stimulating the economies of black communities nationwide, Black Pride was the brainchild of Edward J. McClellan, then Urban Program director of the NAACP in Chicago, whose south side where a large segment of the Black population lived was the first community served. 

From the December 1969 edition of Brewers Digest:      For A Brighter Future… Black Pride, Inc., in the best tradition of the free enterprise system, seeks to provide a means of … achievement for its stockholders as well as for its employees and for those with whom it does business. At the same time, as an economic institution within the black community, Black Pride, Inc., hopes by the example of its success to reveal to blacks the ability of the free enterprise system to measure to their needs if they are willing to measure to its demands. Further, as an economic institution within the black community, and with its stockholders and employees being members of that community, more revenue in the form of profits, dividends, salaries and wages will be available for the assumption of greater local responsibility for community services and improvement. Finally, and here the marketing implications are obvious as well, the promotion of a Black Pride product intrinsically involves the promotion of the idea of blacks having pride in themselves and the necessity of personal effort and involvement if that pride is to be justified.”

Black Pride may have stopped brewing in 1972 but Black pride has thankfully lived on.

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23Jul 2009

Allee Willis Kitsch’ O The Day- CB’er Coffee Cup

23Jul 2009

Allee Willis Kitsch’ O The Day- CB’er Coffee Cup

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‘Mama Bear” (Female Police person), “Green Stamps” (money), “Plain White Wrapper” (Unmarked Police Car) and the ubiquitous “10-4″ (Ok, message received) became the second language of Pop Culture in 1975 when “Convoy”, a song that glorified truckers and their C.B. radios, shot up airplay charts as fast as the big rigs and semis it glorified shot down highways.  C.B. radio paraphernalia took over store shelves across the country with these Anchor Hocking ‘Fire-King’ milk glass Proof 6 cups at the top of the heap.  Twenty six of the most frequently mumbled C.B. codes as well as an array of popular trucks grace the cup, of I own twelve (and counting). Ten regular, 3 3/8″ tall, and two tank size, an inch taller and five phrases richer.

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21Jul 2009

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – ‘Sock It To Me’ Beer Bottle Ashtray

21Jul 2009

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – ‘Sock It To Me’ Beer Bottle Ashtray

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These squished beer and soda bottles were all the rage in the late 60’s when the phrase ‘Sock It To Me’ crossed the color line to become the reigning colloquialism of the era. I have tons of  ‘Sock It To Me’ memorabilia as well as squashed and stretched bottle art but none so perfect as this smokeables receptacle made by Houze Art, USA.

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15Jul 2009

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Hip Nip and Hot Nip Plastic Flasks

15Jul 2009

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Hip Nip and Hot Nip Plastic Flasks

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No one can accuse Garvin, the designer of this drunk matching 50’s couple, for thinking small: “Hip Nip can be used for Scotch, Mouthwash, Gin, Shave Lotion, Rye, Urine-analysis, Bicarb, Bourbon, Malted, Aspirins, Deodorant, Suntan oil and Hairdressing”.  His mate, Hot Nip, only promises “to keep you warm”.

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Hot Nip and Hip Nip are screen-printed and textured on soft plastic pint flasks.  They have rubber heads and a screw-on cap wedged into their fat wrestler necks.

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Although these are most valuable as a set, I’m not sure they were manufactured at the same time.  “©Garvin… Milbit Mfg Co, Inc” is in 9 point flush left and flush right type at the bottom of Hot Nip while “©Garvin-Milbit” is in 3 point type centered at the bottom of Hip Nip.  Though the discrepancy – most matched sets have consistent copyright info and placement – could also be because Garvin was out of room after he listed the voluminous amounts of substances that  could inhabit Hip Nip or perhaps had imbibed some of them before he started.

hip-nip-hot-nip,-bottles_9402-2              hip-nip-hot-nip,-bottles_9403-3“Milbit” is also carved into Hot Nip’s neck while Hip Nip’s remains bare:

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Hot Nip is rarer than Hip Nip though they are both very popular citizens in my kitchen kommunity of Kitch.

13Jul 2009

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Grand Funk 7/11 Slurpee Cup

13Jul 2009

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Grand Funk 7/11 Slurpee Cup

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Being one of the earliest Hard Rock bands, panned by critics and shunned by radio until they released “We’re An American Band” in 1973, Grand Funk Railroad seems like a strange match for early corporate sponsorship let alone being wrapped around a Slurpee. Which makes this one of my Kitschiest Slurpee Cups as pop acts like Smokey Robinson and The Fifth Dimension, who also snuggled up to 7/11, made more sense as a commercial match. For a moment at least, Grand Funk was singing “We’re An American Brand”.

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06Jul 2009

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Billy Dee Williams Colt 45 Lighted Sign

06Jul 2009

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Billy Dee Williams Colt 45 Lighted Sign

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Though slightly past his prime 70’s days and seemingly a bit more sophisticated than the malt liquor he endorsed, Billy Dee Williams stayed finely oiled by downing the guaranteed-to-make-your-brain-spin Colt 45 in the 1980’s. He took much criticism for his association with the king of malt liquors but made a kwintessential Kitsch komment when he rebuked his kritics with “I drink, you drink. Hell, if marijuana was legal, I’d appear in a commercial for it.” I’ll have 40 ounces now, please.

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02Jul 2009

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Orbitz, Drink Of Champions!

02Jul 2009

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Orbitz, Drink Of Champions!

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I went insane the first time I saw this drink when it was introduced in 1996. The little floaty balls hanging in space had the perfect Atomic look so I didn’t care what it tasted like, this was going to be my new official drink. In fact, Orbitz sent me ten cases of the stuff when they sponsored one of my biggest birthday parties ten years ago. Although all my guests snatched bottles to take home as souvenirs I was one of the only folks actually guzzling it down. So I still have cases of the stuff, color intact, which I won’t touch as Orbitz was taken off the market due to poor sales and I’ve got the ultimate collector’s stash.                                                                                                 
Orbitz was a non carbonated fruit-flavored soft drink made by the Clearly Canadian Beverage Corporation. It came in  Pineapple Banana Cherry Coconut (my favorite), Raspberry Citrus, Blueberry Melon Strawberry, Vanilla Orange, Black Currant Berry and Charlie Brown Chocolate. From Wikipedia: The small balls floated due to their nearly equal density to the surrounding liquid and remained suspended with assistance from an ingredient known as gellan gum. The gellan gum provided a support matrix—something like a microscopic spider web–and had a visual clarity approaching that of water, which increased with the addition of sugar.                                                                                                              
I’m pretty sure the only profit Orbitz ever made was when they sold their name to the internet travel company.   But it shall always be #1 in my Atomic eyes.                                                           
R.I.P (original) Orbitz.

29Jun 2009

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Michael Jackson Puppet Drink Kooler

29Jun 2009

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Michael Jackson Puppet Drink Kooler

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This awkwardly made 1988 plastic drink kooler is one of the rarest and kitschiest of all my MJ memorabilia. You put the puppet kooler in the freezer til the patented freezing gel kicks in, insert a can in MJ’s torso once it’s out and flip his Smooth Criminal hat to get at the drink which supposedly stays cool for hours. It comes with a plastic drinking glass, a total inconvenience as there’s no place to keep it once the drink is popped into Michael. The bottom of the cooler reads “Sherman Oaks, CA., Made in Mexico”, a mysterious combo indeed. 

I would not suggest wearing matching white clothes while using this apparatus. The drink has a weird fit inside of the kooler and I’ve stained my own clothes along with Michael’s fabric legs when attempting to operate.

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