This is the last of a three part series featuring some obscure info booklet cover art from the first half of the 20th-century. All of the images in these posts are via ephemeraSTUDIES.org. The first post of this series gives some info on the organization and its curator, Saul Zalesch. If you’re at all interested in American history of the period and/or a collector of ephemera check it out.
The Obscure Art Of Early-To-Mid 20th-Century Informational Booklets: Part 1 Part 2
Part 3 covers the 1940s and 1950s. Click on the captions for more information and comments about their significance at emphemeraSTUDIES.org.
The image below is saved for last as it is particularly odd. Saul Zalesch captioned it, Child’s Worst Nightmare? His comment:
This bizarre image, signed Shirley Kite, appears in The Wonderful Lunch Boxes, a 1925 booklet distributed by the Educational Department of Postum Cereal Co. In the story, the heads represent kernels of grain. No one I have shown it to has any idea what it was supposed to mean or accomplish.
What do you think?
Atomic Flash Deluxe 
I love the helicopter.. the lunch box thing, very weird. 😀
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I have heard of Children of the Corn… but Children of the Potatoes!?!?
It reminds me of when I profiled the McDonaldland characters on my blog, and how the 70’s version of Ronald, Hamburglar, Grimace, etc. (inspired by HR Pufenstuf) were so creepy looking compared to what we’re used to today. It’s weird how our idea of what looks normal and what looks really weird changes over time, even after just a few decades. I’m sure in 1925, someone thought those baby heads growing underground looked perfectly fine! 🙂
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Wow… I’ll be trying to forget those “seed babies” forever. Guess they were trying to emphasize that seeds are “baby plants” in waiting … ready to become adult plants? But … um … just … NO.
Love the sleek helicopter; but the atomic one makes me think of Johnson’s “daisy” commercial. 😛
Another great post!
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