Arrow Collar Man paperweight / change dish

Would you believe this guy was a male "pin-up" and the subject of affection for probably millions of women in the early 20th century?

So this seemingly common looking piece of glass has a pretty interesting story behind it. I was not familiar with the Arrow Collar Man before today but he carries some clout.

The early 20th century collar designer Arrow out of Troy, N.Y. hired J.C Leyendecker to design an ad for the company. Leyendecker used his companion Charles Beach as a model for the campaign. Between 1905 and 1931 this general archetype man became the model man. I wonder if he was the first openly gay man that the world of western women swooned over? Had tabloids existed then in the capacity that they do today it would have been a different story I suppose.

The Arrow Collar Man became a pop icon; Cole Porter even expressed interest in being an Arrow Collar Man in his song "Football King aka If I Were Only A Football Man."

Remember the company was out of Troy, N.Y.? Well apparently this fictionally available bachelor of the year inspired the Broadway musical Helen Of Troy.

How exactly the Arrow Collar Man inspired George Kaufman and Marc Connelly to write a book and two act play is unclear but the attribution is well documented. 

Very influential misunderstood man here.

On a purely surface level, this is a very handy paperweight, instead of the common bar of soap style this has a concave top which makes it functional as both a weight and a sort of change dish. 

Probably from the 1910's or 20's. 

Diamond Round Head brass fastners

So I know they don't seem too exciting, but solid brass tacks, American made, in a near N.O.S. cardboard box. Picked these up at a thrift store for a few cents and they are worlds better than anything you could buy at OfficeMax.

I am constantly disappointed with office supplies that I try to use from any modern store. They are made to be lightweight for shipping and cheap so you won't re-use them and you will have to come back for more.

R. Mars The Contract Co. ash tray

From an old contractor company, based on what seems like a single digit zip code (if anyone can clear that up please elaborate) it seems probably from the 30's or 40's.
It seems they had offices in D.C. New York, and Baltimore.
The text on the tray is painted on the bottom and reads: "Everything for home hotel institution."

I'm not sure why that wide net of advertising intention seems odd today. I mean it isn't odd for all those groups to be buying the same sort of item, what seems strange I guess is that you never see one single piece of advertising aimed at the home, hotel, AND institution.

Sears Mufflers

From the good old days when a Sears product had such a thing as a "lifetime guarantee." I love a good key chain but I think this is actually a shop chain, something they would put around a customer's key while the vehicle is in for service.

Richmond Camera Shop ruler

Small 6 inch Richmond Camera Shop Inc. promotional ruler. 

Great patina on the wood and the text is still very visible. 

According to the current president and grandson of the founder these were ordered in the 1940's for the original Richmond Camera location on grace.

Piedmont Cigarettes scenic and art cards

I came across a large set of original Piedmont Cigarette cards.
When I saw them I almost flipped, I used to collect baseball cards and to this day the holy grail of baseball cards is a Honus Wagner card from Piedmont.

These are all scenic tourist style images of famous buildings and places around the world and a number of art prints of people posing in different cute scenes.

I don't know much about them, can't find much info on the originals, anybody know anything?

Small lead oil drum lift & driver

I can't imagine a time when this was a fun toy. It seems like a lead scale model of some guy's miserable day at work, I can't help but like solid metal toys though.

Golden Skateworld in Richmond keychain

I never made the rounds at the Golden Skateworld but I can only assume somebody out there had this keychain once upon a time. "Skating is fun!"

Humanatone Nose flute

I haven't been able to nasal any noise out of this thing but it is a pretty cool instrument. They still make plastic versions but these early ones apparently are somewhat sought after for un-usable music collections. I think they may have been used in one-man-bands but I'm not really sure, I think I may have heard it on an old Smithsonian collection once too.

Here is a great blog dedicated completely to this interesting wonder of the nose.

http://nose-flute.blogspot.fr/

Nolde's Bread bookcovers

From what I hear Nolde's and Wonder bread were what people ate around Richmond for a long time, I've heard stories of the smell of bread across the city.

This is only a piece of a bookcover I picked up from an old Dictionary with some Nolde's ads on it. The clear side was on the inside of the book, the entire outer cover was covered with interesting words kids through the years had looked up and spelled correctly on the cover.