Monday, October 31, 2011

R.I.P. 2011 HALLOWEEN COUNTDOWN


It's hard to believe another Halloween countdown has come and gone. As always it is a real treat that I get the opportunity to share some forgotten artifacts from childhood along with some weird and zany fun.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by for some treats! I very much appreciate all the comments, emails and follows along the way.

The Halloween countdown would not have been possible without the help from these cool kids. Thanks to Kirk Demarais, Patrick Franklin, Warren Godfrey, Dan Goodsell, Mike Middleton, Tim Williams and Larry Williams. Also I must thank the first lady of Neato Coolville for putting up with Halloween everyday in October.

So until next time, remember to be neato ghoul to everyone!

HAVE A KEEN HALLOWEEN!



Neato Ghoulville will soon change back into mild-mannered Neato Coolville, but before that happens enjoy these last few treats of the vintage variety.

Happy Halloween!







Visit Weird Hollow as Vlad wishes everyone a Happy Halloween with outtakes from Castle Vlad!

TRICK OR TREAT-PAK

Sunday, October 30, 2011

1950'S HALLOWEEN PARTY PEOPLE


The Devil and Tom Walker.


Mr. & Mrs. Lone Ranger


Abe & Mary


Laverne & Shirley


Harem Scarem


Mr. & Mrs. Zorro


Just a pair of hobos!

Friday, October 28, 2011

YOU BETTER TAKE YOUR MONSTER VITAMINS...AGAIN


Come a little closer, Neato Readers.

Today, I’m happy to report on some new scare-umptious info about Bristol-Myers’ Monster Multiple Vitamins. These little happy monsters have been a faded memory for many 70’s kids.


Since I'm one of those 70's kids, I blogged about my early and faded Monster Vitamins memories back during the 2007 Halloween countdown. Click here to view the first post.


One of the most requested Monster Vitamins items is the famous commercial with Vincent Price. It has rarely been seen since it originally aired back in the mid-70’s. Now don’t get too excited because we still don’t have the commercial, but we have the next best thing, the commercial’s art director.

Meet the CLIO award winning art director Warren Godfrey. He's pictured with Vincent in this never before seen photo from the print ad photo shoot.


Warren, now retired, worked in advertising as an art director for 52 years. He developed commercials for Lampert Agency, Cunningham & Walsh, NW Advertising, Hicks & Greist, Ketchum, Ogilvy, Wunderman and many more. The Monster Vitamins commercial with Vincent Price remains as one of his favorite commercials. In Warren’s own words, he describes the commercial.

Warren Godfrey - “I came up with the idea of using Vincent Price as the spooky spokesperson at home in his gothic castle sitting in a huge gothic chair by the fireplace. What was funny at the end, after he talked about the vitamins, and we showed the vitamins animated, he reached down and pulled up a trap door as light came from below. He yelled down, “Right kids?” and the kids replied all together as a voice over, “RIGHT!” The lawyers today probably wouldn’t let us do that. Cruelty to kids.”

I asked Warren what it was like to work with Vincent.

Warren Godfrey - “Vincent was a pleasure to work with. I do remember in the pre-production meeting with his agent that he requested a prune danish for his breakfast at the shoot.”

Today, Warren is an accomplished folk artist and his amazing paintings can be viewed and purchased at his website here.

Another Monster Vitamins mystery has been the names of the monsters. Warren remembered two, Screaming Mimi and Babbly Bat, but the other monster names were lost to time.

Today the name mystery has been solved! Now meet the Monster Multiples! I've added each Monster's name below their respective images and vitamin shape.


Gorgonzola


Babbly Bat


Screaming Mimi


Fedorable


The Blob


Sneaky & Squeaky


Monstermobile

Learning the monster names was a double whammy of goodness because I learned them from this uber-rare Monster Vitamins record. I'm not exactly sure when this record was offered, but it was one of the few, if only give-away premiums for Monster Vitamins. This record belongs to super collector and artist Dan Goodsell!


Now join the monster party and listen to the record via these two YouTube videos.



There's still many mysteries related to Monster Vitamins, like the true origins of the product and who designed the monsters. Eventually these mysteries will be revealed, but until then, we can now address each monster by name. You just never know when you might see one walking down the street!

A big thanks to Warren Godfrey for supplying his memories and photograph! Also a big thanks goes to Dan Goodsell for sharing his record!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

BIG BRO'S STASH OF SCARY KIDS BOOKS

A couple of months ago my big brother found a bunch of his old kid books. After I agreed to a dutch rub and a couple of noogies, he let me borrow the spooky ones. You see, I sacrificed for all you neato readers just so that you can reminisce about these books from the 1970s. For your enjoyment, here's the cover scans and a few select interior pages.













Click on the image above and save it for a ghostly desktop wallpaper.



Who remembers watching Walt Disney's The Mystery of Dracula's Castle starring Johnny Whitaker? I'm sure I was right there in front of the Zenith watching this with my brother and our dog, but I have no memory of it. This really needs to be released on DVD. Until then we have the paperback!