2022 – Stuff & Nonsense 1
(ignore April 30, 2017 publish date – this was published on February 25, 2022)
I’ve kind of exhausted the “Collections” category (hey – it gave me something to do during 2020) and while there ARE some collectibles in this post, these items are just random things I’ve found while plowing through my apartment.
But beware – I’ve tacked the number 1 onto the title because I’m sure there’ll be more Stuff & Nonsense to come.
I’ve found two items of note in the kitchen, including the above pair of 6.5” tall Slim Jim mugs. I bought them brand new for 2 bucks each about 20 years ago when I was buying bread in an Arnold Thrift store, of all places.
A quick check of Slim Jim Face Mugs on eBay shows asking prices between $8-$33.
Also in my kitchen:
This is an EXTREMELY rare Mrs. Fields cookie tin that I bought full of cookies in San Francisco in 1981 and had it shipped to me from her Pier 39 store.
I have been searching online for years and have yet to find another one like it, so I have no idea of its value.
Jumping over to bedroom closet #1, I found a couple pairs of slippers I’ve never worn because one’s literally Goofy-looking and the others are a bit big and also kind of goofy-looking (but in a Giant way):
I’m pretty sure I got both pair at a church rummage sale across the street years ago – probably for about 2 bucks each.
Deep in an upper corner, I found a Clever Little Bag (well, that’s what it told me it was). I don’t remember it at all, but I DID wear Puma sneakers years ago, so……….
Lastly, this closet yielded something fairly cool. Remember Bob and Doug McKenzie from SCTV (“How’s it goin’, eh?”)? I had photographed them at various places between 1981 and 1983, including an in-store at Sam Goody’s, Manhattan’s Sky Rink (press conference for the “Strange Brew” movie), and even at the Canadian Consulate with Canadian ambassador Ken Taylor, who was instrumental in helping US citizens escape from Iran during the hostage crisis, which lasted for 444 days.
Anyway, I’m not sure at which event I procured these toques, which have STILL never been worn:
Sliding over to bedroom closet #2………….I wasn’t sure where this Rockasaurus celebratory goodie bag came from:
Then I zoomed in on the ribbon:
Hot Shot Public Relations was celebrating its 5th Anniversary in March, 1992. That name didn’t ring a bell at all. It wasn’t until a week later when I found this card elsewhere in my room that something clicked:
The woman’s name sounded familiar, but I still had no clue……….until I Googled her and found this:
Motorhead! I know I shot them in 1984………..did I do it again between 1987 and 1992? A trip to the file cabinet shows that I shot them in Bethlehem, PA, in 1988 at a Slayer/Motorhead/Overkill show. I have a pretty good memory, but I’m drawing a complete blank on this show.
But I’m pretty sure I know where this goodie bag came from:
Andrea was the daughter of another tenant in my building. She invited me to her high school graduation party at a nearby Elks Club (I think). Hackensack’s school colors are blue and gold. (What? No gold leis?)
I don’t recall where I got this 5” x 4” x 3” two-piece, handcrafted native redwood item and still have no idea what to put in it:
Not sure what the story is with this bag of masks from Party City:
But I know that at least one of them came from elsewhere:
(Every Mother’s Nightmare on Arista Records)
I can’t even tell you what this is because it seems to have melted/dehydrated into a petrified lump:
I’ve mentioned before that I used to shoot for an adult store that would send some lovely young ladies to my apartment for store publicity shots. They also sent over 3 sizes of their tops for them to wear:
For some strange reason, they all wanted to squeeze into the small one (fine with me).
If they REALLY wanted to try a VERY small one, here’s one of mine from a very long time ago:
I think it says “Miami Beach” on it.
Also from eons ago is my first bat:
Moving to a bedroom end table………….
I was a huge Davy Crockett fan when I was a kid – had the coonskin cap and everything………….but not this lamp:
I found this on eBay at around the turn of the century for $100 and grabbed it. It’s in perfect shape and if I had this as a kid, I would still have it now………oh, wait – I DO!
I’ve looked all over online to see what they go for, but as is – this doesn’t exist. Some have the metal base with crappier DC shades and some have this shade on crappier, non-metal bases.
I’m convinced I’ve got the best one out there (corrections always welcome).
There were a few collected matchbooks in the drawer:
“Terminal” is a fitting name for a lit cigarette. I got invited to the Kit Kat Klub for a Circus of Power (band) party in 1990…………friendly employees there! Uncle Sam’s in the next entry. I shot the Uncle Floyd Show at the Brooklyn Zoo in 1983. I stayed at the T&C Motel in Richmond, Indiana the night before I shot Van Halen in Indianapolis in 1986. I’ve never been in the Saints Café in my hometown of Teaneck, NJ, so I don’t know how I acquired this matchbook.
Uncle Sam shows a bold statement inside their matchbook:
I listened to a couple of their songs on YouTube…………early GN’R has nothing to worry about.
This was a surprise to find the 3 photo passes for the last official show I ever shot (KISS/Faster Pussycat/Trixter on October 9, 1992) in a drawer instead of being on my file cabinets:
Back to matches………….
Another surprise: half a box of matches from a strip joint in Dania, Florida:
I was in nearby Fort Lauderdale in 1982 with the woman I was living with and I seem to recall being aware of this club somehow, but I never went there (believe it or not, I don’t like strip clubs). The best possible story that I can come up with is that this half-empty box was on a counter somewhere as advertising and I, um……….borrowed it. Looks like I really did a lot with it over the last 40 years.
Wanna see a picture of a hot chick and her………um, toys? Actually, this is my old friend (and favorite model) Donna and they’re not her toys. A rare toy dealer friend wanted me to do a perked-up shoot of his wares in 1990 and………..hello, Donna! 
Wanna play?
Dick Clark in the Sunday funnies? I don’t remember that, but my mother saw it in the Sunday Daily News comics section in 1995 and sent it to me:
Let’s finish up with some slightly electric semi-symmetry I somehow came up with when I was a kid………….a long time ago (I wish there was a date on it):
’til the next nonsensical pile of stuff…………..
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