15 cent Archie Comic

I loved the whole Riverdale Gang, Archie Andrews and Jughead and Reggie and Moose and especially Betty and Veronica, RAWR! Here's the cover of issue 192

The Shipyard Brewing Company Brown Ale

The Shipyard Brown Ale.

I don't know if they still make this one, Shipyard has really grown since I first tried their beers, I should probably see what they are about now.  Shipyard is a Maine Brewing Company. I lost interest in them when they became part of Miller Brewing.... but...... I did not know that apparently neither the Shipyard Founders nor Miller Brewing were happy with the relationship and the founders bought the company back from Miller and have been running it as a "family" business ever since!

I did not know any of that until just now when I googled them to see if they still make this Brown Ale, so we've all learned something today!

Wurzburger Hofbrau

A tradition of quality since 1643. Wurzburger Hofbrau Pure Bavarian Beer. When I was younger, before craft brewing showed me that there's more to beer than Budweiser, I was a big fan of pilsener beers. I still like them, but now that they aren't the only game in town I don't drink them often. Many taste the same, so I can't see shelling out the extra money for an imported pilsener that tastes a lot like Bud. 

Now, having said that, I'm not sure what Wurzburger Hofbrau tastes like as I drank this in the 90s, but I'm just guessing it's not too far from our own "King of Beers" after sitting in a bottle in a cargo hold getting shipped to the US. Now, if I were sampling it in a pub in the Bavarian Alps, I'm sure it would be delicious and worth a second, third, and fourth sampling!

The Power's Short Story Prize, 1988

Here's a fun beer mat or coaster, it's by Power's Whiskey and it advertises a short story writing contest. 1988 was the year of Dublin's Millennium, so that's part of the contest too! One side of the coaster explains the contest and the other is a nice street scene of Dublin. 

Guinness Extra Stout

This is a label from the '90s from the old bottled Guinness that was absolutely terrible. Since then they've applied science and things to the process of bottling the stuff so that the Guinness you can buy at the store actually tastes kinda like the wonderful Guinness you can get at a pub. I believe they have a do-hickey that injects nitrogen and love into the drink, making it taste more like the pubs' version.

I absolutely love Guinness. I lived in Ireland for a while and drank way too much of the stuff when I was there. As they say, no beer comes near.

Guinness Coaster 1987-8 No Beer Comes Near

"No beer comes near" was a great slogan because I still think of it when I think or hear the name "Guinness." This was part of a whole set of coasters that had the iconic Guinness Harp Logo on one side and a little factoid about one of their advertising campaigns on the other. This one is about a plane called the Hawker Hunter Mk51s, a plane that had been used in a commercial.

Happy 4th of July!

Fireworks are the ultimate in ephemera- they are only around for a few seconds. Here's a pic I snapped at the fireworks I went to last year. Hope you all have a wonderful holiday!

Grateful Dead Europe 72

This is one of my all-time favorite albums. I loved everything about the Grateful Dead, especially their artwork. The classic "steal your face" skull and lightning bolt, the terrapins on Terrapin Station, all of it iconic. This album is great and the art is too!

The Irish Derby June 27, 1987

This is a "beer mat" or coaster advertising The Irish Derby, held June 27, 1987 at Curragh and brought to you by that famous Irish beer, Budweiser!

When I lived in Ireland in the late 1980s Budweiser was making a huge push to become a thing in Ireland. I don't know why they thought they could crack that market, but I suppose that those same great minds are responsible for the fact that Bud is no longer brewed by an American company.

I went back to Ireland in 2006, not a lot of Budweiser being consumed in the pubs.

Hudepohl-Schoenling Little Kings Cream Ale

Little Kings Cream Ale screams Cincinnati. It's brewed by Hudepohl-Schoenling Brewing Co. in Cincinnati, Ohio and is, in my humble opinion, pretty decent beer. 

1979 Red Sox Yearbook Dennis Eckersley

Words cannot describe my feelings for Dennis Eckersley. He was the coolest member of the Red Sox staff when I was a kid with that high leg kick and the fact he was a true Ace. Then he slogged around a resurfaced as one of the best closers in the history of the game with the Oakland A's. This was back before we knew about steroids, so that A's team with Canseco and McGwire was just too cool for words.

Fast forward to a few years ago, when Red Sox announcer Jerry Remy needed some time off to battle cancer and here's Eckersley, he (and others) filled in for Jerry and now Eck is a regular in the booth. He went from being scared to read the promotional ads to a really good analyst. He has his own lexicon of words like "high cheese" and "just a pair of shoes" but beyond that he is truly interesting and engaging. Big fan here.

The Red Sox and Yankees are playing in London today, of all places. 

North Carolina Matchbook

In case you didn't know, North Carolina is a US state. Apparently they felt they needed a little advertising at some point because that's what this matchbook advertises. North Carolina, Variety Vacationland. 

North Carolina Travel, Raleigh, NC

Pete's Wicked Bohemian Pilsner

"Hoppy Golden Bohemian Style Pilsner"

The more of these 1990s beer labels I post, the more I'm certain that most of the breweries don't exist any more. Pete's Wicked is a good example. It was one of the first beers in the craft brewing "craze" and got bought out and then eventually died on the vine, discontinued in like 2011.

St Sixtus Belgium Abbey Ale

Brewed and bottled by St Bernardus Bry Trappistenweg,Watou, Belgium

I had a bunch of Trappist Ale in the 90s, this was one of my favorites.

Jimmy Carter in Bangor, Maine

My mother and I went to see President Jimmy Carter speak at the Bangor Auditorium in Bangor, Maine on February 18, 1978. Here are a couple of blurry pictures taken (I think) with an old Kodak Instamatic camera.

President Jimmy Carter Bangor Auditorium

Spanish Peaks Peaches and Cream

Apparently the dog's name is Chug.
I wish I remembered how this stuff tasted, it must have been meh because just the thought of a "Peach Flavored Cream Ale" seems like it should have been memorable.

Billy Bragg Back to Basics Insert Art

Here, hold this trouble light.

I wish someone would pay me to do art.

I hope this is available in South Africa now, it's a great CD, two of Billy Bragg's first albums combined. Love this guy's music.

1988 Topps Big Card #79 Willie McGee

I loved Willie McGee and he was a great player and one of the rare non-power hitters of that era who could change the momentum of a game. He got clutch hits and could run the bases. Given that everyone he was playing against was on steroids, he maybe should be a Hall of Famer. I believe he won a couple of batting titles. He played for the Red Sox for a year or two, I was glad they picked him up. 

The best thing about him though was his facial expression, he always looked like he'd just smelled something bad.  

Dog Days Golden Ale

There was a brewery that used the art of Gonzo artist Ralph Steadman and I think it had the word Dog in either the name of the beer or the brand, and when I was looking through beer label scans for something to post I grabbed this one thinking it was one the Steadman labels. But now looking at it I don't think that's correct.

This is Dog Days Golden Ale from Aspen, Colorado and it looks like the picture of the dog is signed Pascarella. I've googled that name and there is an artist named Pascarella but his work doesn't look like this. 

Ohhhhhhh! and then I read the label and see this was brewed for the Flying Dog Brew Pub in Aspen, which IS the name I remembered for the beer company that used Ralph Steadman art on its labels. Ok phew.

Other Ephemera- this beer!

LOVE this stuff. Long Trail Green Blaze IPA!

Strong and tart but not tooo tart.

Some TRUE Ephemera- Last night's wine

I know ephemera is supposed to be paper things that aren't intended to last, but the spirit of the word involves anything fleeting. Actually I don't know that any of that is true and I'm too lazy to go look it up. 

Anyway, speaking of fleeting- this wine. It was a $35 dollar bottle on sale for $15 and it did not last long in my house! 

We had a crazy month in May so I couldn't blog but I'm back now!

1988 Topps Mini Tim Wallach

“Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.”

I'm glad I went to see the Expos play while they still existed. Their stadium was interesting enough, and what I remember most is that tickets were crazy cheap and they had corn dogs, which pleased my kids greatly.

The Pizza Tapes Insert

I love this CD, and the album liner is clever- a takeout menu to commemorate the pizza delivery guy that swiped these tapes from Garcia's house. Jerry Garcia, David Grisman and Tony Rice jamming out, masters of their instruments. The Pizza Tapes, highly recommended!

Maxell cassette tape labels

Does this bring back memories? OH the number of blank tapes I went through in the cassette days!

Side A Side B Noise Reduction Yes or No?

Pong The Next Level for Playstation

I still love Pong games. Old school video gaming!

Mouse from Phish CD Insert

I keep my scanner on "auto" and the scanner scanned this it's a small part of a larger page but I guess the scanner really liked it! 

Pearl Jam Even Flow Maxi CD Single

This was a CD single I bought in London in the early 1990s.  

1988 Topps Big Cards 14 Dale Murphy

I love the little cartoons on the backs of these cards.

1977 Red Sox yearbook celebrating Yaz

Yaz! Yaz! Yaz!

I totally had Yastrzemski mania back in the late 1970s so I would have been totally into this celebration of Red Sox outfielder Carl Yastrzemski in the 1977 Red Sox Yearbook.

Daisy BB Gun Ad

There was a time I wanted a BB gun so bad I could taste it. I finally got one, yeah, of course I got into trouble with it. This is from the back of a DC Superman Family comic book.

Humungous Vida Blue baseball card

Card number 59 of 60, Vida Blue San Francisco Giants. I thought Vida Blue was about the coolest guy ever. Great pitcher.

Red Sox 1977 Schedule and Ticket Prices

How cool is this, how do Fenway ticket prices compare to 1977?

This is scanned from the 1977 Yearbook

1988 Topps Mini Zane Smith

Card 42 Zane Smith. Always know where your towel is.

NBA LIVE 2004 for xbox

Here's the cover of my 2004 NBA LIVE xbox game. Vince Carter of the Toronto Raptors. What an amazing player, he played forever!

1988 Topps Mini Dave Parker

I liked this guy. Dave Parker was a great player and supposedly a pretty decent guy. 

The Pizza Tapes Insert

Here's the insert to the CD The Pizza Tapes, which is an amazing CD featuring David Grisman, Tony Rice and Jerry Garcia. This features cool pictures of each of the three awesome musicians and Grisman's telling of the tale of how these recordings had been stolen by a pizza guy and traded for years as bootlegs. Highly recommend this CD if you like bluegrass and folk root music.

1979 Red Sox Broadcasting teams

Ken Coleman, Rico Petrocelli on the radio and Ned Martin and Ken "Hawk" Harrelson on the television. This was a golden age of Red Sox draught baseball.

Pong Video Game instructions

Playstation, the original one, Pong Instructions. Old School video gaming.

1983 Fantastic Four Bubble Gum ad

Classic ad for some gum I never knew existed. 

The Pizza Tapes CD Insert

This is the cover and back cover of the Cd insert for The Pizza Tapes, an album by Jerry Garcia, David Grisman and Tony Rice. Great jammy bluegrass and traditional folk songs by three amazing musicians. The story behind the album is that a pizza delivery guy swiped the tapes of their session and they were legendary underground bootlegs until discovered somewhere and turned into this CD.

2004 NBA LIVE GAMEPLAY BASIC CONTROLS

this is for the original xbox, Vince Carter of the Toronto Raptors was on the cover. I bet I was terrible at this game, I don't remember playing it much.

1988 Topps Big Card #19 Scott Fletcher

I like "all-star" sets in baseball cards like the Big set because there's so much speculation as to which player will be a hall of famer and which will become a "Who?" Here's Scott Fletcher. I think the best thing about this card, besides Scott Fletcher himself of course, is the fact that the base-runner in his picture is Rickey Henderson.

2004 Patriots Gear Catalog LOOK AT BILL BELICHICK!

This is the fan catalog they send if you buy NFL Gear. Look at this picture of Bill Belichick! I love this man so I do feel a little bad about posting this but it demonstrates the lengths he's gone to for the organization during his amazing coaching tenure.

1981 Seattle Mariners schedule and some short shorts

This is a page from a 1981 Seattle Mariners game day program. I believe these shorts would qualify as "grape smugglers" The company is The Bon and they actually sell shorts.

NBA LIVE 2004 GAME PLAY INSTRUCTIONS

This was for the original xbox, Vince Carter of the Toronto Raptors was on the cover.

Grateful Dead Shakedown Street CD Cover

I loved all the Grateful Dead album art, they had the coolest graphics of any band ever. This looks like Robert Crumb but it's Gilbert Shelton. Love this album, it was produced by Lowell George of Little Feat and John Kahn.