Single Digits And Surprises

A surprise arrived at my door.

Below is a social media post I wrote about that...

Unsealed: A 104 Year Old Unmailed Letter

My friend Lorie is amazingly thoughtful and will send me vintage ephemera (which she knows I collect or use as collage material) on occasion. Yesterday a thick silver bubble envelope from Lorie surprised me at the mailbox. Inside was a gold mine of vintage photos and paper items (maps, pamphlets and the like) dating from the 1900s to the 1990s. Among the lot was a piece of sealed correspondence dated 1922. It was stamped but unmailed. Inside was a form letter to traveling sales ladies (addressed to “Madam”) from The Goodrich Drug Company. Goodrich sold cosmetics and toiletries and its employees likely went door to do or hosted sales parties on the order of Avon or Mary Kay. At the bottom it stated “You are going to make a mistake if you do not travel for us in 1923.” The hand written reply on the back of the letter is from one Mrs. Adams, having been addressed to “Sirs”. She basically said she’s been busy with “quite a little business to attend to” and will send the “vanity case”, which was likely a sales and demo kit, back to them if they want it returned. Mrs. Adams sealed her reply with a 2 cent stamp and never mailed it. I don’t know the full provenance of this artifact but somehow it ended up in a place where Lorie could retrieve it and send it to me. I opened it and now it’s being shared with all of you in 2026. Here’s hoping the statute of limitations on mail theft (which is a federal offense) have lapsed. Many thanks to Lorie for continuing to generously supply me with collage fodder and specifically this fascinating look into professional correspondence from 104 years ago. PS: I’m not cutting this up. The letter and envelope are safely archived in one of my postcard photo albums.

And then we got another foot of snow...

A few nice recent eBay scores above:

1963, 1970 and 1985 respectively. 

Paul Lynde was everywhere in the 1960s and 1970s.

No matter what sitcom of the past I'm watching, he 

manages to show up somewhere. Here he is in a 

1967 episode of That Girl starring Marlo Thomas. 

Back to the unrelenting deep freeze...

Winter can be over now. I'm done with it. 

5IFTY T3REE: Present And Past

Back at work, post holiday and moving 

through the new year... It's my birthday season. 

EVERYTHING IS CANCELLED I'M BUSY

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVID BOWIE

The newest Saint Etienne album has arrived at my door from the UK on colored vinyl, cassette and double CD formats. As a thank you to fans who were patient with shipping delays, a limited edition 7” single with two unreleased demo tracks was included in the package. This will be the band’s final album but they leave behind a solid catalog which spans 35 years of pop perfection. Thank you, Bob, Pete & Sarah!

5IFTY T3REE

I purchased some more vintage photos on eBay.

The one below was posted in a prior blog post.

I'm repeating it because I returned to the same 

seller's page and found three more images from 

that stationery store holiday party...

According to the back of this Polaroid

(dated 22 May 1971) this man is Chuck.

I couldn't get over his outfit... mainly the cufflinks

and white leather shoes. I bet Chuck got around. 

It snowed on a Sunday... 

Blast From The Past • Age 17 • 1990

Last weekend my friend Malika surprised me with “a cache of old photos and invitations to teenage parties” to quote a favorite song by Pet Shop Boys. Among the many images that she shared of us with our friends (many of whom remain a text message or FaceTime call away to this very day) were several snapshots she took at a Host A Murder Party that was hosted by our classmate Chris D’Alessandro. Sadly, Chris passed away unexpectedly last year and will always be remembered as a kind, funny and all around likable individual. Looking at this particular image of me in character (script in hand) as an aviator whose name was Spinner, I was immediately transported back to that evening. All of us were costumed appropriate to the characters we were assigned with our invites. Chris’ family home in Tewksbury was opulent and we dined, following the script, in the family dining room where we ate on china and drank from antique goblets. We retired to the finished basement after the game was done and “the murderer” was revealed (spoiler: it was Malika). I also remember taking a late night walk with some people on a silent wooded road before falling asleep on a leather banquette in my costume with my leather jacket (which was from either Oaktree or Cignal) draped over me. That’s quite a “character scowl” on that young man’s face. If you knew me then, as some of you did, you could say I was a complicated and moody kid. When I come across photos of myself from the late 1980s and early 90s, the 53 year old version of me can’t help but look at that kid and say, “Its gonna be okay, kid. You’re gonna make art and you’re gonna teach others to make art. You’re gonna write and illustrate. You’re gonna do well. You’re gonna meet amazing new friends. You’re gonna fall in love and be loved. You’re gonna experience some heartbreak and loss, but you’ll get back up and do it again. You’re gonna get to meet and shake hands with some of your idols. Most of all, you’re going to be AUTHENTICALLY yourself. Don’t worry, kid. Just keep your heart open and you’re gonna have a REALLY nice life… JUST. YOU. WAIT.” Many thanks to Malika for this cosmic mind trip. Here are some more images that she shared...

Fun people and memories.

Though I'm firmly planted in the present, the

past always seems to reach out to me in some form. 

And then...

I woke up to this on a Monday...

That peach light made me very happy. 

From a narrow river bridge...

I am grateful to be here for another year

however winter can crawl in a hole and die.

Anyway... I hope everyone is staying warm!

Cheers to all. XO - CDM