Searching For Treasure....Chests.....

A while back I shared a treasure chest bank that came from Six Flags Over Texas in the 1960's. I actually have more treasure chest banks (it seems to be a popular theme, after all) so I thought I'd share them with you this week!

The Captain Flint bank

Another view...

 First, we have a tin litho bank. This beautifully decorated bank is small ( about 3"x2"x1.5"). I've seen people claim that it comes from the 1930's to the 1950's, but I can't be sure. By the way, Captain Flint was a Robert Louis Stevenson creation from Treasure Island...

The State National Bank, Denison, Texas plastic treasure chest.

View two...

 This small plastic bank (slightly larger than the Captain Flint bank) is from my home town! State National Bank was the first bank to open in Denison in the late 1800's. For many years there was a beautiful bank building on a corner that was eventually torn down and replaced by a three story marble box. The box is still there, but now it's a Bank of America.

Anyway, this bank seems to be from the 1960's.  It splits in two pieces to open. The graphics are nice and sharp on it. Overall, this little bank faired much better than the bank building....

The Park Sherman Chest....of Drawers bank!

The magic drawer.

And our final bank is a different kind of chest. This is a fun piece that was made by the Park Sherman Company. It's larger than the other two (about 4"x2.5"x4.5"). The cool part is that when you put a coin in the top drawer and close it, the coin mysteriously vanishes! Ok, the "clunk" kind of gives away the fact that it drops into the lower part of the bank, but it's fun anyway. It's from the 1950's.

So there you have it! When I say "Keep searching for treasure" sometimes I mean it! So.....Keep searching!

One of the Coolest Slot Cars Ever!

In the mid 1960's tv and kids everywhere were swept up into Bat-Fever! ABC had a suprise hit on their hands with their campy "Batman" series, and people just couldn't get enough of it!

The real star of the show was the George Barris designed Batmobile. There were plastic models, toys, and artwork everywhere that featured the modified Futura showcar.

Aurora came out with a slotcar version that, if you can find it today, will set you back a huge chunk of change. Fortunately, the thrifty collector has another way of owning a lightning fast ho scale slot Batmobile! I give you this:

The Auto World Batmobile slotcar captures all of the excitement of the original!

The back of the package features a write up.

The car can be removed from the package.

The "Robin" side of the car.

All in all, this is a very faithful model to the original

...even down to the afterburner in back!

The real workings. Check out the size of those rear slicks! 

I bought my car at Hobby Lobby about six years ago. However, I checked and you can still find them on eBay, in the package, for about twenty bucks! What a deal!

I've never actually run mine on a track (I think my track is in the attic...go figure) but I have fired up the motor with a nine volt battery, and she screams! Most of the time she sits quietly on the bar with her other Batmobile cousins (Corgi, Playart, Hot Wheels, etc...)

So, if you can't afford an original of something, you might want to consider a re-release!

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!

A Reminder of Musical History

I'm posting a quick one this week. Here's the picture:

It's a ticket stub from June 16, 1983. Other than the name of the club (Tango) there is really no other info to gather from it. Therefore, I shall tell a story...

It was early on the night of June 16 on lower Greenville Ave. in Dallas, Tx. My friend, Walter Martin, and I were walking down the street looking for some entertainment. Lower Greenville often had good bands, so we were just winging it to see what we could find.

As we walked up to Tango (also known as "Six Frogs Over Texas," even though there were really only four on the roof) Walter pointed out the sign and said "We could check this guy out. I hear he's pretty good." It was an album release party for his first album, so it seemed promising. Therefore, we plunked down our five buck each and went inside...

The only way to really see was to go upstairs and look down on the stage a few feet below. There we saw a rumpled young man in a floppy leather hat tearing up a Fender Strat like we had never seen.

We had just happened in on Stevie Ray Vaughan's album release party for "Texas Flood!"

He was incredible. He played behind his back. He played with his boot. He played with more passion and feeling than I had ever seen before. And we were there in the middle of it all. Just by chance.

I would see him a few more times before he passed away a few years later, but this show was the best. He was a rising star, and he was on fire!

Now, I have this unmarked unassuming little stub to remind me of that night. Treasure, indeed!

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!

More Mansion (of the haunted variety)

I've already shared a few posts on some of my Haunted Mansion treasure, but it turns out that I found a bit more! So, in the "spirit" of completeness, here are three more spooky items from Disney's premier attraction!

 First, we have a Haunted Mansion trading pin. I got this in about 2009 and wear it every day on my lanyard that holds my work i.d. Sometimes people confuse the pictures...

I picked these cards up online a couple of years ago. The only part that actually "glows in the dark" is the Haunted Mansion logo. The glow stuff is rough to the touch, which makes these cards a little weird to play with. They're kind of like sandpaper...

Still, the cards feature some faces that fans of the mansion might recognize, which is nice. There are two Madam Leota jokers with text from her spell. All in all, they're kind of cool...

Finally, we have a key chain that I got at the park in about 2001. It's very heavy and large (about 4 1/2 inches long) and usually hangs on my fireplace mantle. I'm sure that it actually opens the mansion, but I've never actually tried it...

So there you go! I think that wraps it up for my collection so far (except for a couple of tee shirts). I'm sure I will "accidently" get more later. That's the way mansion stuff happens...it just "appears."

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!