HAPPY NEW YEAR 2023!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

MY CUTTING EDGE ELF

 

My Elf On The Shelf thought he'd cut to the chase with this year's pranks!

THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN

Five seconds after this image, I was eating a knuckle sandwich!

Christmas Greetings from Inspector Clouseau and me.

Just a reminder of those long gone days when I used to write and draw comic book stories featuring

  The Inspector for Novaro publishers. Thought it'd be a nice touch to include him in my Xmas card. I think Inspector Clouseau was my favorite comic book character, even on top of The Pink Panther during my time working in the comics business.

JOSKE'S DEPARTMENT STORE IN THE 1960s

Back in the 1960s, during Christmas, my family would hit the road and travel from Mexico City to San Antonio, Texas with the express purpose of doing some gift shopping and to spend Christmas there as well. We usually returned home on the 26th to celebrate the New Year back at home. Joske's was the main destination of our shopping days and visiting the toy department was a dream come true for us young tykes. I can still remember the toys I found there and the many hours we spent browsing through the aisles in wonderment.

The wonderful toy department at Joske's!

I bought these two at Joske's Toy Department around 1963.

Starting in 1960, kids at the Joske's store downtown would wait for their turn with Santa Claus in Fantasy Land, a 16,000-square-foot holiday-themed maze.

Santa's Fantasy Land!

The huge Christmas Santa at Joske's.

We stopped traveling to San Antonio by 1970 as we all grew older and pursued other holiday destinations but I never forgot those nostalgic days when I looked forward to the great San Antonio adventure at Christmas time!

In 1987, Joske’s was sold to Dillard’s, which occupied the building until 2008 when it was purchased and later occupied by the Rivercenter shopping mall. The building is part of the National Register of Historic Places-listed and City of San Antonio Alamo Plaza Historic District and is an individual City of San Antonio local landmark. 

MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT : MY NFT TRADING CARD IS HERE!

                                                          MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT!

          My official NFT Limited Edition Trading Card is here! If you were looking for the perfect Christmas gift this is it! Unlike other Trading Card collections, there is only one single card design available so you know exactly what you're getting when you buy it! And the price is unbeatable! Only .99 cents each! At this price, even my late father, who was a real cheapskate, would have jumped into the deal!  Furthermore, you can even buy as many as you like and there's not even a remote chance these will be sold out because I can make as many as I want! Don't miss this excellent opportunity to own a great NFT which will never increase its resale value and will probably never be offered on eBay or any other collectors' page.  

                               Only .99 cents, folks! (Incidentally, NFT means Not For Trading) 

A VERY SENIOR CHRISTMAS

XMAS CARTOONS AND SELECTED SHORTS.

 Christmas is the perfect time to watch these cartoons which are not readily available on TV or on the main streaming services but can be found navigating the internet, principally on YouTube and Vimeo. I remember watching all of these when I was very young and television was just gaining momentum, (mid-50s, early 60s). Needless to say, it was a veritable nostalgia trip when I found them after all those years.

CHRISTMAS NIGHT (1933) starring Oscar E. Soglow's The Little King.

Ub Iwerks' THE BRAVE TIN SOLDIER  (1934)

THE SHANTY WHERE SANTA CLAUS LIVES (1933)  

WB Merrie Melodies Directed by Rudolph Ising

 

SANTA'S WORKSHOP (1932) -  A Walt Disney Silly Symphony

GIFT WRAPPED (1952) WB Looney Tunes -  Directed by Friz Freleng

TOY TINKERS (1949) Walt Disney

PLUTO'S CHRISTMAS TREE (1952) Walt Disney

And these are my selected shorts, which I watch whether it's Christmas or not:

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy in BIG BUSINESS (1929) 

Directed by James W. Horne and Leo McCarey

THE FIXER-UPPERS (1934) Directed by Charles Rogers

"Jingle bells, jingle bells

coming through the rye.

I wish you a merry Christmas

even as you and I"

And without further ado, I bid you farewell and a Merry Christmas to you!