This is my Xmas posting but you may wonder what fertilizer has to do with space flight and children (and Xmas for that matter).
Your 1958 Shell Fertilizer Coloring Book (1958)
Shell Chemical Corp was interested in appearing "space age" in their approach to customer sales. They created this coloring book and a 1958 calendar to "cash in" on Sputnik and the new fad for space flight. Don't believe me, here is their fertilizer mascot as a Sputnik:
The coloring book was addressed to children but had a message for parents inside. I don't know at what event it was handed out or maybe it was from your local farm chemical dealer (P.S. for you non-science types NH3 is "ammonia".)
What really attracted me was the amazing "space age" illustrations of our farming future. From the cover they thought the future was 198*. This future even included using rockets and flying saucers to care for and gather the crops. The delightful details make it a real "moment in time." And of course look for Santa at the end.
Factory farming at its height
I love this futuristic house.
Cattle ranching will be different in the future too. Maybe locating your cows by radar?
I don't know what they are sending up in those rockets but I am sure it is safe :)
I am not exactly sure what they are doing with that tree, but it extends WAY UP into the saucer
Santa appears on the last page, no particular reason why.
I know they also used these 12 illustrations in a 1958 calendar since I found a few images of the color illustrations they used. Happy holidays and have a great 2018!
As the holidays approach I wanted to go back to an older piece of Disney ephemera that I found. I love the whole concept and style of how Walt Disney and Disneyland explored and promoted spaceflight and the future.
This was the complete guide you could purchase at the park. I have skipped most of the other sections but the depiction(s) of Tomorrowland still inspire me.
I am so fascinated that I copied out the listing of the attractions to be found there, including my favorite "lost" ride: Space Station X-1! See America from a Space Station.
See you at the "Space Bar" next week with my holiday post!
A little late for my usual date range but this 1979 Estonian storybook is too fun to miss. And the story is actually from 1961 and helped me discover a delightful spaceflight film for children.
The book is based on (from my "Googling" level of research) a 1961 Estonian stop-motion children's film
"Ott in Space " https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1IZ8gragoI since the images seem very much the same.
Ott in space. Nijt Jellen. 1979. 19 pp. 13 x 21 cm. Softcover.
Here is the back cover if any of my readers can translate more information.
Basically Ott grows bored in school and decides to explore space for himself.
He has stylized adventures on a couple of planets including Mars after escaping a lion he encounters on Earth and some grumpy penguins when he goes off course.
He wishes he had listened better in school as he tries to figure out how to read the manual and find his way home.
Neptune?
And Mars of course.
He now loves to study planetary physics, geography, and engineering. THE END
A nice children's book from USSR. It seems to be a collect of fictional stories of which one is about a trip to the moon with a pickle and two elves (fairies?) (Would I lie to you?)
Who is stronger, who is better. V. Rosin. Kiev: Ditvidav 122 p. 22 cm. 1963.
Note that they find remnants of the 1959 Luna 2 probe : (The spacecraft carried Soviet pennants. Two of them, located in the spacecraft, were sphere-shaped, with the surface covered by identical pentagonal elements. In the center was an explosive charge designed to shatter the sphere, sending the pentagonal shields in all directions. Each pentagonal element was made of stainless steel and had the USSR Coat of Arms and the Cyrillic letters СССР ("USSR") engraved on one side, and the words СССР январь 1959 ("USSR January 1959") on the other side.)
