1973 The Golden 1973 Aesop's Fables Calendar. Pictures by Mel Crawford. A Golden Calendar. NY: Western Publishing Co., Inc. Gift of Barb Markuson, Glenwood, Iowa, April, '15. Extra copy in poorer condition for $6.99 from Leah Fowler, Edgewood, MD, through Ebay, March, '99.
Very lively cartoon presentations of a dozen fables with surprisingly good morals. Thus in DS we learn "The greedy man cheats himself" and in CJ "A thing is good only if it is good for you." FM is unusual in having the fox frightened by the mask because it "looked so real." The moral here is "There is nothing emptier than an empty head." After the months, we have another page of fables titled "Animal Antics." There is also an account of the story of Aesop's life.A page`of 141 little tear-along-the-perforation stickers closes out the calendar.
1972? The Funny Fables of Kenneth Patchen. Read by Kenneth Patchen. Palo Alto: Green Tree Records. 101 (20415). Unknown source.
I am happy to find this 33 LPM recording because Patchen is one of the craziest fabulists I have read! After trying his Aflame and Afun of Walking Faces: Fables and Drawings, I wrote “Should we blame Patchen's work on Joyce? On drugs? I see here largely a category-smashing linguistic virtuosity.” The album’s cover here follows the same thread: “To give some notion of the Fables, imagine Mark Twain and Leopardi collaborating on a script for the Marx Brothers to act out the birth of a world – by no means necessarily this one!” The seven fables listed here do not seem to work off of traditionally known fables.
1992 The Friendly Snowflake. A Fable of Faith, Love and Family. Written and read by M. Scott Peck. NY: Caedmon: HarperCollins Publishers. Gift of Linda Schlafer, Christmas, '93.
Jenny meets a friendly little snowflake named Harry. Big questions: Was it just an accident that Harry fell on her nose? Are big snowflakes a family? She learns that Harry may well be back next year. The tape comes with a snowflake ornament.
Le Renard et la cigogne The joke here is that the fox has a straw ready to work on the vases in which the stork is preparing to serve the meal. This fox has read his fables! Do not miss Mademoiselle Stork's high-heeled shoes. She is, after all, a female in the French language.
1890? One FS button, 5/8" in diameter. $12 from Joni Goldbarg through Ebay, April, '99.
The conception of the scene seems slightly different here from both the 1" and the 3/4" FS versions. The defining line at the bottom of the scene is higher. The strong set of defining masses at the lower right seems to have been lost. It is not as clear that the fox grasps the neck of the vase. The fox sits back here, and the stork is well removed from the button's right rim. The whole rim has a copper hue. As with the other exemplars of this scene, that copper-colored band seems to be folded over a hook-bearing celluloid back and the bronze and metallic front. In all three types of button, a silverish circle surrounds the button's scene inside the enclasping ring. Wonders never cease! Apparently not in BBB.
1890? 2 FS buttons, apparently matched, 3/4" in diameter. $9 from Joyce's Jems at the Dulles International Antiques Show and Sale, April, '97, and $9.95 from Gary McWilliams, Arroyo Grande, CA, through Ebay, Feb., '99.
As with the 1" buttons with which these seem to be matched, a brass-colored band seems to be folded over the hook-bearing celluloid back and the bronze and black metallic front of the button. The stork has its long beak in the vase while the fox looks on. These two smaller buttons seem identical to me, though I do not think that they are identical with the slightly smaller FS button.
1890? 2 FS buttons, 1" in diameter, with celluloid background. $7.99 through Ebay from Maryalice Ditzler, Delta, PA, April, '99. Extra copy, cleaner and brighter throughout, for $12 from Robin Larner, Rochester, NY, through Ebay, April, '99.
Here a brass-colored band seems to be folded over the hook-bearing celluloid back and the bronze and black metallic front of the button. The stork has its long beak in the vase while the fox looks on. Apparently in the same set as the two 3/4" FS buttons. Apparently #16 on Plate 152 in BBB.
1880? Two small FS buttons, 5/8" in diameter, brass repousse over a celluloid base with a circular metal loop shank. $16 each from Marsha BonForte, Mine Hill, NJ, through Ebay, May, '99.
Basically the same motif as the large 1.5" Larner FS button, but done in metal. Ms Bon Forte offered a dozen, but I could afford only two at this time. This particular button, aptly named "Tit for Tat" by Marcia, seems not to be listed in BBB.
1880? One large FS button, 1 3/8" in diameter, brass repousse over a celluloid base with a circular metal loop shank. $25 from Onie Wiedeman, Minot, ND, May, '99. Extra for $4.05 from Bruce Beck, Cedarburg, WI, through Ebay, August, '99.
Identical in motif with the other FS buttons I have. This is a dramatic button! Slightly larger than, but identical in motif to, BBB Plate 152, #5.
1880? Small FS button, 11/16" in diameter, pressed wood set in a brass rim. Perhaps meant to match the 1.5" button I have from Robin Larner? $9.95 from Pam Drake, Canaan, Maine, through Ebay, April, '00.
This exquisite little match to the larger button is a three-piece button at least. It is hard to believe that wood could have been carved or molded so intricately for a button! As so often happens on Ebay, this button came with three others that do not fit into my collection.
1880? Large FS button, 1.5" in diameter, pressed wood set in a realistic twig-like brass rim. $50 from Robin Larner, Rochester, NY, through Ebay, May, '99.
A really striking button! As Robin noted, there is a small sliver missing at high noon. The motif is well known to The Big Book of Buttons (Elizabeth Hughes and Marion Lester, Second printing: 1991, Plate 152, #5) but not in this unusual material. A wonderful acquisition!
