Now here's a poster to drum up the accomplishments of Pres. Elpidio Quirino--the country's father from 1948-1953, beating Roxas in the elections. His battlecry was 'HAPPY PHILIPPINES" and features major accomplishments as the construction of Ambuklao Dam and the Maria Cristina Hydroelectric Power Plant.I got this poster years ago from the old Plaridel Printing Press in Malolos, Bulacan which is hitoric in itslef as it published many patriotic and nationalistic materials. Quirino's legacy is being hailed as the new Philippine ideology at this crucial time when the country is fighting the elimination of corrupt politicians and the practice of political patronage.

Once upon a time, I entertained the idea of collecting antique prints--and the very first ones I got were this pair of Philippine costume prints of a man and woman from Manila. The hand-colored plates were torn from an antique French travel book about the Philippines. It dates from, perhaps, late 1790s to the early 1800s. The "india' in swathed in a dark cape, and she is draped in a sarong,
The male "indio"  version is just as interesting--he wears a loose pair of shorts that fall down to his knees and his head is covered with some scarf to protect him from the harsh sun. He holds a rather large, embroidered handkerchief. How's that, for macho effect?

I am posting the rest of the pages of the book that came with the prints--in the French language,  I chanced upon these nice Filipiniana pieces being sold by a local dealer on ebay some 2 decades ago--and who has since passed away. I just wished I got more information about these prints--which remain in storage to this day. C'est la vie!!

Rock Hudson was a hunky 6’4” romantic star who rose to fame in the 50s and 60s, while squiring top leading ladies like Doris Day, Lauren Bacall, Liz Taylor, Susan St. James. But his death from AIDS in the 80s revealed his true self. Well, even if Hudson was not totally “out of the closet”, we could still a glimpse of what was inside with this “Rock Hudson Cut-Outs” published by Whitman in 1956.
The book features 2 cardboard cut-outs of the star and several pages of his wardrobe, some of which have been cut. The wardrobe features sports outfits, formal/leisure wear, casuals and even cowboy clothes. This was picked from ebay, for under 400 pesos.
Movie celebrity paper dolls—especially those unused and uncut—are very desirable collectibles, chased by collectors of Hollywood memorabilia, paper dolls, ephemera and Hudson fans.

In one of my morning pickings, I chanced upon these 3 paper-cut-outs of religious characters under a heap of paper items. The cut-outs reminded me of  Victorian "scrap"--those  colored printed papers and usually embossed die cuts that were used in Victorian times by both children and adults for various crafting and scrapbooking activities. Scraps first appeared i the 19th century, sold in sheets connected with small strips to join them together. Many people group their collections by themes or special occasions with verses and poems. These local scraps were probably hand-cut from religious prints, and not estampitas (holy cards). Cardboard easels have been added on at the back to make the figures stand--maybe for play purposes. These vintage ephemera are not worth much, but I am keeping them anyway, reminder of an age when people saw value in everything--including paper scraps!

One of the earliest Chirstmas gifts I can remember was a 1960s coloring book of the U.S. Presidents given out by Planter's Peanuts---that peanut company with that ever-present Mr. Peanut mascot gracing the front page. The coloring book, purchased by my Mother from Johnny's grocery in downtown Angeles City, featured all the American presidents--from Washington to Kennedy. It was one of the few color books that I did not keep, so when I found this smaller paint book version--I knew this would be a perfect substitute!
Planters Peanuts was founded by Italian Amedeo Obici in 1906, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. In 1916 the company held a contest to create a company logo and the contest was won by a 14 year old . schoolboy named Antonio Gentile who drew a Peanut Man. Artist Frank P. Krize, Sr., improved it by adding a top hat, a monocle, and a cane to the drawing, and Mr. Peanut was born. By the mid-1930s, the raffish figure had come to symbolize the entire peanut industry, appeared on packages, advertising and premium items like this paint book.
The paint book features side-by-side illustrations of the U.S. presidents--one in black and white and one in color, to be used as a color guide. Defining events from the president's term are also drawn; in the case of Pres. Kennedy, the age of space exploration is shown. The paint book is unused and dates before Kennedy's assassination.
Planters Peanut products were available in limited quantities in the Philippines--through the military PX goods mostly. Even today, Planters are imported, available in select groceries and supermarkets like S& R. It just goes to show how popular the brand has become globally, with Mr. Peanut winning acclaim as one of the most recognized character trademark in marketing history.

I first saw this set of small coloring books being sold at Visual Mix, a 2nd-hand book shop that has evolved into the giant used book shop chain, Book Sale. Of course, I just had to get them; they were no ordinary color books to me--they depicted cartoon characters which I watched avidly back in the 70s and early '80s. There was PAC-MAN, based on a Japanese computer game, Pakkuman;  MARVEL'S SECRET WARS that featured all my fave super heroes like Thor, the Hulk and Spiderman; HERCULOIDS, a Hanna Barbera cartoon that had characters out to save the planet like Zandor, Tara, Dorno and Gloop & Gleep. Finally, there was POPEYE, THE SAILOR MAN, that had its beginnings in 1933, although the cartoons I remember were produced by King Features Syndicate from the 60s.
These were cheap Philippine reprints, nostalgic paper relics of  Saturday mornings of marathon cartoon-watching, when the world and I were younger.

An essential to manly good grooming in the 50s is a thick dab of pomada on your hair to keep hair licks in place and give your mane a noticeably brilliant sheen. Pomades like Brilliantine, Glo-Co, Bryllcreem, Verbena and Three Flowers were the leading brands of the day--guaranteed to turn one into a Rudolph Valentino, Clark Gable, James Dean or Elvis Presley.

One other popular brands was TARZAN, which not only manufactured a pomade (the greasy stuff was bottled in a small clear glass with a an aluminum cap) but also a whole line of hair grooming products like quality hair tonics and lotions--as these colorful labels show. The graphics are bold, the colors brilliant and the illustrations art deco-ish.

The brand name makes an allusion to the shiny, elegant locks of the Lord of the Jungle, exemplified by Johnny Weissmuller, who swang from tree to tree--always with hair in place. But while Tarzan had a lush head, but have you ever noticed that he has non-existent facial hair? I wonder why.

A selection of old paper labels of perfumes and cosmetics found in the Philippines, circa 1930s-50s. Some labels were embossed and made used of gold foil, featuring local names of flowers like "Ylang-Ylang", "Philippine Orchids" and "Azucena".
Products represented here include perfumes, lotions, pomade and talcum powder. Charming examples of early graphic design in Philippine product packaging.

 Before the advent of photoshop, salon studios created special effects using amazing scenography, fashioned from cardboard and wooden props to situate the subject in a fantasy place. But even more incredible are these manipulated real photo postcards, several elements cut and pasted on a new background, which was then painted and tinted over.
Painted photos are not unknown in the Philippines as the "foto oleo" technique was known as aearly as the the first decade of the 20th century. Ordinarily, the subject's dress is washed lightly with color, and the details of a baro were defined by paint. But these two photo postcards bearing the names of "Anita" and "Concepcion" were much more elaborate as they combined time-consuming cutting, rephotographing. lettering, painting and tinting. True, the advent of modern photography and computer technology have all but rendered this tedious process obsolete, but nothing can duplicate the artistry of these fantasy--conceived by imaginative minds and crafted by deft, hard-working hands!

When I saw these Classics Illustrated comic books for sale in a Cubao thrift shop, I was transported back to my younger days when I read and collected every issue I could afford of these popular reading materials. They had no back covers but the pages were all intact; at Php100 apiece (a brand new one cost me 80 centavos in the 70s), they were pricey indeed. But nostalgia got the better of me and I ended up bringing home over 20 issues of these comics. I still have a long way to go towards re-building my collection but with all these great finds recently, I am getting there.

These comics were adaptations of literary classics such as Silas Marner, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and The Iliad. Created by Albert Kanter, the series began publication in 1941 and finished its first run in 1971, producing 169 issues. Gilberton Company published these classics, including the Classic Illustrated Junior, a series of fairy tale comics that debuted in 1953.

 The most affordable antique ephemera are perhaps, those small, mass-produced devotional pictures we call "estampitas", or holy cards. In our Christian tradition, estampitas were meant for the use of the faithful, and they typically depict images of saints or religious scenes. The reverse may contain a prayer, some of which promise an indulgence for its recitation. The circulation of these cards is an important part of the visual folk culture of Roman Catholics.
An important part of the visual folk culture of Filipino Roman Catholics, estampitas were used as iconographic guides in the carving of saints. Early cards were just black and white engravings on parchment, sometimes hand-tinted, until the advent of color lithography and newer printing techniques.
Other estampita variants include Vocation Cards, given out by priests and nuns to celebrate milestones ion their religious life like ordination, profession and sacerdotal anniversraies. There are also Memorial Cards. Sacramental Cards (to mark Baptism, Communion, etc.) and Souvenir Cards from places of pilgrimage.
Since hundreds of thousands are still available, judicious collectors often collect by visual themes (Angels, Saints, Holy Week Scenes, Infant Jesus, Virgin Mary) or categories (Holy Communion Cards, Prayer Cards, Lace Cards, Local Cards). The estampitas shown here, numbering over 200 pieces all came in an album, sold by a private collector though a dealer. Reasonable priced, they are the most appealing paper collectibles one can find today.

Now, here's a 109 year old photo of a snazzy-looking Filipino boy, another nice find from my usual Cubao junkshop. I thought I had found the Pinoy version of  Little Lord Fauntleroy, the character made famous by novelist Francis Hobson Bennett. The novelist introduced us to a style of dress that is at once a page boy costume and a boy-man suit---worn with a lacy collar,  knee pants and black stockings. I was told by the dealer that this photo came from the house of the Paternos in Quiapo, which counts Malolos Congress head, Pedro Paterno as member--but of course, you just have to take claims like this with a grain of salt. Complete with a straw boat hat on his tousled mop of hair and a dandy stick, our Pinoy kid cuts a smart, princely figure indeed, one who could very well win a Fauntleroy Lookalike Contest!

Few months back, I was in Cubao to check on some stuff my dealer supposedly found from an old house in Quiapo. Just as I was arriving at his place, he sped by in his car, the trunk loaded with house junk--just precisely the stuff my thrift shop dreams are made of! He said he had a couple of old prints, so he pulled out this frame, with glass intact.
I could barely see what was behind the glass; it was smeared with dirt and dust build-up! But I could faintly see the hazy shape of what appeared to be a print of the celebrated Virgen de la Naval. I paid for the frame--dust, grime and all--and headed for home.
I immediately pried open the back of the frame, and the backboard turned out to be a cardboard print of some Dutch landscape, complete with windmills and all. My hunch was correct, for upon carefully removing the fragile paper print that the backboard supported, I turned it over to see that it was indeed a nice print of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary--Virgen de la Naval!
The image of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary is one of the most revered Marian image in the country. The ivory figure was carved by a Chinese artisan in 1593, who was converted into the faith while carving the image. It now reposes at the Sto. Domingo Church in Quezon City where its annual feast day--La Naval Fiesta--is celebrated every October.
It was my first time to see this kind of print--I have one printed by the UST press that dates from the early 20th century. There were some pencil scribblings at the back of the paper print which puts the date of this making before the War.

Pre-war magazines in readable and stable condition are so hard to find that when a dealer offered a couple of these publications to me, I grabbed them all--and wanted more! The rarest is perhaps, Lipang Kalabaw, which started as a satirical-political magazine in Tagalog came out in in three different periods: 1907-1909, 1922-24, and 1947-48. It was operated by Lope K. Santos and illustrated by Jorge Pineda. It ceased publication in 1909, but was revived in 1922 as Bagong Lipang Kalabaw--and this magazine example came from that period.

On the other hand, The Philippines Free Press was founded in 1907 by its editor-in-chief, R. McCoullough Dick until the 60s,when Teodoro M. Locsin took over as publisher. This issue dates from December 1925.

Another popular pre-war magazine was published by Ramon Roces--the Graphic-- which was edited by A. C. Fabian. Famous writers who wrote for Graphic include E. Aguilar Cruz, Nick Joaquin. It featured essays and literary pieces in English, plus color sections that reproduced the artworks artworks of  the up-and-coming artists of the period, like Jose Bumanlag David and Carlos "Botong" Francisco.

The Spanish La Vanguardia was an American era publication which came out during the early 20th century, It was part of a newspaper empire founded by Don Alejandro Roces that also included Taliba (in Tagalog)  and Tribune (in English and edited by Carlos P. Romulo) -- hence, the T-V-T periodicals.

As a collector of sacred art, I got excited when i saw these very old black and white prints showing religious figures, Biblical scenes and character at an art shop in Devonport, New Zealand. They are rather large prints and seemed to have come from the same book. There were classic representations of the Immaculate Conception, The Scourging of Christ, the Holy Family, The Way of the Cross--and so much more, probably printed in Italy. Some of the scenes are captioned in Spanish, French and English. The curator/shop owner told me they date back to the late 1890s-1900, making them authetic 100 year old antique. She was kind enough too, to give me a special package price for 3 lovely prints. In Manila, these would probably be worth Php 5,000 apiece, as European-made religious prints are hard to come by--last time I saw a black and white Currier & Ives print of Sacred Heart for sale locally was over a decade ago--and that was American-made!

While scrounging around for some worthy finds at the antique row of NLEX's Sta. Rita Exit, I came upon an old religious print of the "Virgen de la Paloma"--tattered beyond repair--framed in a crumbling gesso'd picture frame. It was a pity that the print could no longer be salvaged, it had large missing parts--but the dealer pointed out to some possible paper treasures found at the back of the picture. Indeed, 3 pieces of paper were found sandwiched between the frame and the print, acting as backboards.

I was immediately drawn to a 22 x18 sheet of browning paper--a watercolor letter art bearing the name "Victorino Caballero". Letter art was a popular Filipino past-time, and the best examples were the water color 'letras y figuras' creations in the 19th century. "Letras y Figuras" refer to an art form involving the painting of the letters of the alphabet by ingeniously forming their contour out of the shape of human figures, animals, plants, and other objects. The foremost proponent of these charming folk art pieces was Jose Honorato Lozano. 

Simpler letter art involved embellishing individual letters with design elements like floral motifs, just like this example, thus creating a new font style that is at once pleasing and beautiful. This, actually, is a memorial piece--bearing the name of the dear departed. Underneath Victorino's name are pencilled inscriptions--indicating that this was unfinished: "Namatay ng icadalauampo ng Octubre ng taong isang libo ualong daan at ualong po at lima" (Died on the 20th of October in the year 1885). This work certainly was done after 1885, maybe a few months or so after the departure of Victorino from this mortal world.

I found this full page, full color ad of Coca-Cola with a WWII theme in a U.S. flea market. It's a fascinating piece of ephemera, blending product sell with a bit of world history. What makes it even more interesting is the fact that depicts a Philippine scene---with reference to MacArthur's place of return, hence the headline: .."Yank friendliness comes back to Leyte".


This particular ad was part of a post-War advertising campaign mounted by Coke in 1945, as the world prepared to put the war behind and move forward. Similar ads--both in color and black and white--featured scenes from countries such as Brussels, France and Admiralty Island.


The artwork for the Philippine realistically depicts a village with nipa huts, with two Pinoy husband-and-wife vendors giving out Coke to their amiable "amigos'. "Ice-cold Coca-Cola has become a symbol of goodwill--and everyday example of how Yankee friendliness follows the flag around the globe"--so goes the copy. Wartime Coke ads are very collectible, redefining the brand role in difficult, critical times by associating the product beyond refreshment, in this case, elevating the soda as a symbol of patriotism and American international goodwill.

Recently, I got hold of a set of 8 cardboard masks given as premium items to subscribers and readers of  Filipino Komiks, a leading comics published in the mid 50s thru the 60s by Ace Publications founded in after the War. These masks depicted characters featured by the comic book in their illustrated stories. Many comic characters were inspired by specific American comics, such as Kulafu and Og (local Tarzan) and the above character--D.I. Trece was the Pinoy version of detective Dick Tracy. The masks still retain their original rubber bands that one had to sling over one's ears. The masks are superbly illustrated and in good condition--in fact, I am wearing this mask as I pound away this entry on my laptop. Today, the comic world is enriched by the drawings and creations of Pinoy 'komiks' artists like Nestor Redondo, Alex Nino, Tony de Zuniga, Francisco Coching, Mars Ravelo and Jim Fernandez. Their original artworks, previously ignored, are now worth quite a bounty based on recent sales and auctions.