Matthew Reinhart's Blog, page 26

Vintage Movable Review: Northern Trust Bank

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I recently received a treasure trove of pop-up ephemera from Australian pop-up collector and all around great bloke, Corrie Allegro. He and his wife have run a graphic design firm in Victoria, Australia for the past thirty years, where he developed an insatiable taste for movable and pop-up designs. Corrie has recently created a blog to share more about his massive collection.

Today we get to check out a quirky pop-up magazine insert from 1987. This advertisement for Northern Trust Bank asks "If you think nobody cares if you're alive… try missing a couple of loan payments" as the single spread pop-up unfolds to reveal angry creditors knocking at an office door while a nervous man barricades it from the other side. The quote is attributed to the New York Post gossip columnist, Earl Wilson. The ad uses humor, catchy (if dated) artwork, and a great pop-up design to talk about something as boring as commercial banking. There is no information on the paper engineer or manufacturer of this piece, but it feels like something that Intervisual would have created. So in lieu of any more information on this piece I'll leave you with a few more quips from "Midnight Earl". Enjoy.

~Kyle

Word of the Day: Nostrum

Nostrum \NOS-truhm\ noun

1. A medicine of secret composition and unproven or dubious effectiveness; a quack medicine.

2. A usually questionable remedy or scheme; a cure-all.

Origin: Nostrum comes from Latin nostrum (remedium) "our (remedy)," from nos "we".

History Lesson: the Moondog Coronation Ball

On March 21, 1952 screaming rock and roll fans broke through the gates at the Cleveland Arena to be a part of one of history's first rock concerts.  The event was called the Moondog Coronation Ball and was hosted by disk jockey Alan Freed and radio station WJW.  It's recognized as one of the first rock concerts because at that point in history, no one had heard of a "rock concert".

With the help of massive ticket counterfeiting and possibly overbooking on the part of the event's sponsors and estimated 20,000-25,000 fans came out for the rock concert.  The Cleveland Arena's capacity was only 10,000!  Thus the event was canceled after the other 15,000 fans broke through the gates.

Word of the Day: Bonhomie

Bonhomie \bah-nuh-MEE\ noun

1. A good nature; pleasant and easy manner

Origin: Bonhomie comes from French, from bonhomme, "good-natured man," from bon, "good" (from Latin bonus) + homme, "man" (from Latin homo).

Artist Watch: Hina Aoyama

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One of my favorite blogs is Upon a fold out of Australia. Justine finds some of the most beautiful paper artists from all over the world. Recently, she introduced me to the Japanese born artist, Hina Aoyama. She has been creating delicate cut paper creations using just scissors for a few years now and the works are a marvel to behold. I thought I was pretty good with a pair of scissors but her hand skills and patience is on a whole new level. You can see a video of Hina snipping away at an earlier work here.

~Kyle

Weekly Beast: Handfish

The handfish are an anglerfish in the family Brachionichthyidae.  They are a small bottom-dwelling fish that is found in the coastal waters of southern Australia and Tasmania.  The handfish are really unusual, as they prefer to 'walk' instead of swim!  You can see them in action in the video below!

Word of the Day: Sang-froid

Sang-froid \sang-FRWAH\ noun

1. Freedom from agitation or excitement of mind; coolness in trying circumstances; calmness.

Origin: Sang-froid is from the French; it literally means "cold blood" (sang "blood" + froid "cold").

Whats Popped Up: Engaging pop-up book

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One month ago, I asked my long-time love to marry me. During our Valentine's dinner I wooed her with flowers, chocolates, and an elaborate home cooked meal. In return she sang me a German love song and presented me with a beautiful letterpress card and framed photograph of the two of us. Now, being a paper engineer has a lot of perks. I get to cut and paste paper all day long and make children's pop-up books, but there is a downside. Your girlfriend knows your capacities and over the years comes to expect the occasional custom pop-up card. But I think that I was able to surprise her this time with a hand bound three page pop-up book. It is rare to make her speechless but rest assured that by the end of the book as I asked her a question on bended knee, she managed to whisper a single word…yes!

~Kyle

Word of Day: Nth

Nth \ENTH\ adjective

1. Being the last in a series of infinitely decreasing or increasing values, amounts, etc.

2. (Of an item in a series of occurrences, planned events, things used, etc., that is thought of as being infinitely large) being the latest, or most recent.

Origin: Nth is the figurative use of the mathematical term indication indefinite number, in which n is an abbreviation for number.

Vintage Movable Review: Hand Semaphore Trainer

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Today's item came from the United States Navy Special Devices Center. (I've often wondered what other oddities came out of this cryptic naval office.) Dated around 1965, we have a Hand Semaphore Trainer (device no. 12-WW-2) manufactured by the Einson Freeman Co. Inc. [Fun fact: Founder, Morris Einson is recognized as "America's Picture Puzzle King".]

The Semaphore trainer is intriguing and especially effective as it utilizes both sides of the movable wheel in training aspiring flag wavers. If you are receiving a message than you spin the dial until it matches the hand positions presented by a faceless seaman, thus decoding a single letter. Flip the card over and line up the letter to learn the correct gestures to send your message.

For the landlubbers among us, flag semaphore is a method of communicating over a distance by means of visual signals with hand-held flags. Semaphore has been used in the maritime world since the early 19th century, but the term is from the ancient Greek for "sign bearer".

While I may not have any immediate use for this trainer I was able to put it to the test in decoding the Fab Four figures on the front of their Help! album (which was also coincidentally created in 1965). I thought I had stumbled upon an early clue to who was the walrus, but it turns out they are calling out Nujv! since the producers didn't like the original hand positions. We may have been tricked by the Beatles, but at least we can be confident able the origins of the peace symbol. A synthesis of the semaphore symbols N+D, which stands for nuclear disarmament. Peace.

~Kyle

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