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Welcome to the web log of illustrator, cartoonist, writer, motorhead, and future Wal-Mart greeter Lou Brooks. I've gone cold turkey blogless for the last few months, and let me tell you, friend, it hasn't been easy! Have you missed all your old familiar pals?... Balloon Face, Typositor Tom, Mr. Irresponsible, and those endearing rascals, The Ass Puppets? Well, to be honest, they're not here, and they're never coming back. But lots of others are just waiting to make all this worth your while, so let's get going! Shall we?

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot... check out my newest Internet brainchild, The Museum of Forgotten Art Supplies, where tools of the trade that have died or have just about died a slow death are cheerfully exhibited -- Over 300 of them and counting (all submitted by folks like you!).

Labor Day, September 5, 1944. I remember the day I was born. I suddenly noticed there was a lot more room, which was nice. There was a radio on. Then a man in the room said, "Jesus Christ, that nurse talks too much!" That would have been my father. I didn't know who this Christ guy was, but as life went on, my father brought his name up a lot. My mother would occasionally call out, "Jesus Jenny!" I have no idea who that was either. August 6, 1945. Things had been going pretty swell. Then there was this sadness, and everybody seemed to get real quiet. Beginning that day, the world seemed different. Like I was put in exile or sumthin' for no reason. April 27, 1962. My father still wouldn't give me permission to smoke in the house. I told him in the kitchen that I wanted to spend my life as an artist. He smoked Camels and blew out one of those quick sarcastic smoke puffs, you know, the kind they blow out the side of their mouth and it makes their one eye squint and gives them this really scary half-grin besides. "What are you gonna paint," he said, "FLOWERS?"

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Party Gag Art - #5

Fri, November 11, 2011 at 8:02 PM

The Teaserooo Flip Strip was another ingenious invention by none other than Soren Sorensen Adams, "King of the Professional Pranksters." Adams began his career by launching the Cachoo Sneezing Powder Company, later changing the name to the S.S. Adams Company. He went on to invent hundreds of items, including the dribble glass, the snake nut can, itching powder, the stink bomb, the squirting nickel, the bar bug in an ice cube, and perhaps the company's most enduring item: the joy buzzer.

Adams died in 1963 in Asbury Park at the age of 84, leaving behind a legacy of over 600 novelties he had dreamed up (many of which he had patented), including the postcard-sized Teaserooo Flip Strip shown here from 1945. Each Teaseroooo in the series featured a picture of a lovely pin-up girl along with an amusing titillating limerick. Various layers of her clothing were printed on three celluloid overlays which could be flipped out of the way for greater viewing pleasure. For more on Mr. Adams and novelties in general, take a gander at Mark Newgarden's classic great book Cheap Laffs: The Art of the Novelty Item (Abrams).

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Party Gag Art

Reader Comments (2)

Va-Va-Va-Voom!

November 16, 2011 |

Jose Cruz

I started my "career" painting animation cels. I didn't realize I could have been painting clothes on pin-ups instead. I've wasted my life!

November 17, 2011 |

David Burd

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