I was reading through a few old comic books the other day, just for fun and relaxation at the end of a long hard day. Half the fun of reading old comic books is looking at the old advertisements through the pages. For instance, let me show you some from an issue of Spectacular Spider-Man published at the end of 1979. (I would have been 12 years old.)

This first one is on the inside of the front cover:

Oh man, do you remember air rifles? I remember I had a Daisy single cock rifle, and later my little brother got a Crosman pump rifle. One of my good friends back then got a pump air pistol — that thing was awesome. We’d pump that sucker as many times as our muscles could manage, and then we’d shoot a Sears catalog to see how many pages it would penetrate. Does anyone even sell air rifles anymore? I haven’t seen one in a store in ages.

These next two ads jumped out at me at the time I was reading the other night mainly because I had just worked out that evening:

I love these! The old days when women were too skinny because they didn’t eat right, and men could get an Atlas body in one week! What the hell were people eating bad in the 70s that caused them to be too skinny?

And lastly, t-shirt iron-ons:

Cheryl Ladd, Suzanne Somers, and the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders! Hubba hubba. Oh, and “Kiss Rock Group”. Iron-on transfers for a buck. For comparison, this comic book cost 40 cents.

Bullgrit

I can’t believe it, I actually got sunburned — before May. Saturday was a really nice day: clear blue skies, warm but not hot (77 degrees), with a cool breeze. I wore jeans and a t-shirt all day.

We went to the local “Spring Daze” festival in the morning, to walk around the park visiting all the craft booths. After lunch, I managed to get a 30 minute nap out on the hammock in our backyard — a wonderful treat. Then we went to Calfgrit6’s soccer game from 2:30 to after 3:30. So all added up, I was out in the sun for almost four hours. But I never felt really hot, so I never thought about how much sun I might be getting.

Both boys got sunscreen lathered on, but I just thought that was because they were fair skinned and would be running around out in the sun more than I would. It wasn’t even May, yet, so the idea of actually getting any sun affects on my skin never crossed my mind.

But the next morning, when I saw myself in the mirror, whoa! My face and arms are bright red. My skin feels tight, and it stings a bit.

I’m glad that at least my back and shoulders aren’t burned, because I was wearing a t-shirt, but this just means my first color for the summer will be a farmer’s tan. Just great. Now, because it’s so rare for me to be able to get out in the sun and get any kind of tanning, my arms and neck will probably stay darker than my shoulders and torso all summer. I’ll look [more] like a total dork when I take the boys to the swimming pool.

I don’t have the free time to lay out and even out any tan. Maybe I can take off my shirt when I mow the grass or wash my truck. But subjecting the neighbors to my pale, white body might be considered indecent public exposure. I don’t know if that comes with jail time or just a monetary fine.

Bullgrit

This design I came up with because of Calfgrit6 — being the little brother, he’s got a lot of hand-me-down recycled clothes. He gave it his full approval, and has requested it on a baseball jersey. (The boy just doesn’t like short-sleeve shirts, even in the summer.)

It’s not a hand-me-down. It’s recycled.

The t-shirt store is very nearly ready for business. I expect to open it possibly as soon as next week.

If you missed my earlier posts on my shirt designs, check them out: T-Shirts

And if you like any or all of these designs, please share the news on Facebook or through email — links at the bottom of each blog post.

Bullgrit

This week, I want to show you a couple of designs I’ve created especially for kids. These will be available on several colors of t-shirts and in baseball jersey styles.

Calfgrit10 loves this first design — he asked for a shirt that said “Awesome” like the one I made for dads (and moms). He has it on two shirts: a red and a blue.

Yes, I am AWESOME!

Bullgrit