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LANDESVERBAND USA
NEWSLETTER AND MAGAZINE
LIFE
AND LEISURE
 02/24/13
October November December
2010 Volume 5 Number 4
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VISITING
AUTHOR-ARTICLE
OCTOBER
2010
AMERICAN
AID SOCIETY
MONIKA
SCHEFFRAHN
MAGNA
CUM LAUDE
Forwarded
by American Aid Society, Chicago
Glückwunsche
(Congratulations)
MONIKA SCHEFFRAHN graduated with Magnum Cum Laude
from Columbia College
Chicago with a 3.85 GPA. She majored in Film and Video
with emphasis on producing. She hopes one day to become a
Hollywood movie producer. She landed her first professional
job in Hollywood's filming of Terminator 3 this past July in
downtown Chicago.
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THREE WAYS TO
FAIL A DRUNK TEST
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"CLICK"
ON IMAGE FOR VIDEO
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Forwarded
By Sgt. James S. Thornton 
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Friendship
Dolphin
and a Dog
Forwarded
by Magdalena Metzger
Friendship II
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VISITING
AUTHOR/EDITOR ARTICLE
OCTOBER
2010
HAPPY
HALLOWEEN
RAY
VILLAFANE
Forwarded
by Jon C. Zimmerman
 
Artist Ray Villafane began carving
pumpkins on a lark for his art students
in a small rural
school district in Michigan . The
hobby changed his life as he gained a
viral following online and unlocked his
genuine love of sculpting. Above are
images of pumpkin carvings Villafane
created over the past five years.
| Ray
Villafane |
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Born
March 5, 1969 in Queens, New
York
Received a BFA in Illustration
and Education from the School
of Visual Arts in NYC
Relocated in 1993 to Northern
Michigan where he lives with
his wife and 6 children
Has had work published in Society
of Illustrators Annual of
American Illustration, HOW
Magazine, Reflex
Magazine, Problems
& Solutions, and Upper
and Lower Case Periodical
Has had pieces shown at the
New York Art Directors Club,
Society of Illustrators Museum
of American Illustration,
Spaces Gallery and Jordan
River Arts Gallery
Clients
include Sideshow Collectibles,
Reflex Publications, DC
Direct, McFarlane Toys, and
Bowen Designs
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Web
Site
http://www.villafanestudios.com/ |
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Pumpkin
Carving
Tutorial
http://www.villafanestudios.com/pumpkins.htm |
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Tools
1.
large clay ribbon loop...
peels
the rind off the pumpkin
beautifully
as
well as does 90% of the
carving,
minus the small details.
1. medium clay ribbon
loop...more blocking in of the
face
2. mini clay ribbon
loops....smaller details,
especially around the eyes.
1. Xacto knife and paring
knife for sharp defined lines
and cuts.
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Congratulations
to member Hans Martini
on
his new position as woodworker
at
Princeton University, Princeton, NJ.
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VISITING
AUTHOR/EDITOR ARTICLE
OCTOBER
2010
SENIOR
SPECIALS
Forwarded
By Sgt. James S. Thornton
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If
you are a senior, you will
understand this one.
if
you deal with seniors,
this should help you understand
them a little better,
and
If
you are not a senior yet
........God willing, someday you
will be......
The
$2.99 Special
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We
went to breakfast at a restaurant
where the 'seniors' special' was
two eggs, bacon, hash
browns and toast for $2.99.
'Sounds good,' my wife said. 'But
I don't want the eggs.'
'Then, I'll have to charge you
$3.49 because you're ordering a la
carte,' the waitress warned her.
'You mean I'd have to pay for not
taking the eggs?' my wife asked
incredulously.
'YES!' stated the waitress.
'I'll take the special then,' my
wife said..
'How do you want your eggs?' the
waitress asked.
'Raw and in the shell,' my wife
replied.
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She
took the two eggs home and baked a
cake.
DON'T
MESS WITH SENIORS!!!
WE'VE
been around the block more than
once!
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Send
this to the Seniors in your life.
I'm sure they'll appreciate it!
Even non-seniors will appreciate
it!
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VISITING
AUTHOR/EDITOR ARTICLE
OCTOBER
2010
CHINA
LYING ON THE GROUND
Forwarded
By Eddy Palffy
Anybody
who bought a condo here sure has a
problem.
Talk
about a collapsed market!
YES,
IT'S A 12 STORY BUILDING
IN
CHINA LYING ON THE GROUND.
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(1) An underground garage
was being dug on the south side,
to
a depth of 4.6 meters.
(2) The excavated dirt was
being piled up on the north
side,
to
a height of 10 meters.
(3) The building
experienced uneven lateral
pressure from south
and
north.
(4) This resulted in
a lateral pressure of 3,000
tonnes, which was
greater
than what the pilings could
tolerate.
Thus the building toppled over
in the southerly direction.
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the apartment building was
constructed.
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Then
the plan called for an
underground garage to be dug
out.
The
excavated soil was piled
up on the other side of the
building.
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rains resulted in water
seeping into the ground.
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The
building began to
tilt.
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Then
it began to shift and the "hollow"
concrete pilings were
snapped due
to the uneven lateral
pressures.
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thus was born the eighth wonder
of the world.
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They
built 13 stories on grade, with
no basement,
and
tied it all down to hollow
pilings with no rebar.
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Brought
to you by the same folks
that
make your kids' toys
and
want to build your car.
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Now
that, folks, is a snafu.
Don't
you feel better now,
that
these are the folks
manufacturing nearly
EVERYTHING
we buy and use today?
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OCTOBER
2010
BUT
FOR A DRINK
(Click
title for associated Music)
Forwarded
by Eduard Grünwald
This Explains
Why I Forward Jokes
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A
man and his dog were walking
along a road.
The man was enjoying the
scenery,
when it suddenly occurred to him
that he was dead.
He remembered dying, and that
the dog walking beside him had
been dead for years.
He wondered where the road was
leading them.
After a while, they came to a
high, white stone wall
along one side of the road.
It looked like fine marble..
At the top of a long hill, it
was broken by a tall arch that glowed
in the sunlight.
When he was standing before it,
he saw a magnificent gate
in the arch that looked like
mother-of-pearl, and the
street that led to the gate
looked like pure gold.
He and the dog walked toward the
gate, and as he got closer,
he saw a man at a desk to one
side.
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When
he was close enough, he called
out, 'Excuse me, where are we?'
'This is Heaven, sir,' the man
answered.
'Wow! Would you happen to have
some water?' the man asked.
'Of course, sir. Come right in,
and I'll have some ice water
brought right up.'
The man gestured, and the gate
began to open. 'Can my
friend,' gesturing toward his
dog, 'come in, too?' the
traveler asked.
'I'm sorry, sir, but we don't
accept pets.'
The man thought a moment and
then turned back toward the road
and continued the way he had
been going with his dog.
After another long walk, and at
the top of another long hill, he
came to a dirt road leading
through a farm gate that
looked as if it had never been
closed.
There was no fence.
As he approached the gate, he
saw a man inside, leaning
against a tree and reading a
book....
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'Excuse
me!' he called to the man. 'Do
you have any water?'
'Yeah, sure, there's a pump over
there, come on in.'
'How about my friend here?' the
traveler gestured to the dog.
'There should be a bowl by the
pump,' said the man.
They went through the gate, and
sure enough, there was an
old-fashioned hand pump with a
bowl beside it.
The traveler filled the water
bowl and took a long drink
himself, then he gave some to
the dog.
When they were full, he and the
dog walked back toward the
man who was standing by the
tree.
'What do you call this place?'
the traveler asked.
'This is Heaven,' he answered.
'Well, that's confusing,' the
traveller said.
'The man down the road said that
was Heaven, too.'
'Oh, you mean the place with the
gold street and pearly gates? Nope.
That's hell.'
'Doesn't it make you mad for
them to use your name like
that?'
'No, we're just happy that they
screen out the folks who
would leave their best friends
behind.'
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Soooo.
Now you see, sometimes, we
wonder why friends keep
forwarding stuff to us without
writing a word. Maybe this
will explain it.
When you are very busy, but
still want to keep in touch, guess
what you do? You forward emails.
When you have nothing to say,
but still want to keep contact, you
forward jokes.
A 'forward' lets you know
that you are still
remembered, you are still
important, you are still
loved, you are still
cared for.
So, next time if you get a
'forward', don't think that you've
been sent just another forwarded
joke, but that you've been
thought of today and your friend on
the other end of your computer
wanted to send you a smile.
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You
are welcome at my water bowl
Any
Time !!
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VISITING
AUTHOR-ARTICLE
OCTOBER
2010
German
Products History Series
The
Bild
Lilli Doll Story
Forwarded
by Anonymus
The Bild Lilli Doll was a
German fashion doll produced from 1950 to
1964, based on the comic-strip character
Lilli. She is the predecessor of Barbie.
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The
Bild Lilli Doll
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History
In the beginning Lilli was a
German cartoon character, created by
Reinhard Beuthien for the tabloid Bild-Zeitung
in Hamburg, Germany. In 1953 Bild-Zeitung
decided to market a Lilli doll and
contacted Max Weissbrodt from the toy
company O&M
Hausser in Neustadt/Coburg, Germany.
Following Beuthien's drawings, Weissbrodt
designed the prototype of the doll, which
was on sale from 1955 to 1964. When Mattel
acquired the rights to the doll the German
production stopped. Until then production
numbers reached 130,000. Today Lilli
is a collector's piece as Barbie is, and
commands prices up to several thousand
Euros, depending on condition, packaging
and clothes.
The
Cartoon
Reinhard Beuthien was ordered to
make a "filler" to conceal a
blank space in the Bild-Zeitung
of June 24, 1952. He drew a cute baby, but
his boss didn't like it. So he kept the
face, added a ponytail and a curvy woman's
body and called his creation "Lilli".
She sat in a fortune-teller's tent asking:
"Can't you tell me the name and
address of this rich and handsome
man?" The cartoon was an immediate
success so Beuthien had to draw new ones
each day.
Lilli
was post-war, sassy and ambitious and had
no reservations talking about sex. As she
had her own job she earned her own money
as a secretary but wasn't above hanging
out with rich men ("I could do
without balding old men but my budget
couldn't!"). The cartoon always
consisted of a picture of Lilli
talking to girlfriends, boyfriends, her
boss ("As you were angry when I was
late this morning I will leave the office
at five p.m. sharp!"). The quips
underneath the cartoons handled topics
ranging from fashion (to a policeman who
told her that two-piece-swimsuits are
banned: "Which piece do you want me
to take off?"), politics ("Of
course I'm interested in politics; no one
should ignore the way some politicians
dress!") and even the beauty of
nature ("The sunrise is so beautiful
that I always stay late at the nightclub
to see it!"). The last Lilli
cartoon appeared on January 5, 1961.
The
Doll
Lilli
was available in these sizes 30 cm
(12 inches) and 19 cm (7 and a
half inches). She held three patents
absolutely new in doll-making: The head
wasn't connected to the neck but ended at
the chin; the hair wasn't rooted but a
cut-out scalp that was attached by a
hidden metal screw; the legs didn't sprawl
open when she was sitting. The doll was
made of plastic and had molded eyelashes,
pale skin and a painted face with side
glancing eyes, high narrow eyebrows and
red lips. Her fingernails were painted
red, too. She wore her hair in a ponytail
with one curl kissing the forehead. Her
shoes and earrings were molded on. Her
limbs were attached inside by coated
rubber bands. The cartoon Lilli was
blonde but a few of the dolls had other
hair colors. Each Lilli doll
carried a miniature Bild-Zeitung
and was sold in a clear plastic tube.
In 1955 the tall dolls cost 12
Marks, the small 7.50 Marks. German office
workers then had a monthly salary of
approximately 200 to 300 Marks, so the
doll was by no means a cheap toy. She was
originally marketed to adults in bars and
tobacco shops as a joke or gag gift. Many
parents considered her not appropriate for
children.
Although the doll was originally
not designed as a children's toy, she
eventually became popular with children. Doll
houses, room settings, furniture, and
other toy accessories to scale with the
small Lilli were produced by German toy
factories to cash in on her popularity
amongst children and parents. Lilli and
her fashions were sold as children's toys
in a number of European countries,
including Italy and Scandinavian states.
Lilli was as high-profiled and successful
as a toy as she was as an adult novelty,
although outside of Germany she is mostly
remembered in the latter guise.
The
Wardrobe
Lilli
came as a dressed doll, with additional
fashions sold separately. Her fashions
mirror the lifestyle of the Fifties: she
had outfits for parties, the beach and
tennis as well as cotton dresses, pajamas
and poplin suits. In her last years, her
wardrobe consisted mainly of "Dirndl"
dresses.
Imitations
The doll became so popular that she
was exported to other countries, including
the United States, where she was just
called "Lilli". Some Lillis have
been seen in original packaging dating
from the 1950s for an English-speaking
market labeled as "Lilli
Marlene", after the famous song.
Several toy companies (mainly in Hong
Kong) started producing fashion dolls
looking very similar to Lilli.
These dolls are easy to distinguish
because of their poor quality.
But Lilli also inspired the
production of another fashion doll of high
quality who would soon outshine her:
Barbie, produced by Mattel. Ruth
Handler, one of the company's
founders, bought some of the Lilli
dolls when she was on a trip to Europe.
Back home she reworked the design of the
doll and re-named her Barbie, who debuted
at the New York toy fair on March 9, 1959.
Barbie had rooted hair and her shoes and
earrings were not molded — apart from
that she was a lookalike of Lilli.
Barbie celebrated 50 years of continuous
production in 2009.
Louis Marx and Company acquired the
rights to the Lilli doll from O&M
Hausser and released it in America as the Miss
Seventeen (doll) in 1961. Marx
unsuccessfully attempted to sue Mattel for
patent infringement.
Related
Characters
In 1962 Beuthien created another
cartoon character called "Schwabinchen"
for a Bavarian newspaper but it wasn't as
successful as Lilli and the dolls
inspired by her were in poor quality.
Later he started "Gigi" who had
even less success and never made it into a
doll.
Lilli
became so popular in Germany that in 1958
a movie about her was produced: "Lilli
- ein Mädchen aus der Großstadt" (Lilli
— a girl from the big city). The star
was chosen from a contest: Young women all
over Germany sent their photographs to the
Bild-Zeitung
hoping for a career as a movie star. The
winner was the Danish actress Ann
Smyrner.
Lilli
lent her name to several luxury products
like scent, wine and rhinestone jewelry
plus a flower.
Further
Reading
There are no books about the Lilli
doll alone. Even though their whole Barbie
success was based on this German original,
Mattel's legal department made sure that
using the name Bild Lilli as a book title
or product name would infringe copyright
laws. Mattel had discreetly bought up all
and any patents and copyrights to Bild
Lilli, while Marx Toys held some of them
after the demise of this toy competitor.
Unlike Barbie, Bild Lilli was produced for
only eight years and never reached the
importance of the American doll. By the
time the creators and producers of the
original Bild Lilli doll, O&M
Hausser, realized that Mattel had
duped them into selling off their
intellectual property and distribution
rights for ridiculously low lump sums,
Barbie had already made Mattel such a
successful and influential market leader
that law suits were struck down in favor
of the ever-growing American toy giant.
However, in several books about Barbie or
the German lifestyle in the Fifties there
are chapters dedicated to Bild Lilli. In
the book by Knaak all dolls and wardrobes
are described and shown in color. More
basic information can be found found in:
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Knaak,
Silke: Deutsche Modepuppen der 50er
und 60er Jahre (German fashion
dolls of the Fifties and Sixties);
2005. No ISBN; available at Barbies.de.
German and English.
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Warnecke,
Dieter: Barbie im Wandel der
Jahrzehnte; Heyne 1995. ISBN
3-453-08738-0. German.
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Metzger,
Wolfram (Ed.): 40 Jahre
Barbie-World; Info Verlag 1998. ISBN
3-88190-229-5. German.
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Lord,
M.G.: Forever Barbie: The
Unauthorized Biography of a Real Doll;
Avon Books 1995. ISBN
0-8027-7694-9. English.
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Rolf
Hausser's Story
(Interview in the magazine
"Barbie Bazaar", February
2000). English.
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Stephanie
Deutsch: Barbie. The First 30 Years
1959-1989. Value guide.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bild_Lilli_doll
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BILD
LILLI DOLL EXAMPLES
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The
New
Bild-Lilli
The
German Bild
newspaper
recently
revived the
Lilli
cartoon
series,
the
new version
of Lilli is
called
Lilly:
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The Bild (formerly
Bild-Zeitung was
founded by Axel
Springer in 1952.
It
mostly consisted of pictures
(therefore the name BILD, German
for picture). Bild
soon became the best-selling
newspaper, by a wide margin, not
only in Germany, but in all of
Europe, though essentially to
German readers.
Through
most of its history, Bild
was based in Hamburg. Bild
moved its headquarters to Berlin
in March 2008, stating that it
was an essential base of
operations for a national
newspaper. It is printed
nationwide with 32 localized
editions. Special editions are
printed in some favored German
holiday destinations abroad, in
Spain, Italy, Greece and Turkey.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bild-Zeitung
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Bild
newspaper
vending
machine
in
Germany
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Bild
Lilli
1955-1960's
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Marlene
Dietrich, actress
(1901
- 1992)
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Doll
Reference
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Lilli was originally a
cartoon character created by
German cartoonist Reinhard
Beuthien for a
"filler" on June 24,
1952 for the newspaper
Bild-Zeitung in Hamburg,
Germany. She became very
popular as a curvy gal who knew
what she wanted and went about
her business to get it.
She was classy, sassy,
fashionable (his wife Erika
helped with the fashions) and
desirable, much like the Ms.
Dietrich of the 1930's movies .
After a short time
Reinhard decided to produce a
doll of this character and it
was Max Weissbrodt from the
famous Hausser/Elastolin company
in Neustadt/Coburg, Germany who
created and produced a doll to
his satisfaction.
On August 12, 1955 Lilli
was first sold in Germany,
usually found in smoke shops and
a few toy stores. Later
they were exported to several
countries, even the USA (these
have a doll stand with only
"Lilli" on them, the
regular stand says "Bild
Lilli".
Lilli's original stand is
just like
"younger-cousin"
Barbie's it's round and the
dolls foot has holes that fit on
to a prong of metal. She was
accompanied by a miniature copy
of the Hamburg newspaper
Bild-Zeitung and the cartoon
continued to run in the real
journal every Sunday.
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Her entire packaging was
designed by Mrs. E. Martha Maar
(mother-in-law to the owner of
the Hausser company and owner of
a doll company 3 M Dolls), it
consisted of a clear oval tube
with the doll on a Lilli round
stand as the bottom and a lid.
The doll is unmarked. Her
stand had her name on it.
She was produced in 7 1/2
-8" and 11 1/2", her
shoes and earrings are molded
on, she has a painted face with
side glancing eyes with white
irises, high v-like narrow
eyebrows, red cupid bow lips and
fingernails. She is all
plastic with limbs attached
inside by coated rubber bands.
Her hair is a cut-out scalp that
is attached by a hidden metal
screw that was not meant to be
played with and is in split curl
bangs and a ponytail (Note: this
was intended for adult males as
a party or gag gift) usually
found in Blonde. She came as a
dressed doll, with additional
fashions available separately.
Her fashions have push together
snaps usually marked on the
inside snap with "PRMY".
She was also cloned and copied
by other doll makers .
This is the doll that Ruth
Handler found while shopping in
Europe in 1956, and was exactly
what she had been thinking of
producing. She bought
three dolls; gave one to
daughter Barbie and the others
to her designers at Mattel.
The rest is pretty well known
history. Barbie debuted at
the New York toy fair on March
9, 1959. Mattel acquired
the rights to Lilli in 1964,
thus her production ceased.
The Lilli head molds however
were sold to a British Hong Kong
firm named Dura-Fam Ltd. which
produced the same 11 1/2"
doll which is found marked
"Hong Kong".
Another set of molds were leased
to Chang-Pi Su Co. who reduced
them to 7 1/2 - 8" and
released them as
"Cherie". More
blank molds went to Fab-LU (Luften,
Ltd.) who sold a doll called
Babs, Marx used them too and had
a doll called Bonnie, a larger
15" doll called Miss
Seventeen "A Beauty
Queen" and a 7" doll
named Miss Marlene. Sak
Industries, Inc. used the
mold and sold a doll named
Babbie, and an Australian firm
Haro-Mate Ltd. sold the dolls
marked "Hong Kong" and
carried the registration number
of "British Patent #804566
and U.S. patent #2925684. Most
of these dolls come from the
1960's.
http://dollreference.com/bild_lilli.html
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VISITING
AUTHOR/EDITOR ARTICLE
OCTOBER
2010
INNER
PEACE
Forwarded
By Sgt. James S. Thornton
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Inner
Peace:
This
Is So True
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If
you can start the day without
caffeine,
If you can always be cheerful,
ignoring aches and pains,
If you can resist complaining and boring
people with your troubles,
If you can eat the same food every day
and be grateful for it,
If you can understand when your
loved ones are too busy to give
you any time,
If you can take criticism and blame
without resentment ,
If you can conquer tension without
medical help,
If you can relax without liquor,
If you can sleep without the aid of
drugs,
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Then
You Are Probably The Family
Dog!
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And
you thought I was going to get all
spiritual !!
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