Junk Love: Oh, Happy Day(s)!

Today is about the cocktail collection again. Alas, since the collection is massive, I am once again going to break off a small, chewable bite and focus on just 4 little shot glasses.

The first pair is our favorite: Happy Days Are Here Again. These are from around 1933 and were issued as souvenirs related to Franklin D. Roosevelt's upcoming inauguration (hence, the donkey). This slogan happened to be the title of FDR's campaign song. Another reason for these shot glasses being issued is so obvious, it's subtle. Think about it--why would you issue souvenir shot glasses during Prohibition? Is that a trick question? Nope. It just means you've got two new things to celebrate: a Democrat in the White House, and the good old Twenty-First Amendment (which ended Prohibition). Anyway, we love them.

The other set is mismatched, but adorable: Just A Swallow. The one on the left is the same shape and heft of the FDR shots, so we think it might be from the 1930s. The slogan is cute, and we love that the birds are reminiscent of American traditional tattoo designs.

As you can see from our pair, there are variations on this theme. These are some that I found online (and of course, we'd love to have them all):

Similar to ours, but not the same! Available here

Sold on ebay

Junk Love Monday: What Big Eyes You Have!

The Blackbird cocktail collection is on its way to becoming legendary. An entire row of upper cabinets lost their doors and became cocktail display space when we moved. Shelves on either side of the sink are full of miscellaneous cocktail items. Now, we have to apply an artful technique, with a pinch of creativity and crossed fingers, to fit new items into the kitchen (anywhere--to the untrained eye, all of our surfaces are full). So, it would really be a disservice to the collection to put it all in the same post. There are so many subcategories: swizzles, seltzer bottles, decanters (subdivided into figural, colored, or clear), shot glasses (subdivided by type), mixer glasses, jiggers, pour spouts, napkins, bar towels...okay, so there's a lot.

So, today we focus our junk love super-vision on a particular group of shot glasses, the ones we call "Big Eyes." These whimsical glasses have someone with--you guessed it--big eyes, paired with a witty saying. Usually, the eye is painted on the inside, and the figure on the outside, to give dimension. Who doesn't love a bulging eye?

Allow me to present a classic fish tale, in shot glass form. Here's looking at you, kid:

And Mr. Snarky--If you're so smart, why ain't you rich?:

A trio of fine gentlemen, part of a larger set called "Roving Eyes," but acquired by us one at a time [there is a veiled lady that goes with them, which we haven't come across yet, who demurely says "One's my limit")]:

And some others from Etsy, to tempt you (and us):

"Work is the curse of the drinking class"; from TaterSoup

"Fill 'er up!", from TaterSoup

Roving Eyes with the veiled lady; from MothEatenDeerHead