Spotting old books and magazines and dummy newspapers in TV, movies and old photos

[Toby Frost]

It's not quite the same, but I saw a Facebook post a while back, where someone had identified the mystic language in an occult tome in Buffy The Vampire Slayer as basic verb conjugation from a textbook on Gaelic.

 

[Extollager]

"Data on 8000 Antarctic Meteors" -- first movie 1950, second & more famous from 1951.

 

[Extollager]

I like that headline: "Planarians Give New Clues to Early Migrations." This comic would've been one of the first productions I ever noticed that had a kooky dummy newspaper headline. (I admit, I haven't checked to see if maybe flatworms do give clues to "early migrations" -- whatever that means.

 

[M. Robert Gibson]

The Simpsons are a good source for this sort of thing.

One that I particularly like was a classified ad parodying Ernest Hemingway's alleged six word story.
For Sale. Baby Grand Piano. Never Played.

 

[Bick]

I like that headline: "Planarians Give New Clues to Early Migrations." This comic would've been one of the first productions I ever noticed that had a kooky dummy newspaper headline. (I admit, I haven't checked to see if maybe flatworms do give clues to "early migrations" -- whatever that means.

Then you'll love this Extollager, its crops up again! I found this on an internet search, I didn't actually catch it on TV (which is my new, as yet untried hobby) - this is from Frankenstein meets the Space Monster, from 1965:

 

[Bick]

Basil Fawlty enjoying Jaws:

Sybill has her nose in a ladies magazine, I think. I love the fact she's smoking a fag in bed

(Its not in the background or SFF though; I'm looking forward to my first real 'live' spot on TV)

 

[Extollager]

Bick, I'm agog -- did you notice how Wally Wood also used the "Menagerie Breaks Loose" headline in his Daredevil #7 cover?

So was there a common ancestor? The movie is from 1965 and the comic book appeared early in 1965:

Mike's Amazing World of Comics

Mike's Amazing World of Comics. A searchable resource indexing comics from multiple publishers, including DC, Marvel, Archie, Charlton, Dell, Gold Key and Harvey. Contains comic information and cover images for thousands of issues.

www.mikesamazingworld.com

I would assume that Wood did not get the idea for the headlines from watching the 1965 movie.

 

[Bick]

I expect there was a company who made up all the mock-up newspapers for films, TV and comics at the time in Hollywood, and they recycled the minor story headers. Presumably, film producers and editors just put in an order, with the main title to go at the top, and then were sent a paper accordingly. I'd like to know what the company or agency was.

 

[Vince W]

Basil Fawlty enjoying Jaws:

View attachment 51072

Sybill has her nose in a ladies magazine, I think. I love the fact she's smoking a fag in bed

(Its not in the background or SFF though; I'm looking forward to my first real 'live' spot on TV)

The twin beds always remind me of my grandparents who also had twin beds.

 

[Bick]

The twin beds always remind me of my grandparents who also had twin beds.

But unlike Morecombe and Wise

(But that's not a mock up paper - its the actual Telegraph.)

 

[BigBadBob141]

In the film adaptation of Stephen King's "The Green Mile" you get a very quick glimpse of one of the condemned prisoners read an issue of "Weird Tales", it has a very distinctive cover, but I have no idea which issue it is!

 

[BigBadBob141]

REF:Bick.
Ernie: I see Consolidated Copper has fallen another ten points!
Eric: That's nothing, Desperate Dan has eaten three cow pies and he's still hungry!!!
Explanation, Ernie is reading The Financial Times and Eric is reading The Dandy!!!

 

[Bick]

REF:Bick.
Ernie: I see Consolidated Copper has fallen another ten points!
Eric: That's nothing, Desperate Dan has eaten three cow pies and he's still hungry!!!
Explanation, Ernie is reading The Financial Times and Eric is reading The Dandy!!!

 

[AlexH]

More Ted and Dougal:

 

[Bick]

This famous scene from When Harry met Sally of course, shows Harry reading Ludlum's Icarus Agenda. He's about to read the last page in case he dies before finishing it:

 

[BigBadBob141]

REF: Bick.
Reading the last page is bad thing to do, it can ruin the whole book!
I remember I was starting to enjoy this thriller and very foolishly turned to the last page, only to see the hero and his girlfriend get gunned down!
This ruined the book for me and I stopped reading it, so learn from my mistake!!!
P.S. I'm still a little guilty of still doing this sometimes, but only with short stories!

 

[M. Robert Gibson]

No mistaking this one

 

[Dave]

Captain Picard is often seen reading in Star Trek TNG. I cannot make out the books but the fan websites say that it is The Complete Works of Shakespeare and Ulysses by James Joyce.

 

[Toby Frost]

On a sort-of-related tangent, I make quite a few models with various different parts with an SF theme. Over the years, I've ended up buying a few books of design art from computer games, from which I steal visual cues and inspiration. One of the best such books is for Bethesda's Fallout 4, which includes a range of super fake magazines from a 1950s-styled future. Magazines can be collected and "read" (essentially, consumed in the same way as food) to provide bonuses in the game, but I think the design of them is great in itself.

More can be seen here: Fallout 4's Complete Magazine Collection Published Online

 

[Randy M.]

"Sinister Seafood Strikes!'

I like that.


Randy M.