Playskool American Bricks #848 SPIDER-MAN Playset (1977)

 

Here is a super-cool playset that was unknown to me, but BOY would I have loved this as a kid.  It immediately struck me as a miniature "Marvel World," which was a 1975 playset made by AMSCO:

Marvel World was advertised in comics of the day, and for the first time ever, it gave you a PLAYSET featuring 34 Marvel characters, the Daily Bugle, the Baxter Building, Dr. Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum, Peter Parker's apartment building, and much, much more. Today this playset is super rare and commands high prices, because, hey, it was cardboard, after all.

Little did I know, I was right about today's playset being a mini-Marvel World!  Turns out, both Amsco AND American Bricks, maker of today's playset, were bought out by Milton Bradley in the late 1960's, and as a result, our Spider-Man playset actually shares quite a bit of artwork (and character designs) with Marvel World! Sweet!

Included here are the Baxter Building, the Daily Bugle, an airport, laboratory (in reality the INSIDE of the Baxter Building), etc....but the catch is that you can't build them all at once, necessarily. Unless your mom goes and gets you more American Bricks!

Here are the contents of the box.  The only thing I am missing is an "axle brick" to hold the wheels, and as the vehicles they want you to make are real dumb, I don't think it's a problem.  

What even is this?

Before we go any farther, I should explain the construction method a little.  The "wall segment" bricks have slots inside of them, which allow you to insert heavy cardstock panels into them.  There are nine panels, but they are double-sided (another reason you can't build everything at once, as you have to plan ahead to portion them out correctly).  The obvious problem with this, of course, is that no matter how heavy the cardstock is, eventually it's going to break down and start to shred from use....and then there is the age group involved with this building toy, which means their survival is tenuous at best.

Luckily, mine are in really good shape! Here is the box insert, which is as much instructions as you are going to get:

So, now the cool part.  Here is what I was able to build!

AIR CONTROL? "You fools! Doom will Control all of the Air!"

This is as tall as the set allows for the Baxter Building. Interestingly, some of this plastic tends to warp over time, especially the white-pigmented pieces for some reason, so they don't always sit flush.  But close enough.

By being creative with the parts supply, I was able to build a Daily Bugle, apartment building, and another smaller structure, which gives us a city scene.

This playset gives you 12 characters--about a third of Marvel World.  The bigger playset actually has an awesome Green Goblin that has Harry Osborne on the reverse side! I wish that had been included here.  Speaking of, here they all are:

They all have little stands like board game pawns.  The problem with this is, it's quite difficult to balance these on the spiky tops of the bricks! If the stands had been interlocking with the "stud" surface of the bricks, it would've been much better.  As it is, there is lots of toppling over.

And finally, here is the artwork with the included 9 panels:

First group: front

First group: back

Second group: front

Second group: back

You can see a problem by looking at these panels.  For example, there are two "laboratory" artworks on the same piece of cardboard...plus, if you want an "Airport" door (which looks like the front of the Baxter Building, actually), then you have "laboratory" artwork on the other side. In other words, you are expected to be happy with your building looking correct from the front only.

All of this doesn't matter, anyway, because you may be shocked to know that the characters do not actually fit inside of the buildings. Nope, they can't stand inside of the pre-determined wall heights.  I mean, good grief, with Lego, we could just add another layer of bricks.  Oh well. It doesn't matter, I have something I thought I'd never have: my own mini-Marvel World!

Believe it or not, this appears to be the only Marvel set that American Bricks made.  (Also note that, although it is very much a general Marvel Comics set, it is titled as SPIDER-MAN!) Isn't it mind-blowing to think about, from today's perspective, that this wasn't just part of a wave of 15 different sets at one time? No matter what anybody ever tells you, things really WERE much simpler back then.

The Lufkin Home Recordings (1942-51) A Trove of Cardboard Record Treasures!

 

You know what we haven't done in a long time around here? Some--as one reader so aptly named it--"left field archaeology!" So here is an end-of-year-holiday-of-your-choice gift that I have been sitting on!

In 2024, I was exploring a record store that had taken up shop in the labyrinthine basement of an historic old hotel, and buying an armload of records, when I suddenly dug up a cache of dusty old cardboard records (which we have covered every so often on this site. most notably in this post of "Self-Recorded 78s") in a bag...14 in all! I knew right away that it was my mission to restore them, and offered the guy 20 bucks for the stack.

You can read more about this in the post I just linked, but in short, companies like Wilcox-Gay actually made portable, suitcase-style recorders that allowed you to cut a (in this case, plastic-coated cardboard) record! More common were the vending machine-style kiosks, which allowed you to speak into a receiver, make a 1-minute or so record, and instantly drop it into the mail!

I doubt many people had access to the portable models, especially in the mid-40s, but I am sure businesses purchased them (later models cut shellac-covered metal discs, and were used for dictation and auditions). Somehow, the main characters in our story, John and Storrie (?) Lufkin, had access to one, and it looks like John got it out every time there was a gathering in his home, for at least seven or so years. 

The blanks varied in size, were made by tons of manufacturers, were cut at 78 rpm, and were never made to stand up to repeated playing with heavy steel needles of the day.  All the ones in this group are 6.5 inches, except for one 8-inch recording, but they came in all sizes.  The 6.5 inch size allowed for roughly 2 minutes of recording, and you could stop and start, which would create a new band each time.

So, what exactly was ON these 14 discs? Someone's family history, is what....as well as a few surprises that I wasn't ready for.  You will notice in the photo above that model pictured that it included an AM radio, and now I know how Lufkin recorded several partial songs of the day.  This blew my mind, that somebody in the 1940's was sitting listening to the radio, and racing to record it, the way I used to have a cassette tape ready as a kid when a song I wanted came on! 

These records are in the order they were in as I restored them, so they aren't in chronological order, but as you listen, you will piece together elements of the family's lives.  Particularly interesting is the "Graduation Night" disc from 1944, where the Lufkin daughter and her cousin prepare to go out on the town, and John Lufkin is excited about the D-Day Invasion just occurring! 

Unfortunately, I have had to leave a few of these out--some are just two scratchy excerpts of popular songs, and there is no point in sharing them here, when you could retrieve the actual full recordings with a couple of clicks if you cared.  The OTHER reason is...well, I chickened out at sharing a couple of discs where they are drinking with friends and decide it's a good idea to tell bawdy (and even racist) jokes! It's your grandparents, "after dark." Hide the children!

So, here are the contents of these amazing discs:

DISC #01 : Tommy Dorsey - Black Magic / Moonlight Becomes You (sourced from AM radio) excluded from download

DISC #02: "Time Waits Frank M?n" / Post-D-Day Message to the people of France (perhaps General Eisenhower speaking?) [sourced from AM radio]

DISC #03: "Graduation June 1944" (Date is given as June 13, 1944.  A family celebration of graduation night for two cousins, Ruthie (Ruth Virginia Zimmerman) and Barbara (Lufkin), including members of the Zimmerman and Lufkin families (the mothers are sisters). The father encourages the girls to speak, and we hear well-wishes from mothers ("Mrs. Zimmerman, from Riverside"), grandmother, and aunts. The father mentions being proud, and that the June 6th D-Day Invasion had just occurred the previous week.  The girls leave to go out on the town. One of the mothers advises them: "don't cut too many capers."

DISC #04: "STORIES" (No date given; the parents (Lufkins?) from the other discs host several friends for drinking and poker, and decide to take turns telling bawdy (and even quite racist!) jokes on both sides.) excluded from download for obvious reasons

DISC #05: "October 22, 1944" (A married couple drop by to visit the Lufkins, who were already hosting another couple for dinner.  Side 2 is made up of one of the women singing "Embracable You," a capella for 3 different bands.)

DISC #06: "FROSSELLS & LUFKINS NOV. 14 1942" / "PRESIDENT'S SPEECH" (November 14, 1942. The Frossells visit the (John & Story/Storrie) Lufkin home.  Side 2 is an excerpt of an FDR speech from a radio source.

DISC #07: December 31, 1950, New Year's Eve for 1951.  Another party at the Lufkin house ("Johnny & Story/Storrie").  Side 1 begins with the group singing "Auld Lang Syne" and sharing well-wishes for the New Year.  Side 2 continues their comments. The latest recording in the group, chronologically.

DISC #08: Bing Crosby - Dearly Beloved / White Christmas (AM radio source) excluded from download (you are welcome!)

DISC #09: Both sides sourced from radio broadcast of a war correspondent giving an account of the June 6, 1944 D-Day invasion of Normandy.

DISC #10: Bing Crosby - I Walk Alone / unknown - Cool Water (AM radio broadcast) excluded from download, extremely dull

DISC #11: "Fred Waring / NELL Jan. 27" (The "Fred Waring" side is from a radio broadcast of a choral performance of a wartime song about going home, briefly concluding with announcer.  The "Nell" side is what's interesting here:  a gathering at the Lufkin home ("from the Lufkin residence on L Avenue"), where Nell (who calls it "Radio Station NELL") tries to get Mrs. Lufkin to talk.  She isn't interested; "that's all.")

DISC #12: "People Say We're In Love / How Sweet You Are" sourced from AM radio and boring.  excluded from download

DISC #13: "Southern Moon / Night Before Christmas" sourced from AM radio excluded from download (yeccchhh)

DISC #14: (Couples partying at the Lufkin home, singing "How Dry I Am" and "Wedding Bells Are Breaking Up That Old Gang Of Mine." The reverse (unnumbered) side had a damaged beginning, but the side is almost completely silent (even though it has grooves), as if the microphone was disconnected.  At the extreme end of this side, some voices are heard, but time has run out and it ends in the normal locked groove.

And there you have it.  Each disc required some careful cleaning, and lots of work to deal with damage, remove as much surface noise as possible, and bring out the best possible sound (remember too, these things were recorded with a pretty lackluster built-in microphone.) There are scans of both sides of each disc included with the download so you can see the labels, and as much information is included as possible.

And now, the shot in the dark--are you related to the Lufkin family, or anyone else included here? My guess is that nobody has known of the existence of these recordings for decades. They obviously languished in storage for many years, until they were sold as a part of a record collection.  It would be  huge thrill if I could reunite these with the actual family (I can't imagine somebody giving me recordings of my own grandparents!), but until then, here is a private look directly into a family's lives!

LINK:  The Lufkin Recordings