Welcome to Retell Seller, an ephemera podcast where I uncover forgotten stories and the ephemera people leave behind. I’m Angie, a reseller of 10 years, and I’ll share one of those snippets with you. Let’s see what today’s find has to say
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I’m going to start off with a couple of tangents before I get to the piece I’ll be reading from. And going forward, there’ll be just a few swear words in this one. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to switch the first letters of Bell and Halloween.
So instead of Taco Bell Halloween, switching it to Taco Hell Balloween, because my husband does this all the time. Plus it’s Halloween time, so why not?
Of course, the word hell is real and balloween isn’t. Now, my husband does this on purpose because he finds it funny. And I have to agree, it is.
However, I’m not quick enough on the draw to figure out what the hell he’s saying most of the time. It comes to him so easily, and it does not come easily to me, in saying it or understanding it, at least not quickly.
So for example, he might be downstairs while I’m upstairs, and he’ll say, “Rinner’s deddy.” Rinner’s deddy. And I pause, I blink repeatedly, and I’m like, Oh, dinner’s ready. I about lost my mind when I found out there was a name for it, and it’s called spoonerism.
I’ll share a link so you can read about it, and I nearly fell over when I found out that there was an actual name for it, and my husband didn’t know it existed either.
And then here’s a slight tangent number two. In looking through the ephemera I have, I didn’t come across anything talking about Halloween, whether the imagery on something or the message written on a postcard.
The authentic antique postcards tend to go for some insane amounts of money, and I’ve attempted to bid on some various lots through different online auctions, and I’ve never won because I’m either too cheap or too scared to spend the money. I don’t know.
The most recent auction I found, hoping maybe I could get one to read here, it had a listing of eight, postcards, and I bid a piddly little amount knowing I would not win. And by the end, the eight postcards sold for $200, so an even $25 each.
I also know a single postcard, depending on various things, can sell for well more than $25 if the person who bought them was going to resell, and of course, they could just be bidding to add to their own collection.
So I turned to a Facebook group in which I purchased a Halloween greeting card from the ’70s.
So The only date on this card is the date next to the American Greetings brand, and it has the Roman numerals for 1975, which I know, of course, may not even be around the time this card was written, since I myself buy old vintage unused cards sometimes.
The front of the card is a moody, lighter blue color. There’s a few dry and dead leaves on the tree and on the ground. The background is a bright yellow, glittery moon, and I’m not a fan of glitter, just saying.
There’s a rabbit in a black and white skeleton costume. He has an orange bag that says Trick or Treat, and he’s looking up into a tree where two squirrels and a couple of birds are standing on a barren tree branch.
The small squirrel is dressed like a little devil, and the larger squirrel is a witch.
The squirrels seem to look a little nervous, and the rabbit has apparently pulled off his mask and holding it in his front paw.
And the top of the card says, “Just li’l ol me…” The inside of the card says, “wishin’ you a Happy Halloween.”
The message from the sender reads:
“Happy Halloween! Sorry about this card getting to you so late. It seems like the days only last long enough to get up from sleeping and go to work.
I went to the Taco Bell today for lunch and ate a Burrito Supreme. I thought about you. Wondered if you had any tacos lately. We’re going to have a garage sale this weekend. We sure have collected a lot of stuff in the last few years. Hope the weather is nice to us. Gotta say so long, as I have to get ready for work.
Say hi to your mom and dad for me. Love, Becky.
P.S. Write to me and let me know what you’ve been up to.”
So I looked up to see when the Burrito Supreme was first put on the menu and found it was introduced in 1975. So I find it really interesting since I can’t definitively date when the card was written, but the fact the card is dated 1975 gives me a little more confidence it was written close to that time.
I love tacos, but I wouldn’t say I’m obsessed with them in any way. My husband, on the other hand, is a different story. Is there anybody else here obsessed with tacos?
Also, I’m not gonna lie, I think there’s remnants of possible burrito supreme on the card. I mean, she did order one that very day.
And if you’re celebrating Halloween, have a happy and safe weekend.
P.S. I did check with my husband to see if there was any particular reason for doing the whole letter switcheroo, and he literally said, “For gits and shiggles.”
Thank you for joining me as I shared a snippet of the past. I’d love to know if it connected with you in some way. Did it spark a memory or make you see something differently? If so, consider sharing it. Be sure to check out the show notes for additional info, links, and ways to connect. It’s not nostalgia, it’s human. Until next time, may you find something worth holding onto
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pinny please
