Back to School With Kline's – August 1956

The thought of having to go back to school in the fall might be fairly upsetting to some kids – even a little scary. 

But 'a little scary' could also be applied to the freakish 'teacher' shown in the ad below for Klines department store, which ran in the Lorain Journal back on August 2, 1956.

With a globe for a head, a chalkboard for a torso, and a variety of pointy objects (including a pen nib, and two pencils) for appendages, this teacher/monster is the thing of nightmares.

And then there's the pupils.

The scanning of the Journal's microfilm no doubt played havoc with some of the images in the ad. The digitization of the illustration of the schoolchildren (which originally had a screen tint applied to their faces by the artist) has created an odd, disturbing effect of making them look like the Batman villain Two-Face. Ugh!

And lastly (and for the final cheap laugh here), although the kids are merely raising their hands hoping to be called on by their mutant instructor, the little boy appears to be giving a salute that would be right at home in the Third Reich. 

Anyways, the gimmick in the ad was that a lucky boy or girl could win a portable Columbia 3-speed phonograph just by coming in and registering.

Here's a '1956 Columbia Portable Record Player Suitcase' (as it is described) that can be found on eBay right now. It needs to be repaired (it's missing its cartridge and stylus) or can be used for parts. I don't know if it's the one mentioned in the ad, but – it could be.

We had something like this in the Brady household in the early/mid-1960s. I know it was portable because I remember we had it out in the garage one time. There might have been an illustration or design on the cover, rather than just a solid color.

I also remember some of the records we played on it were yellow, not black; now I know that they were Golden Records. Other records included some Christmas carols such as Oh Come All Ye Faithful.