bad banana blog

Zonk! Foooo!! Splonk!

Check out this fun Flickr set of vintage comic book sounds (with an international flavor, no less).

Via Design Fckr.

The Industrial Body

In the early 20th century, Fritz Kahn created a series of illustrations and books on the workings of the human body using visual metaphors drawn from industrial society. It's just one small part of an extensive and fascinating online exhibit from the National Library of Medicine.

The Middle

In a Village Voice article from a few years back, collector Robert Lesser explained his fascination with pulp art. "It's like walking into a movie in the middle."

Images via Dark Roasted Blend.

Tiny Holiday Label Graphics

This Flickr set of vintage record label illustrations is sure to bring a smile to your face. According to the set creator, this massive collection comes from a series of kiddie albums from the 1950s. Each side of the label featured a little illustration less than one inch wide. There's a lot more in that set than just holiday illustrations, as you'll see, but I especially love the various versions of Santa depicted here.

Via Drawn.

A Daily Christmas Card

Ralph Hulett spent thirty seven-years as a background artist at Disney, working on animated shorts and features from Song of the South to Robin Hood. On the side, however, he had a very lucrative gig painting Christmas cards. He earned royalties on hundreds of designs he created from the 1940s to the '70s (back before greeting card companies bought artwork outright). Many of those designed haven't been seen since their initial publication. Last year, however, Ralph's son, Walt Hulett, began posting one of his father's cards each day from December 1 through January 1 over at his TAG Blog. Above are some of my favorites. I'm happy to see he's posting more this year.