Betty Boop Calendars

This year, 2015, has been a delight with Betty Boop as my calendar girl, and fortunately the same calendar kiosk at the mall had a new one, so it looks like 2016 will be the year of Betty again. Well, not just for me; maybe the new Betty Boop movie that Simon Cowell is making will come out sometime next year.

The 2016 calendar has an interesting iTunes theme called iBoop: Betty's-Playlist (ACCO Brands) with each month depicting a different music genre with coinciding Betty artwork that's presented in the form of a play-screen. The 2015 calendar (also from ACCO Brands) has a consistent sunny surfs-up-Betty theme that's been a pleasant wall decorator. Some of the months feature an image of Betty riding a wave, which conflicts a little with the 1934 classic Fleischer Studio cartoon Betty Boop's Lifeguard, where Betty is enjoying the beach and it is established that she can't swim, a likely plot excuse so she can be saved by the hunky lifeguard, Freddy, when she inevitably loses her rubber horsey flotation. Before she is rescued, Betty has a fever dream where she is a mermaid, portrayed in that silly, musical, surreal animation style that the Fleischer brothers excelled at.

From Betty Boop's Lifeguard (1934)

        

Betty Boop Lip Gloss Candy and Gum

These are a couple of keepsakes that I came across at the various candy stores in Old Town. The Berry Betty Gum (by Boston America Corp.) reminds me of pink Chiclets but smaller and comes in a neat pocket-sized Betty tin. The Lip Gloss Candy (by Au'some Inc.) is contained in a Betty figurine with a removable head and a base that is contoured into an hourglass shape that fits Betty's body. Her dog Pudgy, who was introduced in 1934 in the cartoon Betty Boop's Little Pal (nowadays usually included in merchandise art as a kind of fashion accessory), is included by her side. The Lip Gloss Candy is unusual in that it is not lip gloss but a gooey, sticky candy that reminds me of SqueezePop (a discontinued liquid lollipop candy popular in the '90s that you would squeeze out through a tube).

From Betty Boop's Penthouse (1933)

         

Betty Boop for President (1932)

"♫ When I'm the President, I'll give you all a great big kiss, when I'm the President, woo! ♫." - Betty Boop

Originally released on November 4th, 1932, just four days before the 37th presidential election when Roosevelt was elected, the musical cartoon Betty Boop for President was a lighthearted distraction from the hardships of the Great Depression (as was Betty in general); children and adult viewers got to fantasize about a crazy, fun world with the charming and chipper Betty Boop as president, who could make the country's problems disappear through song, dance, winks, and kisses. It's a fun watch that's riddled with political satire and presents the obvious joke of how Betty's looks and charisma seem to be more beneficial elements for her campaign, as is humorously exemplified in the cartoon by having the hugely favored Betty Boop contrasted against her opponent the less-popular, faceless candidate "Mr. Nobody."  

Betty Boop Tin Lunch Box (Cool Breeze)

This Betty Boop tin lunch box features her in the glamorous, iconic image known as "Cool Breeze", itself modeled almost exactly after Marilyn Monroe's also iconic promotional image for the film The Seven Year Itch from 1955. With "Cool Breeze" Betty is paying homage to Monroe, but interestingly enough, more than twenty years earlier, a scene from the 1932 cartoon Betty Boop's Ups and Downs has been noted for having Betty's skirt behaving in a similar fashion.

Note the perverted, dapper bird anthromorph seizing the opportunity to peek when Betty's skirt flies up. This is a part of a running gag from the early days of Betty's cartoon career, which would eventually be toned down when the Hays Morality Code was strictly enforced in 1934.

My Betty Boop License Plate

This license plate has been affixed to the front of my car for about five months now. It was another impulse buy that snugly fit right in to the front cover where the used car dealership sign used to be. I'll be honest, I sometimes feel a little awkward, being a dude and all, having what many might consider a "girly" license plate. Yet, most of the time, I'm proud to have it there, for the honor of Betty. People probably think that I think I'm real cool or something. Well I may not be cool, but Betty's cool, and I think she looks lovely on the front of my car. What can I say? She won me with a wink.

Porcelain Betty Boop Wall Ornament

This delightful little wall charm, which I found inside of a Betty Boop trash can for sale, only went for a dollar at a flea market. It's about a half foot tall and has a 1985 KFS copyright stamped on the backside.

Her snazzy leg kick sold it for me, and she's now a nice little addition to my eclectically decorated walls. I've taken care to place her high up so she won't ever get knocked off and broken, which the ornament seems to have already had the misfortune of, as she appears to have once been broken at the right ankle and leg as well as at the left arm.

This particular item might have had an interesting history, perhaps like 'the red violin' in the 1998 movie of the same name. If she could talk, what would she say?

(Betty's leg dance was recently featured in two mobile phone video games, Betty Boop Bop and Betty Boop Beat, which I hold the highest score in in the Android universe - really someone should try and beat my current high score of 242.)

Handcrafted Betty Boop Doll

I found this at an antique shop, although it is hardly antique with a production date of 20-May-09 listed on its tag. It's made by Kellytoy, and I'm guessing it might've been a claw-crane machine prize.

Of interesting note is how the doll's head isn't quite the usual oblong but more round shape, without the drooping jowls, and looking less like a puppy dog and perhaps a little more like Helen Kane. Oddly, Betty's characteristic earrings and bracelets are omitted.

At eight dollars, I couldn't resist picking this up, even if the original owner might've won it for fifty cents.