I'm enthralled with a new book I picked up yesterday at my local quirky bookstore, Quimby's. In fact, Amazon says it has not yet been published, but it has made it all the way from Chronicle Books in San Francisco to Chicago, and I assure you that it does, indeed, exist.
It's the Acme Catalog. Yes, the very same Acme Corporation that apparently had a monopoly on products in Loony Tunes land. The catalog lists all of the various products you saw Wile E. Coyote, Elmer Fudd, and the gang use in all their whacky adventures. It's like a regular catalog, complete with part numbers and pricing, but includes things like the Portable Hole, A Boxing Glove On A Spring Box, and (of course) anvils. At almost 100 pages, it seems pretty darn comprehensive; you'll even find the drop-flag ray gun that Marvin the Martian pulled on Bugs.
What do I like best about it? Hard to say, it might be the nostalgia of remembering my childhood cartoons, it might be the inspiration of the imaginative products, or it could be the neat illustrations. Whatever it is, you might enjoy it too. It's good for a quick laugh, or even longer study.
As an aside, there's a factory loft conversion here in Bucktown that sports an ACME sign over the main entrance. I don't know if it's a joke by the developer, or it really was the factory before it went condo. but it never fails to crack me up.
Totally cool. Road Runner was and is my favorite cartoon of all time. I like the ones with no words or dialogue of any kind. Just Wily E. trying to catch The Bird.
I might have to get that catalogue.
Aloha
Posted by: Smittie | May 04, 2006 at 12:47 AM