Poor Easter.  In the world of TV holiday specials, you are not represented well. But worry not, here comes Rankin & Bass to the rescue!

I’ve written a lot about the genius of animators Rankin & Bass and their mad sixties romp through the holidays! And I’m delighted to share with you another one of my favorites—Here Comes Peter Cottontail.

This wonderful hour-long special features the vocal talents of Casey Casem as Peter Cottontail and Danny Kaye as the narrator—not to mention a host of other characters, including the incomparable Vincent Price as the most evil bunny ever:

OH YES!  This dapper evil-doer got his name after a kid roller-skated over his little bunny tail and he had to have it replaced with some mechanical awesomeness.

Total steampunk brilliance, right? And sweet heavens above, his favorite form of transportation? Oh, A BAT!

What were the writers thinking when they created this genius character?

Anyway, the premise of the story is that Peter Cottontail was going to be the Easter Bunny, but instead stays out late the night before Easter partying and accidentally over sleeps (thanks in part to that conniving Irontail…)

Peter ends up missing Easter and has to get people to take his Easter eggs the rest of the year, which is pretty hard when it isn’t Easter. So he frolics his way through many a holiday trying to make right his wrong.

I don’t want to ruin the rest of the special for you, but I will say it is worth getting the DVD from Netflix…

Do you remember watching it as a kiddo?

I know its winter, but I still have Hawaii on the brain. And I gotta tell you, I love these vintage beach towels. SO colorful and quirky! Most are from the late 60s, early 70s. A quick eBay search will reveal numerous gems. Some have fun characters (Greg has a Six Million Dollar man one that is awesome!) and some pretty patterns (see above!). My faves have quirky girls on ’em…like these!

My friend Denise just found this next one a few months ago at the thrift store with me. Somehow I missed it. Did I mention it’s deadstock? And that I was SO HAPPY she saw it first? No really,  I was thrilled for her. Seriously. After I was done being TOTALLY bummed, of course. Waah.

Greg got me this one—apologies for the mediocre photo. The best part is that it was signed by T. Hee, infamous Disney animator!

Aren’t they awesome? It seems a shame to use them, since they can easily get washed out from too much sun & fun….but it just makes me happy to roll on up to the pool with my snazzy towel under my arm!

I love color, which is why the 1970s is one of my favorite eras. I just love looking through old interior design books—and while the 50s and 60s offer midcentury chic at it’s finest, the 1970s is like Mad Men on acid. TOO MUCH FUN! (erm…..the interiors….not Mad Men on acid.) I have several design books and The Practical Encyclopedia of Good Decorating and Home Improvement (whew! say that 10x fast) is one of the best. It’s a multi volume collection of style. Be prepared to have your mind blown….

Which were your favorites?? I’m loving the lime green…the lucite…the built-ins in that bedroom with the green TV (LOVE) and then there is THE BED. Which is terrifyingly fab! And you??

{Images from Practical Encylopedia of Good Decorating and Home Improvement, 1970. While I own several of these books, I must confess I was lazy and didn’t scan them. These were scanned by the lovely Sandi Vincent. Many thanks Sandi!}

Oh yes! The legendary Volkswagen Beetle….these things never fail to make me smile. Just recently we’e started playing Slug Bug with Wolfie. You know the game, right? You see a VW Beetle driving down the road and you call out “Slug Bug!” and sock your car buddy in the shoulder. We play a modified version and call out the color of the car, “Slug Bug Yellow!” “Slug Bug Red!” A lil smack punch might come later, but it’s more about the thrill of spying one before someone else. (Sorry purists…but  Wolfie’s only 8 and doesn’t have any siblings, so I’m usually on the receiving end of these punchies!!)

Do you call it Slug Bug like we do? Or maybe you call it Punch Buggie? I’ve even heard some people call it, Piggy Punch, or Beetle Bug. And of course then there’s “SLUG BUG —no punch backs!”

I think these cars are just so quirky, cute and distinctive. I like the more modern version too, but of course it’s the classic that really makes me happy. Their motor makes such a distinctive sound. Did you know that the engine was in the back of the original model and the front was the “trunk”? It was also said that the unique construction of the Bug made it air tight so it could float. I remember when I was a kid back in Michigan, there was a small area that was flooded and a guy in his VW bug just puttered across. SO COOL!

“The first production-ready Kdf-Wagen [as it was called] debuted at the Berlin Motor Show in 1939; the international press soon dubbed it the “Beetle” for its distinctive rounded shape. Though VW sales were initially slower in the United States compared with the rest of the world, by 1960 the Beetle was the top-selling import in America, thanks to an iconic ad campaign. By the 1970s, it had become a worldwide cultural icon, featuring prominently in the hit 1969 movie “The Love Bug” (which starred a Beetle named Herbie) and even on the cover of the Beatles album “Abbey Road.”   — History.com