“When I want to know the social character of a city, I go where the people drink. In Paris, it’s the cafà ©. In London, the pub. In Rio de Janeiro, it is without a doubt the botequim, the little corner bar that is a local institution, as immortalized in the Noel Rosa samba “Conversa de Botequim.” (more at the bootsnall travel website)

Cousin Fuzzy and his Cousins. Classic cowgirl pin-up art on this otherwise run-of-the-mill polka lp. This cheesecake illustration might have been used on a wall calendar that hung in barns and stock rooms in the mid-fifties.

Or “Ten cents to see my sister…”

Al Capp’s Shmoo (from the Lil’ Abner cartoon strip) sings!

Clef Records with nice cover by David Stone Martin. This album is a departure from the mainly solo recordings released by Art Tatum as it features a quartet with drummer Alvin Stoller, bassist John Simmons and trumpeter Roy “Little Jazz” Eldridge.

This is a nice Mexican lp cover with a sweet children’s illustration. (It also includes a stereotypically racist, watermelon-eating, barefooted black boy!) The music and stories are by Cri Cri (born Francisco Gabilondo Soler in MÃ ©xico).

Cri Cri (means Cricket) songs are about animals, trains and children. Each song has a different musical style (tango, fox-trot, danzon, etc.) and have been children’s favorites since Soler began composing these pieces for the radio in the 30’s.