A Coloring Book for Nuclear Foes

Remember those wonderful old coloring books crammed with games and puzzles? Many a happy hour was spent connecting the dots to form a chicken, or working simple crossword puzzles or coloring pictures of Bambi and Thumper in their forest homeland.

Well, TV producer Keith A. Baumgartner, actor Marty Schiff and associate producer Larry Sulkis got the idea for an updated version of the coloring book between takes, while making “Out of Control,” now airing on the Nickelodeon channel. Their book, however, is aimed more at adults than children. Not because there is anything off-color in the coloring book, but because the cynical anti-nuclear “message” in it may be over kids’ heads.

Called “The Armageddon Color & Game Book: Fun Activities for the Day Before the Day After,” it is chock full of features such as the War Room Map crossword puzzle, a Bomb Shelter Checklist, Connect the Dots (they form a mushroom cloud) and a Glow-Ball World Map comparing the world as we know it to what would be left if the bomb is dropped. The book also has a page of handy change-of-address cards, which provide spaces to write the longitude and latitude of your new address, plus the nearest visible landmark and the radiation level.

Baumgartner says the $2.95 book, published by KB Associates in West Hollywood, has drawn both “accolades and denouncements across the country.” A quote on the back cover attributed to Abraham Lincoln, sums up the book well: “People who like this sort of thing, well, this is the sort of thing they like.”

Unique Furniture for Executives

Many executives--especially those with cubbyhole offices--have a problem storing their personal belongings. When they arrive at work, they prop their umbrella in a corner, hang their coat on a hook on the door and place their attache case on the floor next to the desk (where someone will probably accidentally kick it or trip over it).

A Beverly Hills company, Attache Valet Corp., is marketing an unusual piece of furniture designed to end the clutter and also add a touch of elegance to the office.

Ron Sharpe, inventor and manufacturer of the Attache Valet, says it has the first valet especially designed for executives. The Attache Valet combines a hand-tooled valet coat hanger with a low cabinet on which to place the attache case. The cabinet has a roomy lock-up drawer, a shelf for magazines or collectables and an umbrella holder (which is also a good place to store a walking stick or favorite practice golf putter).

The Attache Valet comes in five different styles, ranging from Americana to Danish. It is available in a variety of natural woods, including oak, mahogany and walnut and offers a choice of brass or chrome trimmings. Prices vary, depending on the wood and style selected, from $100 to $200.

And it needn’t be confined to the office--the Attache Valet would also be at home in a Yuppie condo.