Tag Archives: retro

Useful Sites

Final November Links

Hard to believe it’s almost December. Hope you enjoy today’s links!

“How to be a Retronaut” always has great vintage images. I like these recent photos of Anita Louise as “Queen Titania” in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, circa 1935.

The Actors Theatre of Louisville is looking for an artisan/soft goods person for their upcoming Humana Festival (January through March). I worked there a few years back; the people are great, the shop is amazing and you get to do some quality work for really good theatre. Even the housing they put you up in is nice. All in all, Louisville is not a bad place to spend a few months. Also, this year’s SETC conference is in Louisville, so you’ll be in town for that (as will I).

Make Magazine has a holiday gift guide for woodworkers, but it’s kind of hit or miss. A $260 hammer? Orthopedic chisels? Personally, I don’t think novelty tools make good gifts for people who make things.

Vintage theatre footlights are needed every now and then, but they can be difficult to find. Ebay has one or two on occasion, but one frequently needs a number of matching ones. Costume Armour, Inc., makes a number of fiberglass and vacuum formed lights, and because they get a lot of requests for their footlights, they have set up a new webpage devoted to the standard sizes and shapes they offer, along with pricing.

Useful Sites

Wednesday Link-i-mage

This week, we have a visual link-o-rama, focusing on sites with vintage advertisements, posters, and other ephemera. Sometimes, you need to find historically accurate ads for props, other times, you can use them as research sources for your period.

Vintage Advertising group on Flickr

A sprawling hodgepodge of advertising and packaging pictures.

Sprite Matchbook Art, 1960s
Sprite Matchbook Art, 1960s, originally uploaded by Roadsidepictures

Vintage Ad Browser

A very large and very organized repository of ad images.

Budweiser is a friend of mine
Budweiser is a friend of mine, originally uploaded by fidgetrainbowtree

Vintage Ads

A stream-of-consciousness parade of advertisements throughout the years.

Woodbine Blend Dry Cider
Woodbine Blend Dry Cider

The Nifty Fifties

Ads, posters, and photographs from the 1950s.

1951 - Science Discovered It
1951 - Science Discovered It, originally uploaded by clotho98
by Roadsidepictures
Useful Sites

Retro Decorating

Marco Polo Motel by Curtis Gregory Perry
Marco Polo Motel by Curtis Gregory Perry

In honor of the Mad Men season finale (and since my computer broke and I didn’t have time to write anything lengthy), I thought I’d point out some great mid-century vintage sites I’ve found lately. Of course, Mad Men takes place in the early sixties, and most of what I’ve found is from the 40s and 50s, but it still inspires that period. Additionally, the objects people had in the 50s would still be around in the 60s. With that in mind, here we go:

  • The Retro Planet Museum has a great collection of vending machines, soda coolers, gas pumps, and other items of that ilk with photographs online. They also run the Vintage Vending blog, which has continually updated content about the same.
  • Atomic Addiction is about a couple trying to decorate their house in a completely mid-century fashion. Though somewhat focused on replicas, it also has great resources for researching this era.
  • Retro Renovation is similar in that it is more concerned with using retro inspiration for modern decorating. Still, it points to historical information, and it has great ideas on which vendors offer vintage or vintage-inspired items.
Resources

33 Ephemera Collections on Flickr

originally uploaded by Sara1973
originally uploaded by Sara1973

Flickr is an incredible source for scans of ephemera from all eras. There is so much to find on there. One of my dreams is to somehow organize and catalog all of this; until then, all I can give you is a somewhat ordered list of things I’ve found. Remember that this only represents a sliver of a portion of what’s available on the internet.

Continue reading 33 Ephemera Collections on Flickr →