Dishwashing liquid commercials vary in their subject matter. Either they take an eco-friendly approach, tug at your heartstrings by demonstrating how they save animals affected by an oil spill, or they show the product’s grease-cutting power. The Palmolive brand has come a long way from its origins as a beauty product.
The above ad from the 1950’s pushes Palmolive as a beauty product promising better skin for all ages and skin types. In current times, where skincare is usually sold as a complicated system featuring many products for day and night, the original Palmolive bar advocated simple “soap facials” that would “bring new complexion beauty to 2 out of 3 women.” Today, most beauty magazines caution women to avoid soap all together, warning of their harshness on the skin and problems that could arise with residue the soap bar leaves behind. But in the 1950’s, where efficiency was key, the little green Palmolive bar was pitched to members of the entire household. There were smaller-sized bars geared toward the women using it for their skincare, and larger sizes of the bar for use in the family bath.
By Guest
April 28th, 2010
Fellow fans of Ultra Swank are well aware that we are revelers in a cultural period of technology supreme. Be it Hi-Fi or Hydrogen Bomb if it had push buttons and chrome it was an object of desire! Few artists captured this ‘age of the machine’ better than Boris Artzybasheff (1899-1965).
Immigrating from Russia to New York City in 1919, Artzybasheff’s career included over 200 Time Magazine covers and illustrations for over fifty books. He was a sought after advertising illustrator with clients including many of the Fortune 500. Looking at his style it’s not surprising that he was also an advisor to the Psychological Warfare Department of the U.S. during World War 2! Although he was capable of very realistic renderings, it was his surreal creations of machines as living creatures (a hidden vanity of technology) which endears him in the hearts of mid-century mavens of today.
His book As I See: The Fantastic World of Boris Artzybasheff is available to buy from Amazon for anyone who wants to dig deeper into Boris’ fantasy world.
April 26th, 2010
Ultra Swank – Your one stop blog for retro living, style and design
Ultra Swank takes you back in time into the kitsch, chic and swank living of the 50s, 60s and the 70s. We mainly focus on the design, architecture and the lifestyle of the happy-go-lucky and space-age-living mentality of that era – but also on the music and movies that takes you back to happier times. Ultra Swank is run by Chris, a Swede born in the wrong decade that currently resides in Barcelona. Read more
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During the late 50′s, a new jazz style and genre evolved from Brazil. Bossa Nova became a mixture of cool jazz and samba, which was particular to Brazilian culture, dance and music. Musical artists such as Antonio Carlo Jobim and Joan Gilberto were known for creating this new style. The 60′s became a catapult for the new popular genre that we now recognize as a standard.
One particular compilation I found is from an Italian musician, Nicola Conte, who’s style of music is influenced by none other, Bossa Nova. Conte’s musical style is not usually recognized unless seen on TV commercials, like Jet Sounds, from his Bossa Per Due album. Conte compiled some of his most influential musicians into Nicola Conte Presents Viagem. This album has many unique artists that I’ve never heard of. It became a great addition to my collection.
By Steven Padal
April 23rd, 2010
Dental assistant cum super spy Fathom skydives her way into our hearts via a series of confusing double crosses and eye-pleasing costume changes – 16, in fact. While traveling through Spain with her skydiving team, Fathom Harvill is enlisted by Colonel Campbell, who operates out of a mobile home in Malaga in lieu of a super secret volcano hideaway, to locate the Fire Dragon. We’re told there are only two qualifications for the job – being a girl skydiver, she meets both.
With the popularity of James Bond as strong as ever in 1967, there was bound to be a lady agent on film. Then 27-year-old Raquel Welch, fresh off One Million Years BC and sporting seemingly impossible measurements of 37-22-36, solidified her buxom beauty status with this role. Co-starring the “always a bridesmaid, never a bride“ Tony Franciosa, sporting an odd peroxide blonde ‘do, this film provides little substance, but a lot of Raquel.
April 21st, 2010
“Closer Than We Think!” shouts the headline. It looks like a comic and probably ran in the funnies section of the Sunday Chicago Tribune and it’s affiliates. During the late 1950′s and early 1960′s artist Arthur Radebaugh forecast a soon to be techno-future of magical and fantastic innovation. As a regular feature in widespread newspaper syndication, his cartoon like “Closer Than We Think!” may have fired more imaginations of the Atomic Age than any other single print source.
April 19th, 2010
A short movie that takes us back 60 years or so, to a time when Broadway and Times Square were the theater and entertainment capital of the USA. Pre Disneyfication and massive tourist invasions. For those of you who likes numbers, there were apparently 40 million twinkling lights around Broadway back then. Many of these places however are gone today. Are there any New Yorkers who appreciate this area of New York today?
By Chris
April 13th, 2010
A somewhat kitschy promotion video from Pan American airways, made in the early 1970s that takes us around the world and back again in less than 25 minutes. The video was most likely produced to showcase how easy it was to travel around the world with Pan Am, take in the sights and then be back again in the afternoon to enjoy tea at the Ritz. If you recognize some of the music cues that are played in the background, they are sourced from several KPM records. The same kind of library music that can be found on many of my music compilations here. Footage provided by the lovely people at The Travel Film Archive.
By Chris
April 6th, 2010
