Ultra Swank - Retro Adventures

Interview • daydreaming • inspiration • kitsch • event

Christmas with Barbie 1964 to 1968
Written by Patricia Greenwood in Inspiration

Christmas with Barbie 1964 to 1968

I was five years old when my mom showed me an advertisement for Mattel’s Barbie doll wearing that iconic black and white bathing suit, which had already been out since the late 50s. It was my first memorable exposure and I was immediately taken in by the grown up looking doll. That Christmas I received my first “Barbie,” though I’m pretty sure she was a...

None of These Cars is Real
Written by Christopher in Inspiration

None of These Cars is Real

It sure looks real doesn’t it? It could very well be photos from a 1950s advertisement trying to promote the latest model of a car or pristine time capsule that were just discovered. But none of what you see is actually real. Michael Paul Smith from New England, USA is a model car enthusiast and photographer and creator of these fun and highly detailed photos...

Audrey Hepburn – Mid-Century Icon
Written by Patricia Greenwood in Inspiration

Audrey Hepburn – Mid-Century Icon

As a child of the 60s, I spent hours next to our little portable record player listening to show tunes my mother and father had provided for our entertainment. The Sound of Music (1965) and My Fair Lady (1964) were some of my all time favorites and it was through those vinyl recordings that I fell in love with Audrey Hepburn. Her talent, class and...

The Edible Victory – Victory Gardens of the 1940s

During both world wars, though more popularly during WWII, victory gardens were encouraged among the people on the home front in America and Canada. There is quite a bit of propaganda encouraging the people to grow their own vegetables, fruits, and herbs so the troops can eat from commercial farms. Victory gardens allowed the average person to create a garden just for their household’s consumption,...

The American Dream of the 1940s & 1950s

After WWII, America stood back and gazed upon itself. There was a new revitalized American Dream after all the bloodshed, home front hard work, and thick-as-molasses patriotism. The American Dream of the 1930s had been focused on working hard, men provided for their families, and hope to rise above the Depression. By the 1940s, post-WWII, consumerism and first wave feminism started to play a role...

Automate Your Life with Technology

Whilst a fan of the fifties and sixties and quite clearly my appearance is that of a man stuck in a time warp I have always been a man who takes advantage of his current times. From attitudes to technology, and it is technology that I would like to talk about today. As ladies man, man’s man, man about town to quote Catcher Block in...

Staying Fresh In The Office – Don Draper Style

In an early episode of Mad Men, Don Draper shows up for work wearing the same clothes as the day before, having not made it home to his wife the previous night. Inside his office, Don opens a desk drawer to reveal a stack of crisp, identical white button-up shirts. He peels off the old shirt and reaches for a new one. This simple change...

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