Our journey through space travel science fiction has our coordinates locked onto the 1950's The most Ultra of the Ultra-Swank decades. Receding in our aft view screen is the pulp pre-war period of the 1930's and 1940's - the times of cowboys in space. They rode rockets instead of horses and blasted bad guys with ray guns instead of six-shooters.

Our mid-century destination is where the science in science-fiction takes over the controls! We land squarely in the realm of motion pictures- mostly black and white and often projected on the mosquito obscured screens of drive-in theaters. The plots may still be thin, the dialog contrived and the budgets no bigger than a plutonium neutrino but it's all arc-welded together by the blazing brilliance of the the god in the white lab coat- The Scientist! This is the height of the Cold War and the near vertical climb of American consumerism. Any moment science will end all life on the planet- but in the meantime let's get that new Hydramatic Futurific Buick with the built-in color TV dishwasher!

Read the full post

As the technological miracles of the 20th Century exploded- so did our imaginations. Where would all this science take us? Up, out and beyond our normal mundane lives to New Worlds where anything was possible! The vast and limitless horizon of outer space!

In a time before television and jet airplanes the technical label of astronaut had not been invented. The men and women that plied the sea-lanes of the cosmos were “Spacemen!”. Dashing pioneers and adventurers cut in the dime store novel image. Countless books, magazines and comics sang the futuristic folk-tales. Illustrations were as lush and lurid as a twelve year-olds fevered fantasies. It was a Universe filled with monsters clutching space maidens while square jawed heroes blasted away with ray-guns.

As long as you had your secret decoder ring and a spare summer afternoon any kid could strap in and hurtle to the Ice Palaces of Pluto, save the Earth from invasion and be home in time for supper.

Read the full post

Short funky Swedish documentary about the development of the state-of-the-art Royal Swedish Air force jet fighter "Draken". Built and developed by Swedish car maker Saab in the early 1950s, this video takes us on a brief journey on how the plane was developed and tested before its maiden flight in 1955. Also pay attention to the thick and rather silly Swedish accents that makes this video even more kitschy. Good times indeed! (Via)

Following up on my earlier post on how to get a date if you lived in 1950s America, here is a new film which show and tell how you can have a few close friends but be popular among a large group of people too. The entertainment value and kitsch-meter is going through the roof with this film. Hmm, why were all guys called Wally back then? (Via)

How would you get into dating if you were a teenager in the suburbs of America in the 1950s? Ever wonder how social life was like for your mother, father, grandmother or grandfather? The video is taken from the Coronet collection, which features lots of swell vintage movies about growing up in the 1940s and 1950s. What are your thoughts on dating today versus 60 years ago? (Via)