http://www.ultraswank.net Retro Living and Design from the 50s, 60s and 70s Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:59:46 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/visions-of-space-%e2%80%93-part-3/ http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/visions-of-space-%e2%80%93-part-3/#comments Mon, 20 Sep 2010 05:52:00 +0000 James Vaughan http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=2691 Science Fiction movies and the 1960′s. Shorter distances between the science and the fiction. Bigger budgets and better scripts. New actors who have not spent their entire careers fighting giant, mutant bugs. Special effects that are almost believable. After MGM’s breakthrough experiment of ‘Forbidden Planet‘ in 1956 and mainstream Disney’s ‘20,000 Leagues Under the Sea‘ [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/visions-of-space-%e2%80%93-part-3/feed/ 0 http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/the-internet-in-1969/ http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/the-internet-in-1969/#comments Wed, 08 Sep 2010 06:16:08 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=2679 Very kitschy and retro futuristic video explaining some of the features and benefits of using home computers (consoles) in the home. With this fantastic setup that would make William Shatner of Star Trek fame envious, you can do amazing things such as online clothes shopping and monitor the home using a CCTV system. Apparently the [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/the-internet-in-1969/feed/ 4 http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/visions-of-space-%e2%80%93-part-2/ http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/visions-of-space-%e2%80%93-part-2/#comments Thu, 08 Jul 2010 05:15:27 +0000 James Vaughan http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=2581 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 [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/visions-of-space-%e2%80%93-part-2/feed/ 1 http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/visions-of-space-%e2%80%93-part-1/ http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/visions-of-space-%e2%80%93-part-1/#comments Thu, 03 Jun 2010 05:22:48 +0000 James Vaughan http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=2507 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 [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/visions-of-space-%e2%80%93-part-1/feed/ 0 http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/swedish-jet-fighter-marketing-from-the-50s/ http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/swedish-jet-fighter-marketing-from-the-50s/#comments Tue, 15 Dec 2009 06:36:43 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=1706 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 [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/swedish-jet-fighter-marketing-from-the-50s/feed/ 3 http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/how-to-be-popular-in-the-1950s/ http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/how-to-be-popular-in-the-1950s/#comments Mon, 12 Oct 2009 05:35:59 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=1438 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 [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/how-to-be-popular-in-the-1950s/feed/ 1 http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/how-to-date-in-the-1950s/ http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/how-to-date-in-the-1950s/#comments Thu, 08 Oct 2009 05:53:11 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=1432 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 [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/how-to-date-in-the-1950s/feed/ 4 http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/american-women-the-boomer-household/ http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/american-women-the-boomer-household/#comments Mon, 17 Aug 2009 05:59:18 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=1176 Cute, kitschy and a bit sexist in a innocent mid-century way, this 25 minute long film tributes the American woman in the American family household. Through the course of it we get to experience her wifely responsibilities, such as planning the family budget, finding time to be social and shopping for daily necessities. Pay attention [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/american-women-the-boomer-household/feed/ 7 http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/educational-movies-about-the-atomic-bomb/ http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/educational-movies-about-the-atomic-bomb/#comments Wed, 15 Jul 2009 05:49:15 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=1085 Produced in 1955 and 1959 about the atomic bomb and radioactive fallout and how you can protect your self from it. For someone born in the 1970s or later it is probably hard to grasp the hype, fear and fascination about the atomic bomb in the height of the cold war era. Especially for those [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/educational-movies-about-the-atomic-bomb/feed/ 8 http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/the-story-of-modern-sidewalls-for-the-homes-of-america/ http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/the-story-of-modern-sidewalls-for-the-homes-of-america/#comments Wed, 27 May 2009 15:34:31 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=881 More retro goodness from the Prelinger archives. This film sheds some light on the early 1950s standardized building processes using asbestos sidewalls which apparently raised no red flags concerning health issues back then. Funny how awareness can change so quickly.]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/the-story-of-modern-sidewalls-for-the-homes-of-america/feed/ 3 http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/lost-in-my-own-fantasy-world/ http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/lost-in-my-own-fantasy-world/#comments Sun, 18 Jan 2009 20:00:00 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/uncategorized/lost-in-my-own-fantasy-world/ I am sure that most people who read this blog have their own secret crush about times gone by, whether it be kitchen appliances, cocktail bars, design or cars that purr. Some of you might even have stories to tell but what about the rest of us who can only fantasize about. Meet Joanne Massey, [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/lost-in-my-own-fantasy-world/feed/ 13 http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/blue-demon-contra-cerebros-infernales/ http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/blue-demon-contra-cerebros-infernales/#comments Sun, 07 Sep 2008 23:16:00 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/uncategorized/blue-demon-contra-cerebros-infernales/ This Mexican movie from 1968 is I am sure as cheesy as it is a lovely treat for kitsch loving people like all of us. I have not seen it but the basic premise of it is as follows. “A wrestling hero helps the police in their battle against a mad doctor and his army [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/kitsch/blue-demon-contra-cerebros-infernales/feed/ 4