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/readable/when-the-mob-ran-vegas/ http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/when-the-mob-ran-vegas/#comments Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:02:32 +0000 Baron von Swankenstein http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=3625 On September 7, 1963, during a performance at the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Dean Martin joked “Right now, ladies and gentlemen, somewhere backstage, Frank Sinatra is punching a dealer right in the mouth.” Little did Martin know that four years later, Sinatra actually would start a fight with a Sands pit boss [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/when-the-mob-ran-vegas/feed/ 0 http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/cocktail-nation-%e2%80%93-the-interviews/ http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/cocktail-nation-%e2%80%93-the-interviews/#comments Wed, 30 Nov 2011 07:21:18 +0000 Baron von Swankenstein http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=3590 Mid-century retro goes by many names — Retro culture; Atomic culture — and it sometimes overlaps with many other subcultures like kustom kulture (i.e. hot rod & rockabilly fans); tiki culture, and even Goth. My preferred term for this subculture is Lounge Revival. To the outside observer, it would seem that the only thing your [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/cocktail-nation-%e2%80%93-the-interviews/feed/ 0 http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/burlesque-poster-design/ http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/burlesque-poster-design/#comments Thu, 01 Sep 2011 05:49:41 +0000 Baron von Swankenstein http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=3431 Gypsy Rose Lee. Tempest Storm. Lily St. Cyr. If there’s one word associated with these famous women, it’s “burlesque.” In the modern sense of the word, burlesque was a popular form of theatrical variety show featuring risqué comedy, parody, and pastiche. When it was exported from Victorian England to the United States in the 1840s, [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/burlesque-poster-design/feed/ 0 http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/pad-the-guide-to-ultra-living/ http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/pad-the-guide-to-ultra-living/#comments Tue, 21 Jun 2011 05:09:23 +0000 Baron von Swankenstein http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=3314 Thanks to a post-World War II economic and technological boom, the 1950s and early 60s was the golden age for the bachelor lifestyle. With the advent of Playboy magazine, the quintessential guide to urban living, it reached critical mass. Armed with affluence, abundant leisure time, and the sagacity of Saint Hefner, bachelors found themselves with [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/pad-the-guide-to-ultra-living/feed/ 0 http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/monte-%e2%80%93-king-of-atom-age-monster-decals/ http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/monte-%e2%80%93-king-of-atom-age-monster-decals/#comments Tue, 26 Apr 2011 05:11:44 +0000 Baron von Swankenstein http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=3259 In America, the 1950s and 60s spawned The Monster Kids. These were kids, mostly pre-adolescent boys, who assembled Aurora model kits of Frankenstein or Dracula after school; read Tales From The Crypt comics with a flashlight under the covers at bed time; and sneaked downstairs on Saturdays to watch the late-night horror movie show on [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/monte-%e2%80%93-king-of-atom-age-monster-decals/feed/ 1 http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/the-wonderful-future-that-never-was/ http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/the-wonderful-future-that-never-was/#comments Thu, 07 Apr 2011 05:18:52 +0000 Baron von Swankenstein http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=3209 “Here at home we’ll play in the city. Powered by the sun. Perfect weather for a streamlined world. There’ll be Spandex jackets – one for everyone.” - Donald Fagen, “I.G.Y.” Americans of the 1950s and early ’60s had a love affair with technology that, some would say, continues to this day. Nineteen fifty seven saw [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/the-wonderful-future-that-never-was/feed/ 2 http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/parker-graphic-novels/ http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/parker-graphic-novels/#comments Wed, 09 Mar 2011 06:51:31 +0000 Baron von Swankenstein http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=3137 “When a fresh-faced guy in a Chevy offered him a lift, Parker told him to go to hell.” – Richard Stark, first line from The Hunter On one side of a coin is James Bond, a suave secret agent with a license to kill. A connoisseur of many things, Bond enjoys fine food, fine women, [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/parker-graphic-novels/feed/ 0 http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/breathless-homicidal-slime-mutants-%e2%80%93-the-art-of-the-paperback/ http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/breathless-homicidal-slime-mutants-%e2%80%93-the-art-of-the-paperback/#comments Mon, 24 Jan 2011 09:47:06 +0000 Baron von Swankenstein http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=3028 In the 1959 premiere episode of The Twilght Zone, Earl Holliman explores a town completely deserted. After helping himself to some ice cream from the drug store soda fountain, he encounters wire spinner racks full of paperbacks, one of which is filled entirely with copies of the ominously titled “The Last Man on Earth.” In [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/breathless-homicidal-slime-mutants-%e2%80%93-the-art-of-the-paperback/feed/ 0 http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/the-fashion-file-%e2%80%93-from-the-costume-designer-of-mad-men/ http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/the-fashion-file-%e2%80%93-from-the-costume-designer-of-mad-men/#comments Thu, 23 Dec 2010 13:39:41 +0000 Baron von Swankenstein http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=2961 Film is escapism. Anyone who has seen “The Thomas Crowne Affair,” or a classic James Bond film knows that part of film fantasy is an exotic environment and all it contains. While that environment is not always true, in escapism people tend to look up at glamour rather than down at the real world. In [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/the-fashion-file-%e2%80%93-from-the-costume-designer-of-mad-men/feed/ 0 http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/mad-men-unbuttoned-a-romp-through-1960s-america/ http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/mad-men-unbuttoned-a-romp-through-1960s-america/#comments Fri, 10 Dec 2010 06:41:23 +0000 Baron von Swankenstein http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=2882 To say the television series “Mad Men” has been influential would be an understatement. Aside from influencing screen drama towards more meaningful storytelling, the show has also influenced fashion, beauty standards, and revived interest in the mid-20th century and the Atomic Age / Lounge sub-culture of today. “Mad Men’s” approach to history has always been [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/mad-men-unbuttoned-a-romp-through-1960s-america/feed/ 2 http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/50-years-of-the-playboy-bunny/ http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/50-years-of-the-playboy-bunny/#comments Fri, 05 Nov 2010 06:56:06 +0000 Baron von Swankenstein http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=2780 In the mid-20th century, lounges and nightclubs served up large doses of fantasy to American adults weary of the recent realities of World War II. Primarily, this was done in two ways: One way appealed to exoticism and escape from modern society while the other reveled in modernity and urban sophistication. If one wanted exoticism, [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/50-years-of-the-playboy-bunny/feed/ 2 http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/100-years-of-globe-trotting-ads-from-taschen/ http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/100-years-of-globe-trotting-ads-from-taschen/#comments Tue, 23 Mar 2010 06:32:50 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=2032 The ever so great Taschen has done it again. This time with tickets to ride, fly, sail and drive, they cover 100-years of traveling from an American perspective. At 392 pages filled with spectacular illustrations, ads and other goodies for only $39.99 it’s a bargain and available to purchase in May. Which is your preferred [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/100-years-of-globe-trotting-ads-from-taschen/feed/ 1 http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/ikea-design-and-identity-through-the-years/ http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/ikea-design-and-identity-through-the-years/#comments Fri, 12 Feb 2010 06:39:34 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=1929 This book looks really swell! There are probably no one left in the world who hasn’t heard about IKEA with its affordable build-it-your-self-furniture concept. Ingvar Kamprad, the man behind IKEA was only seventeen when started his soon to be blooming enterprise in 1943. Ten years later he opened his first IKEA store in Sweden. Today [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/ikea-design-and-identity-through-the-years/feed/ 3 http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/the-world%e2%80%99s-greatest-magicians-from-taschen/ http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/the-world%e2%80%99s-greatest-magicians-from-taschen/#comments Tue, 22 Dec 2009 06:48:41 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=1741 The great Taschen gives us another treat just in time for Christmas, Magic 1400s – 1950s. Illusion, enchantment and wonder are all words that have become synonymous with magicians and entertainment. For decades we have been fascinated by the unknown, in fear, amusement and even laughter. Author Noel Daniel takes us on a fun 650-page [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/the-world%e2%80%99s-greatest-magicians-from-taschen/feed/ 0 http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/how-to-be-a-good-husband-and-wife/ http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/how-to-be-a-good-husband-and-wife/#comments Wed, 02 Dec 2009 06:46:27 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=1625 Is a man’s home his castle? Is she always the perfect homemaker? Here are two fun and kitschy retro guides that will help you to keep your spouse happy. Apparently, the journal Ladies Homemake Monthly had a famous adage which was “You can judge a good husband by how well-dressed his wife and children were [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/how-to-be-a-good-husband-and-wife/feed/ 1 http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/1965-spacemen-yearbook/ http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/1965-spacemen-yearbook/#comments Fri, 04 Sep 2009 05:48:51 +0000 Guest http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=1247 Spacemen Magazine was a relatively short-lived publication. It was published from July 1961 to July 1965 and was a spin off from the more successful “Famous Monsters of Filmland.” Both were edited by the late Forrest J. Ackerman and Published by James Warren. The cover art for the 1965 Yearbook was by well-known comic book [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/1965-spacemen-yearbook/feed/ 1 http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/20th-century-fashion-from-taschen/ http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/20th-century-fashion-from-taschen/#comments Fri, 10 Jul 2009 05:44:37 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=1065 Taschen is one of my favorite publishers of 20th century design and architecture themed books. I have a couple in my collection, but there’s room for many more – like this one. 20th Century Fashion: 100 Years of Apparel Ads takes us through a stylish 100 years of fashion during the 20th Century via 400 [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/20th-century-fashion-from-taschen/feed/ 3 http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/all-american-taschen-books/ http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/all-american-taschen-books/#comments Wed, 21 Sep 2005 19:31:00 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/uncategorized/all-american-taschen-books/ I’m a big fan of Taschen’s books. So far I have purchased their two advertising books from the 1950s and 1960s. The 50s book is the newer edition with only some 350 pages, the first edition had over 900 pages, but it seams that it is out of print now. I was lucky to find [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/readable/all-american-taschen-books/feed/ 3