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/design/the-stylish-art-of-kevin-dart/ http://www.ultraswank.net/design/the-stylish-art-of-kevin-dart/#comments Tue, 06 Dec 2011 07:18:31 +0000 Guest http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=3594 Stylish, bouncy, curvaceous, deadly – And she wants her panties back from old men who carry them in briefcases! “Yuki7 and the Gadget Girls” are the Mangaesque brainchildren of L.A. artist Kevin Dart. As books and animation Kevin and 14 other illustrators take you into a “fixties” style milieu of jazzy action and toned down [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/design/the-stylish-art-of-kevin-dart/feed/ 3 http://www.ultraswank.net/television/bewitched/ http://www.ultraswank.net/television/bewitched/#comments Tue, 12 Jul 2011 05:23:28 +0000 Jesse Kowalski http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=3375 From age 7 to 30, I was Darrin two all the way. This kid was a macho, red-blooded Dick Sargent devotee. I couldn’t stand Darrin one, Dick York, with his big ears, greasy hair, and constant whining. No sir, Dick Sargent was my man – so much smoother and more willing to roll with the [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/television/bewitched/feed/ 1 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/advertising/christmas-gets-endorsed-by-celebrities/ http://www.ultraswank.net/advertising/christmas-gets-endorsed-by-celebrities/#comments Mon, 20 Dec 2010 06:50:26 +0000 Katharine Miller http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=2947 When snow covers the ground and the days get shorter, you know it’s time to celebrate the winter holidays and spread cheer and good will. Even celebrities can’t resist the action, lending their talent and likeness to all manners of Christmas merriment. Popular personalities of stage, screen and song deliver messages of joy in the [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/advertising/christmas-gets-endorsed-by-celebrities/feed/ 2 http://www.ultraswank.net/film/halloween-special/ http://www.ultraswank.net/film/halloween-special/#comments Wed, 27 Oct 2010 05:32:48 +0000 Jesse Kowalski http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=2756 Being a big fan of horror films and organ music, I present my film suggestions for your Halloween viewing pleasure. Carnival of Souls (1962) Carnival of Souls features young Mary Henry as a wayward organist. Mary doesn’t fit in well with her congregation, so she drives aimlessly from her home in Kansas to the Western [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/film/halloween-special/feed/ 0 http://www.ultraswank.net/roadtrip/swingin-london-street-scenes/ http://www.ultraswank.net/roadtrip/swingin-london-street-scenes/#comments Mon, 11 Oct 2010 05:42:34 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=2735 Various photos, scans and stills from London in the mid 1960s, when the term “Swingin’ London” was in full effect. Love how even the rainiest, gloomy day in London can look beautiful back then. Photos via SwingingLondon on Flickr.]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/roadtrip/swingin-london-street-scenes/feed/ 0 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/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/music/its-dinner-time/ http://www.ultraswank.net/music/its-dinner-time/#comments Fri, 25 Jun 2010 05:54:52 +0000 Steven Padal http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=2565 Need a compilation of some catchy tunes? Well, you’ve come to the right diner! I was hungry for more lounge music and found “Music for TV Dinners: The Sixties.” For those that don’t know many lounge artists, this is a great compilation with a tasty mix of library music. The album includes artists such as [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/music/its-dinner-time/feed/ 2 http://www.ultraswank.net/fashion/fashion-icon-twiggy-modelling-and-dancing/ http://www.ultraswank.net/fashion/fashion-icon-twiggy-modelling-and-dancing/#comments Mon, 07 Jun 2010 05:07:06 +0000 Guest http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=2528 Twiggy, born Lesley Hornby, is without a doubt one of the biggest fashion icons to emerge from the 1960′s. Her thin frame and big blue eyes became the envy of fashionistas everywhere. The look of drawn on lashes (anything to make the eyes look bigger) and pale lips became a Twiggy staple as girls copied [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/fashion/fashion-icon-twiggy-modelling-and-dancing/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/film/thoughts-on-ski-party/ http://www.ultraswank.net/film/thoughts-on-ski-party/#comments Tue, 01 Jun 2010 05:26:32 +0000 Jesse Kowalski http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=2499 The opening begins with an ominous scene. In succession, skiers descend a snowy mountainside under moonlight in what surely represents the director’s vision of the Archangel Lucifer descending into hell. Then the credits announce “Starring Frankie Avalon” as Avalon sings the theme song. Thus begins another entry in American International Pictures’ series of Beach movies. [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/film/thoughts-on-ski-party/feed/ 3 http://www.ultraswank.net/film/binder-beginning-boasts-barefoot-bikini-bottomed-beauty/ http://www.ultraswank.net/film/binder-beginning-boasts-barefoot-bikini-bottomed-beauty/#comments Wed, 21 Apr 2010 05:37:05 +0000 Jesse Kowalski http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=2093 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 [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/film/binder-beginning-boasts-barefoot-bikini-bottomed-beauty/feed/ 2 http://www.ultraswank.net/film/documentary-about-space-age-inspired-design/ http://www.ultraswank.net/film/documentary-about-space-age-inspired-design/#comments Tue, 30 Mar 2010 05:22:52 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=2042 Atomic Lounge is a 90 minute documentary that looks back at the Space-Age inspired architecture, design, fashion, and lifestyle of post-WWII America. The film will explore the conditions that led to a unique time in history when Americans experienced a dual sense of optimism for the future and fear of impeding nuclear holocaust. This period [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/film/documentary-about-space-age-inspired-design/feed/ 7 http://www.ultraswank.net/roadtrip/swinging-london-comes-alive/ http://www.ultraswank.net/roadtrip/swinging-london-comes-alive/#comments Tue, 16 Mar 2010 06:59:55 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=2009 London, England late 1960s. The height of the flower-power-free-love-lifestyle. Groovy colors, fashion, cars and women. For those of us who were born a few decades too early or anyone who wants to take a stroll down memory lane here’s a sample of very neat color photographs of Swinging London from that period. Depicted are among [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/roadtrip/swinging-london-comes-alive/feed/ 3 http://www.ultraswank.net/television/commercials-from-the-1960s/ http://www.ultraswank.net/television/commercials-from-the-1960s/#comments Wed, 03 Mar 2010 06:50:24 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=1989 Various television commercials for cars, shaving products, food and everything else that made this decade great! What are your favorite commercials from this period?]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/television/commercials-from-the-1960s/feed/ 2 http://www.ultraswank.net/film/classic-exploitation-movies/ http://www.ultraswank.net/film/classic-exploitation-movies/#comments Fri, 18 Dec 2009 06:45:34 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=1715 Exploitation films are usually films that exploit a certain part of for instance popular culture and everyday life such as ethnicity, zombies, bikers or even sex. These types of films were especially common in the 1960s and 1970s, screened at drive-ins and grind houses and by a few years later often gaining a cult reputation [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/film/classic-exploitation-movies/feed/ 4 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/inspiration/1960s-vintage-inspired-photosets/ http://www.ultraswank.net/inspiration/1960s-vintage-inspired-photosets/#comments Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:25:47 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=1599 Lisa Predko, a professional photographer from Chicago and lover of all things vintage sends me these lovely 1960s inspired photos that instantly transports you back 50 years or so, to a more fun, colorful and playful time. I love the the attention to detail and color and if you are fascinated by the space age [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/inspiration/1960s-vintage-inspired-photosets/feed/ 4