http://www.ultraswank.net Retro Living and Design from the 50s, 60s and 70s Tue, 07 Feb 2012 06:56:26 +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/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/film/airport/ http://www.ultraswank.net/film/airport/#comments Tue, 12 Apr 2011 05:27:21 +0000 Jesse Kowalski http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=3234 The first of its kind, Airport set the standard for the disaster films of the 1970s. Films such as The Poseidon Adventure (1972), The Towering Inferno (1974), and my favorite – Rollercoaster (1977) collected A-list, B-list, and C-list movie stars and put them into some pretty crummy situations. But their pain is our pleasure; the [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/film/airport/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/film/thoughts-on-the-silencers/ http://www.ultraswank.net/film/thoughts-on-the-silencers/#comments Fri, 16 Jul 2010 05:32:25 +0000 Jesse Kowalski http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=2612 Loosely based on the series of Matt Helm novels by Donald Hamilton, “The Silencers” features Dean Martin as erstwhile counter agent Matt Helm. Not to be confused with the counter agent at Northwest who lost my luggage last week. Helm isn’t a secret agent who spies and stuff, he just causes problems for other spies. [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/film/thoughts-on-the-silencers/feed/ 4 http://www.ultraswank.net/film/movie-recommendations-part-2/ http://www.ultraswank.net/film/movie-recommendations-part-2/#comments Wed, 18 Apr 2007 09:37:00 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/uncategorized/movie-recommendations-part-2/ Been a while since I recommended any movies, so I think we are due for some new ones. Any movie buffs out there have probably seen most of them already, but if you haven’t you have missed out on some great movies. Blowup (1966) Classic British movie about a swinging photographer in London who discovers [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/film/movie-recommendations-part-2/feed/ 8 http://www.ultraswank.net/music/retro-christmas-reviewed/ http://www.ultraswank.net/music/retro-christmas-reviewed/#comments Wed, 28 Feb 2007 12:05:00 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/uncategorized/retro-christmas-reviewed/ This is a first, here is a actual review of one of my later compilations, called Retro Christmas. The review is by CaptainOT, the guy who runs the quite popular A Christmas Yuleblog. I was very surprised when I found out about it. I never expected (or had any hopes) to see anyone review a [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/music/retro-christmas-reviewed/feed/ 3 http://www.ultraswank.net/film/movie-recommendations-part-1/ http://www.ultraswank.net/film/movie-recommendations-part-1/#comments Wed, 19 Apr 2006 16:08:00 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/uncategorized/movie-recommendations-part-1/ I have a keen movie interest and I try to fit as many movies as possible into my busy schedule each week, although my spare time seams to have become smaller and smaller recently. However, I would like to recommend some lush movies I have seen the past. Most of them are what most people [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/film/movie-recommendations-part-1/feed/ 3