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/travel/scandinavian-airlines-boeing-747-%e2%80%93-the-viking-of-the-1970s/ http://www.ultraswank.net/travel/scandinavian-airlines-boeing-747-%e2%80%93-the-viking-of-the-1970s/#comments Tue, 07 Feb 2012 06:56:26 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=3658 The Boeing 747 was introduced in 1970 as a answer to handle the demanding mass tourism boom of the late 1960s. Built by the Boeing Corporation and guided by legendary Juan Trippe of Pan American airways – it allowed almost 500 people in its biggest configuration to be elegantly whisked around the world in style [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/travel/scandinavian-airlines-boeing-747-%e2%80%93-the-viking-of-the-1970s/feed/ 0 http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/a-mid-century-shopping-centre-in-northern-sweden/ http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/a-mid-century-shopping-centre-in-northern-sweden/#comments Mon, 16 Jan 2012 19:30:42 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=3631 Shopping is one of Europe’s first interior shopping centers ever built. This mid-century gem is hidden away in the cold northern parts of Sweden. It was designed by famous British-Swedish architect Ralph Erskine and built in 1955. Erskine wanted to create something that would be enjoyable for everyone all year round, not being dependent on [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/a-mid-century-shopping-centre-in-northern-sweden/feed/ 1 http://www.ultraswank.net/roadtrip/stockholm-street-scenes-then-and-now/ http://www.ultraswank.net/roadtrip/stockholm-street-scenes-then-and-now/#comments Thu, 18 Nov 2010 06:16:03 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=2818 Time for some more nostalgia, this time from Stockholm, Sweden. I always find it amazing how quickly things can change, usually it’s for the better – but anyone who reads this blog knows that’s not true at all. Depicted are a bunch of street scenes from the capital of Sweden, taken between 1945 and 1978. [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/roadtrip/stockholm-street-scenes-then-and-now/feed/ 7 http://www.ultraswank.net/interior/welcome-aboard-on-the-worlds-first-jumbo-jet-hostel/ http://www.ultraswank.net/interior/welcome-aboard-on-the-worlds-first-jumbo-jet-hostel/#comments Thu, 20 May 2010 05:51:42 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=2462 Have you always wanted to jet around the world in a Boeing 747 jumbo jet but don’t want to waste hours at check-in, security and to top of it off, lose all your bags? Now you don’t have to! Entrepreneur Oscar Diös solved the problem by taking a old jumbo jet, stripping it out and [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/interior/welcome-aboard-on-the-worlds-first-jumbo-jet-hostel/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/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/roadtrip/swedens-oldest-amusement-park/ http://www.ultraswank.net/roadtrip/swedens-oldest-amusement-park/#comments Fri, 11 Dec 2009 06:04:31 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=1692 Gröna Lund in Stockholm is one of a handful amusement parks in Sweden. It might not be the biggest one, but it is certainly the oldest. Built in 1883, on the seashore overlooking the masses of water that divides Stockholm into something that sometimes is referred to as the Swedish version of Venice. Over exaggerated [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/roadtrip/swedens-oldest-amusement-park/feed/ 0 http://www.ultraswank.net/eatable/classic-1950s-cafe-in-stockholm/ http://www.ultraswank.net/eatable/classic-1950s-cafe-in-stockholm/#comments Wed, 02 Sep 2009 05:30:31 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=1238 I lived in Stockholm for two years but I totally missed out on this cafe! Cafe Valand was opened in 1954 by Magdalena and her husband Stellan Åström whom also designed it. The cafe is located in the cute and lively area Vasastaden in Stockholm where it has sat frozen in time with its stylish [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/eatable/classic-1950s-cafe-in-stockholm/feed/ 5 http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-9/ http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-9/#comments Fri, 21 Aug 2009 05:13:47 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=1195 Don’t know what to spend that extra cash on? Don’t worry, there is still time. Our stores are open at convenient times and located just around the corner here in Yester Sweden. Today we are traveling back in time to visit Stockholm and Hudiksvall (north of Stockholm) where you can slowly waltz through the many [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-9/feed/ 8 http://www.ultraswank.net/advertising/vintage-volvos/ http://www.ultraswank.net/advertising/vintage-volvos/#comments Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:43:11 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/?p=715 Moving back to Sweden again for a while and more specifically to the Swedish automotive industry. For those who aren’t in the know, Sweden has two major brands; Volvo and Saab. Today we are going back to the mid 1950s to look at how the advertisements for model 121 also known as the Amazon were [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/advertising/vintage-volvos/feed/ 1 http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/more-photos-from-vala-centrum/ http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/more-photos-from-vala-centrum/#comments Wed, 26 Nov 2008 15:25:00 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/uncategorized/more-photos-from-vala-centrum/ I found some more photos of my favorite shopping mall in southern Sweden – Väla Centrum. It was built in 1974 outside of Helsingborg and took its inspiration from American shopping malls at the time – meaning that it didn’t look very Scandinavian or traditional, which I really love. It even had a birdcage with [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/more-photos-from-vala-centrum/feed/ 5 http://www.ultraswank.net/roadtrip/swedish-street-scenes-in-the-60s/ http://www.ultraswank.net/roadtrip/swedish-street-scenes-in-the-60s/#comments Tue, 26 Aug 2008 20:12:00 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/uncategorized/swedish-street-scenes-in-the-60s/ Here are a bunch of old postcards depicting normal everyday life street scenes in Sweden in the 1960s. Progress has taken its toll on all of these places and I very much doubt they look like this today. Although, I do love the colors and how everything looked so casually organized and clean back then.]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/roadtrip/swedish-street-scenes-in-the-60s/feed/ 13 http://www.ultraswank.net/roadtrip/welcome-to-sweden/ http://www.ultraswank.net/roadtrip/welcome-to-sweden/#comments Wed, 18 Jun 2008 07:46:00 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/uncategorized/welcome-to-sweden/ Enjoy fine dining and lodging at our many motels, eateries, gas stations and… castles conveniently placed along highways stretching cross country.]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/roadtrip/welcome-to-sweden/feed/ 2 http://www.ultraswank.net/eatable/sweden-house-smorgasbord/ http://www.ultraswank.net/eatable/sweden-house-smorgasbord/#comments Tue, 27 May 2008 10:51:00 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/uncategorized/sweden-house-smorgasbord/ Anyone fancy a wide range of delicious Swedish cuisine? Do not look further, go and try Sweden House’s Smorgasbord and enjoy the lovely service of their blond and tall waitresses! I did some research about the restaurant and found out that it was located in Tampa, Florida (at 2720 North Dale Mabry Highway to be [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/eatable/sweden-house-smorgasbord/feed/ 11 http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-8/ http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-8/#comments Mon, 12 May 2008 20:31:00 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/uncategorized/shopping-spree-part-8/ More retro photos of Domus stores in Sweden. Why? Because it’s good for you. Someone please bring back Domus, we miss you. Oh and clean up on aisle three.]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-8/feed/ 0 http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-7/ http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-7/#comments Tue, 19 Feb 2008 21:33:00 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/uncategorized/shopping-spree-part-7/ We haven’t visited the golden age of shopping for a while, so why not take a waltz down the aisles once again. This time we are focusing on the Swedish department store chain Domus (house in latin). It was owned by the Consumer Corporation (KF) who in their glory days had over 200 stores throughout [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/shopping-spree-part-7/feed/ 5 http://www.ultraswank.net/roadtrip/malmo-in-1962/ http://www.ultraswank.net/roadtrip/malmo-in-1962/#comments Sun, 25 Nov 2007 00:05:00 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/uncategorized/malmo-in-1962/ Here is a short montage of footage shot in Malmö, south Sweden in the summer of 1962. You can really feel the warm sunny weather and happy-go-lucky people going about their business or just enjoying the nice weather. Everything seems more colorful, happy and better back then. I wish Malmö still looked like this, but [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/roadtrip/malmo-in-1962/feed/ 6 http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/vala-centrum/ http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/vala-centrum/#comments Thu, 25 Jan 2007 20:51:00 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/uncategorized/vala-centrum/ Väla Centrum is a shopping mall located in southern Sweden just outside of Helsingborg. Been planing on writing about it for a long time now but have not been able to find anything useful – until now. This is the mall I grew up with. Many many Friday evenings and Saturdays were spent here when [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/vala-centrum/feed/ 13 http://www.ultraswank.net/roadtrip/helsingborg-in-the-1960s/ http://www.ultraswank.net/roadtrip/helsingborg-in-the-1960s/#comments Sun, 27 Aug 2006 13:34:00 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/uncategorized/helsingborg-in-the-1960s/ I got a e-mail today from Lasse who has been a frequent visitor to my blog and really likes the postcards and music I post here. So he was nice enough to supply me with three scanned postcards from Helsingborg from the 1960s to help continue my Swedish 1960s marathon. Helsingborg was a major boat [...]]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/roadtrip/helsingborg-in-the-1960s/feed/ 0 http://www.ultraswank.net/roadtrip/halmstad-in-the-1960s/ http://www.ultraswank.net/roadtrip/halmstad-in-the-1960s/#comments Fri, 25 Aug 2006 14:24:00 +0000 Chris http://www.ultraswank.net/uncategorized/halmstad-in-the-1960s/ Looks like I am stuck in the 60s. I found some nice photos of how Halmstad looked back then. Halmstad is located on the southern westcoast of Sweden and is famous for its beaches, golf courses and tourists during the summers.]]> http://www.ultraswank.net/roadtrip/halmstad-in-the-1960s/feed/ 6