A well known Brazilian singer, Elis Regina, born on March 17, 1945 would have been 65. She unfortunately died very young at the age of 36 on January 19, 1982. Regina is most notable for singing Bossa Nova music. Elis Regina began her singing career at the age of 11 and released her first album when she was 16 years old. She had released around 30 albums between...
Let’s climb aboard the Alweg Monorail in Downtown Seattle and take a trip back to the 1962 World’s Fair: Man in the Space Age. The Century 21 Exposition brought the first World’s Fair in North America since 1940 and the United States was eager to demonstrate its new ideas and advancements in technology, science and entertainment. Rapid technological advancements, Googie architecture, and the Space Race...
Let’s kick off the new year by spending some of your hard earned money at the local shopping center. Perhaps a new color television, that swank black suit that’s now on sale or why not a new kitchen appliance for the wifey? There is something for everyone. Where shall we go first? Montgomery Ward, SS Kresge, Publix or Woolco? I am sure many of you...
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 film, fantastic environments are created by sets. Ironically, though, the...
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964) begins with a hastily prepared animation sequence set to the sonic stylings of children singing “Hooray for Santa Claus.” Once the songs ends, we are told by the newscaster for KID-TV that they have sent a news crew to the North Pole to interview Santa Claus. I got excited upon hearing this news, only to find out in the...
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 subtle. Its writers don’t “hang a lantern” on historical events...
Few events encapsulate the aura of the 1960s like Expo 67. Looking back at the photos and videos of the exhibition, one can get a good idea of the fashions, behaviors, and attitudes of the era. This World’s Fair, one of the most popular, was an overwhelming spectacle of delights for all in attendance. For Canada, Expo 67 was more than a showcase of new...