Ultra Swank - Retro Adventures

1970s

A Perspective on Brutalism Architecture

It’s funny how viewing an object can trigger long forgotten memories. Such is the case of the brutalist style wall hanging purchased recently for my vintage shop. Created by Finesse Originals during the 70s, it features a fiberglass rendering of a fisherman pulling his net from the water. The strong jagged lines of the fisherman along with the rugged and dark backdrop of the hanging...

Farrah Fawcett – An Uncommon Angel
Written by Patricia Greenwood in Television

Farrah Fawcett – An Uncommon Angel

I’ll never forget that summer day in 1976 when I walked into my boyfriend’s pad and saw the poster of a blond in a red bathing suit pinned up on the wood paneling. “Really?” I asked. “Are you kidding me?” He grinned at me rather sheepishly and replied, “She’s really hot.” “Oh brother.” Rolling my eyes, I continued “I thought you were more mature than...

Vintage Swedish Postcards – Scenes from the Good Old Days

Do you ever think that things were better decades ago? Do you feel nostalgic looking at vintage postcards depicting city life with happy-go-lucky people, a shopping mall with a orange and brown color scheme or the latest and greatest town monument? Here are eight Swedish postcards from the golden era of urban-living that does just that for me. The 1960s and 1970s in Sweden were...

Video

From YouTube user ModCinema comes a selection of cheesy American television ads of the 1970s. The selection contains ads for among others Mister Tony’s Submarines, Space Mountain at Disneyland and Star Trek: The Motion Picture. I do not know if I should be nostalgic or laugh. Do anyone of you remember these ads? The Shoe Closet (1976) Mr.Tony’s Submarines (1977) Tip 833-4000 (1977) Meyer: Your...

American Graffiti and Mel’s Drive-In Restaurant

Inspired by similar restaurants serving motorists in Los Angeles, Mel Weiss and Harold Dobbs founded Mel’s Drive-In restaurants in 1947 in San Francisco, California. Night and day, hordes of patrons that fancied dining-in-your-car came early and often. It didn’t take long for the first restaurant to multiply into eleven. In 1972, the original Mel’s located at 140 South Van Ness in San Francisco was selected...

Why Cads Drive Sports Cars – He’s got one and you don’t

There is something about a sports car that just reeks of sex. Let’s face it, even if we see a balding middle aged man cruising the highway we automatically know several things about him. Firstly he’s got money, secondly he probably gets a lot of action and thirdly – there is a chance he could be a complete tosser. Now I don’t automatically assume the...

Shopping Spree – Part 11
Written by Christopher in Stores

Shopping Spree – Part 11

The Shopping Spree article series continues with part 11. As usual we head back 50 years or so to visit the stylish, kitschy and sometimes strange looking malls and shopping centers of the past. This time we take a look at Montgomery Ward, Woolco, Randhurst Mall and Colonial Plaza in Orlando. Like most of us retro lovers know, time stands still in photographs, but progress...

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