Okay, I’ll admit it. While many in America have a pre-occupation for everything Irish, I have a pre-occupation for everything Scandinavian. Perhaps it began as an undergrad student during British Lit I when I was introduced to the Viking tale “Beowulf,” story of a fearless Geat leader from Geatland, now part of modern day Sweden. Perhaps it was years of tormenting high school students with...
Like many of us, you’ve probably wished you lived in another decade and era. Perhaps you are in love with La Belle Èpoque, Art Deco, Modernism or anything in-between. In Woody Allen’s movie “Midnight in Paris”, the protagonist explores his love with nostalgia, thinking that the past is better than the current. Aaron Whiteside, feels exactly the same way. Located in a semi-detached house in...
Today I saw an ad for a new 3d animated kids movie Peabody and Sherman and it suddenly brought back memories of the original. No wonder I have always been obsessed with the past, loving history, pop culture from the past and of course time travelers. For those growing up in the sixties, seventies or eighties you might remember Peabody’s improbable history. The cartoons which...
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...
After WWII, America stood back and gazed upon itself. There was a new revitalized American Dream after all the bloodshed, home front hard work, and thick-as-molasses patriotism. The American Dream of the 1930s had been focused on working hard, men provided for their families, and hope to rise above the Depression. By the 1940s, post-WWII, consumerism and first wave feminism started to play a role...
Matthew Lyons is a talented British born designer with a love for simplistic retro futuristic designs that pays tribute to the mid century illustrations of artists such as Charles Schridde. Along with the illustrations, Matthew have also worked on a handful of faux movie title screens from the past that looks intriguing. His work would no doubt work very well as prints for any retro styled...
The TV show Mad Men om AMC sets a high standard for designer aficionados and gives endless opportunities to pick up inspiration for designers, illustrators and animators. For the season six premiere, Cape Town-based agency Radio came up with a series of three vintage inspired Mad Men posters that feature Don, Roger and Joan in settings that resemble the works of Saul Bass. The three...