Down Time

I'm a bit busy re-arranging my office space right now...soooo, I won't have a lot of new posts. I'll be back at it in a few weeks. In the mean time watch some fine television shows, read a book, take a walk, enjoy the internets. The world is your oyster!

Cool Find: Sept 12

If you were a kid in the '60s or '70s, you might remember Funny Face drink mixes by Pillsbury. They were a Kool-Aid like drink mix, but each flavor had a character, rather than one main guy like Mr. Kool-Aid...OH YEAH! Funny Face had some pretty cool mail-order promo stuff too, the drink cups, some ramp-walkers, pillows, and the larger item in my picture there, the Pitcher.

I've had all the cups (mugs) for some time now, but have been looking for a pitcher. I finally found the Goofy Grape pitcher at the Coburg Oregon Antique Fair this last weekend. It'll look cool in my advertising collection.

An interesting note about the character names. There were two flavors, Injun Orange and Chinese Cherry, that were changed out of race sensitivity. They were later called Jolly Olly Orange, and Choo-Choo Cherry. You can see them in the below commercial.

Nutty Mad Men

I've been watching Mad Men on AMC, and of course being a retro-head, I love it. The items in the background, the clothes, the products they talk about, love it, love it, love it. I watched the very first episode, the very first time it aired...Ohhhhh, I'm so hip!

Actually, I was drawn to it for obvious reasons (I'm not that hip). It's set in a time I really like as a collector and vintage dealer, the early to mid '60s. When design was almost more important than function. The lamps were rocket sleek, couches broad and flat, suits dangerously sharp, and the products were frivolous. The "Ad Men" were more than happy to tell us why we needed all these items, and as a naive nation, we were more than happy to eat it up. Things haven't changed much since then, at least in the world of advertising. Manipulation is easy when it's plugged into emotion.

This 1960s Marx Nutty Mads figure is named Suburban Sidney. He's a whacked out business man commuting on a tricycle, his briefcase flung out for balance, tie flapping in the breeze, and little hat perched on a crazed head. He's pretty much the opposite of Don Draper. I think Don could commute on a tricycle and make it look good...damn him.

Cool Find: Aug. 7

Sea Monkeys are an enigma, they're a blatant rip-off, yet everyone accepts that. In fact, they not only accept the false advertising by the Sea Monkey folks...they love them because of it! They're right up there with the X-Ray Specs that were also sold in comic books, we all fell for the joke. It's all part of learning a lesson as a kid I guess, it's almost like the government gives them permission to teach us all a lesson about frivolous spending. How many kids have uttered "What the hell, creepy little shrimp? Where's the little family? They don't even have faces, what the hell?!" That's when dad would walk by, "Seeeee, I told you to save your money."

Lesson learned. Thanks Sea Monkeys!

You gotta love them though. It's more the concept of Sea Monkeys, rather than than the reality of them. They really play on the every kid wants a pet monkey thing.

This was one of my weekend finds, an unusual item from the world of Sea Monkeys. It's the Living Sea Gem. A '60s era necklace that you were supposed to put a Sea Monkey in and wear around. Sorta like a hamster ball, but for wierd little shrimp. I'm not sure if you were supposed to kidnap the mother, the father, or one of the kids for this excursion that would surely end in death...but no matter, that's the life of a Sea Monkey...short.

I'm more facinated by the girl's hair than the necklace, I'm thinking spiders are living in there.

Stars Antique Mall Update

I've moved into a second spot in Stars and Splendid. I share it with my friend Paula, it's right next to my first spot, and right across the aisle from her regular spot. In my old space I do kitschy, fun, pop culture, and toys, but in the new shared spot, we're doing primitives, antiques, and somewhat of a farm house thing. It gives us both a chance to do what we love in our old spots and something different in the new one. Paula is a master of color, design, and reclamation, and me with my whole "Retro" thing.

The colors in both our regular spaces are striking, bright, primary reds, yellows, blues, as well as vintage and mod colors like pink and chartreuse. The new spot will allow us to have natural wood tones, chippy whites, accented with glass, enamel ware, and pottery. We'll use classic themes like books, garden, and vintage black tech (typewriters, old cameras...that sorta stuff) to spice it up.

During the Holidays it'll give us a chance to really shine with vintage Halloween, Christmas, Valentines...all without having to re-make our normal spots. Fun and good for me having to think outside my normal world of Hot Rods and Tiki Lights.

It is in Stars and Splendid, right next to Spot 37, and right across from spot 77...NEW 37/77!








There are links to the Mall in Departures and also down the right column further in an ad box.

S'Cool Find

I found this a few weeks back, it's one of my favorite early '70s models, The S'Cool Bus. It has been done as a Kit, a Hot Wheels car, and more recently a larger die-cast toy. Mattel purchased Monogram around this time and some of the best cross-over Hot Wheels and Model Kits came out of this era. The S'Cool bus is a Tom Daniel design, and so outlandishly sweet, it's easy to see why people like it so much. It's a funny car School Bus with a lift-up body, and powered by two massive Hemis.

This model is an original (it has been re-issued over the years) and fairly well done. Some early built-ups are done poorly, so when you find a good one...it's a keeper. I like the fake windows with the kid silhouettes in them. Nothing like getting to your school a quarter mile away in 10 seconds...

Check out Tom's site over in departures. You'll freak out over all the customs he's done through the years.

Broken Promises

I want my flying car, my food synthesizing machine...heck, I'd even settle for a simple robot maid. Here it is 2009 and none of those things are a reality. I think that's what interests me about "retro futurism", what they thought was going to be the case in the future...just didn't come true.

The "they" I'm talking about is anybody from the past that speculated about things to come, from the writers of magazines like Popular Science, to the animators of the Jetsons. I guess it's easier to point out the things they got wrong, rather than all the ones they got right, easier...and more interesting.

The mice and men just assumed we'd be living on the moon, using jet packs to get to work, and eating food in pill form. They never stopped to think why any of those things would make life better... I mean really better. Moon living sounds kinda cool in some weird retro lounge way...but it would pretty much suck (literally sometimes). Food in pill form, kinda takes away the charm, and jet pack commuting...lots of corpses on the ground wearing ties.

The one thing they sorta got right was computers, in fact I think they underestimated their value by a long shot. I now carry a powerful computer in my pocket (iPhone), something I couldn't have even imagined ten years ago. Early visionaries still had computers taking up full rooms and spitting out punch cards, they didn't see the shrinking of the hardware or the potential of a virtual world. They got it wrong and right at the same time. They thought computers would be used for only big things, like to pick out the perfect mate or make important government decisions, and while those really did come true, we now know they do so much more than that. It's obviously tougher to predict the future than one would think. Thank goodness, because it gives "Retro Futurists" something to do.

The ultimate Futurist event was the 1962 Seattle Worlds Fair, AKA The Century 21 Exposition. It offered the promise of a sleek new world, but one of a 1950's consumerist optimism rather than what the '60s would later come to represent. As an example, the technology showcased for a woman was kitchen or home-maker based, no social or sexual equality was represented. Technology was our saving grace and America was king, as long as everything remained status quo. The Monorail, the Space Needle, the Science Pavilion, these are monuments to that age, or more accurately, the end of that age. I'm not saying Retro Futurism predictions didn't take place beyond the early '60s, but as the '70s approached, the plastic chrome plating wore off and the cynicism started to show through. It became more "Logan's Run", looked good, but with a serious downside. Now I'm just referring to mainstream pop culture and design, not so much deep science fiction literature. There were cynics in that realm long before the 70's (Brave New World).

My wife and I collect Seattle World's Fair stuff, and I could go on and on about all the neat-o items that were available. But to fit with my "flying car" theme, I'm highlighting this little paper pamphlet from the Ford Motor Company showcasing their Seattle'ite XXI concept car. It's an example of sweet retro-future styling, with some pretty accurate predictions. It predicts Fuel Cells, a Travel Computer, a GPS Map (it's in the rear view mirror), and a version of solar glass. These are all fairly accurate, and most more recent to the automotive world. It was styled like it was ready to take off and fly, bubble top, wings, and faux rocket tips on the rear end. It represents Retro Futurism pretty well. Seattle...Seattle'ite...Satellite...space age cool...but still no flying.