Bob + Dusty's Whirl-A-Go-Go

'Batman to the Rescue'

2012-02-05T17:36:00.000-05:00

Love. peace + soul

2012-02-03T07:19:00.003-05:00

Sallie Blair: Barefoot Bombshell

2012-02-02T23:22:00.001-05:00

In the October 1963 Negro Digest a reader asked "Once Sallie Blair seemed en route to the Bigtime. Her photo made Esquire's center spread, and she was booked into the de luxe supper clubs. What happened?"
The reply was "That's show business, really. However, Miss Blair now has a new act and a new look and is on the way up again."
Walter Winchell called the beautiful nightclub singer who often performed barefoot "Sex with a capital X" and "sort of like Lena Horne with baby fat." She received mentions in Dorothy Kilgallen's column as well as in often gossipy-toned items in Jet magazine.

Born Sarah Bolling Mason Hutchins in Baltimore, Md. to Sarah Mason and Carlos Hutchins (a golf pro, who in 1942 was secretary of the Citizens' Civil Rights Committee, which formed in response to the segregation of Baltimore's all-white — and better-maintained — golf courses), Sallie Blair had all the ingredients to be a much bigger star than she was. In his memoir There and Back, Jazz drummer Roy Porter claims it was an alcohol problem that held her back from greater success, though I have not seen any corroboration of this.

Jet March 5, 1953

Jet July 23, 1953

Click on the pictures for a closer look

Jet May 13, 1954

Washington Afro-American January 17, 1956

"The jaded eye I reserve for night-club openings (the one on the left that droops a little) got the shock of its life (and that's a metaphor that droops a little) the other night … it was present with the rest of me for the Sunset Strip debut of a lady who electrified an audience like nothing I've seen since the dawn of Eartha Kitt … Her name is Sallie Blair … and her opening night was a spectacle of the crazy, wonderful things that happen once in a while in show business … She came here unknown to Mocambo's ringside regulars. But before she had returned for a final encore, even Herman Hoover had heard about her … Miss Blair is going to be a star … And while I'm not a gambling man, I'd take a friendly bet on it … She looks like Abbe Lane … And when she sings, she sighs … A combination like that, I can tell you from personal experience, does more for us folks over 35 than Serutan … If I sound a little giddy about the lady, I am … This young lady could sing 'Old Gray Bonnet' and make it sound suggestive." Paul Coates, The Los Angeles Mirror-News (as reported in The Baltimore Afro-American December 22, 1956)

The Afro American January 6, 1957

Life Dec. 2, 1957 "Sallie, Season's Hit Singer" Photo by Eliot Elisofon

"She Serves a Nice Cup of Tea"
"The thrush handles the tune nicely and with class.
Strong competition looms, however, from the Tony Martin disk.
Playable for Jocks." Billboard October 27, 1958

A closeup of my copy of Hello, Tiger! Nicely arranged and conducted by Neal Hefti but with way too much reverb on Sallie's voice. My favorite tracks "Whatever Lola Wants (Lola Gets)," "When the Sun Comes Out," "Fever," "Daddy." Her LP Squeeze Me does a better job of letting her stage persona shine through as well as what Mr. Winchell was talking about.

"A striking cover (featuring the sultry thrush on a tiger-skin rug) gives this package sock display value; while the canary's sexy, intimate vocalizing makes the LP's sure-fire Jockey programming. Gal shines on a group of standards and show tunes, including the infectious 'Daddy,' 'Fever' and 'Witchcraft.'" Billboard November 3, 1958

"Ev'rything I've Got (Belongs to You)"
Hello, Tiger!

Esquire, January 1959 "A Blare for Sallie" photo by Bert Stern

This issue of Esquire is famous for Art Kane's two-page spread photograph of four decades of jazz musicians, often called "A Great Day in Harlem."

"I believe every woman should emphasize her natural attributes. If the new look coincides with her figure, she should wear it. As for myself—not this year."
Jet April 7, 1960 "Paris' new flat look has debates bustin' out all over"

Jet May 9, 1963

Still getting mentioned in Jet as late as 1978 but they've gone back to misspelling her name!

The Baltimore Afro-American February 22, 1992

Documerica

2012-01-21T13:21:00.000-05:00

Las Vegas May 1972, Charles O'Rear

Whenever I read someone's description of their childhood and see a phrase like "It was a much simpler time" I start shouting that it was childhood — unless yours was a remarkable hardscrabble youth or you were Oliver Twist — it's usually without the stresses and woes of adulthood.

Anxious Youngsters Begin the Chase in a Greased Pig Contest at the Tennessee Consolidated Coal Company First Annual Picnic Held at a Tennessee Valley Authority Lake near Jasper and Chattanooga, Tennessee. During the Day the Miners and Their Families Gathered to Talk, Participate in Sports, Eat Barbecue, and Hear the Company President Explain Health and Retirement Benefits 08/1974 Jack Corn

Nostalgia clouds our memories and often causes us to misremember our own pasts; as Heraclitus famously noted, one cannot step into the same river twice, so it is wading into the River of Time where every second obscures the one before it.
This bit from The Sheltering Sky easily comes to mind: "… we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. Yet everything happens a certain number of times, and a very small number, really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, some afternoon that's so deeply a part of your being that you can't even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four or five times more. Perhaps not even. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty. And yet it all seems limitless.”
Just like the '50s cannot be pigeonholed as a bland era of conformity, the Seventies were more than disco, John Travolta, bra burning, Farah Fawcett, polyester leisure suits and avocado kitchens.

Arkansas—Fort Smith, 05/1972

In the 1970s the Environmental Protection Agency hired photographers to document the ecological zeitgeist of a post-Silent Spring America from pollution to youth culture; urban decay to poverty with the Documerica program. These photos show the more mundane and true-to-life side of the decade, more how I remember it.
See more at the National Archives's Flickr page.

The Atomic Cafe

2012-01-06T20:38:00.002-05:00

Gruss vom Krampus!

2011-12-05T22:57:00.006-05:00

It's Krampus, ol' St. Nick's companion who punishes bad children.

Amazing strange world adventures!

2011-11-15T09:19:00.000-05:00

I first saw Flash Gordon (maybe I'll get into Alex Raymond's comic strip or the radio show with Gale Gordon another time) — and the two following serials Flash Gordon Goes to Mars and Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe PBS in the '70s.
Before that I found at JM Fields (and still have) a large-format comic book with reprints of the comic strip's "Flash Gordon and the Vikings” story from 1968-'69.

The 1954 Flash Gordon series was filmed in Berlin and aired on the Dumont Network. Star Steve Holland was James Bama's model for Doc Savage paperback covers.

St. Petersburg Times Feb. 2, 1954
Click on the picture for a closer look

Flash makes his first animated appearance, with other King Features stars, in 1972's The Man Who Hated Laughter.

I vaguely remember this one. No great writing and animation that looks like it took longer to film than draw.

Filmation's Flash Gordon: The Greatest Adventure of All from 1979 was based on a excellent script rejected by Dino De Laurentiis, whose version of Flash Gordon ended up with far more minuses than pluses. This was first split up into TV episodes and later in the early '80s re-edited back into full length as originally envisioned.

Punky Punkin

2011-10-28T23:35:00.001-04:00

'We're the folks who made this country!'

2011-10-13T09:31:00.003-04:00

Click on the picture for a closer look.

From the War Advertising Council, 1944.

'tis Autumn

2011-09-23T23:30:00.005-04:00

A little seasonal music …

Remember, Tuesday is Soylent Green day

2011-09-10T21:55:00.005-04:00

Can't wait till Tuesday? Order your Soylent Green now.

Wednesday is still Prince Spaghetti day.

Bill and Coo

2011-08-27T14:09:00.002-04:00

Magic box

2011-08-24T22:06:00.002-04:00

Japanese Nescafe commercial from the '60s.

Man o man that's Mandom

2011-08-24T22:01:00.001-04:00

Charles Bronson reminds us that all the world loves lovers, all the world loves Mandom.
Via Scrubbles

Lancelot Link Secret Chimp: 'The Reluctant Robot' and 'The Royal Foil'

2011-07-24T18:19:00.004-04:00

The Marx Brothers in The Story of Mankind

2011-07-20T07:20:00.000-04:00

The Marx Brothers appeared separately in 1957's The Story of Mankind; like It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, with a huge cast, a childhood favorite.

Play the 'Wash-up Game' every day

2011-07-18T07:18:00.000-04:00

Click on the picture for a closer look.

Look at Life: Goodbye, Picadilly

2011-07-17T07:17:00.001-04:00

Free to everyone, except Benny

2011-07-16T19:16:00.001-04:00

Some examples from the book here and here.

The Man From Adano

2011-07-16T07:16:00.000-04:00

This has been called the first Canadian music video — kinda like a a low budget Scopitone – The Esquires's 1964 song "The Man From Adano."

Twist Craze

2011-07-14T07:14:00.000-04:00

Peter Schlumbohm

2011-07-12T07:12:00.005-04:00

Click on the pictures for a closer look.

This July 4, 1949 article from Life looks at the work of inventor Peter Schlumbohm, best known for his Chemex coffee maker and kettle.
I've been using the coffee maker for about 15 years and the water kettle for almost as long. They're very simple to use (using the Chemex filters does make a difference) and look great alongside Pyrex Flameware.

Popular Science 1955

Three strange angels

2011-07-11T07:11:00.002-04:00

The Marx Brothers — Groucho, Harpo and Chico — filmed an unfinished TV pilot in 1959 for an unmade, angel-themed comedy series, Deputy Seraph.

Hooray for Captain Spaulding!

2011-07-10T00:44:00.003-04:00

"Hear them wisecrack about Tuscaloosa!"

Tuscaloosa News Sept. 11, 1930
Click on the pictures for a closer look

Animal Crackers 1930

Why Animal Crackers?

"Eet ees veree simple, explained dapper little Chico Marx who plays the part of an Italian musician in the picture, and has grown attached to his accent. "Eet ees because animals they make such funee cracks. The horse laugh has become synonymous for boisterous humor. If there ees anything funnier than a cat, that wild beast of the jungle, pretending to be chummy with men so she may get free meals and a warm place to sleep, I have not seen eet."
"That's not the reason at all," grumbled Groucho, who is the voluable and irrelevant Captain Spaulding of the piece. "It is because 'Animal Crackers' fits so nicely into the electric signs in front of theatres. We thought at first of calling our play 'The Mystery of the Missing Masterpiece,' but that would have been too long for the signs, and we would have had to change it to 'Haunted Love.' We took no chances.
Harpo, the silent brother, was interrogated next. He made no verbal reply, but began imitating a small boy taking something out of a sack and cramming it into his mouth.
"He means," explained Chico, "that real animal crackers, the kind made of dough, are his favorite confections. Ever since he was a lettla kid he like dem. So he insist our show be named after de lettla cake."
"That's partly right," interrupted Zeppo, the serious member of the quartet. "Did you ever see anything more ridiculous than a box of animal crackers? Shake the box and anything may come out, from a giraffe to an iguana. We figured the title would intrigue people so they would fight to get into the theatre just to find out what the play was about. We were right." — The Calgary Daily Herald Aug. 9, 1930.

Groucho and Margaret Dumont (about a week before she died) recreated a scene from Animal Crackers in 1965, when Marx hosted The Hollywood Palace.

'Loving You Has Made Me Bananas'

2011-07-09T09:11:00.001-04:00

Guy Marks's 1968 song "Loving You Has Made Me Bananas" was reissued in '78 and became a minor hit in the UK.

Ye Ye

2011-07-08T22:31:00.002-04:00

0
Japan's Renown goes Mod.

200

2011-07-04T01:23:00.000-04:00

Produced for the USA's Bicentennial by Vince Collins for the United States Information Agency.

Spirit of '78

2011-07-04T00:00:00.000-04:00

As seen on TV

2011-06-30T10:07:00.002-04:00

XL Capris "K-Tel City"

Dress right

2011-06-29T09:33:00.000-04:00

This message brought to you by the American Institute of Men's and Boys' Wear, 1957.

Look at Life: Scooter commuter

2011-06-28T11:56:00.001-04:00

Woody Allen's interior

2011-06-27T21:57:00.006-04:00

October 4 , 1976

Stuart Hample, who died last year, in 2009 explained how he convinced Woody Allen to let him create the comic strip "Inside Woody Allen" which ran from 1976 to 1984.

I often wondered why Woody gave the concept a green light. In 1977, he related the following anecdote. He had cast the actress Mary Beth Hurt in his movie Interiors. Hurt regularly phoned her mother in Iowa to reassure her that she was safe and happy. During one of those calls, she proudly announced that she was going to play Diane Keaton's sister in a movie "by somebody you probably haven't heard of, a director named Woody Allen". "I know about him," said her mother, "he's in the funny pages." Woody's manager figured it was no bad thing if his image was disseminated daily out in the heartland.

Ad for the compilation Non-being and Somethingness, 1978.

'Mohair Sam' vs 'No Hair Sam'

2011-06-23T10:46:00.006-04:00

April Stevens — minus brother Nino Tempo — performs a response to Charlie Rich's "Mohair Sam" "No Hair Sam" from April and Nino's LP Hey Baby! on TV.

Cocktail Culture

2011-06-12T22:10:00.004-04:00

Suzy Parker on the town in New York; photo by Lillian Bassman Harper's Bazaar 1955

NPR's "Weekend Edition" takes a look at the Rhode Island School of Design's Museum of Art's show Cocktail Culture.

“Cocktail Culture traces the influence of the cocktail hour on fashion and design in the 20th century, from the Flapper of Prohibition to the ultra feminine dresses of post-WWII to the spangled pantsuit of the disco era, and the accompanying designs for shakers and glasses. The exhibition offers perspective on the current resurgence of interest in all things cocktail,” says Ann Woolsey, Interim Director.

Les Paul Chasing Sound

2011-06-09T17:53:00.002-04:00

Watch on Hulu; be sure to check out Google's Les Paul-themed playable guitar doodle.

James Arness 1923-2011

2011-06-03T21:32:00.003-04:00

TV's Matt Dillon — James Arness — has died.
Watch Arness as the thing in 1951's The Thing From Another World.

Água de Beber

2011-05-30T22:01:00.004-04:00

Astrud Gilberto "Água de Beber"

Centennial birthday wishes from beyond the grave to Martin Denny

2011-04-10T23:19:00.001-04:00

For the uninitiated, more info at Weirdo Music and Space Age Pop.

Behind the scenes

2011-03-31T19:19:00.002-04:00

Via Bedazzled

Look at Life: Eating high

2011-03-31T14:36:00.001-04:00

The men's room at the Butlin's-operated Top of the Tower restaurant was the site of an October 31, 1971 bombing by the Angry Brigade and by 1980 the restaurant had closed and in 1981 tower was closed to the public.
Now called the BT Tower, it is England's fourth-tallest building.
Last year the tower was open — for one day and to only 480 people as part of Open House London.
There were plans to reopen the restaurant at the end of this year but BT decided against it.

The GPO Tower was toppled by Sparkle the kitten in the "Kitten Kong" episode of The Goodies which originally aired about two weeks after the bombing.

Spotted on eBayUK

Vintage "Certificate of Orbit" given to restaurant patrons.

Look at Life: Members only

2011-03-25T14:25:00.001-04:00

J.R. in 3-D

2011-02-28T20:49:00.004-05:00

Get out your 3-D glasses — or freeview.

Jane Russell in The French Line in 3-D from underground3dmovies YouTube channel.

Jane Russell 1921-2011

2011-02-28T20:20:00.005-05:00

Click on the picture for a closer look.

“She always said I’m going to die in the saddle, I’m not going to sit at home and become an old woman,” {daughter-in-law, Etta} Waterfield told The Associated Press. “And that’s exactly what she did, she died in the saddle.

Wild Guitar

2011-02-21T21:40:00.002-05:00

If you are a fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000 you've doubtless seen this Arch Hall, Jr. classic from 1962 (the wonderfully awful Eegah came out the same year).

The Valentine Look

2011-02-14T20:28:00.001-05:00

Click on the photos for a closer look.
Ebony Feb. 1964

Be My Valentine

2011-02-14T00:59:00.001-05:00

For Him

2011-02-14T00:57:00.003-05:00

For her

2011-02-14T00:40:00.005-05:00

Look at Life: Coffee Bar

2011-02-10T11:22:00.004-05:00

Also check out Classic Cafes.

Made of new, amazing Zectron

2011-02-06T22:26:00.005-05:00

Photo of a Super Ball at the Pro Football Hall of Fame by Matt McGee

American Football League founder Lamar Hunt famously took inspiration for naming the National Football League's championship game from his kids' Wham-O Super Ball.
The Super Ball, still produced by Wham-O (though most reviewers on Amazon seem to think the modern balls aren't as good as the original), remains one of my favorite toys.

Life Dec. 3, 1965
Click on the photos for a closer look.

And he's terrific!

2011-01-31T12:28:00.004-05:00

It's Bob — no, not that Bob — Uneeda's teenage companion for Tinyteen Suzette.
I first saw them in this 1958 ad for now-defunct discount chain W.T. Grant in the Lakeland Ledger and picked up Bob — in his original box — in an eBay auction.

Lakeland Ledger July 9, 1958
Click on the picture for a closer look.

The Liberace of the sewing machine?

2011-01-04T20:48:00.006-05:00

NB: The documentary contains "language" so it might not be safe for work.

Anyone else remember George W. Trippon's The Learning Channel show Sew What's New?
Artist Shawn Quinlan's documentary Trippon takes a look at the dancer-turned-fashion-designer who died New Year's Day 2010.

Time to simplify

2011-01-01T23:11:00.000-05:00

Click on the pictures for a closer look.

Popular Science Jan. 1955

Created in 1930, the proposed World Calendar is still around.

From the best Santa of all …

2010-12-11T12:17:00.003-05:00

Click on the pictures for a closer look.

Santa may stressing American-made, scientifically-designed educational toys, but with Uncle Sam's hat on he doubtless has the US recession of 1953 on his mind which won't be over till almost six months after Christmas.

Some of the American Toy Institute's "American-made toys for American girls and boys"

2010-11-25T12:23:00.003-05:00

Click on the picture for a closer look. Happy Thanksgiving from Bob+Dusty!

Food energy in its simplest form

2010-11-24T19:18:00.002-05:00

We're all invited

2010-11-22T22:33:00.000-05:00

click on the picture for a closer look

Robin Day 1915-2010

2010-11-22T22:09:00.005-05:00

Photo by Eamonn Mccabe

British furniture designer Robin Day has died; he was 95.

His pioneering early post-war achievements were to a certain extent eclipsed by the phenomenal success of the Polypropylene chair. As the first (and arguably the best) plastic shell chair ever created, it was a landmark in modern design. Cheaper, lighter and tougher than plywood, or any form of plastic on the market at the time, injection-moulded polypropylene proved to be the ideal material for budget furniture. Day took full advantage of its unique properties, devising a masterly and comfortable solution with ingenious structural and technical details. The original stacking chair was followed by an armchair version in 1967. In 1971 he created the graduated tots-to-teens Series E school chairs, followed by the indoor-outdoor Polo chair with its distinctive drainage/ventilation holes in 1975. The Polypropylene chair family was also adapted for stadium seating, and by the 1980s Day had emerged as an international specialist in this field. He also experimented with other plastics during the 1960s and 70s, as well as continuing to refine his designs in wood and steel.

Earlier this year we posted about the death of his wife, textile designer Lucienne Day.

Blatz is tops with Liberace

2010-11-16T06:32:00.005-05:00

Click on the picture for a closer look

The golden age of air travel?

2010-11-11T14:04:00.003-05:00

Life 1965
Click on the pictures for a closer look

The so-called golden age of air travel in the 1950s, '60s and '70s has passed, they'll say, just as those airlines have.

But has it? No, say some veteran fliers and industry analysts. With historically affordable fares to nearly everywhere, greater options for service if you're willing to pay, and new information and entertainment technology, there's never been a better time to fly, they say.

"We are definitely currently in a golden age of travel," says Nick Yassukovich, 43, a tax adviser who has spent most of his life living in Europe. "There are so many improvements in air travel these days compared to travel in the past that they far, far outweigh the degradations in the travel experience. This is particularly the case for premium travelers, but I would still say that it is very valid for coach passengers."

"Fliers Wax Nostalgic About Golden Age of Air Travel" USA Today

Chimp shock horror

2010-11-01T20:18:00.005-04:00

This Sept. 8, 1957 story from the Miami Sunday News left me asking "Well, who is that chimp named Cheeta selling his paintings online?'
This 2008 Washington Post — "Lie of the Jungle" by R.D. Rosen — article answers my questions:

In the fall of 2007, I had been working for several months on a proposal for the authorized biography of Cheeta, Johnny Weissmuller's sidekick in MGM's Tarzan movies of the 1930s and '40s. Against all odds, Cheeta was still alive at the age of 75, 20 years older than a captive chimp's normal life span. When the agent for Cheeta and his owner, Dan Westfall, had first approached me about writing the biography, I was astonished that a fixture of not just my own childhood, but my parents', as well, one of the most celebrated animals in movie history, was retired in Palm Springs, Calif., selling his paintings for $135 donations to thousands of far-flung admirers. His birthday parties were now covered by national, and even international, media. At Cheeta's 75th birthday party, his owner, who runs a non-profit primate sanctuary, had played a video of Jane Goodall attempting to sing "Happy Birthday" to him in the pant-hooting language of the wild chimps she had first observed in Tanzania in the early 1960s. Could there be higher tribute to a chimp than that?

I was too absorbed in the many fascinating aspects of my research -- the history of men and their captive chimps, the early days of Hollywood animal training, the evolution of the Tarzan franchise, newspaper clips about Cheeta, not to mention a meeting with the fading star himself -- to indulge any incipient doubts about Cheeta's true identity. To be honest, I was also too enchanted with what I had been told was the project's potential lucrativeness to question its premise; the agent's casual claim that she "never gets out of bed for less than a quarter of a million dollars" had worked its magic on me.

Halloween fun

2010-10-31T16:37:00.002-04:00

Click on the pictures for a closer look.
Popular Mechanics 1935

Do the Lurch!

2010-10-31T13:26:00.001-04:00

Screaming Lord Sutch and the Savages!

2010-10-31T13:16:00.007-04:00

"She's Fallen in Love With a Monster Man"

"Jack the Ripper"

The Paul Lynde Halloween Special

2010-10-29T20:00:00.001-04:00

The Paul Lynde Halloween Special (October 29, 1976) with guests Tim Conway, Margaret hamilton, Billie Hayes, Florence Henderson, Roz Kelly, Betty White and Kiss.
Seems to be missing part four.

'This mechanical man will be the talk of the community'

2010-10-28T16:46:00.005-04:00

Click on the pictures for a closer look.
Popular Mechanics 1934

Hallowe'en habiliments

2010-10-27T23:47:00.003-04:00

Click on the picture for a closer look.
Popular Science 1939

Fun for your Halloween party

2010-10-27T23:04:00.002-04:00

Click on the pictures for a closer look.

Popular Mechanics 1957

Oddities

2010-10-27T21:09:00.003-04:00

I spotted this ad in a 1952 Billboard for Tate's Curiosity Shop in Phoenix.
Tate's is gone but lives on at Sideshow World.

'The Zanti Misfits'

2010-10-21T23:44:00.002-04:00

This is maybe my favorite episode of The Outer Limits.

Korla Pandit versus Liberace

2010-10-18T23:34:00.005-04:00

Miami Sunday News Sept. 15, 1957
Click on the picture for a closer look.

Scopitone's January Jones

2010-10-17T20:36:00.004-04:00

Billboard 1967

Barbara Billingsley 1915-2010

2010-10-16T19:57:00.004-04:00

鋼鉄の巨人

2010-10-10T17:36:00.005-04:00

It's Starman versus the Sapphireans in 1964's Attack from Space.
The film was edited from The Artificial Satellite and the Destruction of Humanity and The Spaceship and the Clash of the Artificial Satellite installments of Japan's Super Giant films from the Fifties.

The Green Slime

2010-10-10T17:27:00.001-04:00

Start your Hallowe'en shopping … Seventies style

2010-10-10T13:56:00.003-04:00

The first horror monster musical!

2010-10-10T13:19:00.007-04:00

The Del-Aires in The Horror of Party Beach.
Watch the MST3K version in ten part on YouTube:

(It's a) Monster's Holiday

2010-10-09T23:36:00.003-04:00

Buck Owens 1974.

Good evening, I am Vampira

2010-10-06T20:27:00.005-04:00

Click on the photo for a closer look

Life Jun 14, 1954

Sirs:
I wonder if other readers noticed in "Good Evening, I Am Vampira" (Life, June 14) the striking similarity between Vampira and the hauntingly homely woman shown in so many of Charles Addams' cartoons for The New Yorker.
James E. Lauck
Van Wert, Ohio

• The similarity is not just coincidence. Vampira went to a masquerade ball dressed as Charles Addams' ghoulish female. There TV producer Hunt Stromberg Jr. took one flabbergasted look, decided to use her in a horror show.—ED.
——Life July 5, 1954

TV's Vampira, Maila Nurmi.

	Bobby Bare - Vampira .mp3

	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Vout-O-Reen-Ee

2010-09-15T23:22:00.003-04:00

Photo by Bertrand Miles

Vooty String Ensemble: A couple of veteran muggers, entertainer Slim Gaillard and monkey TV star, J. Fred Muggs, team up for a guitar duet in New York. J. Fred, a $300-a-day performer who recently bit comic Martha Raye, declined a nibble at Gaillard, exponent of vooty music.

Jet 1954

Edwin Newman at the 1964 New York World's Fair

2010-09-15T18:00:00.003-04:00

For kicks…just because we can, Bob and I like to jog one another's memories with blips from the past. A few weeks ago, I wondered if either American television newsmen John Chancellor or Edwin Newman was still among the living. I discovered Chancellor passed away a few years ago but Newman was still living. Thrilled, I saw he even had an actual Facebook account. Why I was thrilled? A childhood memory, that's all. I did not "friend" him. Then, I looked around online and found this short film (above; there are six parts total) he hosted for the National Broadcasting Company in 1964. He played our eyes and ears at a World's Fair we could not attend with his grumpy humor.
Newman passed away August thirteenth but his death was not announced until today.

The Swimmer

2010-09-12T23:45:00.000-04:00

This week's Mad Men, "The Summer Man," left me thinking of John Cheever's 1964 short story "The Swimmer," which I read years ago in college and also saw the filmed version written by Eleanor Perry (David and Lisa, Ladybug Ladybug) and starring Burt Lancaster.

Sugar helps you go go go

2010-09-10T20:00:00.002-04:00

Jeans for teens

2010-09-07T09:07:00.001-04:00

A Short Vision

2010-09-06T19:32:00.005-04:00

The British animated film A Short Vision was shown at the end of The Ed Sullivan Show May 28, 1956. Sullivan, who had viewed the film in the UK a little more than a week earlier, told viewers it "wasn't for youngsters" before showing the film which the Associated Press reported was criticized as being "horrifying" and "terrifying" but also praised as "the best piece of anti-war propaganda ever shown." Because of demand from civic and defense groups A Short Vision was scheduled to be shown again two weeks later.

Fruit-Festive Snack!

2010-09-02T16:41:00.001-04:00

Have yourself a late afternoon snack.

You meet the nicest people on a Honda

2010-09-01T10:47:00.009-04:00

On last week's episode of Mad Men, "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword," we were treated to the sight of Peggy Olson riding a Honda Super Cub motorcycle.
Honda's stylish Super Cub was introduced in 1958 and help boost mid-1960s motorcycle sales in the US, which gained a "second veneer of respectability in a decade. The first was applied during the scooter boom when the chic styling of Italian imports encouraged many young people to try two wheels. Honda, the Japanese lightweight motorcycle, has been responsible for the second. Its ambitious advertising campaign has convinced many that "you meet the nicest people on a Honda." Honda sells 60 percent of the two-wheelers bought in this country," wrote Erik Arctander in a 1965 Popular Science review of scooters and lightweight motorcycles.

"I've seen them. They're cute." — Joan Harris
Mad Men "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword", 2010.

The Beach Boys play "Little Honda" with Andy Williams!

Spring 1965 ad for Honda motocycles.

The Hondells perform "Little Honda" on Shindig.

Family fun on a Honda.

Yes, it was a different time …

The Threads of Summer

2010-08-31T16:28:00.001-04:00

[assorted summer-time looks for the man of 1964]

Put Your Best Foot Forward

2010-08-31T16:14:00.001-04:00

[formal]

men's footwear of 1964

[casual]

Saving Up for that Big Vacation?

2010-08-30T11:12:00.005-04:00

The Little Old Trailer coin bank - No. 4 {rpfeikgraphics}
There are multiple styles of vintage style trailers.
Pretty handsome looking, too.

Baby, It's You!

2010-08-30T09:18:00.006-04:00

Toban Allison (Vancouver, NA)

Michaeline Sexton (New York, New York)

Drena Bathemess (Orlando, Florida)

Erica Taylor (Brooklyn, New York)

For the last few seasons, Mad Men (along with A.M.C. and Banana Republic) have a contest where folks (some who may be actual fans of the program) - dress up as best they can and try to carry off what they believe is "Mad Men" style. As of this writing, there are over four hundred pages of never-going-to-be's and wanna-be's flaunting themselves on the official Mad Men website, hoping to grab Matthew Weiner's eye, and win airfare to Los Angeles as well as a walk on part on his award-winning show.

These fine folks are current contestants. We - Bob nor I - do not know them. We have no effect on this contest. We just think these are some of this year's best contestants. These are the ones who "get it".

Joshua Clark (Kent, Ohio)

Andrea (Madison, Wisconsin)

Olivia Lloyd (Richmond, Virginia)

note: There is another contestant I really liked. Unfortunately, either she herself or the photographer she was working with decided she (the contestant) sit in an awkward pose (face away from the camera, resting on back with legs up - A popular pose in this contest!). I'll have to get her name. She was working a Warhol's Factory look - which for this contest is - refreshing and on the mark also.

Learn to 'make do'!

2010-08-27T17:27:00.007-04:00

{1965}

In reading a post on Jezebel (last Monday), one of the authors wrote about an explosive episode from this season of Mad Men. She wondered why Peggy does not bother to purchase a new, updated wardrobe. To those of you who are younger (or older and just plain forgot), people did not turn around and buy a new wardrobe (or whatever they wanted) on a whim, like we are accustomed to doing now. Many women were skilled in sewing for themselves, at home. Certain types of working women, went out and purchased "nice" clothes on a seasonal basis. I do not know how many stories my mother has told me about certain expensive outfits she purchased for events she had to attend (Her wardrobe was amazing. It could not be passed down for my sisters and I are much taller than she is). We, the people, didn't buy new things all of the time. Not for those of us who grew up upper middle class or below that. Hand-me-downs were a common thing too. I don't know how many hand-me-down dresses I inherited that were from the sixties when I was little in the seventies.

A great many people wore they same styles past there prime. When I was a child, there were several schoolteachers in my elementary school who dressed like it was 1968 and it was 1980. They did not do this to be 'kitsch' like some of us do now. One teacher was Miss Spaulding. She wore color-blocked, polyester pant suits, false eyelashes, square-toed patent leather shoes, and huge hairpieces. She frightened me. Looking back, her out of step style must have made a bit of an impression on me.

As for the television program - Mad Men - it is going into a favorite visual period for me — the middle to late nineteen-sixties. So sharp…and I don't have to spend a dime!

{fall of 1964}

"Miss Mantan…for that young outdoor tan look!"

2010-08-27T15:00:00.001-04:00

(1960)

Tuesday Weld: Birthday Gal

2010-08-27T13:05:00.002-04:00

Ms. Weld, today is your birthday…right?

Wherever you are in this world, we here at the Whirl-A-Go-Go - hope you have a blast.

"Prevent the spread of mouth infection"

2010-08-26T13:54:00.002-04:00

"Another great little nurse's aid…Dixie Cups."

{1945}

Lipshaped!

2010-08-26T13:48:00.001-04:00

{1945}

Two-tone wool jersey dress by Frances Frocks Original(s)

2010-08-26T12:00:00.008-04:00

{a Frances Frocks Original}

So, here (above) is one of a few perfect Autumn dresses I adore.
This dress - I recently spotted online.
Oh, just look at it. It's sophisticated yet still very womanly.
Yes, it is vintage.
Looks as if it may have been created/sold about from the late nineteen - forties to the mid-fifties.
S-w-o-o-n!

Math by the yard

2010-08-25T16:59:00.004-04:00

Mid-Fifties geometric and math-themed prints by designers like Alexander Girard and Ruth Adler. Life Nov. 1, 1954
Click on the photo for a closer look.

Birthday wishes to …

2010-08-24T01:05:00.004-04:00

Dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson

TV's Jeeves, various Lord Melchetts and much more, Stephen Fry

Mad Men's Lane Pryce, Jared Harris

Are you a "Sea Nymph"?

2010-08-22T18:58:00.005-04:00

1960s vintage women's Jansten pink and white gingham bikini {eBay}

note: I have the bottoms in red and white gingham. The top - I am still on the look out for.

1950s vintage women's floral bathing suit {ebay}

1950s vintage women's coral and white striped bathing suit {eBay}