Showing posts with label 1950s. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1950s. Show all posts

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Current Obsessions - Paint by Number Art

via TheDooWopShop on Etsy
Yep.  I love 'em.  No, I mean really.  Cheery little canvases with simple animal scenes or landscapes made out in brilliant, chunky blocks of color.  There's nothing better.  I am currently in search of an old kit after a recent search found a sad, modern offering of Thomas Kinkade-esque compositions that look nothing like their ancestors.

On Pinterest via Rosehilde on Etsy
Via The Paint By Number Museum
Developed in 1950 by engineer Max S. Klein, these kits contained an outlined composition, with each space numbered.  The number corresponded to a paint color to be used for that area.  Suddenly, everyone could be Rembrandt.  In fact, the paint kit box tops themselves decreed it so!

By 1954, Max Klein's company, Palmer Paint (under the Craft Master label) had sold over 12 million kits.  Of course, the pop culture phenomenon was panned by art critics, who pooh-poohed the trend as an uncreative wave of mindless consumerism.  Especially since trade-show demonstrators promised to reveal how easy art could be, for absolutely anyone.

via spinniestorange.com
The hobby continued to explode, and seemingly everyone, from every walk of life, had their home walls adorned with their own paint-by-number creations.  Businessmen - even U.S. presidents - were getting in on the action, feeling a sense of bewildered pride toward their new creations.

In the end, the kitschy paint-by-number art movement of the 1950's came to represent a calmer, more prosperous, postwar America, content to explore the leisure life had to offer.  Today, contemporary artists, like Jenn Jarnot or Trey Speegle, utilize the innocent simplicity of these works to make modern statements.

via treyspeegle.com
Additionally, these "original" creations are now being coveted as wonderful expressions of mid-century Americana.  Since the 1990's, they have been popping up again, either discovered in a relative's attic or more recently sold on Ebay and Etsy.  And they are not just paintings anymore.  They are being re-purposed and re-imagined as new creations, used to lovingly remember a simpler time in history.  Buntings, fabrics, and phone covers adorned with the vibrant works, often incomplete to partially reveal the numbered composition beneath, are now being seen.  A new revival of the amateur genre has come to 21st century pop culture.

So come on!  Because this bandwagon promises to be a fun ride...

Via Pinterest

Friday, July 5, 2013

Free Font First Friday!

Oh wonder of wonders, what have I got this month?  Amazing beauties...but please note:  most of these fonts are for personal use only, so enjoy responsibly...



 My Underwood {} Southern Aire (Personal Use Only) {} Intaglio (Personal Use Only) {} Castro Script (Personal Use Only) {} Risque {} wmthe50s (Personal Use Only) {} Vintage One (Personal Use Only) {} Shipped Goods 2 (Personal Use Only) {} Foglihten No. 1

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Free Retro Fonts! Free Font Friday

Friday, Saturday...whatever.
It's that time again.  Here's your latest batch of free retro, old school, and vintage-inspired fonts. 


 As always, be sure to check for copyright or usage restrictions, and donate when you can and should.

ARWEN - UrbanFonts.com {} Duke {} IFC Insane Rodeo {} Lavanderia {} Kelvinized {} Channel {} Muncie {} Cursif {} Betty Noir {} Langdon {} Metropolis 1920 {} Weston Light

Friday, March 1, 2013

Free Retro Fonts! Free Font Friday

Submitted for your perusal...some more free old school, antique, and retro-y fonts for your typographic needs.  I am making this a new series and hope to provide a warm, new batch of wonderful lettery lovelies every first Friday of the month - yea!!!

  


Oh, and thanks to the suggestion of Lobster by Aminah over at The Thrifty Gypsies!! ;)  Keep the suggestions coming...

Mailart Rubberstamp {} Lobster {} Cardinal-Alternate {} Dymaxion Script {} Riesling {} Airstream {} Forelle {} Mayflower Antique {} Legal Tender via Urban Fonts (link disabled by request)

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Vintage Weddings - The Southern Down Home Wedding

This wedding theme is all about casual.  About getting to basics and what a wedding is all about - the people and the love.  It celebrates will all the enthusiasm and none of the drama.  It says, "what you see is what you get."  Oh, and you like what you see.  You love what you see...

Because it's fun, wild, and flirty.  A touch of tradition with a generous helping of vintage sass.  You'll probably see some tattoos and hot pink hair.  You can bet everyone will be on the dance floor tonight...

An invitation suite that is simple and understated...

A tea-length gown with a shorter veil instead of the more austere traditional lengths.

For the bridesmaids, 1950's prom gowns in various pastels...

Wildflowers add to the intimate feel...

While homemade or non-traditional decor features play up the fun feel...

For the menu, dressed up down home classics like blue corn fried chicken and biscuits with pink peppercorn honey butter...

So make it big - DIY features help keep costs down, so you can invite everybody but still keep an intimate feel.  Think of renting a big hall or warehouse space.  But most of all, have fun.  After all, it's your special day.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Free Retro Fonts!

Do you like Retro fonts?  For free?  Me, too!  Who doesn't, am I right?  So here's just a handful of fun fonts circa the 1920's through the 1960's, from the classroom to the boardroom.  Use them in your newsletters, blogs, invitations, posters, etc. (always check the licensing fine print regarding commercial use, if necessary)!  Enjoy and remember, Google search 'free vintage fonts' and you'll be busy for days...


What's your retro font suggestion?

Learning Curve {} Matchbook {} Nouveau {} Trinigan FG {} Honey Script {} Quicksand {}Yesteryear {} Bazar, Medium

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Back to the Future

What is cooler than old school visions of the future?  Nothing.  Nothing at all.

When I think about these often outlandish or over-reaching scenarios of human progression,  Heinz Kiessling's "Blue Blood" always pops in my head.  Enjoy.


Beep-beep-boop-beep.  This thing will call Mars but you get AM reception only...

I so want one of these.  I love that it has the same steering wheel as a 1962 Cadillac...


Space cadet.  You know this kid was popular.

Hold the phone, Martha!  You're telling me that's not a real wood Frigidaire??  Faux - what now?

Why play polo or water polo when you can play both at the same time.  Don't be a chump - Buttercup the former carousel pony is waiting...on a motor boat.
For more Space Age visions, see my Pinterest page.  Follow Me for this and more fun images...

What's your favorite illustration of the future, c. 1920's-1960's?  I'm sure there are some more real gems I've never seen, not to mention that that if we were to include the cinematic genre here, it could spark many a hilarious conversation...

Monday, May 9, 2011

Successes and Failures - '50's Housewife Day, Part I

So, as you may have guessed, ‘50s Housewife Day has come and gone.  It was a learning experience, one I hope to repeat…a long time from now.  No, I have no pictures or visual documentation of any kind.  Strike 1, I know…

Before I get into it, let me just say, the day was a bit doomed from the get-go.  I had been suffering with seasonal allergies that left me fatigued and cloudy-headed and…uh…let’s just say my “monthly visitor” arrived unexpectedly that very morning.  Thus, I started the day as a zombie.  But it actually started well…pretty well, anyway.

5:00 – Alarm.  Nope.

5:15 – Alarm.  Not quite.

5:30…ish – Up.  Coffee #1 in hand, I am ready to start the day.

6:20 – My eldest awoke.  Perfectly content with some crayons and puzzles.  Mother.of.the.Year.

6:30 – Out of the shower, coiffed, and ready to go.  Dress, Spanx (my girdle for the day), heels, and hair…up (I realized I don’t own a curling iron or curlers a bit late).  A note about Spanx:  I was convinced the pair I had was too small.  Getting them on required a wrestling match with myself that involved me hurtling myself all over the bedroom.  Once you get them on, however, they’re actually surprisingly comfortable.   I had gotten a mani/pedi the day before.  Cherry-red fingers and toes?  Check!

I started on breakfast.  I was going to do a full-on spread, as was most common – eggs, potatoes, pancakes, toast, juice, bacon, sausage, ham – BUT, our family doesn’t typically eat much pig, nor are we big breakfast people.  So I settled on eggs and toast. 

I woke my husband in an apron with a sing-song voice that would have made any Disney princess envious.
“Sweeeeeetheart, breakfast will be ready soon!” 
At least I thought I woke him.  Twenty minutes later, he was still out cold, and my voice was suddenly much deeper. 
“What?!  You better get out here and eat this before it gets cold or so help me!” 
Needless to say, moments later, the entire family was gathered at the breakfast table.  The perfection of the moment was shattered when my daughter announced, “Mama, I no like it.”  She doesn’t like eggs.  At least not in this pure, beautiful form.  She prefers them as a solid gelatinous round mass topped with a slice of cheese and sandwiched between a bagel.  She concentrated on her toast and milk, while my younger daughter just dropped eggs on the ground. 
“Can you get me my paper?” my husband barked, amused, motioning to his digital tablet. 
“Yes, dear!”  I sang, as I kissed him on the cheek.  He read about the day’s events, ignoring me.  Jerkface.  Oh, the lonely 50’s housewife.  I channeled the iconic goddess for strength as I cleared plates and started washing the dishes for the first time that day.  Somehow, I was already starting to feel exhausted…Coffee #2, where are you? Oh, let's find out what happened next, shall we? Sigh...