Sunday, July 28, 2013
vintage prairie style: revival store
vintage prairie style: revival store: A big thanks to Revival for featuring this little blog in their work that blog series. It was a happy surprise! A friend visited this s...
Monday, February 4, 2013
POPULUXE - A Mode For The Masses
Do you know why, in this day and age, we recognize a McDonald's from a distant mile? See it - before we smell it? Why we need but a glimpse of Tim Horton's to soothe our steering? You may be surprised at just how and when this all began.
It's impossible to look at Populuxe design without taking a peek at the trends which came before it. Streamline Moderne was responsible for cleaning up modern design and Googie for dolling it up again.
Without Streamline Moderne, there would be no Googie and no Populuxe. Originating in the 1930's during and after the Great Depression, Streamline Moderne unceremoniously stripped Deco of its lavish ornamental features.
Unlike the Roaring Twenties giddy on The Charleston, Champagne and Cocaine, the Thirties called for harsh austerity. Googie stripped away the frills and straightened out the lines. Equally, America's love affair with machine age technology, travel and ocean liners - informed design elements celebrating Speed and Motion.
However, the oldest McDonald's stand in Downey, California in 1953 still stands and is now on the National Register of Historic Places.
Wayne McAllister was, no doubt, one of the early pioneers of Googie. Commissioned to design Bob's Big Boy restaurant in Burbank, California, McAllister single-handedly changed big branding forevermore. We can thank or resent Googie for a number of things.
Now that America had the automobile, America wanted to travel and America needed to eat along the way. To catch the attention of those zooming motorists and their bursting wallets, style became a must.
In the 1950s McAllister came up with the novel idea of developing unique branding for coffee shop chains by creating a recognizable style for each client. Travelling and getting a bite along the way would never be the same. Ravenous travellers could now see their snack-stop before they could smell it.
For amazing Vintage Advertising prints, visit
https://www.etsy.com/shop/ACMEVintageLimited
For Collectible Retro, visit
www.revivalvintagestudio.etsy.com
Do you know why, in this day and age, we recognize a McDonald's from a distant mile? See it - before we smell it? Why we need but a glimpse of Tim Horton's to soothe our steering? You may be surprised at just how and when this all began.
It's impossible to look at Populuxe design without taking a peek at the trends which came before it. Streamline Moderne was responsible for cleaning up modern design and Googie for dolling it up again.
Without Streamline Moderne, there would be no Googie and no Populuxe. Originating in the 1930's during and after the Great Depression, Streamline Moderne unceremoniously stripped Deco of its lavish ornamental features.
Unlike the Roaring Twenties giddy on The Charleston, Champagne and Cocaine, the Thirties called for harsh austerity. Googie stripped away the frills and straightened out the lines. Equally, America's love affair with machine age technology, travel and ocean liners - informed design elements celebrating Speed and Motion.
Some Stunning Streamline Moderne
Faster Faster
Look Pa - No Frills
Like so many good things, Streamline Moderne movement came to its fateful end. The style lost its appeal and, sadly, many edifices have gone to Good Architecture Heaven. America wanted something pretty again.
Small Town Streamline - Farewell
Toronto, Canada - And then came the Condo
Enter Googie
Googie originiated in 1949 in Southern California with the Googie (nickname of the owner's wife) coffee shop, designed by John Lautner, located on Sunset Boulevard. Unfortunately, the architectural birthplace (like so many iconic buildings) was demolished in 1986.
However, the oldest McDonald's stand in Downey, California in 1953 still stands and is now on the National Register of Historic Places.
McDonalds - Easily McSeen
Wayne McAllister was, no doubt, one of the early pioneers of Googie. Commissioned to design Bob's Big Boy restaurant in Burbank, California, McAllister single-handedly changed big branding forevermore. We can thank or resent Googie for a number of things.
Now that America had the automobile, America wanted to travel and America needed to eat along the way. To catch the attention of those zooming motorists and their bursting wallets, style became a must.
In the 1950s McAllister came up with the novel idea of developing unique branding for coffee shop chains by creating a recognizable style for each client. Travelling and getting a bite along the way would never be the same. Ravenous travellers could now see their snack-stop before they could smell it.
Can't Miss It
Hello 1950's. America was prosperous again. Anything was possible. How could one ignore it? And modern design reflected and exploited the country's optimism and rampant materialism.
Enter Populuxe
POPULUXE - the term, itself, combines two fundamental concepts - "populism, the popular" and "luxury". Luxury exists and it's here for everyone. Get some gas, grab a burger and check out the drive-in. Second wind? Go for a bowl.
It's style and it's all for you (or rather, it's for all of you).
Atomic Era where Signage and Architecture burst with the all things molecular - atomic bursts, diagonals, boomerangs.
Hello 1960's ... The Space Age. America's going into orbit and there's no turning back. Surely, now that the Russians have spun around in space and the U.S. is busy chasing them, one can't be expected to sit tight here on earth.
Populuxe consecrates rockets, satellites, orbits and the galaxy. Ground Control to Design World: "Make it look like it could lift off."
Design in Orbit
Monday, January 28, 2013
For amazing Vintage Advertising Prints, visit
https://www.etsy.com/shop/ACMEVintageLimited
For Collectible Retro, visit www.revivalvintagestudio.etsy.com
Feverish fads come and go, but few fascinations have taken hold of the American psyche with greater fervour than The Atomic Age ... surpassed perhaps only by The Space Age.
The Atomic Age, ushered in with unprecedented optimism and enthusiasm for all things atomic, eventually found itself on uneasy ground clouded by a preoccupation with the possibility of nuclear armageddon.
Enter The Space Age. What a timely and perfect distraction from The Fall-Out Shelter, fear of atomic annihilation and the imminent "Red Scare". How much more attractive an option ... to check out of this earthly doom and imagine riding a rocket into Outer Space.
On October 4, 1956, Sputnik successfully orbited the earth in 98.1 minutes. This momentous event ushered in what came to be known as The Space Age.
The lovely little Sputnik weighs in at 83 kg
On October 7, 1959 the Soviet spacecraft Luna 3 took the first photograph of "The Far Side of the Moon".
The United States was beaten to the punch by the Soviets and President Kennedy hit the accelerator full throttle. As U.S. policy had demonstrated time and again, the notion that "The Other Side" could possess something desired by America - set off all-American alarm bells. The Space Race was on. Once again, the Soviets won first place when Yuri Gagarin became the first Cosmonaut to travel in Outer Space. Oh, those Russians.
Yuri Gagarin orbits the earth on April 20, 1961
First Spaceship "Vostok" returns to Earth
Kennedy set the gears full throttle to advance America's space technology and to instil confidence in the public that the U.S. would lead the Space Race. A much-needed diversion from the Duck and Cover syndrome - the U.S. both stimulated and exploited the new enthusiasm for space travel.
And The Space Craze was born.
You name it - Outer Space revealed itself in all things earthly - Interior Design, Architecture, Fashion, Typography, Automobile Design, Television, Toys, Entertainment, Film, Cartoons, Advertising. The cosmic possibilities endless.
Get Ready for Lift-Off
Space Age Motifs
Characterized by all things Outer Space - domes, parabolas, satellites, rockets, comets and, of course, the moon.
Rocket Ship Bedtime
Modular Living
The Age of The Automobile
Come Fly Away ...
Half-Rocket ... Half-Car
STYLE that was OUT OF THIS WORLD
Ground Control to ........
Iconic Galactic Jane
Home Away From Home
Space Age Fashion Meets Op-Art (another blog)
Which came first? The Mini or The Space Age
And then came "Twister"
Space Travel Sells - Advertising
"The Moon - A cleaner place to live"
Robot Rage
I, Robot and I, Creepy Kid
From Pencil to Missile
TELEVISION
Fascination with Space Travel took television by storm. The Jetsons, Lost in Space, Raumpatrouille Orion (Germany), Life in Outer Space, Rocket Ship 7 and Commander Tom. And the infusion of melodrama in Space TV virtually normalized the notion that these people were floating around in Space.
The Shape of Things to Come
Honourable Mention - The Picture Phone
(way ahead of its time)
TELEVISION GOES INTO ORBIT
Fascination with Space Travel took television by storm. The Jetsons, Lost in Space, German show, Life in Outer Space became virtually normalized in drama in shows like
You Silly Robot
Outer Galactic Oz ?
Rocket Ship 7
Commander Tom
Outer Space is Serious Stuff
In Germany - Raumpatrouille Orion with Eva Pflug
"I just gotta get outta this place."
Even Tin Tin Goes To the Moon
"Meet George Jetson ... his wife, Jane ..."
Spirit In The Sky
WARNING - Don't Get Lost
In America - all fascinations can become frightening.
Land of the Giants 1968-1970 (Set in Future Year 1983)
The Time Tunnel 1966-67
Space Age Decor
Lunar Inspiration
Lunar Eclipse
Maurice Ascalon Ashtray
Today the Moon. Tomorrow The Rings of Saturn
Extraordinarily Orbital Lighting
BACK IN THE USSR
Soviet Matchbox Design
A Night out at the Movies
 |
Zsa Zsa - From Hungary to Outer Space via Hollywood |
Hello Down There - The Spaceship in the Sea
America Scares Itself Silly
Because let's face it, if WE can find them ... THEY can find us.
It seems it was all fun and lunar lunacy until it dawned on the U.S. that The Unknown hold a surprise or two for we mere Earthlings. Duck and Cover is replaced by Martian Hysteria.
Science Fiction - Double Feature
So this is what the Mounties were up to ...
Music To Our Ears
Claus Visits the Cosmos
No worries. Santa's back and bearing gifts.
Goodbye Space Age Sixties. Enter the Hippy.
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