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This Week’s Retro DIY project – Toys From Scrap Wood

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A woodwork project published in “Popular Mechanics” in January 1932
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With some pieces of soft wood like pine, a collection of spools, a few sharp tools and a little ingenuity, you can make an endless variety of toys; in fact, create a whole toy world that will provide you with considerable enjoyment. The accompanying drawings give plans which are self-explanatory, but you can go ahead on your own hook and design any number of toys of your own.

Plans and descriptions in jpg and pdf format HERE


Filed under: Article, DIY project, Retro DIY projects Tagged: Home made toys, Homemade toys, wood work projects, Wooden toys

Dancing With Aunt Mable

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“Johnny, be a good boy and ask aunt Mable for a dance. Nobody’s dancing with her.” “Oh please Mum, no. Her perfume smells terrible and she always press my face into her bosom. I can hardly breath.” “It can’t be helped son. Someone got to dance with her, if not, she drinks to much and you know how that turns out.” “Oh, all right then. But You owe me one.” “You’re a good boy Johnny. Ask her up now, before she heads for the bar.”

Image found at 1950sunlimited – Text found inside Ted’s head

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Filed under: People, Photography Tagged: Aunts, Dancing, family gathering

And Sometimes It All Works

Pre-War Classics Of The Road – Part 29

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1927 OM Type 665 Superba

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Aptly named Superba, the Type 665 OM of 1927 had a 1991cc, side-valve engine with a remarkable turn of speed. Two of these machines finished equal fourth overall in the 1924 Le Mans, only 4mph slower than the winning Lorraine’s 57.8mph, while another averaged 103.57kph for six days and nights at the Monza autodrome at the end of 1927 to set up a new 15,000km record.

 

1927 Packard Fifth Series Six Model 526

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Packard classified their cars by Series, not by model year, so this 1927 Phaeton is a Fifth Series Six Model 526 (5 for the series and 26 for the 126in wheelbase); this was Packard’s last six-cylinder range for a decade. A total of 41,750 Fifth Series Sixes was built between 1 July 1927 and 1 August 1928, when the model was replaced by the Standard Eight.

 

1927_rolls_royce1927 RollsRoyce Phantom I

Reputed to have belonged to film star Greta Garbo, this 1927 RollsRoyce Phantom I carries sporting boat-tailed coachwork by Barker. Access to the rear seat, through the fold-down front passenger seat, would appear to require an agility not usually associated with Rolls-Royce clientele; the aerofoil-section running boards double as tool boxes.

 

 


1927 Swift

1927_swift  Although Swift of Coventry were aiming at the same market as Clyno, they were hardly in the same league. Originally sewing machine makers, Swift became the first British company to manufacture bicycles, in 1869. Their first car appeared in 1902 and, up to 1914, their range was highly complex. The 1912 10hp model formed the basis of ‘Swift’ s vintage production, which was always on a modest scale. This is the largest Swift of the 1920s, the 1954cc 14/40hp of 1927.

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Filed under: Automobiles, Retro technology, Transportation, Vintage Science Tagged: 1927 OM Type 665 Superba, 1927 Packard Fifth Series Six Model 526, 1927 RollsRoyce Phantom I, 1927 Swift

This Week’s Favourite Female Singer – The Hellcats

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I found it absolutely impossible to find anything about this superb all-girl garage-rock band on the net and there is no information what so ever on the covers on the the LPs I have. I have decided to present them here anyway because there is so much life, drive and guts in their music that it begs be shared – Ted

Cherry Mansions Title:
Artist:
Recording:
Recorded:
Released:
Genre:
Where the sirens cry 
The Hellcats
 
Cherry Mansions
1988
1988 
Garage rock

Download: 06-where-the-sirens-cry1.mp3

Hoodoo Train Title:
Artist:
Recording:
Recorded:
Released:
Genre:
Where the hell is Memphis
The Hellcats 

Hoodoo Train
1989
1989
Garage rock

Download: 01-where-the-hell-is-memphis.mp3

Hoodoo Train Title:
Artist:
Recording:
Recorded:
Released:
Genre:
Don’t fight it
The Hellcats 

Hoodo Train
1989
1989
Garage rock

Download: 04-dont-fight-it.mp3

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Filed under: Garage rock, Music Tagged: All girl bands, Garage rock, The Hellcats

Irina Demick – French Actress

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613_irinaIrina Demick (16 October 1936, Pommeuse, Seine-et-Marne – 8 October 2004), sometimes credited as Irina Demich, was a French actress with a brief career in American films.

Born Irina Dziemiach, apparently of Slavic (Russian, Ukrainian, or Polish) and Polish Jewish ancestry, in Pommeuse, Seine-et-Marne, she went to Paris and became a model. She made an appearance in a French film Julie la rousse (1959) and met producer Darryl F. Zanuck, whose lover she became: he then cast her in his epic production, The Longest Day as a French resistance fighter. Her career continued with roles in OSS se déchaîne (1963), The Visit (1964), alongside Ingrid Bergman and Anthony Quinn, Un monsieur de compagnie (1964) with Catherine Deneuve and Jean-Pierre Cassel and Up from the Beach (1965) opposite Cliff Robertson and Red Buttons. In 1965, she played in La Métamorphose des cloportes, and seven roles in Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines, each one of a different nationality.

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After making a few more films, Prudence and the Pill (1968), Le Clan des Siciliens (The Sicilian Clan), with Jean Gabin and Alain Delon mostly in France and Italy, Demick’s career faded and came to a standstill in 1972.

She died in Indianapolis, Indiana.

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Text from Wikipedia

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Filed under: Actresses, Article, Models & starlets Tagged: French actresses, Irina Demich, Irina Demick, Irina Dziemiach

King-Size Coca-Cola Commercial – 1961

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A 1961 Coca-Cola commercial featuring some hyperactive people dancing. The commercial features a catchy jingle: "Coca-Cola Gives You That Refreshing New Feeling".

Text and video found on YouTube via RetroYoutube

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Filed under: Advertising, Food & drinks, Soft drinks and sodas, The sixties Tagged: Coca Cola, Sodas, Soft drinks

The Lure Of The Mad Men – Part 8

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listerine_somebody_loves_me 1954

Text from this 1957 Listerine ad:

Somebody Loves Me…

When other girls of her age were out with their boy friends of a Saturday night, Marilyn sat home with Rover. Good, old faithful Rover … he didn’t mind the trouble* that put Marilyn in wrong wherever she went.

Even your best friend won’t tell you
The insidious thing about *halitosis (unpleasant breath) is that you, yourself, seldom realize you’re guilty of it . . . and even your best friend won’t tell you.

You needn’t be a wallflower
Why risk offending needlessly? And why trust to lesser precautions that deodorize only momentarily? Why not let Listerine Antiseptic look after your breath with that wonderful germ-killing action? Listerine instantly stops bad breath and keeps it stopped usually for hours on end . . . four times better than any tooth paste.

No toothpaste kills odour germs like this . . . instantly
Listerine Antiseptic does for you what no tooth paste does. Listerine instantly kills bacteria … by millions-stops bad breath instantly, and usually for hours on end.

You see, far and away the most common cause of offensive breath is the bacterial fermentation of proteins which are always present in the mouth. And research shows that your breath stays sweeter longer, depending upon the degree to which you reduce germs in the mouth.

Listerine clinically proved
4 times better than toothpaste

Is it any wonder Listerine Antiseptic in recent clinical tests averaged at least four times more effective in stopping bad breath odours than the chlorophyll products or tooth pastes it was tested against? Make it a habit to always gargle Listerine, the most widely used antiseptic in the world.

 

lissterin 1957The mad men are pulling out all the stops here, both the text people and the image people. No woman or young girl is going to feel safe after having read the text and seen the picture. Here they’re playing on insecurity, fear of loneliness, fear of offending others, fear of being left out just to mention the most obvious.

The image alone is close to heartless and together with the text it is beyond ruthless and Listerine milked this concept for all it was worth, sometimes directed towards young girls like this ad and sometimes directed towards grown women like the the one in the thumbnail here – Ted

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Filed under: Advertising, Advertisments, People, Photography, The fifties Tagged: Fifties Ads, Listerine, Mad Men

Grand-daddy’s Sauce – Part 29

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All posts material: “Sauce” and “Gentleman’s Relish” by Ronnie Barker – Hodder & Stoughton in 1977

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That Explains It

Captain: (Indicates plaque on the floor)
Here is where Nelson fell, Your Majesty
Edward VII: I’m not surprised. I nearly tripped over the damned thing myself.
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Filed under: Humour, Vintage Tagged: Edward VII, Jokes, Lord Nelson

Beryl Markham – British-Born Kenyan Author, Aviator, Adventurer & Racehorse Trainer

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Beryl Markham (26 October 1902 – 3 August 1986) was a British-born Kenyan author, aviator, adventurer, and racehorse trainer. During the pioneer days of aviation, she became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic from east to west. She is now primarily remembered as the author of the memoir West with the Night.

Record flight

Beryl Markham is often wrongly described as "the first person" to fly the Atlantic east to west in a solo non-stop flight, but that record belongs to Scottish pilot Jim Mollison, who attempted to fly from Dublin, Ireland, to New York City in 1932. Low visibility forced Mollison down in New Brunswick, Canada, but he was still able to claim the Atlantic east-to-west record (a westbound flight requires more endurance, fuel, and time than the eastward journey, because the craft must travel against the prevailing Atlantic winds). Markham was however, the first woman to complete this feat.

When Markham decided to take on the Atlantic crossing, no pilot had yet flown non-stop from Europe to New York, and no woman had made the westward flight solo, though several had died trying. Markham hoped to claim both records. On 4 September 1936, she took off from Abingdon, England. After a 20-hour flight, her Vega Gull, The Messenger, suffered fuel starvation due to icing of the fuel tank vents, and she crash-614_beryl2landed at Baleine Cove on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada (her flight was, in all likelihood, almost identical in length to Mollison’s). In spite of falling short of her goal, Markham had become the first woman to cross the Atlantic east-to-west solo, and the first person to make it from England to North America non-stop from east to west. She was celebrated as an aviation pioneer.

Markham chronicled her many adventures in her memoir, West with the Night, published in 1942. Despite strong reviews in the press, the book sold modestly, and then quickly went out of print. After living for many years in the United States, Markham moved back to Kenya in 1952, becoming for a time the most successful horse trainer in the country.

Text from Wikipedia

In Context:
Hemingway wrote about Beryl Markham : "She has written so well, and marvellously well, that I was completely ashamed of myself as a writer. I felt that I was simply a carpenter with words, picking up whatever was furnished on the job and nailing them together and sometimes making an okay pig pen. But this girl, who is to my knowledge very unpleasant and we might even say a high-grade bitch, can write rings around all of us who consider ourselves as writers … it really is a bloody wonderful book." 

Text from FuckYeahHistoryCrushes

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Filed under: Article, Aviation, Literature Tagged: Beryl Markham, British-born female aviators, Britishb-Born authors, Hemingway, Kenyan authors

Hal Phyfe – Painter, Photographer & Illustrator

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Great-grandson of Duncan Phyfe, the iconic furniture designer of the early republic, Herold Rodney Eaton "Hal" Phyfe was born in Nice, France, to a New York society family. Trained as a sculptor in France and a painter in Italy, Hal Phyfe began pursuing photography an an enlistee in World War I documenting an aviation unit of the U.S. Army in Europe. He made a specialty of aerial photography. After the war he supported himself as an illustrator supplying magazines with covers rendered in pastels. He opened his photography studio in 1926.

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During the 1920s he built a reputation for his theatrical portraiture (sketches and photographs) shot on commission for various magazines. He became the principal photographer for Florenz Ziegfeld during 1930-31. He became famous for his dictum that no smiles were allowed during sittings. During the late 1920s he owned a dog who became something of a Broadway celebrity. Legend holds that he turned down a remunerative long-term contract with a magazine in the wake of his dog’s death, which disabled him from talking business. During the early 1930s he habitually wore a black tie in mourning. His melancholy was somewhat tempered when bootlegger Owney Madden entrusted his red tabby cat to Phyfe’s keeping when he was put away in Sing Sing. Phyfe’s notorious eccentricity of dress extended to wearing moccasins instead of shoes and dressing down in denim at debutante balls during that period when he was official photographer to High Society.

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He was one of the best amateur cooks in Manhattan, with recipes appearing in papers as far away as Los Angeles. In 1931 he was hired on a three month contract by Fox. He went to Hollywood and was besieged for portrait sittings. He preferred the social life of New York, so he returned to New York and resumed a career as one of the central society and theater photographers in the city. A sociable man, he was invariably on the committees for the beaux arts balls in the 1930s, or serving as judge in various charity photo contests. In June 1950 he leased a penthouse in the Parke-Bernet Galleries at 980-990 Madison Avenue for his studio.

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Specialty

As adept at portraying men as women, Phyfe produced some of the most dynamic male portraits of the late 1920s. He preferred not to portray performers in costume. A master of middle grays, his exhibition and portfolio prints of the late 1920s display exquisitely refined shading. During the late 1920s he indulged in the penchant among New York portraitists to vignette heads. There would be strong graphic intervention at the perimeters of the image, suggesting a drawing. In the 1930s he opted for a straighter style of portraiture, full body, often with the subject seated. His Society portraits of the 1930s are well posed and understated, suggesting refinement rather than ostentation. His popularity among Hollywood performers derives from his disinclination to overstate elegance. He signed original prints in red crayon in distinctive squared letters. His Hollywood portraits are signed on the negative in white.

Text from Broadway Photographers

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Filed under: Art, Article, Illustration, Paintings Tagged: American illustrators, American painters, American photographers, Herold Rodney Eaton "Hal" Phyfe

Don’t Go Scavenging For Food In The X-Files Archives

The Sunday Comic – A Contemplative Man

This Week’s Girliemag Article – Beautiful Blossom

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ill_001  Beautiful Blossom
The best reason yet to recognise China

"There comes a time in every girl’s life," quips lovely Lyn-Tie, Hong Kong born Chinese singer and actress, "when she realizes that she either has to get with it or lose – I got with it.

Read the whole article and see
the naughty pictures HERE

Warning: Nudity do occur in this article. If you are under age or live in a country where watching images of nude women for some reason  are against the law  I take no responsibility if you click the link above. In other words you’re flying solo from here on – Ted ;-)

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Filed under: Article, Glamour, Models & starlets, Nudes, The sixties Tagged: 1966, Adam Magazine, Glamour photography

The 1954 Kroboth Allwetter Roller 200

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Designed and built in 1954 by Gustav Kroboth in Bavaria, Germany the Kroboth Allwetterr Roller 200 was a 2-seater vehicle with an open body that had low cut doors and a fold a way pram type hood. The first five prototypes were powered by a 2-stroke, air-cooled, ILO 197cc engine. Production cars from September 1954 were fitted with a single-cylinder, 2-stroke, 174cc Fichtel and Sachs engines with a 3-speed reverse gearbox with reverse that powered the single rear wheel. (A few vehicles were fitted with 191cc ILO engines in late 1955.).The vehicle was not commercially successful and production ceased in 1955 with 50 vehicles being made.

Text from 3wheelers.com

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Filed under: Retro Tagged: 1954 Kroboth Allwetter Roller 200, 3 wheelers, Herman cars, Micro cars, Mini cas

Don’t Look Down!

Skútry Manet A Tatran – Manet And Tatran Scooters

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The Slovak company MANET came into existence mainly through the production of two wheeled motor vehicles with small displacement.

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Manet 100

The 100 came on the market as Manet scooter 1958. It had a 100 cc engine (motor power 3.7 kW) and a complete electrical installation with Dynamo starter. The scooter reached a speed of 70 km / h. The tires of the front wheel was 2.75 x 14 ", the wheel was suspended in a sprung fork with 120 mm stroke. The rear wheel was suspended by a rear fork with spring elements and 90 mm stroke., He was produced until 1967.

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Tatran 125
In 1964 the Tatran scooter came on the market. It had a 125 cc engine with 5.5 kW power and reached a maximum speed of 85 km / h. It was produced until 1969.

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Filed under: Motorcycles, The fifties, The sixties Tagged: Eastern Europen scooters, Manet 100, Scooters from the Czech Republic, Tatran 125

Denmark

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From the 33rd edition of “XXth Century Health And Pleasure Resorts Of Europe” published in 1933

bok_front_small_thumb[1]_thumbCONSTITUTION - Denmark is a constitutional monarchy, in which the legislative authority is exercised by the Crown and Parliament jointly. The King appoints the Ministers. Parliament consists of the Folketing and the Landsting. The Folketing is elected by all men and women of over 25 and the Landsting by those over 35.

HEAD OF STATE: King Christian X.
Area: 44,300 km2.
Capital: Copenhagen. (Population 770,000.)
Currency: Kroner and Øre. I Kr. = 100 Øre.
Language: Danish.
Population: 3 ½ millions.
Density: 79.0 per km2.

The charm of the country, the hospitality of the people and the healthy climate make Denmark an ideal holiday resort, and those who have visited the country have found much to interest them. Copenhagen is one of the brightest of northern capitals and possesses many fine buildings, including the Stock Exchange and Towers. Thorvaldsen’s Museum is of considerable interest. The Castle of Kronberg (the scene of Shakespeare’s "Hamlet") by the entrance to the Sound, can easily be visited from Copenhagen. Education is of a high standard. Anyone interested in farming should visit the large co-operative dairy centres.



Rough classification of some of the places worth visiting:

IMPORTANT TOWNS: Copenhagen (the Capital) and Aarhus (the second largest town), both interesting also from the sight-seer’s point of view.

LAKE AND FISHING RESORT: Slikeborg.

PICTURESQUE TOWNS: Aalborg, Faaborg, Odense (Island of Funen), the birthplace of Hans Andersen.

PORTS: Copenhagen (the key to the Baltic), Esbjerg (the Scandinavian Route steamers from Harwich land here). Svendborg (island excursion centre).

SEA SIDE RESORTS: (good sands) Fand, Skagen (The Scaw).


WHEN VISITING DENMARK, travel by the SCANDINAVIAN ROUTE via Harwich-Esbjerg. Sailings every weekday. The Boat Train "Scandinavian" leaves London (Liverpool Street Station) 7:42 p.m. Restaurant Car attached.

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Filed under: Article, Facts, Holidays, The thirties, Traveling Tagged: 1933, Denmark

You Can Leave Your Hat On

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Baby, take off your coat…real slow
Baby, take off your shoes…here, I’ll take your shoes
Baby, take off your dress
Yes, yes, yes
You can leave your hat on
You can leave your hat on
You can leave your hat on
Go on over there and turn on the light…no, all the lights
Now come back here and stand on this chair…that’s right
Raise your arms up in to the air…shake ‘em
You give me a reason to live
You give me a reason to live
You give me a reason to live
Suspicious minds are talking
Trying to tear us apart
They say that my love is wrong
They don’t know what love is
They don’t know what love is
They don’t know what love is
They don’t know what love is
I know what love is

In context:
Queen Victoria visited a hospital once and stopped at a bed with a dark haired woman with a new-born baby with fiery red hair in her arms. “My guess is, the father is a redhead” the Queen  said amiably and the woman in the bed answered “I don’t know. He had his hat on.”

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Filed under: Lyrics, Models & starlets, Nudes, Photography Tagged: Hats, Joe Cocker, Randy Newman, Risque

The 1959 Bugatti OTI

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The Bugatti Motor company was first formed in 1909 in Molsheim, France.  Bugatti’s founder;Ettore Bugatti, however had built and designed his first vehicle in 1901.  As an apprentice to the bicycle manufacturer, Prinetti et Stucchi, Bugatti had entered a number of races using the companies De Dion powered 3-wheeler. This inspired Bugatti to build his own 3-wheeler that was powered by a twin engine.  After this vehicle Bugatti then concentrated on 4-wheelers.  With the onset of the second World War Bugatti left Molsheim and moved to a factory in Bordeaux, though the Molsheim factory was recovered after the war but not used.

In 1959 the factory was opened up and it produced the OTI.  As the vehicle was made in the old Bugatti works it featured the famous Bugatti front grille.  A one off, the vehicle was powered by a 125cc engine and featured an aluminium body.

Text found at 3wheelers.com


Filed under: Automobiles, Retro technology Tagged: 1959, Bugatti OTI, French cars, Micro cars, mini cars
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