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Great American Cars Of The Forties – 1948 Frazer Manhattan

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The Frazer was the product of an uneasy alliance between a 35-year auto industry veteran and a brash industrialist who thought it might be nice to get into the car business. The veteran was master salesman Joseph W. Frazer. The industrialist was west coast steel and shipbuilding tycoon Henry J. Kaiser.

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Frazer had learned his trade in the Twenties at Packard, Pierce-Arrow, and General Motors. He moved on to help build Chrysler Corporation, then breathed new life into Willys-Overland in the Thirties. Shortly before the U. S. entered World War II, Frazer and his associates img_03had acquired the remnants of Graham-img_04Paige Motors with the idea of producing a new postwar car. Frazer was looking for a moneyed partner in early 1945 when friends introduced him to Kaiser, whose pockets were bulging from fat wartime contracts.

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The two hit it off, and Kaiser-Frazer Corporation was born. Together, they acquired the mile-and-a-half-long exbomber factory at Willow Run, Michigan, and Henry laid plans to build there his hoped-for full-size Kaiser, with unit construction, torsionbar suspension, and front-wheel drive. Graham-Paige in Detroit would see to the costlier Frazer, a rear-drive companion sharing the Kaiser’s basic body design, the work of famed stylist Howard A. "Dutch" Darrin.

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Problems loomed early. The frontdrive Kaiser "85" proved unworkable, and finances forced G-P to sell its automotive interests-to K-F in early 1947. Yet despite these woes and postwar materials shortages, K-F managed to start production by June 1946. The Frazer remained a costlier Kaiser, which was now reengineered with rear drive and a separate boxsection chassis with conventional suspension and a 123.5-inch wheelbase. Both makes were built at Willow Run, initially at a ratio of one Frazer to every two Kaisers.

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K-F prospered in the booming postwar seller’s market. Its cars had the industry’S first true flush-fender styling, offered an unheard-of array of colors and trims, rode well, and were solidly built. Only one body style, a four-door sedan, was offered in each line through 1948, Kaiser Special and Custom, Frazer standard and Manhattan. Power came from an improved, automotive version of the Continental "Red Seal" industrial engine, a markedly undersquare 226.2inch six rated at 100-110 horsepower.

By New Year’s Day 1950, what some obsevers called the "postwar wonder company" had built some 400,000 cars under both marques. But by then the bubble had burst. The pivotal year was 1949, when Henry tried to maintain 1948 production levels in the face of brand-new Big Three competition and only minimal styling changes in his own products. High prices didn’t help. A Kaiser Special cost more than a Chrysler Windsor, and the Frazer sold for as much as some Cadillacs, which now had a potent new V-8 and much sleeker looks. The result was a considerable drop in sales that left K-F . with thousands of unsold cars. Leftovers were accordingly given 1950 serial numbers just to clear stocks. This debacle and continuing friction with Henry and his son Edgar prompted Joe Frazer’s resignation as company president in 1949. Edgar moved in to replace him. K-F’s downhill slide to oblivion had begun.

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The Frazer’s last year was 1951. Leftover Kaiser utility sedans, with double rear hatch and folding back seat, were converted into Frazer Vagabonds, and the previous Kaiser Virginian pillared hardtop became a Frazer Manhattan. All models were treated to reshaped sheetmetal, but prices were higher than ever and production stopped at a little more than 10,000 units. Altogether, about 152,000 Frazers were built for 1947-51.

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Ironically, the Frazer disappeared even as dealers were clamoring for more of the cars. It was typical of the mistakes that led to the demise in the U. S. of K – F itself after 1955. Management briefly considered a new Frazer based on the lovely second-generation Kaiser, introduced for 1951, but with Joe Frazer out of the picture it was not to be. With the marque died America’s first postwar convertible sedan and a potential that was never fully exploited.


Filed under: Article, Automobiles, The forties Tagged: 1948 Frazer Manhattan, Forties American Cars

Getting Thirsty ;-)

The Life & Times Of Aunt Mabel – Part 11

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Young Johnny’s mother had all her grown life tried to get her sister Mabel to get a job and support herself between her copious marriages. And no one can say Mabel didn’t try. But apart from mixing cocktails and cooking up moonshine she was without any qualifications what so ever.

To her utmost surprise Aunt Mabel discovered that flashing a bit of boobs and some silken thigh above the stockings did not compensate for a total lack of correct spelling and absolutely no typewriting experience. That the boss discovered that she lazed her tea heavily with 100 proof vodka diden’t help much either.

To her family’s amazement she managed to keep that job for almost three weeks. Later they discovered that her boss had been away on holiday all that  time and all Mable had done was filing her nails and powdering her nose while rapidly getting plastered.


Filed under: Humour, People Tagged: Aunt Mable, Drinking on the job, Job experience, Job qualifications, Lazed tea

Study: Smelling Farts May Be Good For Your Health

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The next time someone at your office lets out a "silent but deadly" emission, maybe you should thank them. A new study at the University of Exeter in England suggests that exposure to hydrogen sulphide — a.k.a. what your body produces as bacteria breaks down food, causing gas — could prevent mitochondria damage. Yep, the implication is what you’re thinking: People are taking the research to mean that smelling farts could prevent disease and even cancer.

978-fart-03The study, published in the Medicinal Chemistry Communications journal, found that hydrogen sulphide gas in rotten eggs and flatulence could be a key factor in treating diseases.

"Although hydrogen sulphide gas is well known as a pungent, foul-smelling gas in rotten eggs and flatulence, it is naturally produced in the body and could in fact be a healthcare hero with significant implications for future therapies for a variety of diseases," Dr. Mark Wood, a professor at the University of Exeter, said in a statement.

While hydrogen sulphide gas is harmful in large doses, the study suggests that "a whiff here and there has the power to reduce risks of cancer, strokes, heart attacks, arthritis, and dementia by preserving mitochondria," Time reports.

978-fart-01Dr. Matt Whiteman, a University of Exeter professor who worked on the study, said in a statement that researchers are even replicating the natural gas in a new compound, AP39, to reap its health benefits. The scientists are delivering "very small amounts" of AP39 directly into mitochondrial cells to repair damage, which "could hold the key to future therapies," the university’s statement reveals.

You’ll have to decide for yourself, though, whether exposure to hydrogen sulphide in flatulence is worth the potential health benefits. – – Meghan DeMaria

Text found at TheWeek – And thanks goes to doesitevenmatter3 for the link ;-)


Filed under: Article, Facts Tagged: Farting, Farts, hydrogen sulfide, Medicinal Chemistry Communications journal

Round Britain By Railway Posters – Paignton

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Paignton /ˈpntən/ is a seaside town on the coast of Tor Bay in Devon, England. Together with Torquay and Brixham it forms the unitary authority of Torbay which was created in 1998. The Torbay area is a holiday destination known as the English Riviera. Paignton’s population in the United Kingdom Census of 2011 was 49,021. It has origins as a Celtic settlement and was first 9780_paington_08mentioned in 1086. It grew as a small fishing village and a new harbour was built in 1847. A railway line was opened to passengers in 1859 creating links to Torquay and London. As its population increased, it merged with the villages of Goodrington and Preston.

History

Paignton is mentioned in the Domesday Book of AD 1086. Formerly written Peynton and Paington, the name is derived from Paega’s town, the original Anglo-Saxon settlement. Paignton was given the status of a borough having a market and fair in 1294.

Paignton was a small fishing village until the 19th century, when in 1837 the Paington Harbour Act led to the construction of a new harbour and the modern 9780_paington_05spelling, Paignton, first appeared. The historic part of Paignton is centred around Church Street, Winner Street and Palace Avenue which contain fine examples of Victorian architecture. Kirkham House is a late medieval stone house which is open to the public at certain times of year. The Coverdale Tower adjacent to Paignton Parish Church is named after Bishop Miles Coverdale, who published an English translation of the Bible in 1536. Coverdale was Bishop of Exeter between 1551 and 1553 and is reputed to have lived in the tower although this is doubted by modern historians.

The railway line to Paignton was built by the Dartmouth and Torbay Railway, and opened to passengers on 2 August 1859, providing Torquay and Paignton with a link to London.

9780_paington_01The Paignton Pudding, first made in the 13th century, is the origin of the nickname pudden eaters for the people of Paignton. The puddings were made infrequently and were of great size. When thousands turned up hoping to obtain a piece of a huge pudding that had been baked to celebrate the arrival of the railway chaos occurred and the event became notorious. A Paignton Pudding was baked in 1968 to celebrate the town’s charter, and another baked in 2006 to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of the engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Oldway Mansion is a large house and gardens constructed in the 1870s for Isaac Merritt Singer, who had amassed a considerable fortune by dint of his improvements to the sewing machine. The building is occupied by Torbay 9780_paington_07Council. Other Singer legacies in Paignton include the Palace Hotel and the Inn on the Green, which were built as homes for Singer’s sons Washington and Mortimer.

Torquay Tramways were extended into Paignton in 1911 but the network was closed in 1934.

Places of interest

The Torbay Picture House (now closed) is believed to have been Europe’s oldest purpose-built cinema and was built in 1907. Seat 2 Row 2 of the circle was the favourite seat of crime novelist Agatha Christie, who lived in neighbouring Torquay. The cinemas and theatres in her books are all said to be based on the Torbay Picture House. It was also used as a location for the 1984 Donald Sutherland film Ordeal by Innocence and the 1981 film The French Lieutenant’s Woman (which was filmed mainly at Lyme Regis in Dorset).

9780_paington_03The Royal Bijou Theatre is now demolished, but a blue plaque marking its former location can be found next to the Thomas Cooktravel agency in Hyde Road. The theatre was the venue for the premiere of The Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan on 30 December 1879. The performance was given at short notice to secure the British copyright on the work after problems had arisen with unauthorised performances of HMS Pinafore in the USA.

The department store Rossiters was a centrepiece of the town until it closed in 2009. The store is said to have been the inspiration for the sitcom Are You Being Served?.

From 1889 to 1897 the mathematician Oliver Heaviside lived in Palace Avenue, in the building now occupied by Barclays Bank. A commemorative blue plaque can be seen on the wall. Heaviside is buried in Paignton Cemetery.

Text from Wikipedia


Filed under: British, Ephemera, Holidays, Posters, Traveling Tagged: British railways; Railway posters, Paignton

One For The Lard ;-)

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As you can see from these funny photos that appeared in 1957, the more lard you eat the more beautiful, happier or in love you get but we all know that lard is bad for a healthy physique with low body fat and strong muscles. Are we sure of that fact? Is lard bad for a healthy body? The old lard ads can have a bit of truth even if they make us smile ’cause they’re funny.

If we check the composition of lard we can see that lard is healthy in a way or another because:

  • It contains more monounsaturated fats (thus meaning “good” fats) than sunflower oil or corn oil so lard is healthy for muscle
  • Lard has more polyunsaturated fats that are also “good” fats than olive oil so the old funny lard ads can be true too and not just a selling strategy of the British lard marketing board.
  • Lard also has thirty per cent less saturated fat than butter so what do you want more from this healthy lard from the ads?

    I’m not telling you to eat large amounts of lard but a little bit lard can’t do you harm even if it’s not such a muscle friend. I hope you enjoyed viewing the funny lard ads from the British lard marketing board.Vintage style!

    Text from Muscle


Filed under: Advertising, Article, Facts, Food & drinks Tagged: British lard marketing board

Kvikk Lunsj – The Ultimate Norwegian Hiking Snack

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No more hiking without Quick Lunch

Quick Lunch was almost born as outdoor chocolate. The reason why Quick Lunch was outdoor chocolate, is said to be that Johan Throne Holst, Freia founder, along with a business associate a few decades earlier got lost in the woods. His companion complained that the Throne Holst had brought chocolate on the trip and this was something Throne Holst apparently never forgot.

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“Health and strength”

The shape of the new chocolate was tailor-made for the ultra-modern sports garment in the 30s, namely the anorak. Besides, chocolate is easy to carry and easy to eat, and took the contemporary nutrition issues seriously. It was actually said that this chocolate had the same nutritional value as one egg and two slices of bread with butter.

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The chocolate that wishes you a good trip

Quick Lunch is the Norwegian outdoor chocolate. It has always encouraged consumers to embark on a trip and provided good advice. In the 60’s there were mountain codes printed on the packaging, and to this day the back of the Quick Lunch has been used to convey travel tips, information about attractions and where to find The Norwegian Trekking Association’s cabins all over the country.

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Did you know?

When Quick Lunch was launched in 1937,  chocolate was well established as nutrition during strenuous physical exertion. Chocolate was in fact an essential provisions as polar hero Amundsen reached the South Pole in 1911.

The very first batch of Quick Lunch was made with dark chocolate. It was anything but a success. Fortunately, there were some who insisted on trying again, now with light chocolate and the rest is chocolate history.

During and after the war, between 1941 and 1949, the production of Quick Lunch stopped partly because of the lack of sugar and the quality of the flour.

When Norway hosted the Winter Olympics in 1952, incredible 10 million Quick Lunch chocolates  was sold!

983_kvikk lunsj_10Ten pack that you can use as a lunch box when you’ve emptied it

Few if any Norwegians are without an out-door memory connected to Kvikk Lunsj. It is indeed the ultimate Norwegian hiking snack, I never head for the woodlands around Oslo without a few in my knapsack and neither did my dad when we went hiking when I was a kid. Kvikk Lunsj is one of the few things that follow most of us Norwegians from the cradle to the grave – Ted


Filed under: Advertising, Advertisments, Food & drinks, Norway, Norwegians, Posters Tagged: Hicking snacks, Kvikk Lunsj.Norwegian chocolate

This Week’s Retro Recipes–”California Sun-Maid Raisins Recipe Book” Published In 1916

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987_raisinsTed is in a book mood to day so here’s the second one for the day; the ”California Sun-Maid Raisins Recipe Book” from 1916. A richly illustrated advertising publication from the days when producers of food stuff knew how to drop the lure exactly right.

But forget that this is a advertising publication, the little book is full of delicious recipes for anyone with a taste for raisins – Ted

Click the thumb to download
the book in pdf format –->    

 

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Filed under: Food & drinks, Literature Tagged: 1916 California Sun-Maid Raisins Recipe Book, ftp downloads

This Week’s Retro DIY Project – The Sloyd System Of Wood Work

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986_sloyd2From the book’s intro: The object of this book is to give an account of the theory and practical application of the "Nääs System" of manual training. Although the principles upon which this system has been founded are very fully explained in the two educational monographs of the New York College for the Training of Teachers, entitled "The Sloyd in the Service of the School," by Otto Salamon, and "Manual Training in Elementary Schools for Boys," by A. Sluys, a full exposition of the subject as taught in the Nääs Sloyd Seminarium, and as incorporated in the Swedish public schools, has not as yet appeared.

Just for the record sloyd, or slöyd as it is correctly spelled, is not a system but the Swedish word for things made by hand. For instance “hemslöyd” which covers anything made by hand at home, woodwork, weaving, knitting, sewing, you name it.

But apart from that the book is full of plans for classic woodwork projects – Ted

You can download the book in pdf format here –> pdf_thumb

Filed under: DIY project, Literature, Retro DIY projects Tagged: Do-it-yourself project, The Sloyd System Of Wood Work, Woodwork, woodwork project

Is It Just Me….

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…or has the rest of you guys and galls out there running blogs and webpages noticed that autumn is here. My daily page views has gone from + – 1500 to close to 2,800 page views a day in a little over a week – Ted

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Filed under: Information Tagged: Autumn, Blog stats

Titanic In Colours

Titanic In Numbers

Another Batch Of Old Postcards In A Slide Show

The Forgotten Ones – Rosalba Neri

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Rosalba Neri (born in Forlì, 19 June 1939), sometimes credited as Sara Bey or Sara Bay, is a retired Italian actress.

Early film career

994_Rosalba Neri_02She gave her film debut in 1958 in the film Mogli pericolose. She is uncredited in this comedy which was directory by Luigi Comencini. Her second part was in Roberto Rosselini‘s prize winning drama Era notte a Roma in 1960. Many sources list some earlier films for her, but this is a confusion with an other Italian actress, Rosalina Neri.

Historical roles

In 1960, she appeared in two sword and sandal films set in the Ancient world. The first was Il Sepolcro dei Re (The Tomb of the King). This film tells the story ofNemorat, an Egyptian pharaoh who was instrumental in the creation of the pyramids of Giza due to the intrigues surrounding his death and entombment.

The second was Raoul Walsh’s Esther and the King, starring Joan Collins as the Biblical Jewish Queen. Rosalba played Keresh and was assassinated by someone who mistook her for the Queen. Because of her dark, sultry beauty, Rosalba was often a natural fit to play certain legendary characters. She was Ramses’ intended bride in the Hercules Adventure, Il Leone de Thebe (The Lion of Thebes) in 1966. She was also 994_Rosalba Neri_07in Ercole contro i figli del sole (Hercules against the Sons of the Sun) in 1964. She played Delilah, the Biblical beauty who was the downfall of the Old Testament hero, Samson, in I Grandi Condottieri (The Great Guides).

Although starring roles were few and far between for Rosalba, she worked steadily throughout the 60s and 70s in supporting and sometimes, nondescript roles, such as her turn as a harem girl in (1961’s) El Cid.

Spy films

Rosalba also had quite a few roles in Eurospy intrigue films, often playing a less than saintly character. She was Faddja in 1965’s Il Superseven Chiama Cairo(Superseven Calls on Cairo), one of the dangerous ‘women’ that the 994_Rosalba Neri_03spy, a James Bond-like character, comes into contact with. Also in 1965, she appeared in Due Mafiosi contro Goldfinger (Two Mafiosi Against Goldfinger). Here she was credited as Sara Bay and played a character called “The Secretary.”

In 1967, she was Amalia in Password: Uccidete Agente Gordon (Password: Kill Agent Gordon). The same year she played her first part for Spanish director Jess Francoin a spy film send-up done in comic book style Lucky, el intrépido (Lucky the Inscrutable) starring Ray Danton.

Spaghetti westerns

She had roles in several 19 spaghetti westerns over the years. In 1965’s, Dinamite Jim, she played Margaret; and, in ’67 she was Rosita in Emimmo Salvi’s Wanted: Johnny Texas. That year she also appeared in Johnny Yuma, which was directed by Romolo Guerrieri followed by Long Days of Hate.

Erotic films

Rosalba, the bombshell, was also much in demand for erotic Giallo thrillers, horror, and sexploitation films. She was in Jess Franco’s box office hit 99 Women (1969), one of the first women in prison films, and Top Sensation (The Seducers) (1969) opposite Edwige Fenech. In 1972 she played Farley Granger’s wife in Alla Ricerca del piacere (Amuck, aka Leather & Whips). Granger plays a wealthy author who hires a beautiful secretary (Barbara Bouchet) and engages in kinky sex games with her and his wife. Also in 1972 she played the lead role in the erotic horror flick Lucifera Demon Lover.

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Bouchet and Neri would team up in another movie combining sex with horror, Casa d’appuntamento (French Sex Murders, 1972). A jewel thief is accused of 994_Rosalba Neri_04murdering a prostitute but is decapitated in a motorcycle accident prior to the trial. When those involved in the trial start dying, everyone wonders if the dead man has come back to exact a little revenge.

Perhaps Rosalba’s best-known films are from the horror genre. This is also where she is often credited as Sara Bay (or Bey), much to her fans’ chagrin. She played Tania Frankenstein, the daughter of the monster’s creator, in 1972’s Lady Frankenstein. Tania was willing to take her father’s work to new – and frightening – levels. It’s considered a “B” movie classic. She also played Lady Dracula, a vampire who uses the ring of Dracula to lure young virgins to her home so she can murder them and bathe in their blood (à la the medieval Countess Elizabeth of Báthory). The film, which was directed by Luigi Batzella, is often referred to as The Devil’s Wedding Night. The Italian name is Il Plenilunio dell Vergini (the Full Moon of the Virgins).


Filed under: Actresses, Models & starlets, Nudes Tagged: Erotic films, Historical roles, Italian actresses, Rosalba Neri, Spy films

This Week’s Favourite Female Singer – Mable John

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995_mable john_01Mable John (born November 3, 1930) is an American blues vocalist and was the first female signed by Berry Gordy to Motown’s Tamla label.

Biography

John was born in Bastrop, Louisiana. At a very young age, she and her parents moved to north across the state-line into Arkansas where her father got a job in a paper mill near the community of Cullendale. There four brothers (including R&B singer Little Willie John) and two sisters were born. In 1941, after her father was able to secure a better job, the family moved to Detroit, where two additional brothers were born. The family lived in a new housing development at Six Mile and Dequindre Road. She attended Cleveland Intermediate School, and then Pershing High School, which is at Seven Mile and Ryan Road. After graduating from Pershing High School, she took a job as an insurance representative at Friendship Mutual Insurance Agency, a company run by Berry Gordy‘s mother, Bertha. Later, she left the company and spent two years at Lewis Business College. She subsequently ran 995_mable john_02into Mrs. Gordy again, who told Mable that her son Berry was writing songs and was looking for people to record them. Gordy began coaching her and would accompany John on piano at local engagements. This continued until 1959, when John performed at the Flame Show bar on John R Street at the last show that Billie Holiday did in Detroit, just weeks before Holiday’s death.

The same year, John began recording for Gordy. First she was signed to United Artists, but nothing was released there. Eventually, she became one of the first artists signed to Tamla, Gordy’s own label. In 1960, she released her first Tamla single, "Who Wouldn’t Love a Man Like That?," a romantic blues number, to no success. John followed with "No Love" in June of that year and then with "Actions Speak Louder Than Words" by year’s end. While Motown was beginning to have success with acts like The Miracles and The Marvelettes (and later The Supremes, who had sung background vocals for John) that appealed to teenagers and young adults, it failed to make an impact in the established blues market. As a result, Gordy soon thinned out his roster of early blues artists. While John continued to be used as a background singer, Gordy dissolved her contract in 1962.

After leaving Motown, John spent several years as a Raelette, backing many Ray Charles hits. In 1966 she attempted a solo career again, signing with Stax Records. Her first single with the label was "Your Good Thing Is About To End." The song peaked at #6 on the R&B chart, and even managed to cross over onto pop radio, peaking at #95 there. She released six more singles for the label, none of which captured her first single’s success. After leaving Stax Records in 1968, John rejoinedThe Raelettes for several years. She left secular music in 1973, and began managing Christian gospel acts, occasionally returning to the studio as a singer.

John received a Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 1994. She appeared in John Sayles‘ 2007 movie Honeydripper.



Filed under: Article, Blues, Rythm and blues, Videos Tagged: Female rhythm'n'blues singers.Tamle motown, Little Willie John, Maple John

The Sunday Comic – A Secret Revealed

This Week’s Girliemag Article – Date With A Hi-Fi Houri

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Relaxation Relaxation for Joyce Wilson is a one-way street. She has even gone so far as to make it a daily routine right after she comes home from work. It’s as simple as this. She slips into something very comfortable, and then turns her hi-fi set to some soothing beat.

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 ;-)



Filed under: Article, Glamour, Models & starlets, Nudes, The sixties Tagged: 1965, Cloud 9 Magazine, Glamour photography

Tallulah Bankhead Was Investigated By MI5

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Tallulah Bankhead was investigated by MI5 in the 1920s amid rumours that she was corrupting pupils at Eton; that she seduced up to half a dozen public schoolboys into taking part in “indecent and unnatural” acts. By the end of the decade, she was one of the West End’s – and England’s – best-known and most notorious celebrities.

I would have been glad to participate in “indecent and unnatural” acts with famous and notorious female celebrities when I was a student – Ted

Text and image from Mad Dogs And Englishmen


Filed under: Actresses, British, Models & starlets, Nudes Tagged: British actresses, corrupting pupils, MI5, Tallulah Bankhead

Round The World By Steam – 1906 Canadian Pacific

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canadian pacific_05In 1884 the Canadian Pacific Railway Co. entered into shipowning and three steamers were built to operate Great Lakes services. These ships sailed across the Atlantic, were cut in half at Montreal, towed to Buffalo and rejoined. canadian pacific_03In 1886 regular passenger services were started between Montreal and Port Moody and in 1887 a service between Vancouver and the Orient commenced with chartered vessels, to be followed in 1891 by the company’s own "Empress" ships. The Columbia and Kootenay River Navigation Co. was purchased in 1890 and this enabled CPR to enter the sternwheeler traffic of the Canadian Rockies lakes and river canadian pacific_04trade. The same year, passenger routes were established between Toronto, Montreal and Chicago. A Vancouver – Victoria service started in 1897 and in 1901 the ships and coastal services of the Canadian Pacific Navigation Co were acquired. Transatlantic passenger services commenced in 1903 when the fleet and North Atlantic interests of Elder Dempster & Co and their subsidiary Beaver Line were taken over and the following year, a regular service between Seattle and Victoria BC was inaugurated. The Bay of Funday route started in 1912 and in 1913 CPR and Allan Line started joint co-operation in victualling and stores depots and the two fleets eventually merged, but this was not canadian pacific_02formally announced until Jan. 1916. Most of CPR’s fleet was requisitioned for war service in 1914 and in 1915 Canadian Pacific Ocean Services was formed to operate the combined CPR / Allan Line fleets. In 1921 the title of the operating company became Canadian Pacific Steamships Ltd. On the outbreak of war in 1939, Canadian Pacific placed all their ships at the disposal of the government and several were taken over as troopships. In the 1960s with the advent of air travel and cargo containerisation, the passenger ships were gradually sold and new container and bulk cargo vessels built.

Text from The Ship List

The Ship on the Poster

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RMS Empress of Britain was a transatlantic ocean liner built by Fairfield Shipbuilding at Govan on the Clyde in Scotland in 1905-1906 for Canadian Pacific Steamship (CP). This ship — the first of three CP vessels to be named Empress of Britain — regularly traversed the trans-Atlantic route between Canada and Europe until 1922, with the exception of the war years.

History

Empress of Britain was built by Fairfield Shipbuilding in Govan near Glasgow, Scotland. She was launched on 11 November 1905.

The 14,189-ton vessel had a length of 458.8 feet, and her beam was 65.7 feet. The ship had two funnels, two masts, twin propellers and an average speed of 18-knots. The ocean liner provided accommodation for 310 first-class passengers and for 470 second-class passengers. There was also room for 730 third-class passengers.

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Empress of Britain left Liverpool on 5 May 1906 on her maiden voyage to Quebec. Thereafter, she was scheduled to sail regularly back and forth on the trans-Atlantic route. In the early days of wireless telegraphy, the call sign established for the "Empress of Britain was "MPB."

On her second voyage, Empress of Britain made the west-bound trip from Mouville to Rimouski in five days, 21 hours, 17 minutes — a new record,[6] which was a credit to her Captain, James Anderson Murray, and to her shipbuilders.[7] Both Empress of Britain and her sister ship, the ill-fated RMS Empress of Ireland were the fastest ships making the trans-Atlantic run at the time. In 1914, Empress of Ireland sank in the St. Lawrence River with great loss of life.

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Much of what would have been construed as ordinary, even unremarkable during this period was an inextricable part of the ship’s history. In the conventional course of trans-Pacific traffic, the ship was sometimes held in quarantine if a communicative disease was discovered amongst the passengers. Similarly, it would have been expected, for example, that the ship would notify authorities in Halifax that one passenger had died from pneumonia en route to Canada from Europe.

Less than two weeks after disaster struck the RMS Titanic in the North Atlantic, Empress of Britain also struck an iceberg on 26 April 1912; but the reported damage was only slight.

On 27 July 1912, Empress of Britain rammed and sank the British collier SS Helvetia in fog off Cape Magdelene in the estuary of the St Lawrence River, the same river where her sister met a similar fate.

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World War I

In 1914 she was re-fitted to become one of the Admiralty’s Armed merchantmen. She joined Admiral Archibald Peile Stoddart’s squadron in the South Atlantic. She later patrolled between Cape Finisterre and the Cape Verde Islands.

In May 1915, she was recommissioned as a troop transport and carried more than 110,000 troops to the Dardanelles, Egypt and India. She also carried Canadian and US expeditionary forces across the North Atlantic.

On 12 December 1915, while passing through the Straits of Gibraltar, she collided with and sank a Greek steamer.

Post-war years

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The end of the War in Europe meant a change for Empress of Britain. Reports of the arrival and departure of Empress of Britain were published in the New York Times in December 1918, but the Liverpool-New York route was not long-lasting. By March 1919, she resumed the Liverpool-St.John, New Brunswick canadian pacific_13service for one round-trip voyage. Then the vessel was then converted from coal to oil fuel and her passenger accommodations were modernised. On 9 January 1920, she returned to active service on the Liverpool-Quebec crossings.

In October 1922, Empress begin sailing on the Southampton-Cherbourg-Quebec route.

Montroyal

In 1924, the ship was renamed SS Montroyal. Her accommodations were altered to carry 600 cabin passengers and 800 third-class passengers. On 19 April 1924, she was returned to service sailing on the Liverpool-Quebec route.

In 1926, her accommodations were again altered to carry cabin, tourist and third class passengers. She completed eight round-trip voyages in that year. In 1927, the ship was transferred to the Antwerp-Southampton-Cherbourg-Quebec route.

Montroyal commenced her final voyage from Antwerp on 7 September 1929. Including this last voyage, she had completed 190 round-trip crossings of the North Atlantic.

On 17 June 1930, the vessel was sold to the Stavanger Shipbreaking Co. and was scrapped. The owner of the Sola Strand Hotel bought the lounge from the shipbreakers and incorporated it into his hotel as the Montroyal Ballroom. The ship’s woodwork is still a feature of this building which now houses the Norwegian School for Hotel Management.

Text from Wikipedia 


Filed under: Article, Holidays, Maritime history, Posters, Transportation, Traveling Tagged: Canadian Pacific Steamships, Steam ship posters

London Anno 1959 – Part 7

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THE ATHENAEUM  – This most famous of London clubs stands on the corner of Pall Mall and Waterloo Place. In describing this part of London often called ‘clubland’, Thackeray, a great clubman, wrote: ‘Yonder are the Martium (the United Service Club) and the Palladium (the Athenaeum). Next to the Palladium is the elegant Viatorium (the Travellers’ Club). By its side is the massive Reformatorium (the Reform) and the Ultratorium (the Carlton) rears its granite columns beyond’. Thackeray did much of his writing in the library of the Athenaeum, which was founded in 1824 ‘for the association of individuals known for their literary or scientific attainments, artists of eminence in any class of the Fine Arts, noblemen and gentlemen distinguished as liberal patrons of Science, Literature and the Arts’. Over the entrance is a gold-coloured statue of the Greek goddess Athena.

From “Country Life Picture Book of London” with photos by G F Allen


Filed under: British, Facts, Hollywood, The fifties, Traveling Tagged: 1959, London, The Athenaeum
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