1970 Lancia Stratos Zero: A Crazy Concept from The Wedge Era
Pininfarina and Bertone were two of Italy’s best recognized and most successful postwar coachbuilders. Both Milanese carrozzerie competed for commissions and they debuted outrageous concept cars to impress the public and to entice automakers into choosing one of them over the other. In 1970, at the Turin Auto Show, Bertone unveiled the Lancia Stratos HF, which soon became popularly known by its internal nickname: Zero. Continue reading »
Hobo Symbols From The Great Depression: The Secret Language Of America’s Itinerant Workers
In 1972 American industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss (March 2, 1904 – October 5, 1972) published The Symbol Sourcebook, A Comprehensive Guide to International Graphic Symbols. Continue reading »
Photographs of Excited Dutch Boys Hanging on a Moving Train After the Liberation, 1945
In 1945, photographer Menno Huizinga took these photos of excited Dutch boys hanging on the door of a moving train after the Liberation from German occupation. Their faces are contorted into a mad sort of joy. The photographs could have been taken on the Liberation Day on May 5 1945. Continue reading »
18-Year-Old Teddy Boy George Photographed by Friend Jurgen Vollmer in 1961 at Rabenstraße Stop in Hamburg
Jurgen Vollmer captured these images of George Harrison with wind-blown, slicked back hair during and after a ferry ride on Hamburg Lake in Spring 1961. By this time, The Beatles had adopted the brushed forward hairstyle worn by Vollmer, Astrid Kirchherr and Klaus Voormann. Vollmer recalled: “…occasionally George would comb his hair forward, but always combed it back again. He said the Rockers gave him funny looks.” Continue reading »
Before Bikini: Cool Photos of Women in Swimsuits From the 1930s
The silhouette of the 1930s swimsuit took on direct inspiration from men’s swimsuits (which were still one pieces). Men were encouraged to build a muscular yet lean sportsman’s body. Women also needed to slim down into an athletic body that was tall, lean, and curvy up top to flatter the latest bias cut dresses. Continue reading »
When Paris Was Protected with Sandbags and Masking Tape, 1914-1918
Arc de Triomphe.
Biblioteque Nationale de France
By the first week of September 1914, the Germans had come within thirty kilometers of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris. The French and British armies were engaged in fierce fighting with the Germans in the First Battle of the Marne which repelled the Germans. Still, Parish remained uncomfortably close to the front lines for much of the Great War. Continue reading »
Little Girl and Her Best Friend Elephant, ca. 1980s
Lovely photographs captured the relationship between a circus elephant and the trainer’s daughter. The photos were taken by John Drysdale in England from the 1980s. “I don’t know the name of the girl or the elephant but they were close friends!” Continue reading »
Frederic Edwin Church’s Beautiful Pantings of Icebergs Between Labrador and Greenland, 1859 – 1861
In the summer of 1859, American landscape painter Frederic Edwin Church (1826–1900) took trip aboard a schooner to Newfoundland and Labrador to observe icebergs. Louis Legrand Noble wrote up the excursion in the book After Icebergs with a Painter. In 1861, at the outbreak of the Civil War, Church exhibited Icebergs: The North at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. Continue reading »
Beautiful Female Fashion Photography in the 1960s by Hans Dukkers
Fashion of the 1960s featured a number of diverse trends. It was a decade that broke many fashion traditions, mirroring social movements during the time. Continue reading »
How To Recognise Clouds – The International Cloud Atlas, 1896
The Atlas international des Nuages (International Cloud Atlas; Internationaler Wolkenatlas) was published in Paris, France, by Gauthier-Villars et fils in 1896. This pictorial atlas contained 14 illustrations on 14 printed color plates. A mix of photographs (chromotypographs) and pantings, the text was in English, French, and German. Continue reading »
Mechanical Secrets of Moving Gorillas in “King Kong”, 1933
Ever wonder how a Hollywood make-up man converts an actor into a terrifyingly realistic gorilla in those fascinating jungle pictures you watch on the silver screen? Continue reading »
“Jane Asher’s Fancy Dress”: Over 100 Costumes for Children and Adults and How to Make Them, 1983
A wonderful source for costume making, for both children and adults. Imaginative, witty and creative. This is a great source book for ideas, themes, and very flexible in the use of materials. Continue reading »
Fabulous Found Photos Of An Unknown Man Posing With Hollywood’s Finest At The Oscars And More In 1994
Geena Davis
In 1994, a fresh-faced young man was in Los Angeles. Over the next several years he managed to get his photo taken with scores of famous faces. Artist and photo dealer Dan Barry recently found these celebrity photographs. Continue reading »
Vintage Cover Photos of Czech Weekly News Pestrý Týden in 1927
Pestrý týden was a Czech illustrated weekly magazine published November 2, 1926 to April 28, 1945, during the First and Second Czechoslovak Republics and during the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. Continue reading »
Beautiful Vintage Color Photos of Holidaymakers at Southend-on-Sea in 1953
Take a look at tourists enjoying their holiday at Southend-on-Sea, a resort town on the Thames Estuary in Essex, Southeast England: sunbathing on the beach, singing and dancing on the Royal Sovereign-a pleasure steamer taking passengers on a trip up the Thames, having good times at the funfair, through 11 fascinating color photographs taken by Bert Hardy. Continue reading »
These Humorous Stinker Station Signs Helped to Provide Comic Relief for Motorists in Idaho During the 1950s and ’60s
When traveling to distant places, it is well to remember where you come from. If you come from Idaho, chances are you are familiar with the Stinker gas stations, which used to put up gag signs along the roads. Those bright yellow Stinker Station signs all with black print truly were an “Idaho only” institution. The Stinker gas stations used to break the monotony of traveling through southern Idaho’s miles of sagebrush with their comic signs. Continue reading »
40 Fabulous Photos of Kim Basinger in the 1970s
Born 1953 in Athens, Georgia, Kim Basinger was offered a modeling contract with the Ford Modeling Agency, but turned it down in favor of singing and acting, and enrolled at the University of Georgia. She soon reconsidered and went to New York to become a Ford model. Continue reading »
Arnold Genthe’s Cats : Women Posing With ‘Buzzer’ From A Century Ago
German-born American photographer, Arnold Genthe (January 8, 1869 – August 9, 1942) took a series of photographs of woman posing with his cat. Beginning in 1906, Genthe photographed a number of women with 4 of his cats, all named Buzzer. Continue reading »
Life in the Past Through Stunning Color Photos Captured by Fred Herzog
Reader spruce, 1959.
Fred Herzog was born in Stuttgart, Germany in 1930. Losing both his parents during and after the war, he immigrated to Canada in 1952 and settled in Vancouver the following year. Continue reading »
Photographer Uses Her Dad’s Old Slides To Create A Nostalgic Photo Series
Catherine Panebianco is an artist whose work longs for a sense of place, catches hold of memories, and chases the spirits of those we currently love, and those that continue to surround us from our past. Her work explores how we connect with others, with our past, and with ourselves. Continue reading »
Machinalia : Boris Artzybasheff’s Surreal Visions of Living Machines
Boris Artzybasheff (25 May 1899 – 16 July 1965) was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine. In 1919 he arrived in New York City and began work as an engraver. He illustrated 50 books, many of which he wrote, and scores of magazines, including Life, Fortune, and more than 200 covers for Time. Continue reading »
Elephant Hotel: The Prime Example of Novelty Architecture in 1880s
Novelty architecture, also called programmatic or mimetic architecture, is a type of architecture in which buildings and other structures are given unusual shapes for purposes such as advertising or to copy other famous buildings without any intention of being authentic. Continue reading »
The Lost Art of Cassette Design: 1980s
Steve Vistaunet’s photgraphs of cassette spine designs take us back to pressing ‘play’ and ‘record’ on to make compilation mixes. Continue reading »
Brutal 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Lungo Touring Berlinetta
First shown at the 1935 London Motor Show, the 8C 2900A was a sports racer targeted to the gentleman driver, powered by a supercharged 2.9-liter inline eight-cylinder engine rated at 220 horsepower. Continue reading »
Teach Yourself to Draw with The Help of The Man Who Influenced Walt Disney, 1913
“In drawing from this book, copy the last diagram, or finished picture, of the particular series before you,” advises American artist E.G. Lutz (August 26, 1868 — March 30, 1951) in the introduction to his first book What To Draw and How To Draw It (1913). Continue reading »
