Vintage People
I don't collect vintage slides as much as I used to (for one thing, they've gotten expensive), but I still have a few boxes of examples that I saved. While I loved to find good pictures of beautiful old cars, or neat city scenes, or airplanes, I do get a kick out of the occasional vintage portrait. The clothes and furnishings are a blast to the past, and sometimes the love (yuck! mushy!) somehow comes through all these years later.
Like this first one, dated "March 1963"! We've seen this charming woman before; her name is Helen, and she seems to be showing off the latest addition to her home. Is this a liquor cabinet? A radio hidden in rich mahogany? Or maybe even a television set? Maybe she watches a program about a certain manic redhead. Or Ed Sullivan, or the Danny Thomas Show. We'll never know.
Next is an undated photo of a pensive young girl, probably from the 1950s; she can see dead people. Trust me, it takes a lot out of a person. Bold floral patterns were the fashion of the day (apparently).
And finally, another undated (but probably 1950s) photo of a nice lady happily chatting on the telephone. There's something about the picture that reminds me of my grandmother's house, which had a "phone nook" in the back hall. My mom's old bedroom had wallpaper that looked very much like what is on the wall here. Even the glass doorknobs remind me of my grandma's bedroom. Maybe somebody this woman to wish her a happy birthday!
I hope you have enjoyed today's Vintage People.
12 comments:
Major-
"Is this a liquor cabinet? A radio hidden in rich mahogany? Or maybe even a television set?"
Since it says RCA Victor above the door handles, you can be fairly certain it isn't a liquor cabinet. It could easily be a radio-phonograph combo - and maybe a TV, too - but most-certainly NOT from the 1960's - the cabinet design is too old for that.
That poor child in the 2nd image looks as if she just survived an exorcism - or was merely focused on those drapes for too long...
That appears to be a Western-Electric 300-series telephone in the final image.
Thanks, Major.
Why, it's obvious Major, this is a moss-covered three-handled family gradunza! Although, there appears to be only two handles (maybe one of them broke off?)... and they are rather strange handles, at that. Looking more closely, it says "RCA Victor" above the handles (I knew Nanook would beat me to it!), so I would guess that it's a moss-covered three-handled family hi-fi stereo, circa 1956.
That plant in the vase looks like a Japanese ikebana (flower arrangement). Too strange-looking to be fake, I think. And that window is pretty high up. I would guess this is in a basement, or "daylight basement".
Ghost Girl is giving me the willies. On the other hand, I love those drapes! And the lamp base is pretty snazzy too... and the decorative bowl! This photo has a "Girl with a Pearl Earring" vibe to it.
Besides trailing ivy in the wallpaper design, there are also white bricks. My aunt had one of those big, tall, black phones. Someone here knows the model; seems like either JG or Nanook? She's gots somethings in her handses; a grocery list perhaps?
Ah, it WAS Nanook who knows all about old phones!
Fun fotos, Major. Thanks.
Major-
I'm going out on a limb and declare that lovely mahogany cabinet houses an RCA Staunton 21" B&W television set, from 1953 - selling for a 'mere' $465.00 [that's about $5,388.00 today] YIKES-!
At least for all that money your television set comes equipped with a New, automatic "Magic Monitor" circuit system... screens out static! Brings in the finest TV pictures possible - and holds them at their finest - automatically!
I like the stylized squirrel statue, on top of the TV cabinet. There appears to be a second statue hiding (lurking?) behind Helen. By the way, What's the Matter with Helen?
The Vintage People, opening for Bird Pervert!
"That poor child in the 2nd image looks as if she just survived an exorcism"
Or another forced home perm.
"Dammit, Joanne, you SAID you wished you looked like Shirley Temple when we saw The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer on Aunt Genevieve's new RCA Victor television set. Now you are going to get back into this kitchen right now and let me finish that perm, or you're going to go to school looking like both the twin who had the Toni and the twin who didn't."
The second picture is flashing me back to my Grandma's house, with the heavy metal window blinds that made that satisfying clanking noise, the knobbly class candy dish, the heavy floral drapes that were probably half double knit nylon and half asbestos, and the heavy, dark, curved wood furniture.
Since the lady in the last picture is wearing a red sweater, I assume she's a mole for the House Un-American Activities Committee, and that's a list of all the suspected Communist sympathizers in her area. She's on the phone to J. Edgar Hoover, reporting in on all the latest union organizing activity, and also next season's hemlines.
The window frame in stained wood is beautiful and the high sill tempts me to agree with JB, probably a basement location. Sometimes we see high sills on upper floors so the windows don’t interfere with the roof line, but a TV is more likely to be in the basement rumpus room.
I remember our cabinet radio from earliest memories. The tuning dial tipped out like a hopper and was pre-engraved with the call letters and frequencies of Major-market radio stations across the country. I used to wonder what might be broadcast by the CBS affiliate in Chicago, for example, but all we could bring in were local stations. Sometimes at night the Bakersfield and Bay Area stations would be clear enough to listen. I remember the set having to warm up after turning it on, no instant start like those newfangled transistor sets. I don’t blame Helen for being proud of this beautiful and expensive instrument.
The vase on top is sitting in a clear glass plate with a beaded rim. The plate pattern is called “candlewick” or something like that. Mom had a good collection of it, dessert plates, nut dishes, water glasses etc. all too good for “everyday” use of course. Our daughter has it all now and has added significantly to the collection. She uses it as her everyday dishes and I applaud it because there’s no sense in having stuff too good to use. TM, the figurine behind Helen is probably another squirrel in a contrasting pose. These tchotchkes often came in not-quite-symmetric pairs. No idea why. Again, Mom had similar keepsakes but I can’t recall specifics.
The Ghost Girl is standing near a candy dish of knobby pink glass very similar to another one in Moms collection. Not sure where ours went, I always thought it looked like someone’s insides, so I probably gave it away. The young lady doesn’t want her picture made but is too well-bred to make a fuss.
The lady in photo 3 could be Mrs. G’s mom, looks exactly like her in photos of that age, right down to the glasses.
Major, thank you so much for these vintage portraits. Many memories here, even if I don’t know Helen or the other ladies.
JG
@ Melissa-
"... or you're going to go to school looking like both the twin who had the Toni and the twin who didn't."
Boy, there's a gag the marketing folks at Toni clealy missed. (Personally - I prefer a Lilt Home Permanent... "Pick a look... Pick a Lilt-!")
Perhaps THIS moment preceded the image of the little girl The Major posted.
I would have expected a set of "rabbit ears" on the top of that TV. I guess they had the aerial on the roof.
Nanook, I guess I should look at the full-size image when I write my incredibly insightful text! Unless this is from the brief time when RCA made liquor cabinets. Nipper liked to have a nip before bedtime! I’m thinking that 1963 might be a typo, but I’ve returned the slide to my underground vault in Norway, so I can’t check it. The other photo of Helen that I linked to is from 1952, though she has dark hair in that one.
JB, so funny, I read “moss-covered three-handled family gradunza” and can instantly hear that song in my head! RCA Victor? Who was the RCA Loser? Ikebana, that was even popular when I was a kid, my mom played around with that art form. The window looks high up, but in truth Helen is only two feet tall, that radio is a small desk top model. I wonder if anybody still uses crazy bold floral patterns for drapes anymore? Those things are hard to ignore. I prefer drapes with Marvel superheroes on them. That tall black phone really does look antique (not “candlestick phone” antique, but still), but I’ll bet it was basically bulletproof.
Nanook, wowee, the equivalent of over $5,000! Holy moly. I love the product names such as “Magic Monitor”. It’s like there’s a genie in your TV!
TokyoMagic!, the squirrel statue is great, I love the little tchotchkes that people put in their homes years ago. Yes, I think there’s a second one behind Helen.
Melissa, hey, I do home perms all the time, people ask me about my magnificent, wavy hair. But I never tell! I have found that girls with naturally curly hair often wish their hair was straight, and vice-versa. One of my friends has the greatest curly auburn hair, and she pays good money to have it flattened out. WHY? All of these photos have elements that remind me of the homes of my maternal and paternal grandparents, I sure miss the days when we could visit those wonderful people.
Melissa, that lady went to Disneyland a few days later and wore her red sweater!
JG, Helen has a pretty nice finished basement. When we went to visit my grandparents in Minnesota, my brother and I would sleep on fold-away cots in the basement, where the laundry machines were, and where my Grandpa did his wood turning. I still remember that pleasant detergent smell! And waking up to the sound of footsteps overhead, and eventually smelling the coffee that my Grandma made first thing. We never had a big old radio, but I like the idea of waiting for a favorite program and gathering around the glowing dial to hear Jack Benny or “Gunsmoke”. Funny about the dishes that were “too good” to use, my mom and grandmother had tons of it, and now nobody wants any of it. We essentially have to give it away to clear out space. Some of it was theoretically valuable at some point. But not now. The knobby pink glass dish looks like the kind I would see my the hundreds in antiques stores in the midwest. I’m glad you enjoyed these!
Nanook, ha ha, that photo - reminds me of the aroma at the beauty parlor where my mom still goes. Stinky chemicals!
Dean Finder, hmmm, good point, I would expect rabbit ears too. Especially in a basement.
Perhaps Helen is showing off her new engagement ring??
I love these Vintage People, and fun comments.
Liquor cabinet? But we just met!
I have no idea why I referred to Helen as Genevieve.
I, too, always have to do an internal double-take when I hear about people getting their naturally curly hair straightened. I suffered so much as a young girl trying to make my straight hair into curls (this was the MTV era with the big perms and the Aqua Net) that there's just a place in my head where it'll never compute.
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