Fifties House » Retro http://www.fiftieshouse.com Living in the Perfect 1950s Home Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:19:56 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Retro-Futuristic Writing http://www.fiftieshouse.com/2009/05/02/retro-futuristic-writing/ http://www.fiftieshouse.com/2009/05/02/retro-futuristic-writing/#comments Sun, 03 May 2009 05:38:03 +0000 mrbill http://www.fiftieshouse.com/?p=84 I’ve done a review of various modern fountain pens and pocket notebooks over at my main weblog.

If anyone has an old Parker 51 or Parker 21 fountain pen lying in a desk drawer I’d love to give it a good home.

]]> http://www.fiftieshouse.com/2009/05/02/retro-futuristic-writing/feed/ 0 Awww, thanks! http://www.fiftieshouse.com/2009/01/24/awww-thanks/ http://www.fiftieshouse.com/2009/01/24/awww-thanks/#comments Sat, 24 Jan 2009 23:03:14 +0000 mrbill http://www.fiftieshouse.com/?p=71 Thanks to “Meanwhile Back At the Ranch”, the Midcentury Style Blog, for naming us as one of their recipients of the “One Lovely Blog” awards.

I don’t have the time right now to do likewise, but wanted to say thanks.

]]> http://www.fiftieshouse.com/2009/01/24/awww-thanks/feed/ 1 Awesome Lighting Fixture Sources http://www.fiftieshouse.com/2008/10/19/awesome-lighting-fixture-sources/ http://www.fiftieshouse.com/2008/10/19/awesome-lighting-fixture-sources/#comments Mon, 20 Oct 2008 04:57:16 +0000 mrbill http://www.fiftieshouse.com/?p=58 Amy recently found REJUVENATION for lighting, shades, and hardware, and Schoolhouse Electric Co. for period light fixtures and glass shades.

]]> http://www.fiftieshouse.com/2008/10/19/awesome-lighting-fixture-sources/feed/ 2 Update on the Popular Mechanics articles http://www.fiftieshouse.com/2008/10/02/update-on-the-popular-mechanics-articles/ http://www.fiftieshouse.com/2008/10/02/update-on-the-popular-mechanics-articles/#comments Thu, 02 Oct 2008 20:03:05 +0000 mrbill http://www.fiftieshouse.com/?p=51 Back in January I posted some pictures I’d taken of interesting articles from the 1961 “Popular Mechanics Illustrated Home Handyman Encyclopedia & Guide”.

I’m happy to report that Popular Mechanics has given me permission to produce PDF versions of their articles as long as I don’t alter the content and provide a link to their home page.

This is very nice of them (and fairly unusual in today’s copyright-sue-happy world); I’ve got some of the articles as PDFs already online made from the photographs I took of the books.

I’m willing to do proper flatbed scans of articles if I can somehow get my hands on a decent scanner.

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]]> http://www.fiftieshouse.com/2008/05/10/new-resources/feed/ 0 MAKE Magazine from the 1950s, in a way http://www.fiftieshouse.com/2008/01/05/make-magazine-from-the-1950s-in-a-way/ http://www.fiftieshouse.com/2008/01/05/make-magazine-from-the-1950s-in-a-way/#comments Sun, 06 Jan 2008 00:59:02 +0000 mrbill http://www.fiftieshouse.com/2008/01/05/make-magazine-from-the-1950s-in-a-way/ I recently found a 4-volume set of the Popular Mechanics Illustrated Home Handyman Encyclopedia & Guide (from 1961) in the bargain bin at a local used book store.

The ~4000 pages of projects are basically the equivalent of today’s MAKE Magazine with tons of stuff that wouldn’t be printed today due to liability concerns.

They’ve got everything from planning/building/remodeling a house, woodworking, metalworking, making your own boat/go-cart/children’s playground equipment, indoor shooting ranges, to radio repair, electronics, photography, gardening, farming, and equipment to make handling your farm animals easier.

I’ve taken pictures of the title pages and illustrations for the most interesting articles, and put them up on Flickr. I’ve also contacted Popular Mechanics to see about getting permission to break out the scanner and make proper PDFs of the best stuff.

The Flickr collections page, with one set for each volume, is here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrbill/collections/72157603639900790/

]]> http://www.fiftieshouse.com/2008/01/05/make-magazine-from-the-1950s-in-a-way/feed/ 1 Houston 1940 Air Terminal Museum http://www.fiftieshouse.com/2007/09/15/houston-1940-air-terminal-museum/ http://www.fiftieshouse.com/2007/09/15/houston-1940-air-terminal-museum/#comments Sat, 15 Sep 2007 22:20:19 +0000 mrbill http://www.fiftieshouse.com/2007/09/15/houston-1940-air-terminal-museum/ Amy and I visited Houston’s 1940 Air Terminal Museum today, and I took a bunch of pictures.

It’s a great example of Art Deco architecture, and I’m glad that it was saved instead of being bulldozed.

Edit: here’s some of my favorite pictures. Click a thumbnail for the Flickr page.

Art Deco Chandelier

The 1940 Air Terminal Museum

The 1940 Air Terminal Museum

The 1940 Air Terminal Museum

The 1940 Air Terminal Museum

The 1940 Air Terminal Museum

The 1940 Air Terminal Museum

The 1940 Air Terminal Museum

]]> http://www.fiftieshouse.com/2007/09/15/houston-1940-air-terminal-museum/feed/ 1 Fifties Paint http://www.fiftieshouse.com/2007/02/07/fifties-paint/ http://www.fiftieshouse.com/2007/02/07/fifties-paint/#comments Wed, 07 Feb 2007 19:54:17 +0000 mrbill http://www.fiftieshouse.com/2007/02/07/fifties-paint/ The great site Populuxe Books has posted scans of original 1950s DuPont and Sherwin-Williams paint color swatches to their blog.


While DuPont and Sherwin-Williams make great paint to color your home or business with, Security Camera & CCTV Camera Equipment make great camera systems to secure your home/business with. When considering any home security, be sure to research it first. In this case, you would look at the security industry.
]]> http://www.fiftieshouse.com/2007/02/07/fifties-paint/feed/ 1 ring ring http://www.fiftieshouse.com/2006/05/20/ring-ring/ http://www.fiftieshouse.com/2006/05/20/ring-ring/#comments Sat, 20 May 2006 10:38:27 +0000 mrbill http://www.fiftieshouse.com/2006/05/20/ring-ring/ I’ve put up more telephone pictures at Flickr. The red one is my favorite so far.

]]> http://www.fiftieshouse.com/2006/05/20/ring-ring/feed/ 1 More Living Better Electrically http://www.fiftieshouse.com/2006/05/18/more-living-better-electrically/ http://www.fiftieshouse.com/2006/05/18/more-living-better-electrically/#comments Thu, 18 May 2006 23:18:11 +0000 mrbill http://www.fiftieshouse.com/2006/05/18/more-living-better-electrically/ I found another Live Better Electrically medallion on eBay, this one looks a little newer than the one I found in the garage. I took pictures.

I’m also starting to take pictures of the vintage Touch-Tone telephones that I’m buying off eBay to replace the “modern” junk they sell nowdays.

I’m a firm believer in the fact that things worked better under a single monopolistic Bell System.

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