Vintage books and magazines

Theme Thursday - bubbles (bubble car)

2012-02-16T15:35:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I posted anything on this blog, but fortunately this week's Theme Thursday has given me a great prompt to do so, Bubbles. My take on the theme is a bubble car, as featured on the front cover of the March 1957 edition of Motor Sport magazine. It's actually the Messerschmitt which won the National Cat's Eyes Rally.

Motor Sport magazine, March 1957

More vintage magazines can be found on my web site

Theme Thursday - Future

2011-12-29T16:00:00.000-08:00

I am all over the place this week not really knowing what day it is, so it was a bit of a surprise to me when I started seeing submissions for this week's Theme Thursday, Future. I like to be challenged, but this one took some real lateral though and searching but I eventually found this motoring magazine from the early 1970's with what seems to feature the type of car people thought we'd all be driving in the future. It looks kind of space-agey, and clunky at the same time. I can almost imagine someone dressed in a glittery spacesuit getting out of the back door (mainly because in my recollection of sci-fi TV in the 1970's that's what everyone was wearing ... particularly in the U.F.O TV series).

Drive magazine, c.1972

Sepia Saturday 101 - over the hiils and fast away

2011-11-16T03:56:00.001-08:00

Taking the car as the theme for this week's Sepia Saturday, I've rummaged through my vintage Motor Sport magazines and found this advertisement from the April 1959 edition. The advert is for the Austin Healey, with a backdrop of 4 tweed-suited, landed gentry, no doubt off for a jolly good time, probably involving a picnic rug and matching hamper, and using words and phrases like "rotter", "dash it all" and "come on ginger, don't be such a bad egg".

Vintage advertisement for the Austin Healey, c.1959

More vintage magazines can be found on my web site

Theme Thursday - Gadget

2011-11-03T13:24:00.000-07:00

I think I've just about managed to keep on theme for this week's Theme Thursday, 'gadget'. This is a paperback from Gerry Anderson's 1960's cult TVseries, Joe 90. I don't remember this series as well as Thunderbirds, but I do remember Joe being a bit of a 1960's Inspector Gadget.

Joe 90 and the Raiders, paperback c.1968

Vintage advertisement - Dyna Panhard, c.1958

2011-10-03T06:15:00.000-07:00

I certainly can't claim to be a car expert, but I always find it curious when I come across a car manufacturer or make I've never even heard of before. In this case it's the Dyna Panhard. On researching I found out that in fact Panhard is one of the world's oldest car manufacturers, founded in 1891. The Dyna was produced between 1954 and 1959, with 140,000 models being produced. I don't know how many of these made it over to the UK, but presumably some did given that the advertisement boasts Now with right hand drive.

Vintage advertisement for Dyna Panhard, Motor Sport magazine, c.1958

More vintage magazines can be found on my web site

Vintage advertisement for Sunbeam Rapier, c.1959

2011-09-10T07:59:00.000-07:00

It's been a few weeks again since I posted to this particular blog, so to make amends here's a vintage advertisement for the Sunbeam Rapier 1.5 liter, from the March 1959 edition of Motor Sport magazine.

Vintage advertisement for the Sunbeam Rapier, c.1959

More vintage magazines on my web site

Also, why not check out my vintage postcards blog or my vintage resources page

Sepia Saturday 89 - vintage advertisement for windscreen washers

2011-08-25T07:53:00.000-07:00

I'm not theming for this week's Sepia Saturday but instead have selected a vintage advertisement from a 1959 edition of Motor Sport magazine. The advertisement is for Windscreen Washers. What I particularly like about it is the authoratitive statement made, presumably by the ernest looking man with the glasses in the white lab coat, which says, "In my opinion nobody should be allowed on the road without one".

Vintage advertisement for windscreen washers, c.1959

Vintage advertisement for Seaside Bathing Tent, c.1926

2011-08-08T07:00:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd share another fantastic vintage advertisement from my 1926 London Guide book. And given that (it's supposed to be) Summer, this one is for a Seaside Bathing Tent, providing Comfort and Convenience for Seaside Pleasures and Ideal for Family Life on the Sands. Certainly much easier than executing a delicate and dangerous manoeuvre behind a loosely tethered towel.

Vintage advertisement for Seaside Bathing Tent, c.1926

You may also like my vintage postcard blog or my vintage resources page

Vintage advertisement - Safety Clemak Razor, c.1926

2011-08-06T01:55:00.000-07:00

Just time for a quick blog post today before I need to attend to some weeds in the garden. This is an advertisement taken from a 1928 London Guide book. It's for the Clemak Safety Razor, and boasts One Continuous Round of Satisfaction and taking only a minute to strop and a moment to clean.

Vintage advertosement for the Clemak Safety Razor

More vintage magazines and books on my web site ... and I also have a new page containing reviews and links to books about vintage

Sepia Saturday 85 - MG Magnette Mark III

2011-07-29T11:05:00.000-07:00

Inspired by Alan's great photo in this week's Sepia Saturday, I turned to my vintage magazines collection to help me out. I wasn't quite sure what I was looking for as I flipped through the March 1959 edition of Motor Sport magazine, probably something classic with bumpers, when I came across this. It's an advertisement of an MG Magnette Mark III, and one of the reasons for posting this was that I had never heard of it before. A quick bit of research revealed that it was received to mixed reviews, so I'm assuming not many were made. On reading the description of the car, it claims to be 'freshly styled from bumper to bumper', so met my posting criteria on that count also.

Advertisement of the MG Magnette Mark III, Motor Sport magazine, March 1959

More vintage magazines can be found on my web site

Vintage London Underground map, c.1924

2011-07-18T06:18:00.000-07:00

I was leafing through a vintage guide book of London, searching for inspiration for a future blog post, when I came across a couple of maps that the book owner had obviously use to aid his/her trip around the city. The first was a cutting from the Daily Sketch newspaper from 1924 featuring a London Underground map. This one is A3 and quite battered so I'm still working out how to scan that one in. However, the second insert is a bit smaller, and although in 2 pieces and bigger than my scanner, I think I have managed to successfully merge the 2 parts of the map.

London Underground map, c.1924

What I love about this map, in fact all old maps, is looking at the places where the lines used to end compared to where they end today, where station names have changed, and also where stations have become disused. For example, the Highgate and Hampstead Line has been much extended, merged with the City and South London Railway, and has become the Northern Line. St. Mary's, Mark Lane, Brompton Road, Dover Street, Down Street, British Museum, Post Office, and Trafalgar Square, have all either been renamed, closed or merged with other stations. Some of these 'ghost' stations are still visible from passing tube trains whilst others are long gone. Keep a look out the window as you pass through the tunnels ... you never know what you might see.

Sepia Saturday 83: The Road to Sunshine

2011-07-16T02:31:00.000-07:00

My plans for taking a day trip to the coast on Sunday seem to have been dashed by the weather forecast which appears to predict rain all weekend. Instead we'll probably end up going to London for the day and take in some museums. Depending on how many of the family come will depend on the mode of transport. Ideally I'd like to go by train as it's much less hassle, but the tipping point comes quite quickly when there's more people. Since a kid, I've always had a soft spot by railways but must admit to finding today's railways, stations and trains a little less romantic than when I was younger (although some of the recent restoration works at St Pancras and Paddington are looking impressive). But even the way train travel was described in the early part of the 20th century sounded idealistic and romantic. For my entry to this week's Sepia Saturday I'm trying to recapture some of that by sharing these vintage advertisements taken from a 1920's guide book.

As usual, more vintage magazines and vintage postcards on my web site

And it would seem that if the spate of recent TV programs and books is anything to go by, I'm not the only person who dreams of returning to the age of the train. Both Julia Bradbury and Michael Portilo have presented excellent TV series over the past few months. These are possibly still available on iPlayer, but if not the accompanying series books are readily available, and what's really excited me is that Bradshaw's 1907 Railway Map is also available ... all aboard.

;

Something New in Motor Coaching

2011-07-13T12:22:00.000-07:00

Whilst browsing through some vintage guide books, I came across this curious vintage advertisement. It's advertising something called the "Silent Guide" which boasts itself to be ...

A novel invention coupled with specially prepared itineraries for imparting and retaining information in a particular and pleasing manner about the many places of interest you may either visit or pass en route on your favourite motor coach tours.

I have tried to find some more information about this device, but have not managed to find anything at all. The perfect solution for not wanting to show one's ignorance of not knowing something, whilst at the same time not wanting to ask anyone.

Vintage advertisement, c.1922

More vintage magazines and vintage postcards can be found on my web site

Another installment of vintage advertisements

2011-07-06T07:41:00.000-07:00

Following on from the positive response and great comments from my previous vintage advertisements post, I've decided to share a few more today. This is again from a vintage Picturegoer magazine, from November 1943. As with my previous post, the contrast between the advertisements is quite striking, with beauty products of the day along side war time austerity measures.

Picturegoer magazine, November 1943

More vintage magazines and vintage postcards can be found on my web site

Sepia Saturday 80: vintage advertisements

2011-06-24T04:18:00.000-07:00

My poor vintage magazine blog has been a big neglected over the past few weeks as my attentions have been diverted to other things, such as my vintage postcard blog, and some optimisation of my own web site. So, for this week's Sepia Saturday, I've decided to search through my vintage magazine collection to come up with something. I didn't have to look through too many pages before I cam across something worth sharing. This page is taken from Picturegoer magazine, August 1944.

I think the contrast of advertisements is interesting. We can see entertainment, leisure and beauty on the left hand side, and savings, thriftiness and austerity measures on the right hand side.

I was however delighted to see that the film advertised, Two Girls and a Sailor is available on DVD ... although I was on dangerous ground with some of my search results !!

More vintage magazines can be found on my vintage magazines web page.

Theme Thursday: Gossip

2011-05-19T14:23:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when I see a Theme Thursday theme, something leaps instantly to mind. This week however was not one of those weeks. Gossip has never been one of my strong points (or weaknesses). I'm nearly always the last to know what's going on in the office. My music and postcard collections did not come to the rescue this week either, but I did manage to find something in my vintage magazine collection which almost fits the bill. It's a section in 1 1945 edition of Picturegoer magazine called, 'Between You and Me by The Editor', and is probably the nearest thing to gossip I can lay my hands on.

Note to self - must try harder next week.

More vintage magazines and vintage postcards on my web site

Sepia Saturday 74: Beer, It's Lovely (vintage advertisement)

2011-05-13T12:46:00.000-07:00

As Alan shared a picture of a plane for this week's Sepia Saturday, I thought I'd have a look through my magazines for something appropriate. Strangely the Royal Air Force, Air Mail magazines do not have many pictures of planes in them, however I can across this fantastic advert issued by the Brewer's Society.

Beer, It's Lovely !

The full text of the advert reads ...

Beer and bowls

Our local has its own bowling green. Take it from me, you need your pint after you've had a hard game. People who've never played think it's easy, but it takes a lot of skill ... and a good bit of nerve too.

When you're relaxing -

BEER, IT'S LOVELY !

And who am I to argue with that fine sentiment.

More vintage magazines and vintage postcards on my web site

Another vintage Air Mail magazine, c.1963

2011-05-01T02:23:00.000-07:00

Thanks for all the great comments on my last vintage Air Mail magazines blog post. I have a few more to share, starting with this one from July 1963. The front cover shows Association standards paraded at the War Memorial at Ostend. The back cover features an advertisement for The Great Escape, an all time classic film featuring Steve McQueen, James Garner and Richard Attenborough.

Front cover of Vintage Air Mail magazine, July 1963

Back cover of Vintage Air Mail magazine, July 1963

The Great Escape available from amazon.com ... and amazon.co.uk

More vintage magazines can be found on my web site

Sepia Saturday 72: Vintage Air Mail magazines, 1960's

2011-04-26T13:46:00.000-07:00

Firstly apologies to regular readers of this blog and Sepia Saturday who may be expecting another vintage Picturegoer magazine, but I've decided to take a break from these for a short time and share some other recent finds. A few weeks ago I came across these vintage Air Mail magazines, which is the journal of the Royal Air Forces Association. The magazines are quite specialist in nature and possibly only of interest to people connected with the Air Force, but some of the covers and adverts will almost certainly have a wider appeal. I think I still have the stamps advertised in the 25th Battle of Britain anniversary edition, although not on a First Day Cover. And for those of you wondering if there's any connection with Friday's Royal Wedding, there's not, although the Queen does feature on the 2nd cover, so that's close enough.

Front cover of Air Mail magazine, September/October 1965

Advertisement for First Day Covers for the 25th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain from Air Mail magazine, September/October 1965

Front cover of Air Mail magazine, March 1963

Back cover of Air Mail magazine, March 1963

As usual, more vintage magazines and vintage postcards on my web site

Vintage Picturegoer magazine - Alan Ladd, c.1943

2011-04-15T14:13:00.000-07:00

Down to my last few of these Picturegoer magazine covers to share on Sepia Saturday, and this week's coverstar is US filmstar Alan Ladd. Once again this is not an actor with whom I'm familiar, but I have at least heard of a couple of his films, with his leading role in 1953's Shane probably being the most well known.

Picturegoer magazine, 10th July 1943 - front cover

Picturegoer magazine, 10th July 1943 - inside cover

Regular readers may wonder why I've used adverts from the inside cover rather than the back cover ... well, it seems that someone has cut out one of the adverts, or perhaps some sort of coupon, from this one. What struck me about the advertisements in this edition is that they seem in sharp contrast to each other, with government sanctioned adverts for war time austerity measures sat next to adverts for beauty products. But perhaps this is not hugely different from today when insurance adverts pop up during the breaks in kids' TV programmes.

More vintage magazines can be found on my web site

Sepia Saturday 60: vintage photography booklets

2011-04-07T04:31:00.000-07:00

I'm keeping on theme this week for my Sepia Saturday post and sharing some images relating to photography. Below are a handful of Focal Photo Guide booklets I picked up a few months ago. Not sure of the age but would guess early 1960's. The black and white covers with the red borders remind me of books I had as a child, which I'm guessing I must have inherited, where colour was used sparingly.

More vintage magazines on my web site

Vintage 35mm photography magazine, c.1965

2011-04-07T04:15:00.000-07:00

Having posted various covers from Picturegoer magazine over the past few weeks, I've decided that today for Theme Thursday's 'face' theme, I'm going to share a cover from a different vintage magazine. This is the 35mm Photography magazine from August 1965. Think it fits this week's theme of 'face' quite well.

35mm Photography magazine, August 1965

More vintage magazines can be found on my web site

Vintage Picturegoer magazine, c.1945, Ann Todd

2011-03-31T14:29:00.000-07:00

I'm not theming this week as I had to prepare this posting in advance due to the inconvenience of it being financial year end this week, and all sorts of ridiculousness breaking out at work. My Sepia Saturday post for this week is another from my Picturegoer magazine collection. This week's posting dates back to November 10th 1945, and features Ann Todd as the cover star. Ann starred regularly in films for over 60 years from 1931 to 1992. Some of her more well known films include Perfect Strangers (1945), The Seventh Veil (1945) and Alfred Hitchcock's The Paradine Case (1947). Interestingly (well, to me anyway) was that she also starred in a 1949 film called The Passionate Friends. I remember a great song by the Teardrop Explodes called Passionate Friend from their 2nd album, Wilder, but can trace no link between the two. I did however discover during my research that the film was based on an H.G.Wells novel, so maybe the Teardrop Explodes song links with the novel.

As with all these coverstars, Amazon has a huge range of films featuring Ann Todd

Picturegoer magazine, November 1945 - front cover

And of course, no Picturegoer magazine feature would be complete without a view of the great vintage advertisments on the back cover.

Picturegoer magazine, November 1945 - back cover

More vintage magazines on my web site

Vintage Picturegoer magazine, c.1943, Anna Neagle

2011-03-25T04:18:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd share another of my recent Picturegoer magazine finds. This one is from May 1943 and features Anna Neagle as the coverstar. As seems to often be the case with these 1940's coverstars, I had not heard of her. A quick bit of research showed that actually she was a big name at the time, appearing in 10's of films between 1930 and 1959, including Goodnight, Vienna in 1932, Nell Gwyn in 1934, and Lilacs in the Spring in 1954, the latter co-starring alongside Errol Flynn. It looks like a lot of Anna Neagle's films are available on DVD, so perhaps it's worth having a few on the shelf to watch on a rainy Saturday afternoon in front of the fire.

Front cover of vintage Picturegoer magazine, c.1943

And of course, the vintage advertisements on the back cover of the magazine are also fascinating. There's quite an impressive selection here but my favourite is the one for Odol, top left corner, which reads 'Keep smiling, even if you're running with risks. But don't run risks with that precious Odol smile'.

Back cover of vintage Picturegoer magazine, c.1943

Theme Thursday - Paper

2011-03-23T14:57:00.000-07:00

This week's theme, 'Paper', for Theme Thursday was a bit easier for me as I have paper absolutely everywhere. Whether it be in vintage postcards, stamps, books, magazines, I'll have it. In fact to some extent I was spoilt for choice. I eventually decided on a selection of paperbacks relating to another of my passions, Cult TV series from the 1960's and 1970's. Here are a selection ...

Check out my web site for more books and magazines and also vintage postcards