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A N N O T A T I O N S
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PASTELOGRAM is named in honor of the poet Marianne Moore, who was
commission- ed by Ford Motor Co. in the 1950s to come up with names for its new mid-priced car.
Among her suggestions: “Pastelogram,” “Turco- tinga,” “Silver Sword,” “Resilient Bullet,” “Utopian Turtletop”
and the especially cryptic “Mongoose Civique.” Ford declined to use any of these and instead went with “Edsel.” The rest is history.
WE’VE HAD LOTS
of requests asking
the Curator: “You’re so darn modest, we don’t know much about
you. How about posting a picture or some biographical info? And
have I told you about the time I was abducted by aliens?” Well, you get the idea. So here’s a little about our
history.
FUN A LA MODE
The old Patent Office applications in the PatentRoom
are a soft- serve lesson in history. New on the menu:
Tees.
COME FLY
WITH ME
The early aircraft designs on view at AdventureLounge
will take you back, though maybe not all in one piece.
THE ART
of Josh Agle.
Martinis, girls, guns. Think James Bond meets Jetsons at a
tiki bar in Palm Springs.
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L I N K A T O R I U M
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PRELINGER ARCHIVE
CAR MANUAL PROJECT
AVOCADO MEMORIES
TV LAMPS
KITTY GIRL VINTAGE
IMPERIAL CLUB
1950s CARS IN NORWAY
WALTER MILLER
McLELLAN’S
IMAGINARY WORLD
RAY PATIN STUDIOS
LILEKS I.O.O.C.
SHAG ART
BUICKS.NET
PALACE OF CULTURE
KING OF THE ROAD
BROCHURES ON EBAY
STARBURST
FRANCISCAN OASIS
FRANCISCAN TRIO
SILVER PINE
SOCIETY of
ILLUSTRATORS
ADVENTURELOUNGE
PATENTROOM
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SUNDAY, APRIL 30, 2006
≈
Krispy-Fresh
From 1954, another of Sunshine
Bakeries’ billboard-style half-page ads.
SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 2006
≈
Springtime for Chrysler
New styling! New colors!
Brilliant new chromework, sparkling new spring colors — the 1958
Windsor Dartline is a luxurious new Chrysler series, here
just at the time of year you get the most enjoyment from a new car.
It’s all Chrysler and you’ll like the price!
In the late 1950s, the springtime introduction of “new” models (extra or
rearranged chrome, different colors) was a sales tonic for Chrysler and GM.
The short-lived 1958 Dartline, which
put new brightwork on Chrysler’s Dodge-based Windsor series, foreshadowed
the introduction of the popular 1960 Dodge Dart a year later.
≈
When Friends Drop By
It’s good to know you have plenty
on hand, ice-cold, when it’s time to Have a Coke!
This 1958 scene of Eastertime socializers
came during the transition to a more impressionistic style of illustration
for Coca-Cola, which would soon shift entirely to photography in its
advertising.
≈
International for 1958
International is a one-word
promise that a truck can do its job. Now, in fast-moving 1958,
International also means a fresh, original expression of color,
style, power and comfort you have to see in person to
believe.
Chevrolet introduced the Suburban in the 1930s for delivery use, but
International’s Travelall
(background) was the first truck-based utility vehicle successfully marketed as a family
people-mover.
FRIDAY, APRIL 28, 2006
≈
We’re Back
Fire the boilers, stoke the
furnace, light the chimney, start the conveyor belt.
The nostalgia factory is back online, clanking away. See it, smell
it, taste it.
THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2006
≈
Printer Project, Etc.
We are happy to announce that the
equipment for bigger prints will
be arriving late this month for May delivery of artwork up to four
feet by eight feet in size. Concurrently, we’ve extended the
deadline for reserving a jumbo-format print at reduced price to
April 30. If you ordered a standard-size print before today, it’s in
the mail. In the meantime we are decamping for spring break and will
be out of the office and away from e-mail until Friday, April 28.
≈
The Light Refreshment
On or off the green, today’s men
and women are in great form. Their slim good looks say a lot for
their sensible modern diet — for the swing in taste to lighter,
less-filling food and drink. Pepsi-Cola — the modern, the light
refreshment — is right in step with this modern trend. At your own
oasis, say “Pepsi, please, and fresh without filling.”
≈
Anything?
We think this will make a
dandy print for the kitchen. Or possibly
boudoir.
TUESDAY, APRIL 18, 2006
≈
OLDSmobility . . .
The pleasurable way of
going places in the Rocket Age! There’s a marvelous surprise
awaiting you in a new ’58 Olds. Your local quality dealer invites
you to get up-to-date in a Rocket 8! You’ll agree with Patti Page
who says, “You don’t have to look twice to tell it’s a ’58. Take one
ride and you’ll know — there’s no mobility like OLDSmobility!”
“The Big Record,” a musical variety show hosted by singer
Patti Page (“How Much Is That Doggie in the Window”) and
sponsored by Oldsmobile, ran during the 1957-58 television season on CBS.
The theme was an updated version of
“In My Merry Oldsmobile.” Miss Page (b. 1927) is still with us;
the car (1897-2004) is not.
FRIDAY, APRIL 14, 2006
≈
Hot and Handsome
For hottest value,
for handsome, high-style looks, for that easy-to-handle
feeling, for that wonderful low price — you’re ahead with the
’58 Ford. From Paris to Saigon they saw the new Ford and loved
it! From Power-Flow hood to Safety-Twin taillights, it’s stunning.
And with new Ford-Aire Suspension, driving is like riding on a
cloud . . .
Compared to the striking car of the year before, the
1958 Ford, with a tacked-on-looking
prow and quadruple taillights that
echoed the rear of the new four-seater Thunderbird, was regarded as
something of a styling dud. Fifty years down the road, though, it
grows on you.
THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 2006
≈
Performance Champion for 1958
Slip behind the wheel. Start the
360 hp Marauder V-8 engine — notice how softly it purrs. Put down
the top (one finger does it) and head for your favorite stretch of
road. This is living — you’re bossing a Mercury Park Lane
Convertible — statuesque in line — big in dimension — great to
handle. There’s Clean Line Modern Styling — with new touches
everywhere; deep-channeled side projectiles — new rear Flairlites —
Quadri-Beam headlamps. The hood is long, low and front-hinged for
greater safety . . .
1958 was the first year for the Park Lane,
whose unique design included taillights that previewed the 1959 Mercury and
a trunk seven inches longer than in lesser models. It shared a 430
cubic-inch engine with the Lincoln and a roofline with the senior Edsels.
Sales were a disappointment, and only a handful of convertibles survive.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 2006
≈
Taxmas Is Coming!
We are a little behind on the
posts this week due to approach of Taxmas, the American holiday in
which citizens of the land show their appreciation for the bureaucracy in
Washington with gifts of thanks — traditionally tens of thousands of dollars
in cash per observant household, stuffed into an envelope and mailed
no later than April 15. We have been taking part in the carnival
week leading up to the big day — Alm Monday, Fax Tuesday, Cash
Wednesday — and are looking forward to the culmination this weekend,
with the Festival of the Taxpayer-Shaped Piñata and, on Sunday, the
Tax Roll and Deduction Hunt. Any revenue collectors found on the
street after dark are escorted away, to be toasted by grateful
citizens at a merry bonfire!
≈
Incomparably Beautiful!
For distinguished style — for
lively performance combined with new driving ease and safety
features, there’s never been anything in its field like the
thrilling new 1956 Meteor. New star-keyed-beauty, new tri-tone
styling, new interior elegance put you ahead with a new sense of
pride. From whichever series you choose — the luxurious Rideau —
dynamic Niagara — increasingly popular Station Wagon — you’ll find
it’s a thrilling experience to move up and be miles ahead with
Meteor!
What at first glance might look like the inside of Stephen King’s garage is
the outside of the 1956 Meteor brochure.
This Canadian variant of the Ford had a big chrome star, vee grille and Devil
horns.
FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2006
≈
Chevy Puts the Purr in Performance!
No household tabby sitting in a
sunny window ever purred more softly than Chevy’s new V8 engine.
It’s so kitten-quiet and cream-smooth that you can scarcely tell
when it’s idling. And it’s cat-quick in response when you ask for
action!
This illustration of a blue Chevrolet,
which appeared in newspaper supplements in January 1957, was a simplified
gravure version of a similar ad featuring a
red Bel Air that was done for magazines.
≈
Tykes on Trikes
And a chair in the yard. New
additions to the Plan59 photo archives: A
cowboy on a rocket-propelled
tricycle (dated February 1958), a lad
and his cat (February 1935) and, from sometime in the 1930s,
young Clyde and his ride. Where
are they now?
THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2006
≈
TechBlog
We’re putting together some pages
on the technical aspects scanning and printing, and to start things
off is a hands-on (eyes-on?)
review of the new
Eizo ColorEdge 24-inch color calibration video display, the CE240W.
Lights, please . . .
≈
Stiff Competition
A 1956 illustration by Bob
Hilbert for the cover of American Weekly, a Sunday newspaper
supplement similar to Parade magazine. Getting old is
heck.
≈
Turbo-Thrust ’58 Chevrolet
Chevrolet’s revolutionary
Turbo-Thrust V8 and triple-turbine Turboglide drive were made for
each other, and made for action! Under every driving condition, in
every speed range, they deliver the quickest, smoothest response of
anything on the road!
The 1958 Chevrolet, a one-year-only
design, marked an abrupt shift from the Chevys of the previous three years.
The gull-wing taillights hinted at the radical changes to come with the
1959 models.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5, 2006
≈
Cold Comfort
On the street in the 1959
Fairlane 500, and back at home in
the fridge.
≈
Chrysler, Chrysler, Chrysler
Or if you want to get technical,
Chrysler,
Imperial, Imperial. Descriptions
to come.
SATURDAY, APRIL 1, 2006
≈
The Motoramic Chevrolet
Watch heads turn as you glide
proudly down the street in your 1955 Chevrolet. Hear its husky hum
of power out on the highway. Styling? Fresh and functional. Free
from that “overdone” look! Call your Chevrolet dealer for details
and a demonstration.
≈
Futuramic Oldsmobile
Distance is just a dream when you
drive the “Rocket Hydra-Matic” Oldsmobile for 1949! For here is
tireless response delivered to you by the most brilliant power team
in motoring history — the “Rocket” Engine and Hydra-Matic Drive. But
words can’t describe it — you’ve got to drive it to believe it! So
see your Oldsmobile dealer today and discover the great “New Thrill”
that’s wrapped up in a “Rocket” ride!
Today we highlight two “amic” cars from GM that delivered breakthrough powerplants — the first modern high-compression overhead-valve V8 under the
hood of the 1949 Olds, and in the
’55 Chevy, the first short-stroke V8 with a
high power-to-weight ratio.
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