New Years Party Favors From the 1940’s For Your Party Tonight

I found all of these great 1940’s tin lithograph noise makers on Ebay.  Enjoy them and have fun at your parties tonight!

Noise Makers

Shaker with some pin-ups

Great horns

Another great noise maker. I love the clothing on this one

Make sure tonight you have as much fun as this guy did!

Early Satellites and Space Exploration

I found these amazing photographs of my favorite early satellites in the LIFE photography archive and on the N.S.A.’s official website.  I love the design and shapes of the early satellites.

Scientists at Igy conference viewing Sputnik models - August 1958

Smithsonian Observatory scientists Fred Whipple and J. Allen Hynek plotting orbit of Sputnik I on globe at MIT - 1957

Dr. William H. Pickering, Dr. James A. van Allen, & Dr. Wernher von Braun hold a model of the Explorer I satellite which launched 4 months after Sputnik - 1958

Oscilloscope tracking position and speed of Explorer satellite through a pattern made by interaction of signals from the satellite and standard radio signals.

Dr. A.L. Jones, scientist at Ohio Satellite Tracking Station with analog computer which gives appropriate orbit position of space satellites - 1962

Dr. Milton W. Rosen with John T. Mengel, Project Director J. P. Walsh, Lieut Commander J. W. Salter and Project Director John P. Hagen - Scientists working on US man-made satellite. John P. Hagen is the best with his bowtie and pipe.

Scientist Alexander Simkovich working on a US artificial satellite - April 1957

Scientist Alexander Simkovich working on a US artificial satellite - April 1957

First image of earth from satellite, from Explorer 6: sunlight hitting clouds over central Pacific Ocean - 1959

Colonel Harold Brown (C) w. Dr. Hans Ziegler (L), John Licht (2R) and Dr. Harold Zahl (R) with US weather satellite ready for launching - 1959

Iowa State University professor George H. Ludwig placing a tape recorder in a model of an American satellite - May 1957

Scientists with the Transit I-B navigational satellite - April 1960

Dr. William H. Pickering of the Jet Propulsion Lab standing with mock-up of Army satellite - 1957

Dr. Richard W. Porter, of the Natonal Academy of Sciences, at press conference talking about satellite model, Explorer II - March 1958

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Earth'S Satellite 1957

Scientist with Earth'S Satellite - 1957

The GRAB II (Galactic Radiation And Background) satellite and the Poppy satellite models - Launched in 1960

Poppy I

Poppy II

AT&T stockholder Mrs. Louise Bucker looking at full-size model of the Telstar experimental communications satellite - AT&T's Bell Laboratories 1960

The satellites were so popular in the early 1960’s, that pop group “The Tornados” wrote a song called “Telstar”.  The rumor at the time was that the song included “space-like” sounds because a signal was sent to up the Telstar Satellite and re-recorded on earth.

"The Tornados" with "Telstar" on the cover of "Ridin" the Wind". "Telstar" was also the name of their hit song from this album in 1962

You can hear the song below along with some great early space exploration images.

P & P Chair Co. – Makers of the Kennedy Rocker Close Doors After 82 Years

The P & P Chair Company in Asheboro, North Carolina announced last week that they will be closing their factory after 82 years in business. The P & P Chair Company was founded by W. C. Page Sr. and a friend, Arthur E. Presnell in 1926. P & P made it’s claim to fame in the early 1960’s with the creation of the authentic “Kennedy Rocker”. John F. Kennedy chose the chair by recommendation of his physician, Dr. Janet Travell. The chair was upholstered by the White House upholsterer Larry Arata.

Chairs stacked and curing at the P & P Chair Co. factory in Asheboro, North Carolina (Image: File Photo/News & Record)

Kennedy in his P & P Chair Company Authentic "Carolina Rocker" (from the LIFE archive)

I was shocked to hear this news because I grew up with this chair at my parent’s home. My parents had this chair created and upholstered for them directly from Larry Arata and his wife. Thanks Mom for sending me the pictures of my family’s Kennedy Rocker below.

The Hart Family's "Kennedy Rocker" from the P & P Chair Company with Upholstry by Larry Arata

Plaque on the back of my family's rocker

Larry Arata's custom tag on the back of the chair

Larry Arata's card underneath the arm

Old Cigarette Packaging

I love these old cigarette boxes.

Chesterfield

Camel

Old Gold

Luck Strike 1942

The Space Age Pin-up

From the 1955 "Miss Flying Saucer Contest" in Centerboro New York

More Great Space Age Architecture

Here are a few more of my favorite space age buildings in addition to the Jested Tower:

The Space Needle in Seatle - 1962 World's Fair

Capital Tower in Hollywood CA - 1955-1956

CN Tower in Toronto - Designed in 1968

Bubble House, France - 1968 Designed by achitect Antti Lovag

The interior of Lovag's Bubble House

My new Office - Image from the 1964 LA Times

Lotte Reiniger – Early Animation at it’s Best

Lotte Reiniger (1899-1981) was a German artist and animator who created a plethora of animated films and shorts during her lifetime. Reiniger is noted for her creation of “Silhouette Animation” and credited with the development of the first full length animated feature “The Adventures of Prince Achmed” in 1926. Reiniger’s animation style may have been influenced by the Indonesian art of Wayang shadow puppets.

Wayang Kulit puppet from Java Indonesia

Each of Reiniger’s shadow figures were painstakingly cut and joined together with wire by hand. Each joint was moved individually and photographed as early stop motion animation.

Figures on the glass background during the filming of "The Adventures of Prince Achmed" - 1926

After the filming, the backgrounds were color tinted. Below are some amazing stills from various films.

Still from "The Adventures of Prince Achmed"

From "The Adventures of Prince Achmed"

From "The Adventures of Prince Achmed"

Still from "The Frog Prince"

The final project appears as the below clip from Lotte Reiniger’s “Cinderella” from the early 1950’s

You can see the influence that Reiniger’s animation had on other noted animators such as Mary Blair. Blair developed concepts for Disney classics such as “Alice in Wonderland”, “Sleeping Beauty”, “Peter Pan”, and “It’s a Small World” Some of Blair’s concept sketches for Disney are below.

Mary Blair concept art from Disney's "Cinderella"

More concept art for Disney's "Cinderella" by Blair

Blair's concept art for "Alice in Wonderland"

Airline Luggage Tags of the Past

I just got back to the states yesterday. I’ve been on so many airplanes and in so many airports this past week, I thought I would share some of these amazing vintage airline luggage tags that I love.  I found these on Ebay and Locomobilia.

Cohata Airlines of Haiti

DNL Air Lines of Norway

Iberia Air Lines of Spain (These Iberia stickers are by far my favorites)

Iberia Air Lines

Iberia Air Lines

Iberia Airlines

Iberia Air Lines

B.O.A.C. Air Lines - You can fly on the Comet Jetliner!

KLM Air Lines

Scandinavian Air Lines

Varig Air Lines

Air Qantas to Teheran

Air Qantas to Karachi

Air France

Scandinavian Air Lines to Japan

Japan Air Lines

Cuba Airways

Garuda Air of Indonesia

Frontier Airlines

Just for fun, here is a picture of my view from the airplane window:

First Edition Book Covers

Please enjoy these great first edition book covers as I will be unable to post anything new until after the new year. I love the artwork on these covers!

1984 - George Orwell 1949

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain 1885

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald 1925

The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand 1943

The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck 1939

Winner Take Nothing - Ernest Hemmingway 1933

Animal Farm - George Orwell 1946

Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger 1951

Bryan Moore, Henri Cartier-Bresson, & Jacques Henri Lartigue

I’m a huge fan of art photographer Bryan Moore.  His photographs are incredible and always remind of images by Henri Cartier-Bresson and Jacques Henri Lartigue.  I found some amazing photographs on Bryan’s website from a recent trip he took to Cuba along with some of his newest personal work.  Check them out below next to some of the images they remind me of.

 

Bryan Moore - Recent Work 2008

 

Jacques-Henri Lartigue, Grand Prix des Automobil-Club de France - 1912

 

Bryan Moore - From the "Last Days of Castro" Cuba 2008

 

Henri Cartier-Bresson - New York City 1947

 

Bryan Moore from "The Last Days of Castro" - Cuba 2008

 

One of Henri Cartier-Bresson's most iconic images - 1947

Bryan Moore - Recent Work - New York City 2008

 

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Bryan Moore - Recent Work - New York City 2008

 

Henri Cartier-Bresson - 1970