Let's Hit The Beach!---Florida Vacations, 1950's

Hi hi!  Since the old laptop's acknowledging the existence of my USB for a change, I thought I'd regale you with some family photos of  1950's summer holidays!  I've got a 'haul' post in the works and was going to do a spot on the progress of my bathrooms, but alas Pip and his best friend Tavish ate my photo card recently!

I give you Florida, mid-century:

These were taken by my grandparents between 1952 and 1959.

My grandfather, Harold.  Handsome devil!

The most beautious beach babe, my grandmother Margaret:

My grandfather with my uncle, Fred, and my Dad, Sam....

My grandfather had become friends with the owner of the 'Sea Spray' motel when he was in WWII.  Therefore, the family always stayed there on their annual summer vacation.  Here's my dad in front of the sign.....

The motel next door was called the 'Sea Gull' and somehow one of their towels ended up in the possession of my grandparents.  I found it a couple of years ago and it now hangs in one of my bathrooms.  It says "Sea Gull Motel-52"!

My grandfather and my great-grandfather, Charlie.  Snappy dressers!....

Beefcake!

I like how you can see my grandmother's head shadowed in the foreground taking the pic!



Just as handsome fully clothed!....

My dad and uncle bothering the life guard!....

Well, hi there, sailor!  How cute as my dad?...

My grandmother and my dad.  I want her entire ensemble!!  Gorgeous!....

I actually have the swimsuit my grandmother's wearing in this photo!  And it looks brand new!...

They loved photbooths apparently and had their photos taken pretty much every year, which is great as you can watch my dad and uncle grow up!

Don't they make you want to pack up the Studebaker and head off to the beach?  Of course it won't be nearly as kitschy sweet as it was back then, so may be best to just revel in the joys of summers past....

This Week's Haul--More Starbursts, Kitsch, And Weird Things From My Childhood

Hi, my bumblebees!  This week's 'Haul' post is a little lacking...I've only bought one thing...but I'm buffing it up with some of the great finds that have come from the bins full of forgotten 'stuff' I've been moving from my parents' to mine.

First, the new addition....

Set of 6 of these lovely little cupcakes!!  They kinda match the Royal China 'Star Glow' dinnerware that I got a couple of weeks ago...for $10, remember!  How exciting!.  Anyhoo, I'd seen these the same day and passed them by because of lack of extra bread that day.  But kept thinking about them and decided to go back to the shop for them...they were actually quite inexpensive!  I'm glad I did....
 

I've also realized that I neglected to include this beauty....

...that I got a few weeks ago.  I needed something like for the side table in my living room and this works a treat!  I love the colour!

Now, on to the 'stuff I hauled over the years and have now hauled to my own house from my parents'.  My love of kitsch and vintage isn't new.  I've been '50s and '60s...and even a little '70s...obsessed since I was a child.  And in the past weeks and months of slowly trucking bins from mom and dad's house, I've rediscovered some really great stuff that 'Wee Doll' had collected and saved that is pretty darn nifty!

Case in point:

Who doesn't love sock monkeys?  And who doesn't love the kitschy goodness of the shriners?  Well what if you mixed the two?  You'd get this guy...

Yep.  He's the bees.  Check out that fez!  His name's Harley because that was the name of my grandparents' friend whose wife gave him to me.  I was quite young and we had gone to visit them.  When she heard that I collected stuffed animals, she got up and disappeared into the back of the house for a long time.  When she came back, she was carrying this little nut.  I don't know if she made him or if someone else did, but he was old (the reason she was gone so long is that she had to locate him in the back of a high shelf in a back closet!) when I got him in the '80s.  I'd estimate him to be from the '60s.  Harley now sits in a place of honour in my living room!

Another cool little tidbit that jumped out of a bin at me was this little guy...

He used to sit on a shelf above my bed as a child.  He had originally belonged to my mom when she was young.  No identifiers except the red 'Japan' tag on his belly.   He's also a new resident in my living room!

One of my favourite toys from my childhood...and before that, from my mom's childhood...

.....is her 'autograph hound '.  A red cord wiener dog wearing tartan pants.  How cute is he?  That's 16 year old mom behind him!

These camels were also a tenant in my childhood bedroom....

My great grandmother brought them back from one of her trips to The Holy Land and gave them to me when I was little.  They're made of leather and are just as sweet as they can be!  I think they look loverly on the shelf opposite that palm!  They look so 'at home'!

 

 I also brought this decanter from mom and dad's.  There's a silver one that matches it that I may snag to use too.  We shall see...

Speaking of, my dad's almost finished the bar in his workshop/mancave!  It's my grandfather's original late '50s knotty pine masterpiece of a bar that Dad salvaged before the house was torn down.  I'll try and get some photos for you soon!  It's loverly!

Ok, we're gonna end with an odd and not really mid-century artifact.  More like a totally tubular, radical, gnarly '80s artifact.

I found a couple of boxes of my old cassette tapes.  Yeppers, THAT was fun in and of itself, but this thing is even sweeter.  I think.

It's in the shape of a cassette, as you can see, but.....Bam!!....

It's a game...of some sort.

It's called Slumber Party and has two blue and two red magnetic playing pieces.  The little wheels where the 'tape' would be spin like a one armed bandit when you flip the little button.  I can't figure it out for the life of me. 

Obviously I didn't play it much because I don't remember even remotely how the game 'goes'.  The fact that it's still 100% intact also proves that wee Doll didn't have much interest in it!
Anyone have one of these or want to hazard a guess as to just how you make it from one end of the board to the other?

That's all for today!  Stay tuned for a beachy '50s summer road trip post later in the week!

Vintage Tang Adverts!

 

Here they are, as promised!!  So what if they're a few days late...

 

Those hands were later fired for canoodling on the set.  They were later hired by I Can't Believe It's Not Butter.

You know what's crazy?  I'm not even that old, but I remember waaaaaay back in the '80s when I was a kid, Tang came in a jar with a screw off metal top like that!  Or maybe my grandmother was just feeding me 30 year old breakfast drink powder?

 

Am I the only person who reads these giveaway promos in old magazines and immediately begins searching for the stuff in them at every shop/sale they're in?  I now want that bowl and glass.

 

 

Anyone else noticing the disembodied hand trend here?  Not sure how I feel about that approach.  In fact, it kind of had a 'Don Draper would have never approved this' kind of vibe.  Or maybe he would have if he'd have gotten Tang for sifting through the Johns' trousers.  Meh, who knows.








Oooo!  Finally!!  I real person!  But 'punchier'?  I think Hawaiian Punch's Punchie would take issue with that!




I love the outer space/astronaut tie ins with Tang.  I credit them with making me feel that every glass of Tang is one small step for man and one giant leap for mankind...er, breakfastkind....er, something...

 







Why,  Mrs. Brady, THOSE aren't Bobby and Thindy.  Wait, that isn't your kitchen either.  Wait.  What?

Vintage Kool-Aid Ads..."Oh Yeah!"

How long has it been since you've made a big pitcher of Kool-Aid?  For me, it had been a couple of decades!  So, at the grocery store the other day, I snatched up a few packeroos of that powdered gold I remembered from my childhood.  I took it home, pulled out the vintage Tang pitcher (I actually have a vintage Kool-Aid pitcher with matching cups, but it isn't super useful and lidded like the Tang version!) and mixed my first batch of my childhood favourite, Black Cherry, since...well...my childhood.

One wee sip and I was 6 years old again.  I could see Mr. Kool-Aid crashing through that brick wall.  You know you remember that commercial too! "Oh Yeah!!"

Anyway, the whole Kool-Aid and Mr. Kool-Aid thing got my little fingers itching to search for their old ads!  Here's what I found!

From 1937...



Wouldja LOOK at those polky dotted glasses!!  Whooosh!!  And 5 cents??  I thought I'd gotten a bargain at 5 packs for a dollar!!



Now we know what the Cambell's Kids do on their winter break!  They dress up like Hummels and make frozen Kool Aid desserts...and apparently wash it down with 'Purple Jesus'!  Sweet!!




What I've learned so far....Kool-Aid looks ever so much more swank when paired with mint sprigs and orange slices!  Oh, and I want her hair.  And that tray!!

From 1945....

Ohmagosh!  Kool-Aid ice tray pops!!  Remember those????!!!!  All you needed was Kool-Aid, an ice tray, Saran Wrap and tooth pics...baddabing!  Ice lollies!!!

From 1951....



Finally, everyone's favourite mixologist...The Drinkmaster General...Mr Kool-Aid!!!







From 1964....

Pre-sweetened, eh?  My recent packet called for a whole bloody CUP of sugar!  I reduced it to about a half a cup, which apparently my mother and grandmothers and nanny also did because mine tasted just like I remember!  And it was plenty sweet!  A whole cup would have the above chick and her no bubble flip bouncing off the knotty pine paneled walls!!

I see three of these kids have had their full dose of super sweetened Kool-Aid.  Can you guess which ones?  Sure you can.







Umm, yeah.  I officially want to make Kool-Aid with The Monkees!!


From 1971...








I hear this is where Bill Cosby stole his 'Pudding Pop Face' from.

When was the last time you mixed up a big batch of Kool-Aid?  What's you favourite flavour?  Do you call the flavours by their name, or do you...like we did as kids...call it by it's colour?  Inquiring minds want to know!
Tomorrow...Tang!!  Stay tuned, my little pickles!!
Toodles!