Animation Blog

My new animation blog is up and running! Take a gander at my golden era influenced work!
http://animatedadam.blogspot.com/

Happy Memorial Day

For memorial day, me and the family invited a few friends over and had a small BBQ for the celebration. The temperature is really spiking here. It nearly reached 90 degrees, and felt even higher with the humidity. For this casual occasion I went with the '40s casual look again, sporting my '40s/'50s Brentwood Hobby Jac shirt and '40/'50s high waisted drop loop slacks and '50s Panama hat. Something I've always wondered, what ever happened to big collars? They were a thing in the late '30s-mid '50s, once again in the late '60s-'70s and since then have only appeared on retro bowling shirts and Hawaiian shirts.

After taking an after lunch stroll, me and the guys stopped off at a recently restored 1920's era apothecary for some refreshing egg creams. I'm standing next to what I believe to be one of the earliest jukeboxes. I find the wood and nickel/brass finish to be more charming than the neon Wurlitzer Jukeboxes.

 I said I'd post a few more photos, so here's some of my grandpa during WWII. I thought it fitting to post these since it's memorial day.

Everyday Fellows Part 3

               Yet more photos! In tomorrow's photo post, I will be digging up some my own family photos.

Kemmere Park 1950

"Lake George-June 1951. Taile Friedl, Mom, Mrs. Rust & Uncle Max in front of their bungaloo" That '49-50 Dodge is glorious!

October 1948

"La Guardia Field, NY July 1951. Lt. Raphael Duran-Rey of the Peruvian Navy"

Even more photos tomorrow!

Everyday Fellows Part 2

                                      More photos of everyday people from the Golden Era.

1939 Ford Standard Circa 1946.

"Here is one of the cars my friend owns-I drive it a lot. Love Doris II" Doris and her friend probably shared this car as part of the carpool for victory  plan during WWII to save on gas on tires.

Kodacolor photo April 26th 1954. The colors were very faded on this print, required some extra photoshop editing to get them back.

I've always loved post-war kitchens.

1932

1955

LaGuardia Airport in the late '50s

More photos to come!

Everyday Fellows

A lot of people have misconceptions about the Golden Era. They romanticize each decade from what they've seen in big Hollywood movies of the era, or how it's referenced in contemporary film and TV shows. So many people see the '20s and '30s as just flappers and gangsters wearing big pinstripe suits driving Model A's and T's, the '40s as just World War 2, the '50s as Happy Days and Grease and the '60s as The British and Hippie invasion. Don't get me wrong, I love watching old movies from each period and drool over all the cars and scenery etc, but I always felt the best way to get a true glimpse of the past was through everyday photographs. I've been collecting a lot of old photos recently that I found in my neighborhood and thought to share them.

Back of photo says "John Paine in a corner of his photographic store. Dec 1965"

Now THAT'S a cuda jacket!

"Taken in the back of hotel. Sept 22 1945"

"April 1944" Interesting leisure/loafer coat with those button tabs on the sleeves.

Kodacolor print made the week of Oct. 29th 1951. The sailor is probably about to ship out for his Korean War era service. This photo was very faded and took some work getting the colors back.

Boardwalk Empire era. The man appears to be sporting a very toned down "jazz suit".

"Jackie, Jack & John 1962. They didn't know I snapped this-"

'50s party goers. It's funny to think that this casual look would become adopted by politicians in the last 15 years.

These series of photos just go to show how far back today's casual clothing actually go.

More old photo's in the next post!

Leisure Weather

             The weather has been rather unpredictable here in the city. After what seemed to be an endless stretch of damp humid weather, we finally got a comfortable dry 73 degrees. It was time to break out my new deadstock '60s does '30s striped sportcoat. The whole nostalgia for the '30s came about after Bonnie and Clyde came to theaters in 1967. A professor of mine, who was in his late 30s at the time, recalled seeing people around Manhattan dressed in clothes inspired by the infamous duo, though he claimed that fad was very short lived. While dressing like depression era bandits may have been overtaken by the hippie/counter culture rebellion at the time, suit designers indeed were harkening back to the 1930's, albeit with heavily modded details. My jacket however is very conservative and gives off a very classic Ivy League feel. It's very thin and made mostly of acetate, but it' the first jacket I've worn in warm weather that I've actually stayed cool in!

                                  Some more vintage garb that has come into my possession:

                    A '40s/'50s gabardine leisure/loafer coat, given to me as a graduation gift from a close friend. It needs a good cleaning and is a bit roomy, but is very comfortable. It's a shame that the original leisure coats were forgotten amongst the awful polyester leisure suits of the '70s.

                                             
                                              A dead stock wool vest of unknown age.
                                                            Possibly '50s or '60s

Animation Screenings and a Golden Era Graduation

What a busy week it's been. I had my animation thesis screened and graduated college all in one week. The 23rd Annual Dusty festival went quite well. All the animated films were great, and the awards were all well deserved. The graduation ceremony was great as well, being held in the glorious Art Deco palace, Radio City Music Hall, complete with wonderful music from the mighty Wurlitzer and a speech given by singer, songwriter, and artist, Lori Anderson.

At the Dusty Screenings with my college brothers. Sporting my recently obtained late-'40s bold look suit jacket, '40s silk bold tie and Paul Fredrick club collar shirt.

 Nothing beats celebrating golden era style with classic root beer floats

                                                The Mighty Wurlitzer at Radio City Music Hall

                                             Guest Speaker Lori Anderson

                                    SVA chose a good classic graduation color. A nice regal crimson.

                      Me and my college chums at the post-graduation celebration party. Sporting
                           my 1935-1945 era suit, '40s silk tie, and 1910's/'20s art deco cufflinks.