Memento MoMA

I took a trip the Museum of Modern Art a few weeks ago to get cultured and inspired. While I'm in the cartoon business, I'm also a lover of modern art, which shares it's period with the Golden Era. In today's post I'll be sharing some of my favorite pieces at the museum. Maybe you followers will get inspired too!

                                                The Three Musicians (1944) by Fernand Leger

 

Gibraltar (1936) by Alexander Calder, my favorite sculptor. 

Untitled (1965) by Bruce Nauman. I liked this a lot because it reminded me of those Art Deco sconces that filled the walls of movie palaces and nightclubs.

                                   I See Again in Memory My Dear Udnie (1914) by Francis Picabia

To Be Looked at (from the Other Side of the Glass) with One Eye, Close to, for Almost and Hour (1918) by Marcel Duchamp, well known for the painting "Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2" amongst other works of Dadaism.

                           Unique Forms of Continuity in Space (1913) by Umberto Boccioni

                                                     The Empire of Light, II (1950) by Rene Magritte

Last photo of the post is one by the famous Piet Mondrian. There were several pieces of his work to in the exhibit, but this one is a personal favorite of mine. "Broadway Boogie Woogie" (1943). Love that title! Felt a little under dressed but it was just too humid for a jacket that day.

I learned of this painting from my old college professor,animation historian, veteran animator (he started working at Terry Toons in 1949) and a legend in his own right, Howard Beckerman. He was inspired to reference it for an animated cartoon he did for Paramount back in 1967 called "The Trip", which can be seen here! Features some nice little Boogie Woogie numbers.

Hope you enjoyed a taste of culture ha ha! Will be getting back to the topic of vintage menswear in the next post so stay tuned all you vintage lovers out there!

World Fair Obsession

Ever since I saw the "World's Fairs of the 1930's" exhibit at The Museum of the City of New York, I've had new obsession with the NYWF memorabilia and have since obtained a few themed collectibles.

I had seen one of these bakelite Trylon and Perisphere salt and pepper shakers in a local antique store and immediately wanted one, the store's price was a bit too inflated so I found this one eBay for more than half the price after shipping.

The next bit of memorabilia is this folding chair cane hybrid known as the "Can-O-Seat". An acquaintance of mine who is also very much into all thing vintage also had one and inspired me to get my own, though mine is in nowhere as good condition as his.

 Next is this photo I found at a recent antique shop. At first I thought it was just a regular train at a station station, but then I noticed the top of the Trylon behind it and knew instantly where the photo was taken! I'm a steam engine fan, but you just can't beat art deco diesels.

The last item is not an official World's Fair item, but the sphere designs made a coworker think "world's fair" and I figured it from the style and material that 1939 seemed about right for it's era!

I plan to slowly increase my world's fair collection, and by slowly I mean at a snails pace ha ha! So little room when you live in a city you know!

 
As for the my latest in favorite tunes, I finally watched "The King's Speech" a few weeks ago and took a liking to a song played on the king's Gramaphone. "Who's Been Polishing the Sun"

Boater Hat Birthday

Hello readers! I celebrated my 23rd birthday last month and thought I'd share this silent '50s style home movie my friend made for me! I happened to break out my new authentic boater hat and art deco tie for the occasion!

                                         Here are some photos showing detail of the hat and tie.
            I'm not entirely sure how old the boater is, definitely no later than the 1950's. I'm guessing it's '40s at the earliest due to the font of the Dobbs logo on the interior, but I need to due more research on company logo's through the years. The price and size tags seem pretty pre-war in my opinion. Any hat experts out there have a clue?

                       And here's the tie. Late '30s, no label, Art Deco pattern, now one of my favorites to wear! Excuse the odd framing, I cropped out the tie next to it because it's related to the theme of the next post.

My recent music obsession is thanks to a fellow Golden Era fan and artist known as "Two Strip Technicolor". Check out his retro work on his tumblr page at http://twostriptechnicolor.tumblr.com/tagged/Illustration. Follow him now, and enter for a chance to win a brand new 1951 Dodge Wayfarer and Zeineth Porthole television set!....not really but it's worth a look at!

And here's the song, "Nola" (1940)  by Vincent Lopez and his Suave Swing Orchestra. Love the alliteration!

Fedora From Dear Ol' Blighty

Happy Fourth of July everyone! I have another gem to discuss in today's post. After much research and just plain searching, I have finally acquired an authentic '20s/early '30s Fedora hat, all the way from grand old England!

This old English beauty beauty is in great shape, but will definitely need some steaming and re-shaping of the crown. Usually I have all my Fedora's shaped in either a teardrop or diamond, but I think a center dent would suit this hat better. I've also noticed in films and photographs from the '20s and early '30s that the center dent was more common and most likely the crowns original shape.

Frayed ribbon bow is a huge key in determining a hats age. Not every hat had it, but from my research it was very common before the late 1930's, going as far back as the turn of the century. Some high end hat manufacturers  in the '50s and '60s sometimes had ribbons like this featured on hats made the same ways as 30 years prior for their older and more conservative customers.

When I first looked at the sweatband, I immediately thought the seller had been wrong about the age of the hat. The band is quite narrow and the material itself almost paper thin, like that of those immitation leather sweatbands they started putting in hats in the late 1960's. But thanks to the wonderful hat experts on Fedora Lounge (A wonderful forum that discusses everything relating to the 1910's-1960's, and where I learned practically everything I know about vintage clothing) informed me that narrow thin leather sweatbands were indeed very common on British hats of that period and is indeed an authentic example.

 Can't wait for fall so I can take this hat for a test drive eh gov'na? I know, I'm a "yank" and my English accent is sub-par, can't blame a bloke for trying right?

Until the next post, another new favorite song: Lucille by Ben Selvin's Knickerbockers (1931).