Theme Thursday - Monster

A great choice of theme this week on Theme Thursday - Monster. Below are scans of my paperback copies of novels by one of my favourite authors, John Wyndham, both featuring monsters of one kind or another. The first paperback is 'The Day of the Triffids', originally published in 1951, this is the 1965 Penguin paperback version. My first encounter with Triffids was watching the 1980's TV series, which I thought was much earlier so perhaps it was the 1962 film version that I saw some time in the late 1970's. Either way, I remember it vividly and being very scared at the time.

The second paperback is 'The Kraken Wakes', which is also the title of a poem by Alfred Tennyson. Wyndham's novel was first published in 1953 and the version here is Penguin's 1973 version. As far as I can tell this has never been made into a film, although I'm sure the plot has been used in various 'creatures from the deep' type films.

As usual, lots of vintage magazines and books on my web site, and also vintage postcards

Sepia Saturday - vintage 35mm photography magazines

Another variety of vintage magazine this week, where it's time for a brief posting on vintage photography magazines. I picked up 6 or so of these magazines dating back to 1965. These 2 covers are my favourites. The magazines themselves are, if I'm honest, a little dry and factual, but there are some great vintage advertisements which, had I not spent all week dealing with the 'business prevention department' at work, I may have had the time to include.

 

35mm and sub-miniature photography magazine, c. February 1965

 

35mm and sub-miniature photography magazine, c. March 1965

More vintage magazines can be found on my web site

Vintage Cult TV Paperbacks - The Man From U.N.C.L.E

As promised several times, I have finally got around to creating a blog entry for my collection of paperbacks from The Man From U.N.C.L.E. I'm assuming it needs little or no introduction, but just in case, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was a US TV series which ran from 1964 to 1968, featuring two secret agents, Napoleon Solo (Robert Vaughn) and Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum) who work for a secret organisation called U.N.C.L.E (the United Network Command for Laws and Enforcement). Their rivals were called THRUSH and, of course, were dead set on world domination and destruction.

I can't remember when I saw my first TV episode, probably during a 1970's re-run I would imagine, but I remember being fascinated from the very first few seconds. I picked up these paperbacks about 10 years ago at various locations, 2nd hand book shops, cahrity shops, book stalls at village fetes, etc., but have not come across any for a while now. I have numbers 1 - 5, 7, 10 and 11, so a few gaps, but also it looks as though there were no fewer than 23 in all.

Finally for today's post, I've also included the only Girl From U.N.C.L.E. paperback I have, and in fact the only one I have ever seen. Furthermore I've never seen any of the TV episodes although there would seem to have been 29. They featured Stephanie Powers, who later went on to appear in Hart to Hart with Robert Wagner, and Noel Harrison, and ran from 1966 to 1967.

 

 The Man From U.N.C.L.E. paperback, by Michael Avallone

 The Man From Uncle paperback no 2, The Doomsday Affair, by Harry Whittington

 

 The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. paperback no 1, The Global Globules Affair, by Simon Latter

I hope this posting satisfied those who were waiting for it. Maybe I'll feature my U.F.O. paperbacks next time.

Check out my web site for vintage postcards, vintage books and magazines and records and CDs

Sepia Saturday - Projector Guarantee

Apologies to anyone expecting another installment of vintage Motor Sport magazines, or Cult TV paperbacks - I have a couple lined up which hopefully I'll post over the weekend, but for now I thought that this was appropriate for this week's Sepia Saturday entry.

I found this guarantee slotted into a vintage '35mm Photography' magazine I came across recently (and yes, I will devote a blog post to those magazines at some time as well). It's a two year guarantee for a Braun projector, bought at the Oriental Store, Crater, Aden. I assume that as I found the magazine in a UK shop, that the projector was bought by possibly a UK serviceman of civil servant on overseas duty in Aden, some time in the 1960's.

More vintage items can be found on my vintage postcards web site, or my vintage magazines and books page

Top Gear, eat your heart out

Following on from my previous post from the March 1959 edition of Motor Sport, I thought I'd go back a little further in time and share some of the great advertisments form the April 1957 edition of Motor Sport magazine. These are just three from the magazine which also featured articles called 'The Parliamentary Debate on the British Motor Industry' and 'Top Men in Speed Say This New Tyre is a Winner'.

 

 Motor Sport magazine, April 1957

Advertisement for Courtaulds High-Tenacity Rayon - the World's Leading Tyre Cord

Madame Andrée Jan, here seen hanging by her teeth from a helicopter over Derby airfield on June 17th 1956, was suspended with perfect safety by a cord only 1/4 inch thick ... 

Advertisment for the Morris Minor 1000 ... 0-60 mph in 28 seconds

 

Advertisment for the Triumph T.R.3

T.R.3 versus Aeroplane ... and the Triumph T.R.3 won! So, I'd always thought that having carzy races between planes and cars was a Top Gear invention but it looks like the fun was to be had at least 40 years beforehand, albeit that this challenge was done on fuel consumption with the Triumph running at 43 mpg as opposed to the Auster J4's 22.1 mpg ... I wonder if The Stig was driving.

More vintage magazines and books on my web site

Vintage Motor Sport Magazine, c.1959

A bit of a departure from my previous two posts in this blog, where I move away from the world of Cult TV paperbacks and into the realm of vintage Motor Sport magazines. Those of you eagerly anticipating more Cult TV will have to wait a while ... but not too long ... and hopefully the same sort of mindset that draws you to Cult TV will also endear you to these magazines. Everything from the pictures of the old cars, to the vintage advertisements gives a fascinating insight into a world which, although not especially old, has changed beyond recognition.

 

Front cover of Motor Sport Magazine, March 1959

The Three Graces

Advertisement from the March 1959 edition of Motor Sport magazine for Ford, showing 'The Three Graces' of the Ford Consul, the Ford Zephyr and the Ford Zodiac. Proudly claiming Ford to be Britain's biggest exporter of cars, trucks and tractors.

 Back cover of Motor Sport Magazine, March 1959

Showing an advert for Lucas motoring essentials, inviting you to 'Greet the Spring' with items such as a dipping mirror, am  ignition coil, and an  electric screenjet.

More vintage magazines and books on my web site

  

Vintage Cult TV Paperback - The Persuaders / Tony Curtis

Having decided to stay with the theme of 1960's and 1970's Cult TV classics, my blog entry was an easy choice following this week's sad news of the death of Tony Curtis. I have probably seen most, if not all, of the Persuaders TV series, but I only have one Persuaders paperback. It wasn't however until I read a few of his obituaries that I realised quite how many films he'd starred in, and also that he was an established artist whose paintings sold for thousands.

What I particularly liked about The Persuaders was the interplay between Roger Moore, the artistocratic englishman, and Curtis, the Brooklyn wannabe playboy, and the cheesy, but constant, humour - they must have had a blast filimg it. The semi-exotic Riviera locations add a further sense of the bizarre as the two jet-setting playboys get themselves into all sorts of trouble. Hopefully over the next few weeks there will be some Tony Curtis documentaries and films shown on TV.

The Persuaders! Book One, by Frederick E. Smith, c.1971

Back cover of the first Persuaders paperback

 

 More vintage books and magazines and also vintage postcards can be found on my web site