Sepia Saturday 156 - a kiss

A bit rushed for time this week, but just a few minutes before I need to go and catch the train into London. I was initially stuck for a kiss related picture for this week's Sepia Saturday but then I remembered my Picturegoer magazines, which had a few to choose from.I eventually decided on this picture of Errol Flynn and Faye Emerson in the 1944 film Uncertain Glory. Not quite as passionate a kiss as in Alan's theme-setting picture, but probably I guess what was called romantic or charming at the time ... although Flynn does look like a bit of a cad or a bounder in this shot.

Errol Flynn and Faye Emerson in Uncertain Glory, Picturegoer magazine, August 1944

Lots more vintage magazines can be found on my web site

    

You may also like my vintage postcards blog or my In Search of Space blog

Sepia Saturday 155 - men in overalls

I've taken this week's Sepia Saturday theme at face value, and am sharing a few vintage advertisements featuring men in overalls. They all come from the March 1960 edition of Motor Sport magazine. I particularly like the advertisement featuring the petrol attendant. A small glimpse of the sort of service we used to get in the UK many years ago, which has now largely been replaced by surly staff sitting in the warm, behind a till asking if you want any half-price chocolate today.

Vintage advertisement for Filtrate Colloidal Oils, Motor Sport magazine, March 1960

    

Vintage advertisements for Jubilee Clips and National Petrol, Motor Sport magazine, March 1960

More vintage magazines can be found on my web site

    

Sepia Saturday 151 - telephone operator

Just a few minutes between raking up the autumn leaves to participate in this week's Sepia Saturday. I have managed to stay on theme this week, although my telephone operator picture is nowhere near as spectacular as the one Alan posted. This first picture is from an article in the January 1957 edition of Trains Illustrated called "The American Train Dispatcher".

An American Traffic controller at his telephone desk, c.1956

And although not strictly on the telephone theme, the second picture does have a lot to do with communication, so kind of linked. This picture is also from the January 1957 edition of Trains Illustrated and was featured in an article called "Signalling and the Modernisation plan". It's a picture of the inside of York signal box which, at the time, was the largest of its kind in the world, controlling nearly 18 miles of running lines, 5.5 miles of loop lines, with 74 running and 154 shunt signals, and 277 sets of points. Some sense of the enormity of this can be seen in the layout on the far walls. I suspect today that there are only a couple of lines here, all controlled by a microchip the size of a pinhead.

The electric route relay interlocking signal box at York

Lots more vintage magazines and vintage postcards on my web site

    

Sepia Saturday 148 - vintage cycling

It's been a while since I've posted anything in my vintage books and magazines blog so was very pleased when the week's Sepia Saturday gave me an opportunity to do some, with thankfully only a little bit of thought on my part. As Kat said, there were so many available prompts in this week's image to chose from, and I have decided to follow the bike theme. The images below are both vintage advertisements from the back cover of 1920's guide books. My blog post from a couple of years ago features the font cover and other advertisements from a similar guide.

I'm intrigued by the sign post on the first advert. I think one of the places on the sign is Cheltenham, and the other one possibly Stow, which would make sense as they are relatively close together

Vintage advertisement for Palmer cycle tyres, from back cover of 1920's London guide book

 I do wonder how much this all steel bicycle would gave weighed ... probably significantly more than today's aluminium or carbon fibre models. A bargain though at £6 7s 6d (which for those of you not familiar with the UK's pre-decimal currency is 6 pounds, 7 shillings and 6 pence).

Vintage advertisement for the Raleigh All-Steel Bicycle, from back cover of 1920's Barnstaple guide

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

    

Sepia Saturday 141 - from another time

Despite my best intentions I have fallen woefully behind with my blog updates over recent months. Some because I was on holiday, but also because I seem to run out of time (perhaps an appropriate link to this week's Sepia Saturday theme). This particular blog has also been somewhat neglected over the past few weeks as well. Those of you awaiting the last few postings in my vintage jazz journal series will have to wait a little longer, as today I build on the theme of time and reflect on another time. The magazine cover below is from the May 1952 edition of Trains Illustrated magazine. This was most definitely another time and a time of which I have only read about, having been born just after the Beeching axe swept across Britain. Another time would have meant more trains, more stations, more carriages, stations with waiting rooms warmed by open fires, quality and friendly station cafes, station masters, guards, luggage porters, etc. 

W.R. 0-6-0PT No. 9427 enters Snow Hill station, Birmingham, with a goods train

The only place to really experience this sort of thing today is on heritage railways. I visited the Watercress Line in Hampshire a few months ago and wrote a short blog article about it. And of course there are fortunately hundreds of books and DVD's about steam, so whilst another time will never return, all is not lost.

    

Jazz Journal - Lucky Thompson, July 1962

Welcome to the seventh in a series of ten postings which share my recently found Jazz Journal magazines from the early 1960's. The cover star for the July 1962 edition is Lucky Thompson. Thompson was a jazz saxophonist, born in 1924 in South Carolina. Unconventional by the standards of his contemporaries, he was suspicious of the music business, being quoted as describing record companies and promoters as parasites or vultures.

Jazz Journal, July 1962, cover star Lucky Thompson

 Jazz Journal, July 1962, advertisement for Vogue jazz

 Lucky Thompson on amazon.co.uk ...

    

Lucky Thompson on amazon.com ...

    



Other posts in the series include ...

1. Memphis Slim, March 1961
2. Dave Brubeck, February 1961
3. Cab Calloway, May 1961
4. Peggy Lee, September 1961
5. Erroll Garner, January 1962
6. Coleman Hawkins, February 1962

More vintage magazines of all sorts can be found on my web site
 

Jazz Journal - Coleman Hawkins, February 1962

We're up to number six in my series of ten Jazz Journal postings. Today we go back in time to February 1962, and it's the turn of Coleman Hawkins to be the cover star. I'm a bit stretched for time today to reserach and provide a summary, so instead here's a link to Coleman Hawkins information.

Jazz Journal, February 1962, Coleman Hawkins

Jazz journal, February 1962, advertisement for Vogue jazz

Jazz Journal, February 1962, advertisement

Coleman Hawkins on amazon.co.uk ...

    

Coleman Hawkins on amazon.com ...


    



Other posts in the series include ...

1. Memphis Slim, March 1961
2. Dave Brubeck, February 1961
3. Cab Calloway, May 1961
4. Peggy Lee, September 1961
5. Erroll Garner, January 1962

More vintage magazines of all sorts can be found on my web site

 

Jazz Journal - Erroll Garner, January 1962

Welcome to the 5th in my series of 10 postings dedicated to Jazz Journal magazines from the early 1960's. Today's cover star is Erroll Garner (born:1923, died: 1977). Garner was an American Jazz pianist, probably most well knw for his ballard Misty. The inability to read music almost cost Garner his place in the Music Union, but eventually he was granted a special dispensation. During his career he released 10's of records, and played with Charlie Parker on the famous Cool Blues sessions.

Jazz Journal, January 1962, Erroll Garner

Jazz Journal, January 1962, back advert - Vogue Jazz advertisement

The advertisement below is taken from the same edition of Jazz Journal and celebrates Philips and Fontana having 6 records in Jazz Journal's Record of the Year, including it would seem 4 of the top 5.

Jazz Journal, January 1962, Philips and Fontana advertisement

Erroll Garner on amazon.co.uk ...

  

Erroll Garner at amazon.com ...

    




Check out my previous posts for other Jazz Journals in the series ...

1. Memphis Slim, March 1961
2. Dave Brubeck, February 1961
3. Cab Calloway, May 1961
4. Peggy Lee, September 1961

More vintage magazines of all sorts can be found on my web site

Jazz Journal - Peggy Lee, September 1961

Apologies to those of you who have been awaiting the fourth installment from my Jazz Journal collection, but here it is at last. Today's post features the cover star from the September 1961 edition, Peggy Lee. Peggy Lee was born in 1920 and was an American jazz singer and composer, as well as an established actress. Her breakthrough was 1943's Why Don't You Do Right? which recorded sales in excess of one million and set her on the path to fame. Her film roles included The Jazz Singer and Lady and the Tramp, neither of which need any introduction. Peggy died in 2002 and is buried in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery, Los Angeles. Never heard Peggy? Then check out the MP3 samples below.

Jazz Journal, September 1961, cover star Peggy Lee

Jazz Journal, September 1961, Vogue Jazz advertisement

Jazz Journal September 1961, Pye advertisement

Peggy Lee on amazon.co.uk ...

   

Peggy Lee on amazon.com ...

    

More vintage magazines can be found on my web site

Previous posts in this series include Memphis Slim, Cab Calloway and Dave Brubeck.

Sepia Saturday 130 - I wonder what their faces looked like

I struggled to find something relevant to the theme for this week's Sepia Saturday as I think I have, at some stage, already posted all of my pictures of people in uniform, cats and doorsteps (ok, maybe not the latter). But then the suggestion of "legs separated from their owners" gave me an idea, which was, I wonder what the faces would have looked like. I scoured through my vintage magazines and eventually found this one. You'll have to excuse the artistic licence and imagine that the man and woman are swapped round. This is in fact a vintage advertisement for California Poppy Perfume, taken from a 1941 edition of Picturegoer magazine ... 

As wayward as a coquette ...

as constant as a vow ...

as exciting as a first kiss ...

as thrilling as a first meeting ...

as gay as the song of the lark ...

 Vintage advertisement for Californian Poppy perfume, from Picturegoer magazine, November 1941

This advertisement was sitting neatly on top of another block of 3 adverts, which although not linked to the theme, I thought I'd share anyway. So let's hear it for "inner cleanliness" courtesy of Andrews Liver Salt.

 Vintage advertisements for Andrews Liver Salt, Cephos, and Tangee Face Powder, from Picturegoer magazine, November 1941

Those of you following this blog expecting the next installment from my collection of Jazz Journals will have to wait a few more days before I post the 4th one. For anyone who has missed these, I have started a series of 10 postings and have recently posted about Memphis Slim, Dave Brubeck and Cab Calloway. Also, last weekend I was fortunate enough to stumble across 20 or so vintage Trains Illustrated magazines from the early 1950's, so stay tuned folks as I will try and share some of these over the coming weeks and months.

More vintage magazines can be found on my web site

    

Jazz Journal - Cab Calloway, May 1961

For the third of my ten vintage Jazz Journal magazines, we go back to May 1961 where Cab Calloway appears as the cover star.

Jazz Journal, May 1961, cover star Cab Calloway

Jazz Journal, May 1961, back cover - advertisement for Vogue Jazz

The advertisement below is quite impressive. At the Jazzshows Jazz Club you could see Jazz on every day of the month way back in 1961, whereas at the Picadilly Jazz Club it looks like you would have had to go to bingo once a week.

Jazz Journal, May 1961, vintage advertisement

Cab Calloway on amazon.co.uk ...

    

Cab Calloway on amazon.com ...

    




Previous blog posts in this series include Memphis Slim and Dave Brubeck

Jazz Journal - Dave Brubeck, February 1961

For the second installment of the ten, early 1960's Jazz Journal magazines I picked up a few weeks ago, we turn our heads and ears to Dave Brubeck, who graces the cover of the February 1961 edition. Dave Brubeck is a jazz pianist, born in California in 1920. He is probably best know for the Dave Brubeck Quartet which he started in 1951 with Paul Desmond, during which time he regularly released up to four albums per year. In addition to 'regular' albums, he produced a jazz musical and appeared in the film All Night Long, which also starred Patrick McGoohan (later to become famous for his roles in Danger Man and the Prisoner). As a Patrick McGoohan fan, this is one I will be checking out.

Jazz Journal, February 1961, front cover

Jazz Journal, February 1961, back cover

Compared to other magazines of the era, the advertisements in Jazz Journal are all very serious, as can be seen in this advertisement for a glorified record player.

Decca stereogram advertisement

Dave Brubeck on amazon.co.uk ...

   

Dave Brubeck on amazon.com ...
 

    

This is part two of a ten part feature. Part one featured Memphis Slim

Jazz Journal - Memphis Slim, March 1961

I was thrilled last weekend when I stumbled across a pile of vintage Jazz Journal magazines from the early 1960's whilst ferreting around an antique market. I picked up 10 in all and over the next few days and weeks (hopefully not months) I plan to blog about each one. I'm going to take them in ascending chronological order, feature the front and back cover of each, and possibly one or more of the inside pages. And, assuming I can find some, I'll post links to books, records and CD's by the magazine cover star and MP3 clips. So without further ado, let's get this (jazz) party started ... and as luck would have it, the theme of music fits nicely with this week's Sepia Saturday. Watch out for the 2nd installment of my Jazz Journals, which hopefully I'll get round to posting over the bank holiday weekend as the weather forecast here looks awful.

*** UPDATE *** Second installment of my Jazz Journals has now been posted, featuring Dave Brubeck.

Jazz Journal, March 1961, front cover

Jazz Journal, March 1961, back cover

This first magazine is from March 1961 and features Memphis Slim as the cover star. Born in 1915 as John Len Chatman, in Memphis, Tennessee (where else). In the early 1940's he recorded for Bluebird records, and towards the late 1940's moved towards more of a jump blues sound, recording mainly for independent labels like Hy-Tone and Miracle. Classic Memphis Slim songs include Every Day I Have the Blues and Nobody Loves Me, the latter being covered by a wealth of artists including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and Ella Fitzgerald. Check out the MP3 selections below to hear some of his songs.

Vintage EMI advertisement from Jazz Journal, March 1961

More vintage magazines can be found on my web site

Memphis Slim on amazon.co.uk ...

    



Memphis Slim on amazon.com ...

    

*** UPDATE *** Second installment of my Jazz Journals has now been posted, featuring Dave Brubeck.

Sepia Saturday 124 - vintage travel, by boat and train

As this week's Sepia Saturday showed a picture of a train, this seemed like the ideal opportunity to share a few vintage railway advertisements. These all come from Hampshire and Dorset guide books of the 1920's, but the locations they are advertising are much further afield, and cover the Great Western Railway, Scotland, Holidays on the Continent, and The Far East, South Africa and Australia ... although please note that the Blue Funnel Line is For First-Class Passengers Only ... but presumably means that one would need a first class ticket rather than needing to be a first class person.

Vintage advertisements for the Blue Funnel Line, the Great Western Railway and Scotland, c.1920's

Vintage advertisements for Southern Railways, c.1920's

Vintage advertisements for the London and North Eastern Railway, and Southern Railways, c.1920's

More vintage material can be found on my vintage postcards and my vintage magazines we pages

    

Sepia Saturday 118 - Going Out

This week's Sepia Saturday theme of Going Out had me baffled for a short while. I knew I had pictures of people dressed for an occasion, but the big question was where. As I leafed through some 1940's editions of Picturegoer magazine, I came across this vintage advertisement for Henry C.Miner's Liquid Make Up, featuring 2 people obviously going out somewhere. Click on the image to enlarge ... the text makes for an amusing read.

Vintage advertisement for Miner's Liquid Make Up, Picturegoer magazine, c.1941