Sepia Saturday 168 - falling in love (Ford Zodiac style)

I had planned to stay on theme for this week's Sepia Saturday, but on browsing through a few vintage magazines for a suitable image, I came across this advertisement. Admittedly I should have posted this in early February for a Valentine related theme, but I've missed that and next February is too far away. It's a vintage advertisement for the Ford Zodiac from the February 1959 edition of Motor Sport magazine.

Vintage advertisement for the Ford Zodiac, Motor Sport magazine, February 1959

They've discovered each other, and they're wonderfully happy ... as you will be, when you discover the Zodiac. Let your eye linger on elegant lines and lovely colours, single or two-tone ... the sumptuous interior, with soft leather seating, rich astrakhan carpets. Feel the power - fast, safe, and, if you wish, fully-automatic. Note the very reasonable cost and all the built-in extras. You'll know ... you and the Zodiac are made for each other!

    
More vintage magazines on my web site
 

Sepia Saturday 164 - are you a leader?

Unfortunately only a few moments to participate in this week's Sepia Saturday, but I have managed to find something on theme, well the theme of peaked, military hats anyway. This is an advertisement from the March 1963 edition of Air Mail magazine and is reaching out for people to join the R.A.F. Volunteer Reserve.

Vintage advertisement from Air Mail magazine, March 1963.

    

More vintage magazines on my web site

Sepia Saturday 163 - vintage motor oil advert, c.1959

Well we seem to be clear of snow here in West Berkshire, for the moment at least, but not to miss out on the theme for this week's Sepia Saturday I found this vintage advertisement in the March 1959 edition of Motor Sport magazine. It's for BP Energol Visco-static motor oil, and the picture on the advert is of Mr McCarthy's Ford Zephyr after a night out in the New Zealand Alps. I particularly like the strap line of advert, "Snowed up in the mountains yet it started first touch". This feels very much like 1950's langauge to me and I can imagine someone like Leslie Philips saying this ... possibly followed by "ding, dong", or "woof".

Vintage advertisement for BP Energol Visco-static motor oil, c.1959

More vintage magazines can be found on my web site

    

Sepia Saturday 158 ... i-Spy

Firstly a big HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone and welcome to my first vintage books and magazines blog post of 2013. Although this blog post is an entry for the current Sepia Saturday, I am not theming this week. Instead I have selected a few pictures from one of a small collection of I-SPY books I picked up when I was Christmas shopping a few weeks ago. I remember having several of these as a kid but alas they are long gone. For anyone not familiar with I-SPY books, they are pocket-size publications covering various locations and subjects, e.g. the street, the farm, pets, butterflies, etc., where the spotter was rewarded with points for spotting various things. I think my favourite as a child was called I-SPY on the Road which kept me from boredom on long car journeys. However, the one I have chosen to share today is called I-SPY in the Street. I particularly like the "Playing on Sundays is Forbidden" sign.

I-SPY in the Street

 I-SPY in the Street

 I-SPY in the Street, front cover

 I-SPY in the Street, back cover

What struck me about this book was the simplicity and innocence, which is definitely lost in many modern childhoods. It also made me wonder what an equivalent I-SPY in the Street book would include in today's world ... 5 points graffiti, 5 points for fast-food chain litter, 10 points for broken glass, and 20 points for a boarded-up show window perhaps. Although with all the gadgets and devices available now, I suspect many no longer even look further than their handheld device.

As usual, more vintage books and magazines and vintage postcards on my web site

    

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