Sepia Saturday 117 - Uniforms

Well, despite my various pile of old magazines, postcards and general junk, I don't seem to be able to find anything to stay strictly on the Scout theme for this week's Sepia Saturday. So, I have ended up stretching the theme slightly by sharing a couple of pictures of people in uniforms. These pictures are from a 1941 edition of the Picturegoer magazine, and show scenes from Fred Astaire's You'll Never Get Rich. Two of the three pictures feature uniforms of one sort or another, and in fact when I first looked at the one in the top left-hand corner, I did initially think it was the Scouts. I'm not sure what uniforms the girls are wearing in the final picture on the page though ... guess I'll have to watch the film to find out, but Fred seems pretty pleased with what the magazine describes as a bevy of beauty.

Picturegoer magazine, November 1941

    

Z Cars paperback, c.1965

Whilst creating a Pinterest board for my Cult TV paperbacks, I realised that there were a few in my collection which I had not shared on this blog. And, as I always seem to be apologising for the sporadic content on this blog, this seems like an excellent opportunity to put both right.

The Cult TV series depicted on the paperback below is none other than Z Cars. During my research into finding some additional information to share, I was under the, apparently common, illusion that the series was called Z Cars because of the Ford Zodiacs and Ford Zephyrs used. Turns out it was actually based on a fictional call sign. Reading more into the history it seems that a staggering 799 episodes were made between 1962 and 1978, which I find hard to believe. What's a huge shame however is that many of these seem to have been wiped. Whilst we seem to get regular re-runs of other Cult TV classics like The Avengers, The Sweeney, etc. I'm not sure I've ever seen Z Cars other than when it was originally released.

Z Cars - Barlow on Trial, front cover of paperback, c.1965

Z Cars - Barlow on Trial, back cover of paperback, c.1965

More vintage books and magazines on my web site

    

Theme Thursday - bubbles (bubble car)

It's been a while since I posted anything on this blog, but fortunately this week's Theme Thursday has given me a great prompt to do so, Bubbles. My take on the theme is a bubble car, as featured on the front cover of the March 1957 edition of Motor Sport magazine. It's actually the Messerschmitt which won the National Cat's Eyes Rally.

Motor Sport magazine, March 1957

More vintage magazines can be found on my web site

    

Theme Thursday - Future

I am all over the place this week not really knowing what day it is, so it was a bit of a surprise to me when I started seeing submissions for this week's Theme Thursday, Future. I like to be challenged, but this one took some real lateral though and searching but I eventually found this motoring magazine from the early 1970's with what seems to feature the type of car people thought we'd all be driving in the future. It looks kind of space-agey, and clunky at the same time. I can almost imagine someone dressed in a glittery spacesuit getting out of the back door (mainly because in my recollection of sci-fi TV in the 1970's that's what everyone was wearing ... particularly in the U.F.O TV series).

Drive magazine, c.1972

Sepia Saturday 101 - over the hiils and fast away

Taking the car as the theme for this week's Sepia Saturday, I've rummaged through my vintage Motor Sport magazines and found this advertisement from the April 1959 edition. The advert is for the Austin Healey, with a backdrop of 4 tweed-suited, landed gentry, no doubt off for a jolly good time, probably involving a picnic rug and matching hamper, and using words and phrases like "rotter", "dash it all" and "come on ginger, don't be such a bad egg".

Vintage advertisement for the Austin Healey, c.1959

More vintage magazines can be found on my web site

    

Theme Thursday - Gadget

I think I've just about managed to keep on theme for this week's Theme Thursday, 'gadget'. This is a paperback from Gerry Anderson's 1960's cult TVseries, Joe 90. I don't remember this series as well as Thunderbirds, but I do remember Joe being a bit of a 1960's Inspector Gadget.

Joe 90 and the Raiders, paperback c.1968

    

Vintage advertisement - Dyna Panhard, c.1958

I certainly can't claim to be a car expert, but I always find it curious when I come across a car manufacturer or make I've never even heard of before. In this case it's the Dyna Panhard. On researching I found out that in fact Panhard is one of the world's oldest car manufacturers, founded in 1891. The Dyna was produced between 1954 and 1959, with 140,000 models being produced. I don't know how many of these made it over to the UK, but presumably some did given that the advertisement boasts Now with right hand drive.

Vintage advertisement for Dyna Panhard, Motor Sport magazine, c.1958

More vintage magazines can be found on my web site