Trying to put my thoughts & ideas down somewhere and give another outlet to my creativity. It's all connected, so I can't say it's a blog about just this or just that. Dolls. Fashion. Art. A little bit on travel, whatever... let's take it wherever it goes...

2012-11-19

Meyer's Modeblatt 1946 - No. 5, 2nd February

So, here I am again finally with a "new" issue! No more pushing furniture around or trawling Ikea on a Saturday afternoon (I know, I must've been a little crazy...)!
The first February issue has a pretty, sporty day dress on it's cover. Again though, this was nothing a reader could sew by herself, the dress was by Nabholz. I also like the model, and the way she wears her hair in a natural-looking style.

Since it was still was mostly winter, the magazine recommended again a ski tour, this time from Saanenmöser to Zweisimmen. No lifts there!

The fashion!

I have to put this up front, because I liked this so much! None of the dresses was on one of the sewing pattern pages, but this issue included and order form for one free pattern. There was a double page of children's clothing, and this one, with "early spring" dresses - that's rather optimistic, considering they also recommended a ski tour in the same issue ;-). Anyway, there are five pretty, very wearable day dresses. Note the one on the left, it features kimono-sleeves - very fashionable indeed!
What made me like this page so much was the piece on the left though. It's a column on fashion and the meaning (personal) style. The opening paragraph in short says, you can be dressed not very fashionably but have loads of style, as much as you can be dressed to the lastest fashion, and not have an ounce of style. "Fashion can be bought - no matter if it's in a department store, made to measure or even from a couturier - but style is where the purse can do nothing. Style is something one must have in oneself - and which one must cultivate." Oh, how very, very true this is! Further on, it tells the reader that "now that fashion is almost mass-produced", a woman must recognise her style and be true to it, in order not to be overlooked. And have the guts to say "no, I won't buy it, it's not for me" to something even if they're told that it's the latest style. Though of course fashion is mostly mass-produced today, this piece is as true today as it was when it was written - everybody should pin this to their wardrobe door!

The big, wide world
Next - a "miniature child" - a story about a baby born 12 months prematurely in England. I guess at the time it was pretty miraculous that such a baby would survive, but it seems it did. They did have an incubator - which looks quite crude for us today. Apparently it hadn't been used for years and was supposed to be sold!

Keeping up with news from across the channel, there was also small piece the British prime minister's wife, Mrs. Atlee. Nothing about politics though - no, not in this mag! It's more about here story, and her children - and it says that she didn't "meddle" in her husband's politics.

Next up - a small article about the island of Ischia. This was before the tourism boom of the 1950s/60s set in!

And finally... the mixed page! A procession commemorating one of our civil wars (18th century), a 13-year-old chess prodigy, the young king of Siam (Thailand)...

For your dose of culture
No Hollywood movie, but a whole page about a rising star at the Schauspielhaus, Zurich's most famous theater. I admit, I wouldn't have known the name Agnes Fink before, but she did appear in some movies and later on TV too. IMDb has the details.

Do it yourself
 Cushions and curtains to embroider - and what to make of different remains of woolen fabrics.


Ad-tastic

 Two products we still know well today! Aspirin of course needs no introduction, and Alcacyl is also still around - the fizzy tablets in the organge package! What I did not realize until now though is that Alcacyl is based on the same active substance as Aspirin!

 

And here's more companies that are still around in one way or another! Samen Mauser still produce plant seed, and the logo itself has barely changed! Zwicky... well, they used produce their sewing threads not far from where I live, in Wallisellen, but that's history - they are now part of the Gütermann company, and production has been moved abroad.

 This "call to all housewives" is an ad too, though cleverly concealed as an article, or more modernly put, it's an advertorial. And who by? Möbel Pfister! The "call" to housewives is to tell them that they should make their life more beautiful by having a beatiful home - meaning new furniture! It goes on to say that to live with nice furniture is not a luxury. What makes me really laugh though, is the small note at the end that their shops exhibiting the furniture get very busy on Saturday afternoons, so they recommend people to come in on a weekday or on Saturday mornings. Now what was that about Saturday afternoons at Ikea? Some things never change indeed *lol*!

Breast enhancement ad
 
Yep, it's Rondoform again! Slightly different wording. This time they claimed that a woman's breasts would bring out her "womanly beauty" - and that the treatment with Rondoform was cheap. Ouch!

Slimming product ad
Orbal and Amaigritol were both back again with the same ad. Duh.

2012-11-13

Why I've been absent for a bit...

I know, I'm way behind on blogging my vintage magazines. No worries - I will be back with the next issue next weekend! It's been a busy few weeks! It started with my deciding to get a new PC - finally. And then also wanting to replace my old desk, which had a laptop-unfriendly format. Weeeell... I got a few things more than just a new PC and a new desk! And after finally managing to get a really big frame for my big new poster, the room is finished, and the new PC is running, never mind the new TV mediabox that my TV company finally foisted on me, after I never tried to get my by-now obsolete model exchanged for a newer one. Ok, it was free and has HD, but it's also a lot less user-friendly and the old one.

So after weekends of shopping at Ikea, getting rid of old stuff, putting things together and moving furniture around like in a giant game of Sokoban, the place actually like I had always imagined I should. Now I could kick myself that I took so long to get it together, as I like it so much!

 New desk & chair, new chairs, new curtain, new poster... and so on! Sorry for the dark photos, it gets dark here so early now...



 
Just right for watching TV!


My little kitsch corner!


Vintage and retro touches galore...
This is an original, they used to hang these out in cinema foyers. Classic... Bond schmooozing Miss Moneypenny! I always thought the original Dr. No poster was fantastic - so colorful! This is a modern copy though.

My grandpa's ice cube holder - now holds paper clips etc.

 Vintage 50s kitsch!

 Print of a Byron Birdsall painting of Creek Street in Ketchikan, from a charity shop. Hand numbered and signed by the artist.





 
These two are new, but fabulously vintage looking! Lots of good storage space!

And here.... is the pièce de résistance! Now, how fabulous is this?
 And... it actually works! Radio, alarm clock and light. The light is a rarity though. The seller added three more bulbs to fit into it - and that I think will be it, that kind of bulb is certainly not available here anymore!