Atomic casserole dish and kitschen scenes

Here is my new glass casserole dish with lid, plus matching little glass. Estate sale find. My photo does not do this justice, it gleams and radiates awesomeness.  It has gold flecks in the glass to accent the black diamond shapes. Food tastes better when it is stored in this.

Below are some scenes from my 1950s era kitchen. I have framed album covers going around the walls right below the ceiling. My photos are a tad hazy, in reality the album covers pop with color. This one is over the fridge.

 Below is, in my opinion, the GREATEST album cover of all time. All time.  Yes, all time.  I stopped dead in my tracks when I found this. I can even remember the day and the moment!  
 And Martini time leads to.....(its the same couch!)

 This one below was smaller than the frame so I added some leopard backing. There are very few things that cannot be improved with the addition of leopard print.

Below is my chrome double oven from about 1962. Enhanced with dice. The dishtowel says it all. It says "Being unstable and bitchy is all part of my mystique." I laughed and had to buy it.  (My 1950s dining room is peeking out around the corner, waiting to be cleaned so I can do a post about it.)

A portion of my tiki mug collection resides on my stove.

A plate, a box and a teapot set

Here are some of my latest finds. A ceramic plate trimmed in 22 karat gold, that says "I Knew You Were Coming So I Baked a Cake." Ahhh, simpler times!  Such hospitality has gone out of style, unfortunately. The plate was filthy when I got it and I had to scrub it like there was no tomorrow in order to remove some sort of glue-like gunk, which faded a bit of the gold. Such are the hazards of the junk hobby.

 A ceramic atomic design box. Reminds me of Franciscan starburst china. I survived a bidding war and emerged with this at the auction a few days ago. To the victor go the spoils!

 This is a cute reproduction teapot and mug set.

LURED, a movie from 1947

Last night I screened the movie "Lured" on TCM, its from England, made in 1947. Directed by Hunt Stromberg. Lucille Ball plays a detective on the hunt for a serial killer who lures his victims through personal as in the newspaper. This movie was excellent, it had alot of plot twists, suspense, drama, mystery, romance, and of course MURDER. Boris Karloff has a cameo appearance in this. Lucille Ball was very good in the role and she had terrific 1940s era fashions. Could the killer be her fiance????? Ohhh, suspense! Plus, the plot hinged on obscure literary references, which you certainly aren't getting in films today.
The film noir style opening scenes show a flashlight illuminating the credits, which are on a wall in the requisite dark alley.

Lucille and her friend sport great dresses at a dance.

 
 Lucille Ball is lovely in this movie, she looks radiant in every scene.

Marky Ramone Pasta Sauce

Marky Ramone, who was in the now-defunct but always awesome Ramones, is selling his own pasta sauce!  Wow! Making things even more strange I read about this in the Wall Street Journal. And you thought the WSJ was only about credit default swaps and currency arbitrage. Such folly. The article had snooty chefs from chic bistros rating their favorite sauces and they chose Marky's! $7 a jar at http://www.markyramone.com/. Who knew?!

Esther Williams

They have been showing some Esther Williams movies on the Turner Classic Movies channel, so the other night I watched her in Easy to Wed, from 1946. The plot isnt that great but the visuals are excellent. Great fashions and home furnishings. No water ballet in this one, but there are a few musical numbers. Here are some shots of great dresses. Below is a swim suit bikini. Very Lana Turner.

 Lucille Ball in a gorgeous wedding dress. Gotta have good abs to wear draping on the abdomen.

 Lucious pink gown with matching bag. The bag has gold fringe.

 Close-up of the pink gown. Love the hair! I could spend a week in the stylist's chair and my hair would still look Marcia Brady flat.

 Cute party dresses below.

Mildred Pierce

I loved the recent HBO miniseries Mildred Pierce, starring Kate Winslet. It was very different from the Joan Crawford movie, evidently the new version follows the book more closely. I really loved the clothes and furnishings in the new version.  It is a showcase of 1930s era vintage style, albeit a Hollywood fantasy version of the 1930s. I was going crazy over all of the details. Here are a few scenes. Kate's kitchen has depression glass, an enamel topped table and lots of great knick knacks.

 The green and black bathroom is terrific and her bedroom is lovely. Dig that vanity table.

 Fabulous fashions on parade. The clothes have so many details and trims and decorative features, swoon!

Oldies and goodies

I attend a weekly estate auction. This week I bid on a travel alarm clock and when I won the auctioneer ended up giving me a pile of old linens along with the clock. In the pile there were several a old, yellowed, lace-trimmed pillowcases that still have their original label and ribbon tie. Here is one of them, along with a little crocheted purse. It has a pink satin lining. I am going to toss all of these things into oxy clean and see if I can get the staining out.

I also got an old movie magazine and book on the movies. The book has photos of alot of obscure silent films and pre-code movies so I am very interested in tracking these down if possible. Plus I love the costumes and wardrobes. Everything and everyone was so glamorous. No one is in sweatpants.

 That;s Virginia Mayo above.

 Glamorous parties and dinners are featured. Thats Norma Shearer on the bottom left.

Viva Las Vegas!

The Saint and I went to the VLV rockabilly weekender in Las Vegas and had an absolute blast!! We saw some killer bands and I bought about 20 cds. Here is a selection of what I bought. One of the sellers told me I had "impeccable musical taste." This made my day! I bought hillbilly, classic rockabilly, female R&B shouters, and female jivers. I love the 1950s era R&B women singers with the big voices. I am rockin' the house for sure!

We had so much fun at VLV!! I cannot wait to go back. We met some nice people too. We were swinging from the rafters for 4 days. I was going bananas at the burlesque showcase (sponsored in part by Bachelor Pad Magazine) and I laughed so hard at the Charles Phoenix slideshow. Jerry Lee Lewis was great and the car show was fun too. The only drawback was our trip to Frankie's Tiki Room. We had been there before because we are into midcentury Polynesian Pop big time and take our tiki bars and exotic cocktails seriously. The afternoon at the bar stunk becsause the bartender was an obnoxious a-hole and was yelling at us and everyone else in the bar, really nasty and not welcoming at all. So much for the calm peaceful environment we were after. If I want a bartender to treat me like garbage I can stay home in Philly, I dont need to fly 3000 miles for the experience. Anyhow, everything else about the trip to VLV was top notch!