During World War II the Army Corps of Engineers needed to hide the Lockheed Burbank Aircraft Plant to protect it from a Japanese air attack. They covered it with camouflage netting and trompe l’oeil to make it look like a rural subdivision from the air.

BEFORE:

My passion for vintage design recently had me googling old supermarkets. To my surprise, I found some great blogs and sites that focus on this exact subject. Pleasant Family Shopping is a sweet blog “dedicated to preserving the history of retail chain stores of the past - with an emphasis on supermarkets and discount stores.” Also catching my attention is Groceteria, “a site about the history of the American supermarket, from both an architectural and a business perspective,” concentrating mainly on the 1920s through the 1980s. Such wonderful history, details and photos on both sites.

Here’s a collection of color vintage supermarket photos from The Imaginary World that warm my heart.

As many will soon realize from my blog posts, I have an absolute fascination and somewhat obsession with vintage and retro ephemera. This especially includes vintage photos, postcards, magazines and advertisements. I’m always collecting and adding to my personal collection. Here’s a sampling of vintage print ads that I discovered online that are so bad in today’s standards, that it makes them great. Make sure you check out the hilarious video at the bottom of this post.

A child of the 70’s, I’ve always been intrigued by pretty much everything from that groovy generation. The music, fashion/style, art, technology and interior design. Here’s a collection of European interiors from the early 70’s that really stand out. Love it or hate it…you be the judge.

It appears that matching everything was a popular design choice back then.

I was cleaning up some files on my laptop today when I came across a folder of vintage photo scans I forgot I had. This series from the 60’s of a sugar daddy with his “ladies” chillin on his yacht are too good not to share.

I happened to come across a great site today which features cover art for many vintage paperback novels, otherwise known as pulp fiction. I now realize why there is such a huge demand by collectors who pay big bucks for these softbound vintage books published from 1938 to 1968. It’s because of the wonderful and dramatic cover art which usually featured sexy dames, lust-driven hussies, evil phantoms and all those wicked subjects considered taboo. In this article covering the subject, Pulp Friction, Kelly Luker writes,

“Vintage Paperbacks reflected the era’s attitude toward sex and women, yet they also were quick to capitalize on society’s fears and prejudice.”

I’m fascinated and enthralled by these covers. The creativity and wild imagination of the artists who created them is nothing like the covers of romance novels seen in bookstores today. (click on thumbnails to see larger images.)