I have been immersed in Boardwalk Empire lately. I don't have cable, so I am just now watching the first season on DVD.
Have you seen this show? It's great writing and acting and like Deadwood, a lot of it is based on actual people from that time in history. But, the thing that overwhelms me about this show is the sets and clothes and how amazingly detailed and perfect it is.
As someone who collects antique postcards and photos from this time, seeing the boardwalk and people in sharp color and detail is like watching the old postcards and photos come to life. Good period shows like this are like going back in time. Just imagine what it is like to be on the set!
I highly recommend it. I can't wait for season two to come out.
I love old movies and am very fond of certain stars from the 20's to the 50's. I have in the past come across a number of postcards of celebrities with images of their houses. These must have been sold in tourist shops and on corners along with the maps to the stars homes. Linen postcards from the 40's and 50's are what I've come across the most. Here are two I've collected.
I just posted a really Old Hollywood postcard booklet in the Etsy shop that shows homes of the stars the Hollywood studios. The stars in this booklet are Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin and Clara Bow! I have never seen one this old before. It's in great condition, too.
Also, I have never heard the phrase "Screenland" before.
Above is a picture of Clara Bow's house from the booklet. Could this by the house now? According to Wikipedia she lived at this address in 1930 (from the 1930 census).
By 1927 Clara Bow was Paramount's biggest star. The movie "It" gave her her nickname "The It Girl". I was just looking at some videos of her and this one from the film "It" is great. Not just for her, but dig those crazy carnival rides.
The Webfooter's Postcard weekend is over and it was a great time. The Friday night auction was lots of fun and there were some amazing deals!
The weekend show was a good time. Lots of great stuff to look at and people to see. It was great to see some of my friends there for the first time. It was also a real pleasure to be able to have a nice long talk with Karolyn Grimes, about her life and her roles in the films "It's a Wonderful Life" and "The Bishops Wife". She was such a delight and it was so neat to be laughing with her and saying our favorite lines from "It's a Wonderful Life". I could quote that whole film, as I'm sure she could. She is such a doll and she looks so much like she did as a kid.
Another neat thing to see at the show was a club member's personal collection of vintage beauty products. She brought them and displayed them on three tables just so people could see them. Apparently, she keeps them all in her bathroom! I love vintage packaging.
I got some great photos and postcards and I'll share some of them in future posts.
In the meantime here is a Easter Postcard I got at the show. I like how it is dark and not the usual Easter pastels. Hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend!
I have been busier than I would like to be lately. Where did the summer go? I can't believe it is already the end of summer. This weekend is the Portland Zine Symposium. It is the tenth year and I have been to every one. I will be tabling there with my new zine, Imaginary Life #7.
I love using my old photographs and postcards for zines and art projects. That is why I started collecting them in the first place and also because I was just so drawn to them and to the untold stories they held. I don't have any pics of the new zine yet, but you can see some of the materials I used on the PonyBoy Press blog.
So, hopefully I will be back to sharing my ephemera collection with you soon. Meanwhile, how amazing is this color moving pictures from 1922! You can tell that some of the models don't quite get the moving part and are just posing. Interesting. I noticed that in that film Electric Edwardians.
You can almost hear the director saying, okay move around, do something. Come to think about it, I remember my dad saying the same thing to me and my sister when he would pull us up to use the last of his 16mm reel. You think we would have known to not just pose. Ha!
Anyway, this is beautiful and dreamy and seeing people in color form 1922 is so amazing.
Most of the films were made from 1901-1907. It was so neat to just see the everyday people of the towns from those years. That time was considered the "Golden Age" of postcards as well. So, as you can imagine I have many postcards from that time period. It was neat to see the people and that time more vividly. The films were all done in Britain. Here is some more information from the website: In the earliest years of the twentieth century, enterprising traveling showmen in the north of England hired pioneer filmmakers Sagar Mitchell and James Kenyon to shoot footage of local people going about their everyday activities. These films would be shown later at nearby fairgrounds, town halls and neighborhood theaters. Workers, school children, sports fans and seaside vacationers all flocked to see themselves miraculously captured on screen!
The astonishing discovery of the original Mitchell & Kenyon negatives in Blackburn, England — in a basement about to be demolished — has been described as film’s equivalent of Tutankhamen’s tomb.
Since many people didn't understand what "animated photos" were, they are often either very still in front of the camera (as they would have had to be for a photograph to be taken) or just so giddy looking at the camera, enthralled.
You can watch this with commentary or not. I did not, which made it nice for my companion and I to be able to talk during it. The commentary however is very interesting. Here is a sample of it. There are many clips on You Tube.
