If you love midcentury modern style and you’re feeling down, few things are better than screening 1961’s Bachelor in Paradise, with Bob Hope and Lana Turner. This is not a witty movie; it is not important or classic at all. But it is a film that oozes delightful MCM-ness from every crack and pore. In fact, so… Continue reading Midcentury Modern Lovefest with 1961’s “Bachelor in Paradise”
Category: ApexUSA
ApexUSA is a stab into the darkness, an attempt via ad images to locate the exact point in the 20th century when America reached its cultural peak.
Is a LIFE ad for Pullman coaches really indicative of what was going on in America in 1937? Isn’t that a distorted view? Yes. But a serious, tight-lipped historical account would be equally distorted. Pick your distortion.
This is not a yearning for the past. As time goes by, you gain some things, lose others. There are no answers here. Only evidence.
The Fate of Empires and Search for Survival, By Sir John Glubb
Biography John Bagot Glubb was born in 1897, his father being a regular officer in the Royal Engineers. At the age of four he left England for Mauritius, where his father was posted for a three-year tour of duty. At the age of ten he was sent to school for a year in Switzerland. These… Continue reading The Fate of Empires and Search for Survival, By Sir John Glubb
Sad Devolution of Cracker Jack Prizes Mirrors Decline of America
It’s early April 2016. You’re a junior associate at a PR firm. You get an e-mail from your boss, Haston Lewis, senior director of marketing, Frito-Lay, saying, “Cracker Jack is dropping its prize and replacing it with a scannable code that will unlock four baseball-themed experiences on their mobile device. Let’s sidestep the fact that… Continue reading Sad Devolution of Cracker Jack Prizes Mirrors Decline of America
Mountain in the Middle of L.A.: Paramount Studios’ Western Street and Its Fake Mountain
Once there was a mountain in the middle of Los Angeles. Most movie studios, in their backlots or in movie ranches in the San Fernando Valley or in environs close to L.A., had a Western town. It was simply part of the time. Starting with The Squaw Man in 1913 (or The Great Train Robbery,… Continue reading Mountain in the Middle of L.A.: Paramount Studios’ Western Street and Its Fake Mountain
Monsanto House of the Future: When Our Future Was Made of Plastics
Built in Disneyland in 1957 as a joint project between Disneyland, Monsanto, and MIT, the House of the Future was constructed of 16 identical plastic shells that were fabricated off-site and then shipped to the building site for assembly. The home was meant to display technological marvels, such as the microwave oven and speaker phone,… Continue reading Monsanto House of the Future: When Our Future Was Made of Plastics