After doing my brother’s jacket, I was hooked.  And I lucked out in finding another great single panel back leather jacket that was just my size.  So I whipped up a design and went to work.

Again, I went for a more “realistic” look, meaning I didn’t want it to be perfect.  Overall, I’m fairly pleased.  If I did it again, there would be some things I would changed.  This one took less time, for two reasons; 1, less detail work, 2, unlike my brother’s jacket which was so beaten the finish was gone, making the paint soak right through, this jacket didn’t do that, so I didn’t need to put a million layers of paint on it.  Also, this jacket isn’t as old, and has slit pockets instead of flap ones.  But it suits nevertheless.

For the most part, every other weekend brings the Picc-a-Dilly flea market to the Lane County Fair Grounds.  This go around, I found two great pin-up items.

Elvgren Playing Cards

A classic staple in cheesecake – playing cards.  Often playing cards can be the most scandalous of pin-up area, bearing images of nude photographed women, instead of the cheeky illustrations. Sometimes the playing cards only have the pin-up on the back, and only one or two images, limiting the players enjoyment of the lovely ladies.  These however “bare” a different girl on each playing card and are illustrated by the famous Gil Elvgren, “one of the world’s greatest artists” according to the Joker card, which reads a mini-bio of Elvgren and his work.  This deck is from the early 1960s, most likely printed in 1962, since several of the illustrations were painted in 1961 (source: Gil Elvgren: All his glamorous American pin-ups, Martignette and Meisel).  Sadly the deck does not have its box, which would greatly increase the value, but all of the cards are present and accounted for.  I paid $10.00, which was actually a bit more than I wanted to pay.  Four decks with the box have sold on Ebay ranging from a selling price of $54.95 to $102.50. (I by no means deem Ebay a proper means of appraising items) There is a deck currently available for a buy it now price of $125.00, however the seller is misrepresenting the product, because she says they are “circa 1940s”.   I sent the seller an e-mail, informing her.  We’ll see what happens.

Chalk Wall Plaque

The 1950s and 60s brought an array of kitchy wall plaques for your bathroom.  Usually they were sea related like fish and mermaids, but a few were of the more scandalous nature, such as this bathing beauty.  Flat on one side, these plaques could easily hang on the wall and add a 3-dimensional effect to your decor.  First made of chalk, like this one, then later ceramic or resin, and finally plastic, often in the late 60s or early 70s, which is when they went out of vogue, although your may have a grandmother or aunt who still has a rainbow painted fish or two hanging in her bathroom just above the toilet.  I picked up this beauty for $18.  She’s not mint, due to some small chips on her legs, but still a fabulous hand painted dear to add to my collection.

Well, the holidays are finally winding down and I can breathe freely, if only for another few says…classes start back up on Monday.

As for Christmas, it was a lovely, and typically awkward, day spent with my family.  In the morning my mom and I went to my dad’s to meet up with my brother, sister-in-law and her son to open up presents and in the evening, my brother hosted a wonderful dinner of turkey, ham and rib roast.  Among my Christmas loot I received…

Robert Morton Wholesale Catalog, 1957

My dad gave this to me, and explained that it was a wholesale catalog that a small town mom-and-pop department stores would use to purchase items for their store.  It’s from the Robert Morton Wholesale Distributors, “a western firm serving western merchants”.  Located in Glendale, California, the Robert Morton Company provided everything imaginable to those with the catalog in their hands, it provides the wholesale price, as well as the suggested retail price. Anything and everything can be found within its pages…diamond rings (around $1200 for a 1 carat diamond ring) to purses to furs ($1950 for a mink jacket) to umbrellas to handkerchiefs to razors to dishes to portable bars to golf clubs to toys to furniture.  It’s amazing! It’s  also the go-to guide for everything if you want to recreate 1957.  Thanks, Dad!

Giggles magazine, 1943

During World War II an array of pin-up magazines were published, Beauty Parade, Eyeful, Titter where among some of the most known, all of which were produced by the same man, Robert Harrison.  Giggles was another pin-up magazine, however not produced by Harrison. This is the first issue with a stellar give done by Peter Driben.  The issue includes several war related cartoons, a two page spread about stocking paint, and even includes an image of Lucille Ball.

Pin-Up Tray and Canister Set

This adorable set is new, however I know nothing as to how new or who produced the set.  The only text on them is a copyright symbol and “REX”.  But nevertheless, it’s a fantastic kitchen set to store coffee, tea, and sugar and a cute little tray to serve on.  What I find interesting is there is an array of artists displayed, Driben, Elvgren and Vargas all appear.

I hope you all had a lovely holiday and a wonderful New Year! Here’s to 2010 and a bright year ahead of us!

Last week I discussed Portland’s first female mayor, Dorothy McCullough Lee, as part of sharing my research on my Vice in the Rose City essay.  Tonight, I bring you Tempest Storm (yes, the Tempest Storm) and the time she spent in Portland.

Perhaps the most famous burlesque performer was Temptest Storm, who moved to Portland in 1953 shortly after her marriage to John Becker.

The move was to escape Becker’s ex-wife, another burlesque star, Arabella Andrea.  Storm opened The Capitol Theatre, which she bought for $15,000 and “spent a few thousand more fixing it up”.  But the move to Portland did not get Arabella out of their hair.  She moved to Portland and began performing at a rival burlesque house, the Star, which billed her as “John’s Other Wife”.  Not content, and convinced Becker married Storm before his divorce with her was over, Arabella then went as far as to come to Storm’s home; “One night, the doorbell rang, and Johnny opened the door.  There stood his ex-wife with a glass in her hand.  She had threatened many times to pour acid on my face, so I was hysterical when she threw the contents of the glass on me. It turned out that the glass held nothing but water”.

Storm’s husband had Arabella arrested and they asked for her to be placed into a mental hospital.  When that failed, Arabella sued Storm and Becker for $50,000 for false arrest.  The group eventually settled out of court, paying Arabella and her attorney $1,500 each.  But this settlement was not made before Life magazine got a hold of the story and ran with the headline of “Burlesque Wives War in Portland”.  And so ended Tempest Storm’s Portland experience, they moved to San Fransisco shortly after the settlement.

At 81 years old, Tempest Storm is alive and well and still performs in Las Vegas.  And her cult following has not faded.  She is continually an inspiration to women seeking to move into the world of burlesque.

Sources: Temptest Storm: The Lady is a Vamp, 1987 and Life Magazine, November 30, 1953.

My overall research for my essay is coming to a close.  I am trying to sort out the details, since there are quite a few stories that don’t add up.  The trip to California and holiday at Disneyland I am hoping won’t slow me down.

Well, here we are, in October.  Classes just started on Tuesday, and I feel like I’m drowning already.  I’m taking classes about the American West, and World War II (both 400 level history courses), in addition to my history research seminar.  In my seminar, which is about Oregon History, we are asked to choose a topic (a fairly narrow one) and then write a 25 page research paper, from mostly primary sources.  Thankfully, our library has a rather impressive selection of manuscripts and documents.  My topic, you ask? Vice in the Rose City.  That’s Portland for all you non-Oregonians.  So, that is something that I’ll continue to post about.

Meanwhile, if you’ve been following, you’ll have noticed from previous entries that my dad and I have been making life-size Nightmare before Christmas characters for Halloween and Christmas decor.  Just yesterday, we finished up everything and got it all up.

Total cost: $460.03.  My dad thinks about 500 hours was put into this between him, myself, and the couple days that Patrick came to work.  Needless to say, I’m very satisfied with the outcome.  We also created a Santa Jack and the coffin sleigh and skeleton reindeer as well as other Christmas elements which will go up around Thanksgiving.

Meanwhile, today some friends and I check out Bring Recycling in Springfield.  The place is a treasure trove for people who are renovating or are crazy artists.  Bring has everything from light fixtures to lockers to toilets to school desks – there was even a boat and the vintage weight-loss machine as demonstrated by moi on the left.  This type of machine was very popular in the 1950s and 60s, and were often depicted in pin-ups.  Whether they worked or not is another question.  I would have purchased it, had it not been $75.00.

But I didn’t leave Bring empty-handed.  I purchased another retro star patterned glass lamp cover for $2.00 and a small copper bullet shaped lamp (which works) for $4.00.

I also found about 40 drawer pulls in two different boomerang shapes, all at $0.25 a piece! I don’t even have drawer pulls in our apartment, but I couldn’t pass ‘em up because I may have a place in the near future that has drawer pulls.

Overall, it was a successful trip.  Tomorrow is the Canby Swapmeet, but I’m missing out because I have work. Oh well.

As already established, I’m a big fan of pin-ups, and of Bettie Page.  With a mysterious life, Bettie Page captured the hearts of millions across the world, and in 2006, director Mary Harron brought Bettie to life on the big screen with The Notorious Bettie Page.  Notorious gives us a nice condensed version of Bettie’s early years before entering the modeling scene, but the bulk of the film takes place during her stint with Irving and Paula Klaw and Bunny Yeager, as well as the trial that included her photos.  In terms of story and entertainment, Notorious is great for Bettie fans since it brings Bettie to life in a manner never done before.  Additionally, the film is extremely artistic in the sense that it uses both black & white and color.

However, in terms of being period correct, as well as historically accurate to Bettie’s life, it’s way off in many, many ways.  The movie opens with a shop selling men’s magazines.  One magazine is shown is Adam, which didn’t hit news stands until 1957, and the opening takes place in 1955.  After Bettie’s first marriage, we see her taking a uniform out of a bag, marking her husband’s return from war.  The uniform shown is an Army uniform, however, Bettie’s husband, Billy Neal, joined the Navy.  In the scenes where Bettie is shooting with Klaw and company, her stockings are double welted, and seamed, however, they do not bear a keyhole.  Throughout the film, Bettie is, of course, being photographed, however there is utter disregard for the film.  Many cameras used only had 12 exposures, and time after time, more than 12 shots are taken without film being changed.

The film’s biggest mistakes occur in the scenes with Bunny Yeager – and really should not have happened since finding the actual photos isn’t that difficult.  The film covers the “Jungle Bettie” shoot and in the film, Bettie is shown posing with jaguars, but in reality, Bettie posed with cheetahs.  Thankfully though, Bettie’s costume is correct, however, Bunny’s outfit is not – in the film she wears a simple green shirt and slacks, instead of the striped, blue piece shown here.

Additionally, the film shows the Christmas shoot that was used for Playboy.  The Santa hat on Bettie’s head is positioned with the bob away from the camera, when it was actually toward the camera, and Bettie is shown holding a pink ornament, when she was really holding a green ornament.   In the film, only one ornament is shown near Bettie’s knee, however, in the real photo, there are clearly four.  Plus, the entire shot is shown in reverse of how the actual picture was released, this however is disputable, because many photographs have been reversed over the ages.

Overall, The Notorious Bettie Page is fun to watch, and entertaining, however, it is frustrating at times to see such mistakes being made.

In the second installment of Thursday Cinema, I bring you Disney’s adaptation of Dave Stevens graphic novel, The Rocketeer.  After a failed “snatch-and-grab” of a Howard Hughes’ created jetpack, it lands in the hands of two struggling pilots, the young Cliff and his mentor, Peevy (Alan Arkin).  To make some extra dough after a crash and burn with one of their planes, the two show off the piece at an air show.  It is later revealed that famous actor (and secret Nazi spy) Neville Sinclair (played by the two-time James Bond, Timothy Dalton) was the one trying to steal the jetpack.  What ensues afterward is an action-adventure popcorn flick  you’ll cheer for.

The film also stars Jennifer Connelly as Cliff’s girlfriend, who was inspired by the pin-up queen herself, Bettie Page.  In the graphic novel, her name is Betty and is, in fact, a pin-up model.  There are several shots of her either nude or in lingerie.  However, in the film, Betty has been renamed Jenny and is now an actress breaking into Hollywood.  Gotta keep it PG!  The graphic novel has many wonderful squares dedicated to Betty in all of her pin-up glamor, including the image on the right.  In the film we still have a few of these moments; there is a wonderful (albeit somewhat cliche) shot of Connelly putting on a stocking and fastening the garter.  The stocking does have the proper welts, though it is difficult to see if seams (or a keyhole) are there due to the way it was shot.

From a story standpoint, The Rocketeer is good, clean fun with some witty one-liners, however some of the acting is a tad dry.  But visually, the film is stunning.  From the dog shaped diner to the utterly fabulous costumes, it’s a feast for the eyes!  Connelly is gorgeous to look at, though falls terribly flat acting wise.  But that aside, The Rocketeer is fabulous fun and comes highly recommended.

In terms of period correctness, I have found no real errors in the area of fashion and set decoration.  I do call into question the model of the Spruce Goose, however.  The film takes place in 1938, and I have heard of no Spruce Goose ideas pre-1942.  Additionally, the portrayal of Howard Hughes is far from how he was in reality.  Here, he is offered up as a generous, idealist instead of the dramatic obsessive compulsive character he was.  The film also has a nice way of explaining the removal of “LAND” portion of the “HOLLYWOOD” sign, although this was not done until ten years later, in 1949.

A fun film from beginning to end, The Rocketeer is sure to have you cheering, and even more so if you dig the 1930s and 1940s.

This past spring term I enrolled in an art history course: History of Design.  One assignment was to write an essay about an artist or movement.  If the artist or topic was not discussed in class, you had to get it approved by the professor.  I thought about going the easy route and discuss Toulouse Lautrec and his work at the Moulin Rouge, or I could try to argue to write a paper about the pin-up – which is what I went for, and thankfully, my professor said yes.  So, I went at it, using my pin-up books as resources, and for images I drew largely from my personal collection.

If you are interested in reading my essay, you may access it through downloading a PDF here: “Oops!” The American Pin-Up: An Ignored Art Form

This essay is also be available on my About page under “Work Samples”.

Tomorrow brings the July Antique Expo in Portland as put on by the wonderful people at Palmer-Wirfs plus the Baxter Historic Races at Portland International Raceway.  Finds and pictures will be posted!  Have a lovely weekend!