Ghosts of Christmases past

Hi, back from a blogging hiatus here's something for the holiday season. Children's Books and Annuals are an old-school Christmas staple, here's some from the 1950s seen recently at a local Op Shop.



While these are before my time, I do remember getting annuals myself like "The Thunderbirds" and "Shiver and Shake".

Stationery Pursuit

I know someone that collects writing materials (letterheads, journals, pens, etc), so every time I travel I feed their obsession by souveniring the complimentary hotel stationery.

Here's what they got from my recent trip to Sydney.

Brief respite from the cold

I don't often get to travel for work, but was sent to Sydney this week to enjoy some balmy weather at my employer's expense. After weeks of bitter cold in Ballarat a day of 22°C humid warmth was a pleasant change. With a busy round of flights, taxis, hotel, & meetings there was no time for leisurely pics of the city, but here's a few from the comfortable room at the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth where I spent Wednesday night.

Colorfone 801

My third vintage telephone purchase in less that 12 months, one of the first generation all new designer colour plastic handsets from the early 60s. A working Colorfone 801 for $20 from the Mill Market last weekend. Here it is with the later model Colorfone 802 I picked up last year.

Left: "Light Ivory" Colorfone 801 (c1962/3), Right: "Topaz Yellow" Colofone 802 (c1970). The familiar old telephones of my suburban childhood (thanks to the Mill Market staff for letting me crawl around under their desk in search of a phone socket to test it).

In Your Face!

Lucky as we are to be home to the oldest and best regional Art Gallery in Australia, I'm always slow getting to the special exhibitions. The current "In Your Face! Cartoons about politics and society 1760 - 2010" exhibition closes this Sunday, 8 August 2010 ...so last chance this weekend to see it.

Gentlemen’s Valet Chair

Elegant specialist gentlemen’s furniture has been around for centuries, sadly this is not an example of that.

Saw this (60s/70s?) men's valet chair at the Sebas Salvos the other week. Resplendent in it's black vinyl and fake brass finish, it looked more like a TV antenna than something to hang your suit on.

At only $10 it was tempting for it's bad taste value alone ... but not tempting enough.

One year on Blogger!

It's 12 months ago today since I posted my first Circa62 blog entry. I've even met my personal goal of posting on average at least once per week (which turns out to be not as easy as it sounds).

In celebration here's a random postcard I picked up somewhere along the way, "Back to Ballarat - The City Beautiful" (a 1997 adaption of a 1927 Home to Ballarat poster).

Hula and Bakelite

Had some nice pick-ups at the Mill Market last weekend. Also ran into Dear Prudence, who has moved into a bigger stall since I was last out there.

Firstly a cute little 16 cm souvenir Hula figurine by the Chiefly Co. of Hawaii (see right).

Secondly a fantastic 1950s style "Australian Post Office 400 Series Auto Table Handset" (see below).

I've actually wanted one of these old bakelite telephones for years, but they have always been too expensive. Not only has it been converted for a modern outlet, it's working perfectly (with a really loud and chunky bell ringer) and was less than half the price asked by most secondhand dealers ... sweet!

Pink Phones @ Portmans

The cavernous Chadstone Shopping Center is not particularly high on my list of favorite places, however I came across a cute display in the Portmans store window there last weekend. Piles of pink painted vintage 60s/70s rotary dial telephones. The paint job was impressive, they looked like new phones in pink plastic (the old 800 series "Colorfones" never actually came in this colour). The shop assistant couldn't tell me much, except that they had come from a graphic design company.



I was impressed enough to take some mobile phone pics, but felt in two minds about it: (1) enjoyed it as a pop art installation, but (2) was a little disturbed they destroyed so many vintage phones to create it. Either way it was interesting.

More local tallent

I don't often hear local bloggers on the radio, so was surprised to hear one of them on ABC Ballarat last week. Ben Sanders is a Ballarat based commercial illustrator, who's blog showcasing his retro inspired work only popped into existence last month. There's lots of creative talent in this town, and our ever expanding little part of the bloggerverse is testament to that.


A sample from Ben's blog.

Bearded A-lister challenge

Yours truly has been invited to an A-list themed costume party in a couple of weeks. This poses a problem though, as being goateed and middle aged seriously narrows my possibilities. Google has thrown up some candidates, but you really would have to actually look like these guys to pull it off, eg:



Not being able to match these looks (with the exception perhaps of poor old derelict Brad), my fall-back position is "actor as their famous character". With inspiration from old 80s action movies, and blogs 'Top 10 beards in film' and 'Top 10 Bearded Movie Characters', here's some possibilities:



I'll be hitting the op shops & $2 shops this weekend to see what's possible vis-à-vis costume bits & pieces ... hope I'm in luck.

Happy Lucky Waving Cat

As I always commented on these wacky cat statues whenever we saw them in Asian shops, Ms C62 decided to buy me one of my own. Known as 'Maneki Neko' he is apparently beckoning, not waving, and originates in Japan. Being ignorant of the cultural significance, I just found them delightfully random objects d'kitsch.

Right: My cheerful gold plastic Maneki Neko currently lives on the lounge room mantelpiece.

Quietly into the Night

A bit of local music history will be made at the Karova Lounge later this month. After a career spanning 10 years Ballarat band Epicure are playing their last ever gig, concluding their "Quietly into the Night" tour on May 29. Demand for tickets has been so huge a second show has been added.

For more on the band see epicuretheband.com, their Myspace page and entry on Wikipedia. For gig tickets and details see the Karova Lounge website.

Ballarat Heritage Weekend, 2010

Unfortunately I'm not in town this weekend, so I'll be missing out on the annual Ballarat Heritage Weekend. Looks like there's lots worth seeing (much of it free), checkout the website for more info.

Nb. I also see Circa Vintage Clothing are amongst the exhibitors this year.

WWII Vintage

As it was ANZAC Day last weekend I've dragged out what is most likely my oldest complete vintage outfit, a (68yo) WWII Australian 2nd AIF Army uniform. Put together from various thrifted sources about a decade ago, everything dates to the period except the hat and boots, which are later but virtually identical to the wartime ones. It's rare to find vintage WWII items like these cheaply nowadays.


WWII Australian Army Winter SD uniform:
- 1942 Wool Tunic & 1966 Army Slouch Hat [Op Shops]
- 1942 Wool Trousers, P-37 webb belt and gaiters [Disposal Stores]
- WWII badges, buttons and 1958 hobnail army boots [Secondhand shops]
Note: Boots were originally tan coloured, but have been blackened by someone since.

Clowns, hideous clowns

Old kitsch decorative art can be fun, but one thing I draw the line at is clowns. Case in point, these old prints at seen at the Wendouree Salvos recently *shudder*.



My thoughts on clowns as decoration is neatly summed up in this YouTube clip from "Poltergeist".

"Visit Ballarat, the City Beautiful"

In the 1990s the PTC released a series of 8 reproduction vintage Victorian Railways travel posters from the 1920s & 30s. I was commuting daily to Melbourne at the time and they featured prominently in the Ballarat and Spencer Street railway stations. In the early 2000s I tracked down a signed limited edition of the Ballarat poster, which now hangs on my wall at home.

Interestingly the original 1929 "Visit Ballarat" poster was painted by Percy Trompf, who had his training at the Ballarat Technical Art School, and went on to be a very successful commercial artist and art teacher.

The modern reproductions were done by Melbourne illustrator Fay Plamka in 1993, a founding member of Illustrators Australia, and now a well known Melbourne Court artist for the ABC and 7 Network. Here's the entire set from recent auctions on ebay:

The Party leads us on ...

One of the delights of op shopping are the unusual things you sometimes turn up, like this 1970s vinyl album by the Military Band of the Chinese People's Liberation Army "The Party Leads us on to Victory", found at the Sebas Salvos in the early 2000s.



I don't think I've seen a more happy and determined bunch of people. Check out the track listing on the back cover to see the titles that inspire this level of excitement!

Golden Era Vintage

The 1930s-1950s is considered the Golden Era of classic 20th Century style, and I unexpectedly obtained my own piece of it from Ruby Rouge last weekend, an original 40s/50s men's double breasted jacket. I've seen complete Golden Era suits recently ranging from $250 (2 piece @ Lost & Found) to $550 (3 piece @ Circa) so I thought $30 was a pretty good deal for an original jacket (pictured above with vintage shirt, modern vintage style tie and pocket square, the jacket is in great condition for a 60+ year old garment). For more original suits of the period see The Houndstooth Kid's vintage (US) menswear blog.

Also picked up a few more vintage style ties ($1-2 ea), including a wonderfully gaudy brown and orange paisley number from the Brace Bargain Browser.

Left: A late 60s look, the paisley tie with my recently thrifted 70s dress shirt.

"A Night at the Opera"

"Queen - the Unseen Archive" is currently on at the Ballarat Art Gallery, which has prompted me to go through my stuff and bring out these old treasures from my adolescence.


1975 Queen "A Night at the Opera" 12 inch vinyl LP (bought secondhand in 1977)


1976 Queen "A Night at the Opera" glam belt buckle (by Pacific Mfg. thrifted around 1980).

Labour Day Long Weekend

Being in Ballarat over the long weekend we did the usual rounds plus the Antiques Fair. I have to admit though I didn't enjoy the fair as much as previous years. Plenty of beautiful (highly priced) objects, but maybe my collecting focus is more grounded in 20th century vintage & thrift markets these days. The best find for the weekend was a 70s dress shirt for $1 from the St John's Op shop (Lydiard St N) last Friday.

While it was wet in Ballarat, it was nowhere near as stormy as other parts of the state. This didn't dampen our appetites though, as we also enjoyed the hosptality of Sweet Decadence, Nicks and Cafe Bibo over what was a restfully pleasant holiday weekend.

Left: 1970s (big collar) "Nevarda - Mr Silk" Australian made pale orange poly/cotton dress shirt. Now I need some big chunky 70s gold cuff links to go with it :)

Rob Olston

I was saddened to hear of the passing of Rob Olston recently after a long illness. A well known and long serving teacher at my old school, Rob was one of the most cheerful and genuine men I have ever met. He had a great sense of humor, and would frequently digress from the lesson to tell tall tales of his early days in the outback. He also had an incredible memory for ex-students, remembering me instantly when I ran into him at a Collectibles fair last June, even thought it had been several decades since we'd last met. A great man, held in high regard by all that knew him, he will be fondly remembered by his colleagues and many former students (Picture of Rob from the Ballarat Courier).

Postscript March 11, 2010: Attended Rob's memorial service with over a thousand other people yesterday. A fitting tribute to a great teacher, historian & family man. Rob had the last word with his open letter published posthumously last Monday.

Ballarat Antique Fair 2010

It's the Labour Day long weekend in Victoria this weekend, which means it's Moomba in Melbourne, and the Begonia Festival in Ballarat. It's also the time for Ballarat's Annual Antique Fair, now in it's 40th year, and always worth a look if you're in town.

Vintage "spear point" shirt

Had a major stroke of luck last weekend with a vintage shirt from the Light Lounge Op Shop. A turn-down "spear point" collar formal shirt, a style fashionable from the 1930s to the 1950s, for just $2!


Vintage poly/cotton formal dinner shirt by " Welmar".
The difference between these and modern business shirt collars is more obvious with a side-by-side comparison:


Vintage vs Modern (Target business shirt)

See this Fedora Lounge post for more on vintage "spear point" shirts, and these US, NZ and UK (1 & 2) sellers of new made replicas.

Crying Girl print

Here's another vintage print I picked up at the Sebas Salvos some time ago, a "Crying Girl" by Bragolin. These prints always disturbed me a little as a kid, and I have wondered since what kind of people made these pictures of traumatized children so popular in the first place(?!). However at $5 I couldn't pass up this classic piece of vintage kitsch, even if it's not something I'd put on my own wall. This is only one of a series of crying boys and girls by the same artist, and interestingly in the UK there's an urban myth that the prints are cursed.

The small things

Lately I've been gathering some accessories to compliment my meager collection of men's vintage ware. I already had a pair of vintage cuff-links from Circa, but I've added two more pairs (new with tie clips) from eBay ($8.27 ea. delivered).



Also from eBay a pair of faux Ray-Ban Wayfarers ($16.49 delivered). These work for 1950s/60s and 80s looks ....plus are popular again these days with Hipsters.

The Saloon Bar

Thanks to a tip-off from the delightful Julie of BVS, discovered the new Saloon Bar (59 Humffray St Nth) last Sunday arvo. Nestled between shops across the road from the Ballarat Leagues Club, this little venue has boutique beers, tapas, a touch of retro (old armchairs/couches) and live music a couple of nights a week. We took our drinks in the shady & secluded beer garden out back.


Mobile phone pics of the beer garden, wish I'd taken some shots of the inside.

Update: Feb 15, 2011. Driving past last week I noticed the Saloon Bar has closed, however a sign in the window said "Babushka, Bar Cafe Lounge Gallery" will be opening there soon (see also their Facebook page). I'll be interested to see what they do with the place.

Peter Blizzard - A Retrospective

Caught this exhibition at the Ballarat Art Gallery last weekend, prior to its close on Jan 26. Peter was my 1st year sculpture lecturer at Art School in the early 80s, and as one of our few Australian sculptors to gain international recognition I was interested to see a deeper view of the man and his work. Sadly he passed away earlier this month. The retrospective catalog is available from the gallery shop, and much of his impressive body of work can also be seen at peterblizzard.com.


"Whalesong moon halo" 2008, by Peter Blizzard (mobile pic from the retrospective)

The Safari Suit Group

Found this group from South Australia a couple of years ago when researching Safari Suits. Their about page explains ".. a group of friends have been getting together every year to celebrate the safari suit and dress up in safari suits and other 1970’s fashion including accessories. We celebrate by visiting various establishments around Adelaide. Our aim has been, and continues to be, to celebrate the safari suit in all its glory".

Their annual "Safari Night" has grown steadily since its official beginning in 1992, as shown by this recent picture from their blog:


Safari Suits (Leisure Suits in the US) are Op Shop gold these days, so if I ever find one cheap I'll be grabbing it for sure.