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).