Thanks For The Memories

Now that Maria shipped off all 7 of those snarky Von Trapp bastards to boarding school, the insurance policy was in place and both the deed to the cottage in the Swiss Alps as well as the title to the '68 Karmann Ghia were in her name, all that was left was to "take care" of the Captain. But how? He's a tough nut to crack. Even the Nazis couldn't catch him, and lord knows Maria tried setting him up numerous times, even going to the lengths of orchestrating an elaborate chase scene through a convent. Rolling his ass down the mountain into traffic would look too obvious. A-ha! Maria knew the plan. Knowing his girlish affection for a certain flower, Maria would slowly poison him by dousing his daily Edelweiss boutonniere with mustard gas. That gets rid of him, the anklebiters would eventually meet their untimely demise at boarding school through a "freak singing accident" in which their vocal cords somehow get cut in the alley by a gang of paid assassins and she'd be on her way to Catalina with the man servant Hans. Ahh...it's a great day to be a nun-turned nanny-turned Nazi spy-turned wife-turned murderer.


*Vintage 60's pulp fiction harlequin romance paperback, courtesy of Virginia Jane.

"Thanks for the Memories" by Bob Hope.

My (Aqua) Blue Heaven Friday

Welcome to another exciting friday of Aqua Blue Heaven! Today's bunch-o-awesome is all about the drinking glass. You could say they're good for orange juice. I'd say I'll see your OJ and raise you a vodka. You could say they're good for Diet Coke. I'd say I'll see your Diet Coke and raise you a Jack Daniels. I don't know about you guys, but when it comes to glasses, mine are of the mix-and-match variety. One of these days (Alice, bang!zoom!) I'll show you my collection of vintage glasses. They don't quite match per say but they all sorta match in theme of color, so it's all good in this hood. But not in the mixy-and-matchy cutesy tootsy way like that crazyass Rachel Ashwell and her shabby chic pink and red gingham conglomeration of nightmares. Actually, I think the nutbag holds a patent on the "shabby chic" phrase and I heard that if you say the phrase out loud, she'll appear in a mirror, step out and redecorate your house in chipped-paint white sideboards and overstuffed, rose chintz throw pillows and bitch slap you with a lavender-scented scrapbook before stepping back into the mirror. No, seriously. It's true. Anyway, whether used for cocktails or going virgin (ha!), these vintage 50's aqua glasses pretty much rock. Or roll. I can't decide.



Aqua & pink vintage 50's...hmm...atomic circus-y (?) set from Goldmine.





Aqua & pink stripey vintage 50's set of 8 glasses in a coolio carrying...type... uh, carry...thing. From Bendiga.





Aqua and white vintage 50's frosty glasses. From Sson777. (They're described as being "mouth blown" in the listing....uh huh huh huh...why, yes, I do have the humor of a 15 year old boy. Why do you ask?)





It's like I always never say: you can never have too many glasses with steamboats on them. Vintage 50's/60's aqua and gold set of 4 glasses from Jen's Closet.





Fun aqua and green checkerboard-y pattern (sort of, but not really) set of 4 vintage glasses also from Jen's Closet.






Wicked awesome (I said that just now in my head with a Boston accent. You know, in case you were wondering how I say things in my head) atomic throwing stars in one of my all-time favorite color combos, olive green and aqua. Vintage 60's set of 2 glasses from Before He Finds Out.





And since we're on the subject of all this drinking, remember the days when you sent out invitations to do random things like drinking? Yeah, me neither. But I wish I did. I wish we lived in a swankier time where it was apropos to send invites for cocktails and crudites on sticks and Dean Martin on the hifi at 8:00 sharp. Neato bandito vintage new old stock package of cocktail invitations from My Vintage Whimsy. I think I've just found my new mission. (Not from God. He wouldn't approve.) A mission to bring proper cocktail parties back!

Way-Out Wednesday: Daddy Sang Bass

In honor of this upcoming Father's Day, I thought there was no better theme for today's Way-Out Wednesday than with the classic Dad present: the tie! While these ties might not exactly be weird or wacky or fug (as most Wednesdays around here usually are), these vintage ties are certainly not the usual sort of stupid Dad Tie that we used to give our dads when we were kids. These have personality and are pretty damn cool if I say so myself.

So for those of you new Dads, old Dads, Dads who are no longer with us, soon-to-be Dads, Step dads (and everything in between), who are about to rock, we salute you!(Random AC/DC reference.) Happy Father's Day! I got you a tie.




Bombs Away! Crazy atomic vintage 50's tie from Hatfeathers Vintage.




Life Imitating Art? Vintage 40's Rubens-inspired tie (and I ain't talking about the sandwich or Pee-Wee) from Necktie Party.




Vintage Hand-Painted Ties:




Ocean's 11. Vintage 40's novelty print tie from Sydney's Vintage.




Leaf Me Alone. Vintage 40's leaf tie from Vintage in Bohemia.




Whirling Dervish. Vintage 40's stripey swirly tie from Vintage Melody.




Real Men Wear Pink? Vintage 40's tie from John Pettybone. (Side note: the black "U" shapes totally remind me of playing with Lee Press-On Nails when I was a kid and how they'd fall off after about 4 minutes. Great. Now I totally want to play with Lee Press-On Nails.)




Vintage pinup ties. Warning: Possibly NSFW. Yowza:





Put the Blame on Mame. Vintage 50's pinup tie from Back Thennish Vintage.




Peekaboob! Vintage 70's tie from Dorothea's Closet Vintage.






"Daddy Sang Bass" by Johnny Cash. Oh yeah, and Mama sang tenor.

She's a Maniac

So you know how you're surfing the web, looking for something in particular and you get sidetracked with a various assundry of things not even close to what you were looking for, but it's all good in the hood because what you found slightly rocks so your search was fruitful after all? Also, did you know that "assundry" isn't even a real word? Apparently it's some sort of phoney-baloney, Southern made-up word, like "y'all" and "if'n" and "grits". And one last thing, has anyone even said "surfing the web" since 2001? Sigh. I'm full of random thoughts and meaningless questions that aren't getting answered. It's just that kind of tuesday, I guess.

So while searching for certain vintage 40's patriotic/July 4th photos, I came across these fantastic WWII-era pictures (I think from Life magazine?) that for some reason I found so striking and so moving, I had to post my favorite. I know you've all seen "Rosie the Riveter" type photos of women working in factories (not to mention countless jackassy celebrity photos mimicking the famous pose) but hopefully you haven't seen this "Rosie" yet. If you have, then you suck.




I love the colorway of the photo- an aesthetic the photographer probably didn't exactly have in mind, but still. I love that, while her fashion ensemble at the time had a sole purpose of being functional and not exactly to look cute, looks beyond charming today. And while this was probably staged (what with women having to keep up the appearance of femininity at all times), I can't help but love that she's wearing red nail polish and a flash of lipstick~ and looks beyond annoyed that she has to in the first place!



"She's a Maniac" by Hall and Oates.

Jungle Madness

Welcome to June's Vintage Giveaway! Seeing as in one week it will be O-fficially summer, I thought it only apropos to give away something apropos of summer. Duh. So what could be better than something tiki-themed? Everyone loves tikis. Yo' mama was a tiki. I'll tell you what's better than a tiki theme~ a tiki theme and cocktails.



So this month's giveaway is this fun plastic cocktail shaker and cups set! OK, so it's not technically vintage, dated 2002, but if you wait another 13 years it will be, so there. I got this as a present 7 years and it's never been used, so it's time I destash and bestow this re-gift upon someone else. It really was a well-thought, charming little gift from someone, but I just have way too many actual vintage cocktail shakers and glasses already that I've collected over many moons. Am I bad a person? Let's consult the Magic 8 Ball. *shake shake shake* Magic 8 Ball says: "It is certain." Sigh.

It's tiki time!



No, really. It says so.




I'm pretty sure that any native anywhere wouldn't drink something called a "Grass Skirt" but who am I to argue with a cardboard box?




Each cup has a tiki mask on one side and a cliche-ishly named drink recipe on the other. ("Lei Lady Lei" sounds like something stupid and corny I would say, so naturally I'm both repulsed and enchanted.)


Everyone and anyone is welcome to sign up! It doesn't matter if you've never left a comment before or you're not following this blog (though it sure does help. Zing!) And it's totally free to you! To be eligible, just leave a comment that you'd like to be entered in the contest - or - you can drop me an email if you'd rather keep it on the down low.

The winner's name will be drawn from a hat (seriously. I really do it that way!) in one week, on the 21st. What better way to celebrate the first day of summer than by getting loaded on a "Grass Skirt"?






"Jungle Madness" by Martin Denny.