found stuff: vintage edition

Julia Cameron has had us digging through our pasts for buried dreams, childhood pleasures, and so forth in The Artist’s Way course for two weeks now.  As a result, I’ve been stumbling upon some distinctively vintage delights.  These might not please everybody, for sure.  But if you’re a woman who grew up in the ’70s and ’80s, you’re sure to be in alt over some of this stuff.

If you didn’t — or you aren’t, maybe you’ll learn something new.  Without further ado:

My Little Pony

Would you believe there’s a flickr group for Vintage My Little Pony?  Yep.  Talk about a blast from the past.  You’ve got your Flutterbye, your Snuzzle, your Moonstone, your Confetti, your Forget-me-not … though I had totally forgotten about these girly toys until a random link brought me to another random link which brought me to a photograph which led to another photograph and … well, you get the idea.

Computer Punchcards

… Recycled oh-so-cleverly into little notebooks, for tucking in your purse or back pocket so you won’t lose that brilliant idea for the next scene or poem or painting or line of dialogue that comes to you while you are out of the house.  (Don’t you hate that?)  Their creator, erinzam, calls them “geek books,” which is a perfect fit for my memories of my geeky Dad coming home with spare computer cards from work — which my sis and I used for all kinds of purposes.  I believe I even made some dollhouse furniture from these sturdy things.

Of course, mine had actually been punched.  These might look better, though.

Available here on etsy.

Pyrex

In honor of my find during the Artist Date for Week Four of The Artist’s Way:  Pyrannosaurusrex:  Vintage Pyrex & Kitchen Collectibles.  Now, she is a serious collector who knows her stuff.  I just heart the vintage Pyrex ’cause it’s old, and I like to imagine the lives of those who may have used it before me — and also because it’s darn good quality stuff.  Sturdy, beautiful, and useful in a way that makes me wish we’d never invented throwaway plastic anything in the kitchen.  We could reuse this stuff until doomsday.

I’m especially jealous of her 10-cent find!  I’m longing for a set of refrigerator dishes — and to say “begone” to the few plastic containers I suffer in my cabinets.  But I didn’t realize until reading her post that the refrigerator dishes were produced in my favorite Pyrex pattern:  the turquoise snowflake.   And she scored one for a dime.

Real Women

I’m not going to explain too much on this one.  Let’s just say that the last time I saw real-looking women featured in a fashion magazine, it was a vintage photograph of 1940s beauty contestants.  Looks like those vintage true-to-life looks might be making a comeback.

With help from photoshop.

Well, sort of.

Without help from Photoshop.

The photos include real women up to about a size 6 —  8 max — and with photoshopping of the cellulite and bumps sometimes required because, hey, somebody’s got to feel anxiety and pressure to keep buying all those amazing secret-formula-thigh-reducing creams and celebrity-endorsed hairdyes and umpteen-bazillion-dollars’ worth of makeup and wrinkle remover and prepackaged diet food and therapy sessions every year.

Right?

Maybe not.  I’m hopeful that we’re going to see some changing standards of female beauty, oh… sometime before I reach 70.  (That’s a lot more positive-thinking than I used to be on this topic.)

(These photos of Crystal Renn are by Luis Sanchis.  The first one was featured in Harper’s Bazaar Australia.)

Classic Sesame Street

We had this song on an Anne Murray LP when I was a child.  My mama taught music in the elementary schools until I was about five years old, and we had lots of child-friendly classics in our house.  I love all the hidden messages in this song — which I’d never considered until I heard it again as an adult.

Fraggle Rock

Reminds me of my recent experience with Fraggle Rock.  F., as a movie buff (and he writes really insightful reviews, by the way), and finding himself adopting a brand new culture and engaged to a woman from that culture (moi), began a quest to review childhood movies that may have informed our perspective and viewpoint in life  — ours = mine & the culture’s.  (And I think he thinks the cultural consideration is of primary importance, while I think mine is.  Humph.)

Anyway, after we watched The Dark Crystal, we had a lovely discussion of Jim Henson in which I raved about Fraggle Rock.  So F. borrowed a whole bunch of Fraggle Rock episodes from the library, which we ended up watching while my sister was here on a visit.  The worst, most dangerously cynical mood could be upon me, the heaviness of the world’s troubles could be weighing upon my soul, and an episode of Fraggle Rock would lift me up out of the pit.

Is there any 1980s kid who didn’t love the Fraggles?

You can now purchase the whole collection on DVD (expensive option), watch snippets on youtube, rent a few episodes on Netflix — or borrow from the library, as we did.  As an aside, I highly recommend the show if you have children.  F., who worked as a psychologist once upon a time, was absolutely bowled over by how deep and insightful and rich the storylines were.  Definitely a cut above most children’s fare today.

Here’s an excerpt from an episode all three of us agreed was amazing.  Fraggles have special powers and can invite friends along into their dreams for companionship and advice, and Boober (anxiety-ridden, depressive, all-around serious and uptight guy) was having strange dreams revealing the supressed wild-party-guy side to his personality — dreams which would not go away until he committed to living in a more balanced fashion.

And for some reason, this song from way back in Episode II has stuck in my subconscious for about three months.  (Probably my issue with adjustment to a new place.)

Wembley’s Little Zen Song

I’m always here.

I’m never there.

I’m never, ever anywhere.

Excepting here, ’cause here is where I’m in.

But when I go from here to there,

My here comes with me everywhere,

‘Til there is here, and here is where I’ve been.