Scans of old things people have tried to forget

By Britta Gustafson

I really like going to antique stores (aka junk shops) to poke around and learn about weird old stuff that people used to actually make and buy and put in their houses — strange toys, obscure books, odd-shaped mugs, etc. It makes new items in Kmart seem a little dull, like that any interesting parts have been streamlined out by now. This is silly because 40 years from now, people will probably look at a fashionable lamp from 2008 and giggle. Good collections of old pictures serve as a similar kind of entertaining American history lesson.

Found Recipes is a Livejournal community for rediscovering bad food, mostly from the 1950s and ’60s: unappetizing pictures of marshmallow salads, “lemony salmon tower” and a thousand ways to use gelatin to make jiggly meat dinners. These scans of fashion ads from Ebony magazine from the ’70s sold acetate twill, huge collars and other amazingness.

This collection of magazine advertisements from the ’50s and ’60s contains a good mix of appealing nostalgic designs and outdated strange ones, such as for Eve Filter Cigarettes (“Smoke pretty”) and Bell Telephone System kitchen extension phones. There’s an extensive Stanford School of Medicine web exhibit about old ads that hide the hazards of smoking like the Eve ad. I’ve also read about the effects of ads like the Bell System one that were targeted toward women, but most of that reading was for class so you might not feel like reading it just for fun. Just in case you’re curious, check “The ‘Industrial Revolution’ in the Home” for a start.

The images in The Art of the Luggage Label from the 1900s to 1960s are lovely, colorful little illustrations from all over the world. These scientific book covers from the ’60s and ’70s are also beautiful and geometric. But my favorite group of old images might be this set of a few hundred WPA posters from the ’30s and ’40s, “designed to publicize health and safety programs; cultural programs including art exhibitions, theatrical, and musical performances; travel and tourism; educational programs; and community activities.” They tell stories just by themselves (lots about syphilis, lots of art shows), and they’re imaginative and detailed.