If I didn’t know any better I’d swear that this vintage Blue Bell Potato Chips bag was designed rather recently, and by someone with a real love for retro styling. In fact, this may just be the most perfect example of mid-century packaging graphic design I’ve ever seen.

Let’s take a look and then review why this is so great, shall we?

• The Blue Bell logo is strong, and I love how it incorporates the clapper into the product description. (Not sure what “smoky flavored” is supposed to mean, however.)
• To further the bell motif, there are musical notes for “fresh” and “crisp,” which is just great. So very mid-century.
• The yellow portion of the bag design appears to be somewhat Googie-influenced, even if subtly so.
• Although I had no knowledge of the “10 cents” graphic when I designed my logo, I appreciate the similarity. But just for the record, I was inspired by a few different old logos.
• That’s some phenomenal design work on the family right there. And as a very nice, subtle touch, note the recursion on the bag of chips the little girl is holding.

Seriously, if you can’t have fun eating chips from a bag that looks like this then I don’t even want to talk to you.

According to what I’ve been able to find on the internet, the Blue Bell Potato Chip Company is still around. Or at least some company called Blue Bell and located in Bend, Oregon is. If anyone reading this is affiliated with them, I would be eternally grateful if you could hook me up with one of these vintage chip bags or anything that resembles it.

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While on vacation in Cape Cod recently, I brought a wad of cash to my favorite used book store and went nuts. In fact, I didn’t purchase one book. Instead I walked away with a healthy stack of vintage magazines — everything from old issues of Family Circle, The Saturday Evening Post, and Better Homes and Gardens to random fashion and auto magazines. And this, the 1959 Symphonic Phonographs catalog.

Within these pages lies a bounty of vintage turntable models, all with that special late ’50s beauty. You’ve got your sturdy and fashionable portable players, like the Junior and Sophomore models seen here…

… and you’ve got hefty models that double as furniture, as was the style back then, like the Symphony.

You really can’t go wrong either way I suppose. I have no idea what one of these beauties in good working order would fetch on the market today, but I was at least willing to fork over three dollars for the catalog. If you want to see the whole set — including the original order form — you can check it out on my Flickr page.

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In its July 13, 1953 issue Life magazine ran one of many photo essays on the city of Los Angeles. This one focused on the immense population and development growth the city and surrounding area encountered in the late ’40s and early ’50s. Here then is a gallery of the most interesting photos — some unpublished — that went into its story called “400 New Angels Every Day.” There were all shot in either December ’52 or July ’53 by J. R. Eyerman.

Less than two years after this piece ran in the magazine, Life published another, less sunny L.A. story — this one about an October 1954 smog emergency. You can see those pics here.

Has it already been a year since my last gallery of vintage Mother’s Day ads ran? Where does the time go? Well, I’m back with another 10 classic advertisements to commemorate that most special lady in our lives — mom.

Of course, the usual suspects are here — flowers and chocolates — but I think this year’s gallery manages to mix things up a bit. I think this is the first time I’ve seen a Mother’s Day champagne ad after all.

Long before the days when handy housekeeping tips were just a click or an app away, the housewives of America and Canada had to make do with decidedly more crude technology. But man was some of it ever spiffy. Case in point: the Super Homemakers’ Guide volvelle (aka wheel chart), published by Super Publications in 1954.

The idea is simple — just dial up whatever you need to mend or wash, and the wheel tells all. For instance, thanks to the guide you know that when you cook cabbage you should place a dish of vinegar on the stove to remove the cabbage odor. Not sure how you get rid of the vinegar odor, as there’s no slot on the volvelle for that.

This was made with the intent of business buying in bulk to advertise themselves, as on this eBay listing specimen.

Pretty neat, no? Now you know how to get booze stains out of your rugs!

I don’t think I need to say anything else about this stunning ad specimen for the Zenith Super De Luxe clock radio, from a 1953 issue of Look magazine.

Let’s take a close look at that main picture, shall we? Just click to embiggen:

 

Yup, that’s the coolest thing I’ve seen all day. And I love the color choices, like French Green and Scotch Grey. Here’s a current photo of one of these De Luxe bakelite beauties on sale on eBay (clock works, radio doesn’t) for $40.

For this batch of vintage postcards, I wanted to go for some mid-century Christmas kitsch rather than the really old stuff. Because that’s how I roll, as loyal readers must know by now.

(via Flickr user califboy101)

(via The Pie Shops)

(via Calsidyrose)

(via Neato Coolville)

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Some time in 1954, Life magazine photographer Yale Joel ventured to an unknown destination. His assignment was to photograph a group of brand new cars — 1955 Ford and Mercury models, to be precise. I don’t know how many of these pictures ended up in the magazine, as I’ve been unable to find any associated article in the Google Books archive, but some of these are real stunners.

I wasn’t sure at first if these were actually 1954 models, but the dead giveaway was the distinctive look of the ’55 Ford Fairlane. That stainless steel Fairlane stripe on the side was what tipped me off, as the Fairlane debuted in model year 1955 (replacing the Crestline). Also present — as far as I can tell — are the Mercury Montclair and Monterey, as well as a Ford station wagon.

Owing to the fact that these are raw photos from a session, some of the pictures do look very much alike. But hey, one can never have too many vintage car photos if you ask me.

If you enjoyed my recent retrotisements gallery for the 1960 Ford lineup — and I know you did — this will be right up your alley. If any car buffs can verify the model or trim for specific photos please let me know!

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Via the Smithsonian —  This toy “Cape Canaveral Satellite Monitor” bus is a tin toy produced in Japan for export to an American market. In post-WWII Japan, producing space-themed “tin toys” originated as a way to tap into an international market for “penny toys” or cheap playthings. By the late 1950s, however, this home-crafted industry had become a successful international business manufacturing creatively-designed, complex toys with moving parts and/lights that competed successfully with Western toymakers. This toy’s maker, Yonezawa Toys, Co., Ltd., was one of the biggest manufacturers in Japan of tin toys, many of which carried space themes. The design of this toy, which features lithography created to appeal to an American market, tapped into the American fascination with the new NASA human spaceflight program while also showcasing the toy’s battery-powered features.