Seattle Archives - The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit

Feb32015 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Beautiful Billboards #3: Seattle City Light, 1968

This beauty of a billboard for Seattle City Light was photographed in the late '60s, and yet features a wonderful 1950s design. Click for a larger version. I mean c'mon, that housewife illustration is right out of a 1950s ad from Life magazine is it not? I wonder how long that billboard had been standing when it was shot. I'm sure it's too much to hope that it's been preserved. (via Seattle Municipal Archives on Flickr)

Jul302013 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

20 Beautiful Vintage Airline Travel Posters

Ephemera, Featured Posts

In addition to their primary purpose in drumming up business for their company, airline travel posters of course wanted to get you in the mood to visit places all over the world. And without the benefit of a TV commercial, travel posters had to work overtime to help you paint a picture of exotic locales in your mind. Here are 20 such vintage travel posters that did their job exceptionally well, most dating from the 1950s and '60s. And if I may be allowed a shameless plug -- which I am -- I should tell you that some of these images are available as beautiful custom apparel and other products on my Zazzle shop. Why not go there now? Just click on The Hangar for all airline-related goods.

Jul242013 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Vintage 20th Century World’s Fair Postcards (1958 – 1992)

Ephemera

Back for more, eh? As the follow-up to my set of World's Fair postcards covering the first half of the 20th century, here is the second half. This set picks up with Expo 58 in Brussels, which marked the first World's Fair held after World War II. Expo 58 (Brussels, Belgium) Century 21 Exposition (Seattle, 1962) (via Drive-In Mike) 1964 New York's World Fair (via The Pie Shops) Expo 67 (Montreal) (via The Pie Shops) HemisFair '68 (San Antonio, Texas) (via zawleski) Expo '70 (Osaka, Japan) (via Duncan Brown) Expo '74 (Spokane, Washington) (via The Pie Shops) Expo '75 (Okinawa, Japan) (via World's Fair Photos) 1982 World's Fair (Knoxville, Tennessee) 1984 Louisiana World Exposition (New Orleans) Expo '85 (Tsukuba, Japan) (via World's Fair Photos) Expo...

Jun122013 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Vintage Photo Wednesday, Vol. 34: Dick’s Drive-In, Seattle, 1955

Vintage Photo Wednesday

Courtesy the Seattle Municipal Archives Flickr feed, here's a neat shot of a rather ordinary scene. It's Dick's Drive-In Hamburgers on Broadway East. This was taken in 1955, not long after this location opened. Dick's started right around the same period that McDonald's started to take off with their franchise model. Click for a larger version. This location is still open today, and it certainly doesn't appear as if things have changed all that much. There are more trees and the prices are higher, of course, but you can't expect hand-dipped malts to cost 21 cents forever.

Jun102013 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Photo Gallery: 1973-74 United States Oil Shortage Crisis, Vol. 1

Capsules, Featured Posts, History

Ask anyone who was of driving age in the United States during the 1970s, and they likely remember well the two major oil shortage crises the country faced. The first oil shortage crisis, which lasted from October 1973 until March 1974, was set off when the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, or the OAPEC (consisting of the Arab members of OPEC, plus Egypt, Syria and Tunisia), proclaimed an oil embargo. This was reportedly in response to the U.S. supplying Israel with arms following the 1973 Yom Kippur War. On October 16, 1973, OPEC announced a decision to raise the posted price of oil by 70%, to $5.11 a barrel. In the United States, the retail price of a gallon of gasoline rose from a national average of 38.5 cents in May 1973 to 55.1 cents in June 1974. President Richar

Jun62013 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Vintage 20th Century World’s Fair Postcards (1900 – 1940)

Ephemera, Featured Posts

Getting to a World's Fair is definitely one of the items on my bucket list. But until I can attend one in person, I guess the next best thing will have to be to look at some vintage World's Fair postcards. The selection I present here spans every officially sanctioned and recognized fair and exposition from the first half of the 20th century. Due to the outbreak of World War II, there were no fairs held between 1941 and 1957. The next part of this overview (to be published later) will pick up with Expo 58 and run through Expo '98. Exposition Universelle (Paris, 1900) (via) Pan-American Exposition (Buffalo, 1901) Louisiana Purchase Exposition (St. Louis, 1904) (via Brenda) Liège International (Belgium, 1905) (via alanp_photo) Milan International (1906) Irish International

Jun182012 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Listening Booth — Wings, “Magneto and Titanium Man” (live, 1976)

Listening Booth, Music

Today is Sir Paul McCartney's 70th birthday, so in tribute I want to share one of my favorite tunes from Macca's post-Beatles career. It's a live version of "Magneto and Titanium Man," from a 1976 concert at the Kingdome in Seattle. The original cut can be heard on the excellent Venus and Mars album from Wings. This take made it onto a 1980 McCartney home video release, Rockshow, which hasn't seen a proper DVD issue as far as I know. Related articles Madame Tussauds Unveils Beatles Waxworks In Honor Of McCartney's 70th (wcbsfm.cbslocal.com) Weller records McCartney tribute (bbc.co.uk) Happy Birthday Macca! 70 classic pictures to mark Sir Paul McCartney's 70th birthday (mirror.co.uk)