Presenting The Goldwaters

Ever heard of these guys? The album is dreadful, but the cover makes me laugh. Believe it or not, I actually found an interview with one of the members on conelrad.com.

Sez the site: "In the pantheon of strange political gimmicks, The Goldwaters would have to rank fairly high on the list. Right up there with Michael Dukakis "boxer" action figures. The idea to assemble a conservative folk combo, have them record a bizarre, nearly unlistenable album and then put the group on the road with the 1964 Republican nominee for President was the warped brainchild of the Nashville-based Bates Brothers, Buford and Mark Clark. To fulfill their unique vision, the brothers recruited four kids with moderate musical skills from nearby colleges. The result was the Republican answer to the Chad Mitchell Trio."

If you're hooked, go read more. If not have a laugh and go on your merry way.

Cliff May House in East Dallas

2519 Andrea, Dallas, 75228 -- $175k! Fabulous 50's Mid-Century Modern California Ranch by famous Architect Cliff May, one of only 45 in Dallas. Open floorplan,tons of windows,waterfall in fireplace,remodeled kitchen and baths, great pool, 4 houses from park. For more information, go to www.ranchostyle.com.

James Bond Knockoffs

Although James Bond had his own brand of inimitable cool, there were still those who tried. Count Basie ... NOOOOO!


And then there were those who didn't even have the pedigree. This guy makes George Lazenby look like ... well, look like James Bond.

The Man With The Midas Touch

If there is one song that really sounds like the sixties to me, it's Goldfinger. The lush opening orchestration really captures sexiness of the decade. And that's even before Shirley Bassey roars into action.


And as fantastic as this album is, the album below is the exact opposite. I picked this up the other day because how often can you find the Pussy Galore solo album? How bad is it? Unlistenable. But it's hanging on my wall, because Honor Blackman, I'll fly with you anytime. Just don't sing.

This Is Why I Go To Estate Sales

My wife found this Russel Wright Pinch tumbler at an estate sale in south Fort Worth yesterday. We already have a ton of Iroquois and we wanted the glasses to go with the plates. However, whenever we found them, they were always priced at about $35 to $45 each. Yesterday, we found 11 for $4. Not each -- $4 for all 11. How sweet it is!

James Bond in ... Thunderball!

I started to do a mondo James Bond post, but I decided to break these up over a few days to make it easier to read. I buy alot of records at estate sales, but I don't really start out to collect something. It just happens. Like the day I found the Thunderball soundtrack album.


Is Connery kickin' it here or what? Underwater scuba ninja fu -- awesome. Of course, then a few weeks later I lucked out and found the Esquire magazine below. But that cover is only the beginning.


These days, can you imagine a celeb being pictured on the cover and not even being discussed inside the magazine. Well, that's what happens here. And, once you get a look, you may not even care. Check these out, then stay tuned tomorrow for ... Gold-fing-ah!

Make Your Own Fallout Shelter

Who needs duct tape and plastic sheeting? Check out this Flick set that includes a scan of a brochure from the Kelsey-Hayes Company, Detroit, MI for their pre-fabricated fallout shelters, circa 1963.

Some of those designs don't exactly look sturdy, but I find it hard to believe that the good people at the Kelsey-Hayes Company would try and profit from the fears of average Americans. Certainly something like that couldn't happen today, thank goodness.

Serge Gainsbourg Moment

Well, not Serge Gainsbourg per se, but a song he wrote in 1965 for France Gall, "Poupee de Cire, Poupee de Son." Here's France Gall performing the song for a 1965 Eurovision competition in Luxembourg.

Craigslist Furniture Update

Danish Modern Broyhill "Brasillia" Credenza (pictured) - $350: I'm nuts about the Brasilia line. I'd snap this up in a second.

Sears Mid Century Danish Modern HiFi Sterio - $450: Cool, but too expensive.

Classic 1950's "Baumritter" Mid Century Swivel Chairs! - $495: Very cool and would play nice in an eclectic interior.

Sunshine Yellow Broyhill Mid Century Dining Room Set - $2195: Someone call The Brady Bunch. We know who stole their furniture.

Pimp My Ride -- With A Nuclear Reactor!

Thanks to Paul for sending me this: Concept cars of the past. That's my next car up there -- the 1961 Ford Seattle. It would have been powered by a nuclear powerplant. Swell!

Exercise Records

From the archives, a few of exercise records. Listen, follow the instructions and watch those pounds melt away!

Jack Kerouac Awareness Month

I don't know if it is really Jack Kerouac Awareness Month, but it is the 50th anniversary of the publication of On The Road.

Truman Capote once famously said of On The Road, "That's not writing. That's typing." And if you buy into the beatnik stereotype, you might just believe it. It's easy to imagine Jack sitting there at his typewriter, pounding out the book on one continuous ream of teletype paper, wacked out of his mind on Bennies. But that sells Kerouac a little short. He was a meticulous keeper of notebooks, and his records of his travels provided the foundation for on the road. And although his voice is often parodied as a beatnik caricature, I think the lyrical nature of his work hold up with anyone in the Pantheon of great American writers.

Although beatniks were often ridiculed as America-hating pinkos, nothing could be further from the truth. Jack Kerouac loves America and it shows in his writing from his descriptions of the great American landscape -- from big cities to small towns, from sea to shining sea -- to unforgetable characters like Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty and Carlo Marx. There's a lot to love about America. And you can find it in this book. Thanks, Jack.

Craigslist Furniture Update

Things have been kind of slow on the Craigslist front lately, but there is some interesting stuff available now, like this super-bad Stow Davis desk for $1250 (pictured).

If you need some cool bedroom or bar furniture, there’s a ton of American of Martinsville available in Garland, including:

A bitchin’ bar for $259

A chest of drawers for $259

A dresser for $259

And a nightstand chest for $159

Last, there this cool no-name modern Yellow/ Gold Velvet Couch that’s kind of groovy for $100.

In Defense of Mad Men

OK, we are two episodes into this thing and I'm starting to latch on to AMC new drama series, Mad Men. I'm getting interested in Don Draper and his philanderings and Peggy Olson's missteps trying to navigate the shark tank that is Sterling Cooper.

Of course, I dig the MCM trappings of the show. My wife and I spend a lot of our time going, "Wow, look at that!" or "Is that Wegner?" It gets a lot of the period details right. If you want to get a little of the MCM flava, check the link above for an episode 2 sneak peek (episode 3 is tomorrow at 9).

However, when I look at the comments on the Mad Men blog, it seems not everyone is latching on. More people are bitching about the amount of smoking or whether the IBM Selectric was a 1960 or a 1961. Some don't buy the story as believeable or realistic. Sez one commenter:

As the son of a Madison Ave creative director, I have to laugh. My dad worked for BBDO during this time and he says the show is complete BS, except that they got the decor of the offices right. Sure they drank and smoked, but the portrayal of how things went is totally overblown. It was an intense, high pressure job and there was alot on the line, but they didnt act that way. He also says that he NEVER heard the term "Mad Men" either. My mom was also a million times more sophisticated than the portrayal of the wife of the ad guy too. It's too bad everyone is buying this. I work in the TV biz myself, so I recognize that in an effort to "dramatize" things, a bunch of suits thought this would be good TV. Well, it seems the critics, who are probably too young to have any reference, bought it hook, line and sinker as well. Well done suits, but too bad its just another unrealistic drama...

And then there's this guy:

I worked on Madison Ave fot 2 agencies between 1953 and 1967. At one, i was part of the account team on Lorilard,(kent and newport cigarettes). Later, at Gillette was involv ed with Right Guard.
Where did mr. Weiner get his data, lots of it is not true. The staff was mostly WW2 vets, some with MBA,s from our GI bill-we worked hard, did not drink in the office and the secretary liasons were infrequent-about the same as in every company where bright, younger people work.we believed in our products and helped build the success that
these companies became. P.S-no one ever considered Right Guard as a female product-it was the breakthru product for men.
If your wryers want some unusual stories about agency life in the sixties,
I 'll be happy to share.

To which I respond: COME ON ... IT'S A TV SHOW! We are still in the exposition stage -- meeting the characters and establishing conflicts and plot points. Does anyone want to give this show time to develop other than me? And, by the way, this isn't supposed to be a documentary. It's not about how 1960 really was. It's about how we thought it was, and I expect the show to use this context to discuss issues of sex, race and other social attitudes.

I also expect the show to be less about 1960 and more about 2007. Although it's easy to sit around and watch the casual racism and sexual harassment and feel like things have really changed, I'm thinking that things haven't changed as much as we'd like to believe. Is it a set-up? Where is this show going? I'm curious and I hope enough of you out there give it a chance.

Stay Tuned!