Whether you’re looking back to yesteryear to remember kids room decor of your childhood, or are thinking about recreating one of these looks today, we have a few dozen ideas for you!
Vintage magazines
Lithographed vintage travel posters like those shown here are now sometimes sold at auction for tens of thousands of dollars, but they began as ads for a burgeoning industry.
The old Disneyland TV show, known by various titles since its introduction in 1954 (and currently entitled The Wonderful World of Disney) was Walt Disney’s first foray into the weekly television show format.
Here are some crafty fabric Christmas ornaments you can make yourself. There are five different designs using an inexpensive patchwork design.
You could spot that Laura Ashley Home vibe at a glance – those patterns (often florals) with a warm and cozy English country feel. And in the 80s and 90s, Americans loved them. See dozens of vintage LAH styles here.
Take a look back at 12 monthly Woman’s Day magazine covers from 1950, and marvel at how much daily life – not to mention magazine marketing and graphic design – have changed since then!
Before he was Samwise Gamgee in the Lord of the Rings, young Sean Astin was a hardworking up-and-coming actor. But he wasn’t just any actor – he was the son of Patty Duke and John Astin. Here’s a look back at Sean’s early career, from when he was a teen!
Use up your extra turkey in a new way – make this tasty turkey cheese ball! It’s a great appetizer for Thanksgiving, or you can use holiday leftovers to make a retro snack with this rich spread.
They didn’t call Illinois-born Cindy Crawford a supermodel for nothing! Check out a selection of 11 of her fashion magazine covers from the mid- to late-eighties.
No longer just a throwback costume accessory, old-school go-go boots and other mod-style boots are back in style – no doubt facilitated by the resurgence
M*A*S*H debuted on TV in 1972, and centered around a team of doctors during the Korean War in the early 50s. M*A*S*H was a huge success, lasting for 11 seasons, and broke records on its way out.
Check out these vintage Tiger Beat magazine covers to see who teens were screaming about and obsessing over back in the 70s — decades before there were K-Pop and reality TV stars.
How exactly did they repair antique dolls back in the 1950s and before – in the days before toys and dolls were made of plastic? Here’s a look at what went into doll construction and restoration!
How did people celebrate the spookiest holiday many generations ago? Look here for some very vintage – but hauntingly creative – old-school Halloween party table decor ideas & menus!
What was a classic Craftsman house like – and what made it unique? Find out more here about this vintage architectural style and its founder, Gustav Stickley – plus see more than 70 old examples of this iconic design.
Having trouble figuring out the best colors for a dining room? We have some ideas for you, based on some great vintage home decor styles.
If you love the mid-century style, or want to re-create that beautiful vintage backyard feel, get 47 of the best old-fashioned patio, deck & porch ideas here for a little retro inspo.
The secret to these precious brownie oatmeal gems lies in the cookie’s perfect combination of rich, smooth Baker’s chocolate, quick oats, walnuts and brown sugar.
Anyone obsessed with vintage Strawberry Shortcake probably dreamed of these pieces of sugary sweet delight featuring their favorite gal – dolls and toys, of course, but also bedding, wallpaper, roller skates and more.
Here’s a wonderful cake to make for a special occasion. This almond-raspberry cream roll has a whipped cream filling flavored with raspberry.
What’s the difference between linoleum and vinyl flooring? Although we often use these terms interchangeably, linoleum and vinyl are actually two distinctly different flooring products.
Why can’t we have a milkman? Judging from the blissed out faces featured in these 1950s dairy ads and other milk bottle photos, we’re missing out big time!
Flash back to 1960 with the Scholz Mark 60, a prefab mid-century modern home! From the blue bathroom to the wooden wall paneling, every inch of this house screams retro
Homemade truffles = candy from the heart With the season of love just around the corner, we’ve found some easy and delicious vintage candy recipes
From those using flamboyant fabrics to the more sedate styles, here you can peek inside houses from back to the sixties and check out these once-fashionable retro curtains & drapes!
Cozy 60s nightgowns and other sleepwear Sweetly demure in the earlier years; colorfully assertive and boldly patterned by the decade’s end… is it any surprise
Something new has happened to pumpkin pie: Double layer pumpkin cheesecake pies! Cream cheese blends perfectly with spicy pumpkin, and bakes up smooth and creamy.
The revitalized “sweater girl” phase of early 60s fashion was relaxed (good-bye girdles!), casually elegant and — dare we say — timeless. You can still wear this style today!
What was Walter Matthau’s house like back in the ’70s? His wife Carol said that they gave it a country look and country feeling. Take a peek inside!
Based on one of the many traditional needlework crafts, these vintage needlepoint designs might just inspire you to get creative in all-new ways!
This vintage mid-century modern model home – the House & Garden magazine Hallmark House for 1963 – offered nearly 5000 square feet of beautiful 60s style.
This mid-century modern home design was created for a busy family of five, and in addition to the spacious floorplan, it glows with light, from huge windows and stunning clerestories.
If you look back at old home photos and these vintage sculptured and textured carpets were seen – three-dimensional carved or twisted patterns – you can pretty much bet you’re looking at decor from the middle of the 20th century.
Ranch salad dressing and your favorite brand of tuna — they bring out the best in each other, like in this 6-layer tuna salad vintage recipe.
If you were a child or a parent in the seventies, or are looking to the past to style something new, you’ll love this sunny trip back down memory lane. We’ve tracked down some of the coolest, trendiest vintage kids’ bedroom makeovers from the 1970s. Take a look!
Since 1952, Mad Magazine has poked fun at everything from Superman to Yoda, M*A*S*H to hippies. But it’s about more than humor – it’s big business, too.
We have heard Mathis’ voice for years – but who’s the man behind that rich, smooth sound? Find out more about this extraordinarily talented singer here, and see Johnny Mathis as he lived in his Hollywood home back in the 1970s.
Even though permanents had been available for years, in the 1970s, home perms became easier and more affordable than ever as new products and formulations gave people more hairstyle options.
These vintage zodiac cross-stitch designs could be used as-is, interspersed and contrasted with plain squares, or the designs adapted to many other uses — such as cross-stitch embroidery for table linens.
In the mid-1980s, Co-Ed magazine took on a problem facing a lot of high schoolers: the coolest clothing styles didn’t fit well. So here are the retro ’80s fashion tips for teens that they recommended… in all their eighties glory.
Do you remember these vintage Mad magazine back page Fold-Ins – where, with a couple of folds, you could change the page’s picture, and its message? Look back at a few of these clever pieces of art created by Al Jaffee.
After years of living in casual separates, these stylish women’s suits from the ’70s offered a new way to dress: in a suit jacket and skirt or pants made for each other, with a tailored menswear-like flair.
See several vintage ways to decorate mid-century entrance halls & foyers – using authentic 1950s and 1950s finishes and colors that made them as practical underfoot as they were pleasing to the eye
Through 75 artistic antique color covers of The Theatre magazine, take a peek back in time from the first decades of the twentieth century to see these classic actors & actresses who performed onstage more than 100 years ago
Before ‘Murphy Brown’ actress Candice Bergen was a star in her own right, she was best known as the daughter of the famous ventriloquist Edgar Bergen, and, later, as a popular model. Here’s a look back.
These gorgeous spring and summer fashions from 1922 show how beautifully-made women’s clothing was back in the 1920s. Take a peek at these full-color images that were published in 1922.
Keyed for color, comfort and convenience, the retro bathroom decor for two homes in the city and two in the country have been remodeled for maximum relaxation.
Find out how to make these colorful Christmas decorations: Translucent Tissue paper stained glass art panels to make your rooms blaze with jewel-toned light.
Before vintage Disneyland opened in 1955, Walt Disney said the huge amusement park would be ‘the most fabulous playground on earth.’ See what it looked like!
Here is a group of irresistible cookies of every kind which you’ll enjoy making as much as giving. From Woman’s Day magazine (December 1962) Cookies
Here’s a cute little vintage Christmas tree craft from 1950. You can cut the tree and decorations out of paper, then and you can use it as a table centerpiece or a mantel decoration, hang it up, or just play with it.
No doubt that several of these vintage hairstyles for women from the 1910s could be adapted for use today, and would look as elegantly stylish as ever. Take a look!
Get retro Thanksgiving recipes for turkey fondue with horseradish sauce; winter garden salad; caramel rum pumpkin cake; ham supreme in crépes; two-tone tower salad and ported raspberry pie.
Take a trip back to the past – go sightseeing and learn more about what Washington DC was like in the 1950s! The classic tour is here, from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial to the White House.
When this article was published, touting the wonders of c-section deliveries, they stated that the cesarean rate was one out of 20 births. And that
‘Casablanca’ actor Humphrey Bogart – known to millions as ‘Bogie’ – gave a behind-the-scenes look into his mind and his life in this story from 1942.
In both 1975 and 1978, singer Helen Reddy took national magazine photographers on tours of her California home, which was full of music, plants and country charm. Here’s a look inside!
When Princess Diana was pregnant with baby Prince William, a geneticist weighed in on what he thought the young prince or princess might look like.
Here is how the builders of this 1950s small home design made the most of the space they had available! Take a look at the vintage decor and floorplan here.
See how 1950s small home decorating ideas used smart space-saving tricks, clever storage, and stylish details that still work in today’s homes.
Here’s a look back at singer and actor Bing Crosby’s house in Holmby Hills, California, as it appeared in 1950.
Take a look back at a few views of the pretty and peaceful backyard and the Kennedy family pool house behind the Virginia home known as Hickory Hill.
Of Gloria Steinem’s apartment in New York, the feminist icon wrote in 1970s that it offered cheerful rooms to live in and a private place to work. Take a look!
Antique Ladies’ Home Journal magazine cover: March 1890 Featuring “Mrs Harrison’s Daily Life in the White House”, “A Man’s Idea of Home Comfort”, “Hints on
This gorgeous glazed fruit cheesecake is topped with shiny sweet fruit, arranged in a pretty pattern. Get the vintage recipe from the ’60s here!
Here’s a delicious pineapple upside-down bundt cake — an easy-to-make pound cake dessert with a crushed pineapple glaze.
How did they decorate small homes back in the 1940s? Here’s a look at how career girl could set up her first apartment back during the post-war years.
This pink lemonade ice cream cake is surprisingly easy to make – it starts with a boxed cake mix, and gets dressed up with filling and frosting. Try it!
What a treat for someone with a sweet tooth – an elegant apricot rum baba! Moist and rich and redolent of apricot nectar.
Protests and riots in the ’60s led to increased tensions between police and the Black community, so Ebony magazine published this guide to help African-Americans protect themselves.
Take a look back at the latest and greatest toys from 1986 in these pages from the vintage Toys R Us catalogs called the 80s Out of this World Toy Book.
Delight your guests with a lovely lemon layer cake with a luscious lemony buttercream frosting and lucious fruit preserves on the inside.
This Mexican-meets-Italian Tostado pizza recipe won the $500 second prize in the Better Homes & Gardens Budget Recipe Contest in 1974.
This Burger Bundles casserole features big meatballs stuffed with herb-seasoned stuffing mix, then baked in a mushroom soup sauce.
See how Rosedown mansion in Louisiana was restored to its 1800s glory with care, vision and craftsmanship, as shown in this rare 1964 article and photos.
Here is a delicious vintage recipe for a basic beef pot roast — and you know it will be good, because it’s how James Beard would have prepared it back in the ’60s!
Swedish rosettes, a light Scandinavian cookie, uses a rosette iron to create its distinctive shape. The result is as delicious as it is beautiful.
Old-fashioned spice cake – a deliciously flavorful cake – was especially popular in the ’50s. Try making this homemade version and find out why!
This beautiful Spumoni Elegante is a deluxe version of a frozen dessert classic: fruit-studded cream filling encased in a luscious layer of velvety egg custard.
Predictions of the future from the early 1900s included the idea that a subway shuttle across New York City would be replaced with a moving sidewalk built in three sections, one of which would offer seating.
Fudge ribbon pie combines peppermint ice cream and a creamy fudge sauce, frozen and then topped with a peppermint meringue.
This creamy chicken salad mold is a tantalizing mixture of chicken, mayonnaise or salad dressing, broth, gelatin, seasonings and lemon juice.
Want to make some simple retro ’50s style jewelry? If you’ve got the gift for DIY crafts, we have the how-to guide for you, direct from the fifties.
A glamorous-looking dessert like this chocolate-cherry torte can be the ultimate in party food. And isn’t it great when it tastes every bit as good?
These gorgeous illustrations of vintage fairies and other fanciful creatures were featured in magazines during the 1920s.
These delicious raspberry-walnut brownies have a layer of raspberry jam topped with a velvet chocolate glaze, then sprinkled with chocolate-covered walnuts.
Back in 1862, a woman wrote to a top fashion magazine to lament the work involved with Civil War-era hairstyles. Here’s what she said – plus see 8 hairdos from the time.
Slow steaming mellows the delightful molasses flavor of Boston brown bread, which is cooked inside 1-pound cans.
Nothing can top the nostalgic aroma of bread baking in your oven. Fruit and spice sparkle in these raisin-cinnamon rolls — great for breakfast or brunch.
This banana rum pie starts with vanilla pudding, fluffy white frosting, and those beautiful bananas that know no season. Then add pecans and chocolate drizzle.
Savory ground beef meatloaf and canned liver spread retain the characteristic flavor, but not the expense, of the classic ingredients of Beef Wellington.
Located in Beverly Hills, the Beverly Hilton hotel was opened in the 1950s, and boasted 450 air-conditioned rooms, private balconies, sunken swimming pool cabanas, shops and parking for 1000 cars.
This 1973 House of the Year showcase had a variety of furnishings and fixtures that would be on the market the following year. Take a look inside!
These sweet bandana baby clothes are wearing tops made from the kind of cotton scarves you can buy anywhere. Here’s how to make these outfits from 1977!
Here’s a retro jelly bean carousel cake that’s cute and creative for a child’s birthday. Anyone who loves jelly beans (doesn’t everyone?) will love it.
Here’s a look back to the most beautifully stylish vintage 1920s dresses and other clothing for women from the roaring twenties – and how to choose the finest fashions.
The perfect 1938 figure must have curves, but it differs from the perfect figure of past decades in relationship of curves to straight lines.
When President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was shot and killed in Dallas in 1963, grief was felt all around the globe, and the question of motive has never been definitively answered.
