This creative collection of ideas came from Crayola, the famous crayon maker, back in the 1950s. They suggest some simple old-fashioned ways for kids to have quiet fun at home with crayons and paper.
Culture & lifestyle
Vintage entertainment, crafts & pop culture from the past – it’s the retro life!
Depending on how you count, between three and seven people died due to the very first Indianapolis motor car race back in 1909. Find out more here.
In the ’70s, long before he was the guy millions of Americans knew as a cop on Law & Order, here’s what Jerry Orbach’s home – a New York City brownstone – looked like.
The 1967 Mercury was said to be ‘for men who like their action big! You sense this the moment you take the wheel. It’s a Ford Mercury. This is the Man’s Car with a heritage of performance! Cyclone!’
In the fifties, people wanted to know: What was rock ‘n’ roll music? Where did this wild dance noise come from – and was it safe for the kids? Should it be banned, or was it just a fad?
This carefree tie-on poncho is cut in just four identical pieces and put together with simple straight sewing. Best of all, it has a dozen uses, can be made in any number of different fabrics, and cut to any length you like.
Just 18 years old, Aretha Franklin moves flawlessly in her vocals — from spiritual, to blues to jazz and to pop; and her ability as a pianist is something more to reckon with. Aretha is the girl to watch!
In Classic Cars Adult Coloring Book #2: Vintage 1920s Automobiles (1920-1929), find dozens of classic car brands dating back to the Twenties, including Chandler, Pontiac, Chrysler, Nash, Hupmobile, Franklin, Dodge, Overland, Elcar and Ford.
In Classic Cars Adult Coloring Book #1: Early American Automobiles (1895-1919), see dozens of classic car brands dating back to the late Victorian age, including Buick, Cadillac, Chalmers, Chandler, Cole, Davis, Ford, Overland, Packard, Pierce Arrow, Rambler, Stoddard-Dayton and Studebaker.
In Classic Cars Adult Coloring Book #3: Vintage 1930s Automobiles (1930-1939), find many classic car brands dating back to the Thirties, including Plymouth, Studebaker, Chrysler, Pierce Arrow, Ford, Franklin, Lincoln, Hudson, Hupmobile, and Oldsmobile.
What was vintage ’80s tech like? The Good Guys were a big consumer electronics specialty retailer selling brand-name audio and video gear. See the hottest retro TVs, stereos and more from 1987!
In Gaby, playing off one of the more haunting love mix-ups of World War II, a French-born dancer in London (Miss Caron) meets an American soldier. Then he is sent overseas, and soon presumed lost.
Looking for a fun and creative holiday project that’s a little different? Check out these crafty and cute vintage Christmas decorations, based on ideas popular back in the sixties.
Find out all of the then-hot new features on the 1954 Ford Ranch Wagons, an all-steel car that had fold-down seats so you could carry cargo or passengers.
While orchestra leader Glenn Miller himself disappeared, his music has done rather the opposite – reaching and speaking to generations well beyond his untimely death during WWII.
Back in the seventies, the vintage soap operas ‘Another World’ & ‘Days of Our Lives’ escaped the short half-hour program format, and were the first to hit the airwaves in one hour blocks.
Dorothy Lamour, American actress and singer, wasn’t just a star on the screen – she also threw her weight behind numerous WWII war bond sales efforts, and topped those charts.
Old-fashioned orange pomander balls made with cloves first became popular around the 17th century, and have been in use ever since. Here’s how to make your own fragrant decoration!
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.
There’s a Firebird for every purpose. Except standing still. (1978) Esprit offers luxury that doesn’t get in the way of sport. Individually-cushioned buckets of supple
Donning a brilliant red leotard, Audrey Hepburn demonstrated a series of yoga-like exercises. ‘I’ve tried to incorporate what I’ve seen in animals so the human body can benefit from them.’
Here are a few ideas for antique-style Christmas embroidery you can use to create small gifts. We have also included some bonus patterns, also from the early 1900s.
Want some retro-style holiday decor? Find out how to make some vintage Christmas crafts from the ’60s: a burlap wreath, tabletop Christmas trees, a starburst decoration, papier mache ornaments and more.
‘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.
You can make these super easy wax & tissue paper flowers for Christmas or any time of year! This vintage craft uses basic supplies, but creates a surprisingly beautiful result!
Here, we present many thought-provoking Abraham Lincoln quotes from throughout his distinguished career, gathered from antique books.
Bartholomew Roberts, also known as Black Bart, was a notorious pirate who raided ships. Here are some of the harsh – and sometimes unexpected – rules that governed the crews on his ships: The Pirate Code.
In 1973, The Mamas & The Papas singer Michelle Phillips took on a new role – that of the lead actress in the movie Dillinger. Here’s what she said at the time.
Johnny Cash kicked off his country-music series, The Johnny Cash TV Show, with guests Bob Dylan, singer-songwriters Joni Mitchell and Doug Kershaw, and comedienne Fannie Flagg. Here, see a video performance with Roy Orbison.
From 1971: An ultra-high-performance sports coupe that stands a little higher than the average man’s belt buckle, it seats two (and only two) and it’s priced in the neighborhood of $10,000.
Campy or vampire spoof, call it what you like – The Lost Boys, a movie starring Kiefer Sutherland – is decidedly offbeat entertainment… with a twist.
When these vintage Zenith ‘Space Command’ TV remote controls first came out, they were revolutionary tech – and everyone wanted one.
Live Aid in 1985: Feed the world The goal of the Live Aid concerts was to raise money to help relieve the ongoing famine in
’86 Ford Bronco II. You can wear it anywhere. Bronco II’s combination of design and toughness lets you take it anywhere. And for ’86, it
When The Bold and the Beautiful soap opera first hit the airwaves in the eighties, they probably didn’t imagine the show would be still going after even 8000 episodes. Here’s how it began!
The 5 big Ford station wagons from 1960 featured such unique wonders like sun visors and arm rests – plus comfort, convenience and styling elegance in the wagon field. Here’s a look back!
Between 1918 and 1955, there were 11 different Tarzan movie actors, in the character’s various incarnations and adventures. Here’s a look back at those wild men.
Question: Did any feminist ever burn a bra in protest? Find out more about the history of this often-mentioned protest move here!
Classic Rambler cars from the ’50s were popular family cars, and were touted as offering big car room at small car prices. Here’s a look back!
Take a look at these classic Ford Fairlines from the sixties! Back then, standard equipment included bucket seats, sporty console, big 390 cubic-inch V-8, and more.
Here is a collection of tips from the past, for researching your past – namely, how to start a genealogical record for your family. Get ideas for tracking down your ancestry here!
Here’s Groucho singing the song he’s famously associated with from his time with the Marx Brothers: ‘Hello, I Must Be Going,’ as seen in the 1930 film Animal Crackers.
Step back in time with Leonard Bernstein with a vintage profile and snapshots of the maestro’s melodious legacy!
Take a 1950s home tour of a ‘junior five’ near San Francisco – a small house that had an entry stairway that starts at garage level and leads up to five rooms – bedrooms, kitchen, garage and more.
Compared to now, teenage girls in the 1950s had a lot of strict rules and etiquette considerations – and the consequences of falling short in certain areas could have a pretty considerable effect on her life. Here’s a look at the kind of messaging teens got back then.
When he was making Star Trek, actor William Shatner could skip blithely from Shakespeare to riding in the saddle in a psychological Western movie – and yet, in his view, all that wasn’t good enough.
When color TV was first invented, people wondered if you could convert a black & white TV to color, and which shows would appear in color – and when. Here are some of the answers they were given.
While today’s players make multi-million dollar salaries and play in front of upwards of 15,000 fans a night, Wilt Chamberlain’s record-setting performance took place in front of 4,124 fans at the arena in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
In 1975, Steven Spielberg’s movie Jaws single-handedly drove more Americans away from beaches and into theaters than any other force of nature ever could have.
Famous actor Gary Cooper spent most of his time in sunny California, but he loved snowy Aspen, Colorado so much, he decided to build a house there.
Here’s a peek into Judy Garland’s home – and life – during her first marriage to David Rose. Judy can be seen modeling some Valentine’s Day fashions, too!
Gene Wilder reached a level of stardom that no one would have predicted, least of all himself. Here are interviews with the actor himself from the ’70s.
Nothing stays the same for very long — not the world, not the blues, not love, not a petite young Texas girl named Janis Joplin, who had ‘such a pretty voice,’ according to her mother.
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
How does an author become an author? For S E Hinton, the choice was easy — she wrote her first book, ‘The Outsiders,’ as a teenager, when she couldn’t find anything that she wanted to read.
Here’s a look at Cary Grant’s home – a 2-story, 12-room stucco house on the exclusive beach at Santa Monica, where the famous actor lived in the 1940s.
The man who moved on to play ‘McDreamy’ on Grey’s Anatomy was just 21 years old when this article was published. Find out more about young Patrick Dempsey here!
Check out these awesome Ford pickups from the ’70s that came in colors like green, orange, brown and red – plus two-tone.
Here are vintage autographs of eleven lost music legends, many gone far too soon. How many of these signatures do you wish you had?
This retro-style DIY bulletin board framed by satiny stars, clouds, and moon crescents promised to add a soft touch to any 80s teen’s bedroom.
See vintage car wreck photos of 35 of old auto accidents and crashes from the 1910s to the 1950s – before standardized seatbelts and airbags.
Through vintage interviews, meet Theodor Geisel – aka Dr Seuss – the man behind The Cat in the Hat, The Lorax, Green Eggs and Ham and many more classic books for children.
While books and articles on America’s slave trade can offer important historical insight, seeing ads for slave auctions casually placed in newspapers of the era really brings the brutality home.
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.
‘The Jeffersons’ was an offshoot of ‘All in the Family’ that took on a life of its own, and made a star out of Sherman Hemsley, who played George Jefferson.
Mork & Mindy was a sitcom that starred a hilarious young Robin Williams as alien visitor Mork, and Pam Dawber co-starred as his earthling girlfriend (later his wife) Mindy McConnell.
Originally played with people in place of the pieces, vintage Parcheesi had a long and unusual history before becoming the popular board game we know today.
Chrysler ’56: The year ahead car There’s more that’s new in Chrysler than in all other competitive cars combined! All new styling . . .
Bicycle daredevil Diavolo (Conn Baker) traveled the country performing gravity-defying stunts, like the still-famous loop-the-loop.
From the crank or self-starter pedal to the spark and magneto, here are some of the basics you would have needed to know to drive a car back in the 1920s.
Don’t toss your old metal cans – make them into something delightful, like these retro-style night lights with your own punched patterns!
In 1977, alhough Tom Sneva’s four-lap average was just under 199mph, his first two laps were over the ‘magic’ 200mph mark – and the first official laps of over 200mph recorded at the speedway.
The old-fashioned Lustre-Creme shampoo was famous for hiring famous actresses to promote their product. Here’s a look at some of the stars!
These beautiful antique silhouettes were cut by hand by artist Eveline Maydell, whose portrait clients included many of society’s wealthiest men and women.
Take a look back at these creative handmade vintage quilts from the ’70s. These are the 51 prize winners out of almost 10,000 entries.
Beatlemania, a generally harmless form of madness for The Beatles, which deluged the United States in 1964, was nothing short of a phenomenon.
A doctor smashed his way into a locked bedroom, and found Marilyn Monroe dead in bed. Here’s what else he found, and how the first news stories broke.
One little piece of felt, cut in a simple shape, a few quick stitches – and, presto! – a hat! Here are some simple vintage one-piece hats you can sew.
The handheld Atari Lynx was a one-pound, portable video game system that (for the time) featured detailed graphics, sharp color and sound effects.
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.
SelectShift, introduced by Ford in the 1960s, let people choose to drive using either an automatic or manual transmission. Their pitch was that couples wouldn’t have to choose between buying a stick shift car or not, because they could get both in one.
On the evening of December 9, 1977, a single punch altered the way the NBA regarded fighting forever when Kermit Washington and Rudy Tomjanovich ended up in a fight on the court.
We’re taking a look back at the Beatles’ life & times. Revisit some vintage videos of Beatles songs and performances — and reminisce with us about the worldwide fan mania the Fab Four inspired.
The classic Nintendo Entertainment System came with a robot, a light-sensing video gun, ‘true-to-life’ graphics and a library of games. Here’s a look!
The year 1977 was quite the momentous one for the Indianapolis 500, as AJ Foyt would go on to become the first four-time winner in race history.
A Victorian garden party may extend from afternoon into evening, or it may be entirely an evening affair — and here were the best ways to set everything up.
Retro pool toys like these plastic inflatables made summer twice as fun when you could float and play and create pretend worlds right in the swimming pool!
Here’s how to stencil a tray – transforming an inexpensive metal accessory into a family heirloom, with paint and these included vintage stenciling patterns.
Called “the most extraordinary thing that ever happened in American sports,” the streak began on May 15, 1941 when Joe DiMaggio went 1-4 against Chicago White Sox hurler Eddie Smith.
Studio 54 was arguably the most famous – or at the very least, infamous – nightclub of the 1970s & 1980s. It was filled with stars, even when the owners were sent to prison.
Do you want to get organized? Have you longed for the uncluttered life? Actress Doris Day reveals her plan for becoming an ‘ex-Aimless’ and an ‘ex-Chaotic.’
Neil Diamond has had more than 38 hits on the Top 10 charts, and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018. Here’s a look back to his life and career in the ’70s!
Unlike most rock groups, Creedence Clearwater Revival doesn’t have a booking agency or a manager, yet they were the most successful pop-rock group in the world – and the richest.
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.
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!
Few movie sequels overshadow their predecessors. Yet ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ – the chapter following ‘Star Wars’ – does just that.
These vintage Jeep Comanche pickup trucks were available as a 2-wheel drive or 4-wheel drive model, 2.5 liter electronic fuel-injected four and other options available.
See clips of past Civil Defense films from the ’50s & ’60s, plus how to make a bomb shelter, what to stock, and more details from the Cold War era.
