Duelling pistols are strange, beautiful and ironic. Gadgets to shoot each other in the face with, crafted with the delicacy and decorative extravagance of expensive jewellery.
They appeared in the 18th C, as faster firing versions of flintlock guns replaced swords. Their use dwindled in the 19th C, while duels were still fought in the Western US states where the less rich would engage in gouging, similarly prearranged combat, with the aim of plucking out the opponent’s eyes.
Duelling pistols were designed for the upper classes, for the preservation of honour, used illegally by generals and poets (Pushkin was killed in a duel), several US presidents (even Lincoln accepted a challenge to a duel)and even presented, with no sense of irony, as diplomatic gifts.
My stats shows that images of classic burlesque dancers are among the most popular posts on my blog so here are another gallery full of these exiting ladies. Click the image to go to the gallery – Ted
From “Victorian Inventions” by Leonard De Vries published by American Heritage Press in 1972
The inventor of the device which we present not only employs the hitherto wasted female power to oscillate a cradle, but at one and the same time to vibrate the dasher of a churn. By this means, it will be observed, the hands of the fair operator are left free for darning stockings, sewing, or other light work while the entire individual is completely utilized. Fathers of large families of girls, Mormons, and others blessed with a superabundance of the gentler sex, are thus afforded an effective method of diverting the latent feminine energy, usually manifested in the pursuit of novels, beaux, embroidery, opera-boxes, and bonnets, into channels of useful and profitable labour.
The apparatus consists of a leverA suspended from the ceiling or other suitable support from a swivelled hook and staple. In the extremities of the lever A are formed slots through which pass bolts and nuts which secure the adjustable arms B. to the eyes of the bolts are attached the end of two ropes, which pass round double guide pulleys fastened to the floor and then to two single pulleys, arranged one beneath the forward and the other beneath the rear part of the rocking-chair. The ends of the ropes are secured, as shown, to the rungs of the latter.
Near the extremities of the arms B sliding weights are placed, by moving which the lever can be properly balanced. Just inside the weights is secured on one arm the dasher of the churn, and at the other a cord communicating with a cradle rocker. As the chair is oscillated motion is communicated to the lever, and thence to both cradle and churn.
Necessarily this device may be put to a great variety of applications, and may supply motive power for washing-machines, wringers and other articles of household use, as well as for churns and cradles. At all events it opens a new field for ‘woman’s labour’, and one in which she is not likely to be disturbed or encounter competition from the other sex.
Isn’t it just amazing with what abundance of words such a ridiculous contraption is presented – Ted
The Soviet Union has launched the first ever living creature into the cosmos. The dog, described as a female Russian breed, was projected into space this morning from Baikonur Cosmodrome aboard the artificial space satellite Sputnik II. Sputnik I, launched on 4 October, is still circling the globe.
The dog has been fitted with monitors to check its heartbeat and other vital signs and was reported to be calm during the first hours of the flight. Russian scientists are particularly interested in the effects of solar radiation and weightlessness on living organisms.
Fury of animal lovers Moscow Radio reported the second satellite was launched to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the October Revolution and gave details about the spacecraft’s contents and orbit.
Sputnik II weighs half a ton (508kg) and carries instruments for studying solar and cosmic rays, temperature and pressure, two radio transmitters and a hermetically-sealed container with "an experimental animal" inside, as well as oxygen and food supplies. It is travelling more than 900 miles, (nearly 1,500 km) above the Earth – higher than Sputnik I – and is orbiting at about five miles (8km) a second.
It will take one hour and 42 minutes to circle the Earth. The satellite is transmitting telegraphic signals that are being picked up from receiving stations around the globe.
Animal welfare organisations expressed outrage at news that the Russians have sent a dog into outer space. The National Canine Defence League is calling on all dog lovers to observe a minute’s silence every day the dog is in space. The RSPCA said it received calls of protest even before the Moscow Radio announcement of the launch had ended. It has advised those who wish to protest to do so at the Russian Embassy in London.
‘Dog was trained for mission’ It is believed the Russians are planning to catapult the dog back to Earth although there has been no official announcement confirming this. One British scientist told newspaper reporters the dog had probably been trained for the journey but was unlikely to survive.
"A terrified dog would be useless scientifically," said Dr William Lane-Petter, Director of the Laboratory Animals Bureau of the Medical Research Council. "It would not give them the information they want. This dog will have been trained long for the task and subjected to similar simulated conditions, and this flight is just another experience of the same sort."
In Context The following day, after several inquiries from Western journalists, Russian officials confirmed the dog’s name as Laika. The Soviet authorities said Laika died painlessly after a week in orbit but in 2002 new evidence revealed the dog died from over-heating and panic just a few hours after take-off.
Laika’s "coffin" burned up in the Earth’s atmosphere over Barbados on 14 April 1958, five months after launch.Three years later, the Russians achieved another space first by sending Yuri Gagarin into orbit on 12 April 1961.
The Sputnik II flight made Laika one of the world’s most famous animals and allowed Russian scientists to learn much about the prospects for human space travel.
Linda Hopkins (born December 14, 1924) is an African American actress and blues and gospel singer. She has recorded classic, traditional, and urban blues, and performed R&B and soul, jazz, and show tunes, all with distinction and style since the 1950s.
Biography She was born Melinda Helen Matthews in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, the second child of the Reverend Fred Matthews, Sr. and Hazel Smith. She grew up in the section of New Orleans known by the locals as "Zion City". She went to school in "Gert Town" which bordered the Xavier University of Louisiana.
Known as "Lil Helen Matthews" as a child, she was discovered at the age of eleven by Mahalia Jackson when she persuaded Jackson to perform at a fundraiser at her home church, St. Mark’s Baptist Church. Lil Helen opened the children’s fundraising program with a rendition of Jackson’s gospel hit, "God Shall Wipe Your Tears Away". Jackson was reportedly so impressed by Helen’s determination and talent that she arranged for the young girl to join the Southern Harp Spiritual Singers in 1936. Hopkins remained with the group for a decade.
She first saw Bessie Smith perform Empty Bed Blues at The New Orleans Palace Theatre in 1936. Hopkins greatly admired Smith and later won critical plaudits for her rendition of Smith in the 1959 theatrical presentation Jazz Train. Matthews left New Orleans in the 1950s, and, in 1951, began performing at Slim Jenkin’s Night Club in the Oakland/Richmond area. There she met Johnny Otis and Little Esther Phillips who created her stage name, Linda Hopkins. In 1952, Hopkins toured Hawaii and Japan for two years which included a stint with Louis Armstrong at The Brown Derby in Honolulu. She recorded for the Crystalette, Forecast, Federal and Atco labels and often appeared at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem.
In 1960, Hopkins first toured Europe in the Broadway Express, the restaged production of Jazz Train. She recorded "Shake a Hand" with Jackie Wilson on the Brunswick label, which is her sole hit single reaching #21 on the US Billboard R&B chart. She also attended Stella Adler’s Acting School in New York City.
During the 1970s, Hopkins performed in the Broadway musical, Purlie, and with Sammy Davis, Jr. for nine months. In addition, she performed at one of President Jimmy Carter‘s inaugural balls. In 1972 she was awarded a Tony and Drama Desk Award for her performance in Inner City.
Hopkins starred in Me and Bessie, a one-woman show paying homage to blues singer Bessie Smith, conceived and written by Hopkins and Will Holt. The world premiere was in Washington, D.C. in 1974. After a run in Los Angeles it transferred to the Ambassador Theatre on Broadway. The critically acclaimed show ran for thirteen months and 453 performances, and Hopkins was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience.
In 1985, Black and Blue, written by Claudio Segovia and Hector Orezzoli, premiered in Paris at the Théâtre Musical Paris. The musical revue opened on Broadway in 1989 and ran for 829 performances. Hopkins received a Tony Award nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Musical. Wild Women Blues, conceived by Hopkins and produced by Mel Howard, premiered in Berlin in 1997. In 1998 Hopkins celebrated 50 years in show business.
In 2005, Motherin’ The Blues: Linda Hopkins – The Continuing Legacy of The Blues Woman, researched and written by Erany Barrow-Pryor, Ph.D. through the Department of English at UCLA, was published.
In October 2005, Hopkins received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
If you go to my Box widget in the right column you’ll find Linda Hopkins’ “Rock’n’Roll Blues” which feature recordings from 1951 to 1957 in mp3 format complete with cover and back. You can download them or if you click them just once, listen to them – Ted
Brynolf (Bruno) Wennerberg was born in Otterstad (Sweden) in 1866. He was a painter, commercial artist, graphic designer and illustrator.
From 1885 to 1886 he was a student at the School of Applied Arts in Stockholm, from 1887 to 1888 at P.S. Kroyer‘s school in Copenhagen and the at the Academies in Munich and Paris.
In 1898 he settled in Munich. He worked on the magazines Lustige Blätter, Meggendorfer Blätter and Simplicissimus (1915). In 1915 he designed several military propaganda postcards in the series for Simplicissimus.
Brynolf Wennerberg died in Bad Aibling (Bavaria) in 1950.
From fabled Constantinople Sophia Bergman came to our shores just as her teens began. It was seven years ago that she left the ancient Turkish cosmopolis situated where the Straits of Bosphorus take off from the Sea of Marmora to join it to the Black Sea, cutting between Europe and Asia Minor.
Read the whole article and see the naughty pictures HERE
Warning: Nudity do occur in this article. If you are under age or live in a country where watching images of nude women for some reason is against the law I take no responsibility if you click the link above. In other words you’re flying solo from here on – Ted 😉
Michele Carey (born 26 February 1943, Annapolis, Maryland) is an American actress. She was also a child piano prodigy and a model. Touted as a discovery of Howard Hawks, she made her film debut in Hawks’ El Dorado (1966), starring John Wayne and Robert Mitchum. She went on to co-star in the Elvis Presley musical Live a Little, Love a Little (1968), The Sweet Ride (1968), and played an anachronistically miniskirted Indian girl in Frank Sinatra’sDirty Dingus Magee (1970). That same year she also made Five Savage Men with Henry Silva and Keenan Wynn.
On television she did guest-starring roles on The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1966), Mission Impossible (1969), It Takes a Thief (1970), and three episodes of The Wild Wild West ("The Night of the Feathered Fury", 1967 and the two-part "The Night of the Winged Terror" 1969) and held the title role in the Jan 17, 1972 episode of Gunsmoke entitled Tara. She also appeared in the second The Six Million Dollar Man pilot film (1973) and an episode of Starsky and Hutch. She provided the recurring female computer voice in A Man Called Sloane (1979-80), starring Robert Conrad.
Fading from view in the late ’70s, Carey staged a brief comeback in the mid-’80s in such films as In the Shadow of Kilimanjaro (1986). She also appeared as Crystal in a 1982 episode of the television series The Fall Guy.
Cyclecars were small, generally inexpensive cars manufactured mainly between 1910 and the late 1920s.
General description Cyclecars were propelled by single-cylinder, V-twin or more rarely four-cylinder engines, often air-cooled. Sometimes these had been originally used in motorcycles and other components from this source such as gearboxes were also employed. Cyclecars were halfway between motorcycles and cars and were fitted with lightweight bodies, sometimes in a tandem two-seater configuration and could be primitive with minimal comfort and weather protection. They used various layouts and means of transmitting the engine power to the wheels, such as belt drive or chain drive often to one rear wheel only to avoid having to provide a differential.
The rise of cyclecars was a direct result of reduced taxation both for registration and annual licences of lightweight small-engined cars. In France, for example, a car was classed for reduced rates if it weighed less than 350 kg (772 lb).
On 14 December 1912, at a meeting of the Federation Internationale des Clubs Moto Cycliste, it was formally decided that there should be an international classification of cyclecars to be accepted by the United Kingdom, Canada, United States, France, The Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Austria and Germany. It was also decided to establish two classes of cyclecars, as follows;
(i) Large class Max. weight: 350 kg (772 lb) Max. engine capacity: 1,100 cc (67 cu in) Min. tyre section: 60 mm (2.4 in)
(ii) Small class Min. weight: 150 kg (331 lb) Max. weight: 300 kg (661 lb) Max. engine capacity: 750 cc (46 cu in) Min. tyre section: 55 mm (2.2 in)
All cyclecars were to have clutches and change-speed gears. This requirement could be fulfilled by even the simplest devices such as provision for slipping the belt on the pulley to act as a clutch, and varying of the pulley diameter to change the gear ratio.
Introduction From 1898 to 1910, automobile production quickly expanded. Light cars of that era were commonly known as voiturettes. The smaller cyclecars appeared around 1910 with a boom shortly before the outbreak of the First World War.
The first successful cyclecars were Bédélia of France and G.N. from Britain.
Sporting cars and cyclecar races Some cyclecars such as Amilcar, Major or Salmson of France had sufficient performance and handling to be regarded as sports cars.
The first race dedicated to cyclecars was organised by the Automobile Club de France in 1913, followed by a Cyclecar GP at Le Mans in 1920.
Demise By the early 1920s, the days of the cyclecar were numbered. Mass producers, such as Ford, were able to reduce their prices to undercut those of the usually small cyclecar makers. Similar affordable cars were offered in Europe, such as the Citroën 5CV, Austin 7 or Morris Cowley.
The cyclecar boom was over. The majority of cyclecar manufacturers closed down. Some companies such as Chater-Lea survived by returning to the manufacture of motorcycles.
After World War II, small, economic cars were again in demand and a new set of manufacturers appeared. The cyclecar name did not reappear however and the cars were called microcars by enthusiasts and bubble cars by the general population.
All posts materiale: “Sauce” and “Gentlemann’s Relish” by Ronnie Barker – Hodder & Stoughton in 1977
Is it too much?
VERSE ONE Is it too much? Is it too much? My dress for the camival- is it too much? It’s made out of rhinestones and lace that is Dutch, And there is so little of it – is it too much?
VERSE TWO Is it too much? Is it too much? . This mere wisp of nothingness – is it too much? If the gentlemen look, will they soon want to touch? And there’s so much available-. Is 18 too much?
VERSE THREE Is it too much? Is it too much? And the back looks extraordinary – is it too much? Like two big white rabbits squashed up in a hutchWell, I mean, no, but honestly – is it too much?
VERSE FOUR Is it too. much? Is it too much? I’m beginning to feel it’s just slightly too much. If I sit, and lean back, and my left knee I clutch You can actually see my – Oh yes, it’s too much!
Even the most music interested among us can sometimes get lost in all the different labels music journalists and record companies choose to put on recordings. This glossary may help you find your way in this label jungle. As you can see from the text above here this glossary is from 1979 and as this is a retro blog that works alright for me. Besides, any music styles that has emerged since then is of little interest to me, with the possible exception of neo-classic country. I’m sorry to say that dance, trance, hip-hop, rap and the rest simply don’t do it for me – Ted
Marcello Dudovich (Trieste, 21 March 1878 – Milan, 31 March 1962) was an Italian painter, illustrator, and poster designer. Together with Leonetto Cappiello, Adolfo Hohenstein, Giovanni Maria Mataloni and Leopoldo Metlicovitz he is considered one of the progenitors of Italian poster design.
Biography He relocated from Trieste to Milan in 1897 after attending a professional art school. He was recruited as a lithographer by Ricordi, a music publisher, thanks to his father’s friendship with the illustrator and cartoonist Leopoldo Metlicovitz, and was given charge over advertisement design.
In 1899 he transferred to Bologna, working here for the publisher Edmondo Chappuis, designing billboards, book covers and illustrations for publications such as Italia Ride in 1900 e Fantasio in 1902. Here he met Elisa Bucchi, his future wife.In 1900 he won the "Gold Medal" at the Paris World Fair.
In 1905 Duduvich returned to Milan to rejoin Ricordi. Here, in the next few years, he designed some of his well known posters including "Mele di Napoli" (Apples from Naples) and "Borsalino".
In the 1920s he made several posters for the Milan department store, La Rinascente, and in 1922 he was appointed Artistic Director of "Igap".In 1930 he designed a prominent poster for Pirelli. After the Second World War he moved away from the world of commercial art, concentrating instead on his painting. Marcello Dudovich died in Milan from a cerebral hemorrhage on 31 March 1962.
Dudivich is celebrated as one of Italy’s greatest poster artists. He was inspired by Edward Penfield, by his friend and teacher Adolfo Hohenstein and by Alphonse Mucha. But ultimately his reputation comes from his having developed his own very distinctive and richly colored style.
A digital recreation of a small piece published in Photoplay, September 25, 1932
Here’s the most annoying picture of the month. Look at these three Radio Pictures mermaids-and who wouldn’t?-playing around in a Hollywood pool while the rest of us slave. Phyllis Fraser. wearing one of the new bathing caps that look like hair. Rochelle Hudson and Mary Mason show how difficult it is to be a film actress.
Silvana Mangano (Italian pronunciation: [silˈvana ˈmaŋɡano]; 21 April 1930 – 16 December 1989) was an Italian actress.
Raised in poverty during World War II, Mangano trained as a dancer and worked as a model before winning a "Miss Rome" beauty pageant in 1946. This led to work in films; she achieved a notable success in Bitter Rice (1949) and continued working in films for almost four more decades.
Early life Born in Rome to an Italian father and an English mother (Ivy Webb from Croydon), Mangano lived in poverty caused by the Second World War. Trained for seven years as a dancer, she was supporting herself as a model.
In 1946, at age 16, Mangano won the "Miss Rome" beauty pageant and through this, she obtained a role in a Mario Costa film. One year later, she became a contestant in the Miss Italia contest. Potential actress Lucia Bosé became "The Queen", among Mangano and several other future stars of Italian cinema such as Gina Lollobrigida, Eleonora Rossi Drago and Gianna Maria Canale.
Film career Mangano’s earliest connection with filmmaking occurred through her romantic relationship with actor Marcello Mastroianni. This led her to a film contract, though it would take some time for Mangano to ascend to international stardom with her performance in Bitter Rice (Riso Amaro, Giuseppe De Santis, 1949). Thereafter, she signed a contract with Lux Film, in 1949, and later married Dino De Laurentiis, on the verge of becoming a known producer.
Though she never scaled the heights of her contemporaries Sophia Loren and Gina Lollobrigida, Mangano remained a favorite star between the 1950s and 1970s, appearing in Anna (Alberto Lattuada, 1951), The Gold of Naples (L’oro di Napoli, Vittorio De Sica, 1954), Mambo (Robert Rossen, 1955), Theorem (Teorema, Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1968), Death in Venice (Morte a Venezia, Luchino Visconti, 1971), and The Scientific Cardplayer (1972).
The Bosnian singer Silvana Armenulić took her stage name from Mangano.
Personal life Married to Bitter Rice producer Dino De Laurentiis from 1949, the couple had four children: Veronica, Raffaella, Francesca, and Federico. Veronica’s daughter Giada De Laurentiis is host of Everyday Italian and Giada at Home on the Food Network. Raffaella coproduced with her father on Mangano’s penultimate film, Dune (David Lynch, 1984). Federico died in an airplane crash in 1981 in Alaska. De Laurentiis and Mangano separated in 1983, and Mangano began divorce proceedings in 1988.
Following surgery on 4 December 1989 that left her in a coma, Mangano died of lung cancer in Madrid, Spain, during the late night/early morning hours between 15 and 16 December 1989.
The 18/22 hp Mércèdes , was less fierce than the ‘60’, with an engine of just over 3 litres. In 1903, The Autocar tested a ‘dainty white eighteen’, commenting that the quiet running engine could be ‘compared to nothing else but the ticking of a somewhat robust eight-day clock’.
1903 Cadillac
In March 1903,. Henry Ford resigned from the Henry Ford Company (founded in 1901 to exploit his designs)., determined to seek his independence. Bereft of their figurehead, the company reorganised and called itself ‘Cadillac’. after Antoine of that ilk, founder of Detroit in 1701. The first Cadillac model was designed by Ford and improved by the company’s engineer. Henry M. Leland. who built its onecylinder engine to a high standard.
1901 Ceirano
Between them, the three Ceirano brothers, Giovanni-Battista, Giovanni and Matteo seemed to have fathered the Italian motor industry. Giovanni-Battista’s first company was acquired by Giovanni Agnelli and became FIAT, after which he sold Agnelli’s cars for a while. Then, in company with his brother Matteo, he set up the Ceirano Company in Turin in 1901 building a 5 hp car based on the Renault. It used a 600cc singlecylinder power unit imported from France.
1903 Lorraine-Dietrich
Dating from around 1903, this racing Lorraine-Dietrich 45hp was one of the first examples to be fitted with the characteristic ‘shouldered’ radiator, bearing the Cross of Lorraine, which distinguished the marque in Edwardian days. Earlier models were just known as De Dietrich.
A digital recreation of an article published in Modern Mechanix, August 1929
The world’s first sailplane, something new in gliding, has just been constructed by John Demenjoz of Bridgeport, Connecticut. This novel glider represents nearly a year of work. It has a 40-foot wing spread, is 30 feet in length, and altogether weighs less than 600 lbs.
It has no motor, and is to be propelled by wind only. Mr. Demenjoz is shortly to take his machine to Old Orchard, Me., where he will make it the location for the crucial tests of his new invention.
Original in his idea of making a plane go both ahead and into the air by the use of sails similar to those of a boat, the French inventor has carefully calculated all the requirements of stability, he says, and is confident that with a wind of 20 miles an hour he should be able to fly. He further predicts that he will be able to fly as high as there is any wind. He estimates his craft will attain a speed of 40 miles an hour.
The principle of making sails propel vessels and vehicles other than boats has been widely applied in the past to railway handcars, road wagons, and the like.
To the editors of Modern Mechanics, however, who are watching the forthcoming trials with much interest, it would seem that a more logical way for the application of the sail would be to have a counter sail under the landing carriage to balance the high center of effort of the present mainsail. This could be folded, and unfurled when in flight to add to speed and stability. That is, of course, providing the principles are sound and the glider actually flies. At all odds the inventor is to be complimented for his innovation and for his enterprise.
Scientists and amateurs alike have in their futile attempts to leave the ground provided us with a constant flow of entertainment. Their confident looks and complete, almost religious, belief in their projects brings only one thought to mind: “Jeez, what a pillock” – Ted
In Britain producer’s names often comes to mean every products like it; Wellies, McIntosh, Hoover and so on, but this almost never happens in Norway. But if you look at the poster to the right at the bottom it says “Stomatolfabrikk” and that shows that “Stomatol” dominated the toothpaste market to the extent that for a while the word “Stomatol” became synonymous with the word toothpaste.
Compared with other pickups build on the 445 this one from Karlaverken has a roomier cabin so there was no problem for a normally build Swede to get in behind the steering wheel.
Images and translated text from the Swedish magazine “Nostalgia”
Retrorambling 