Paris in a Flash, 1958

I‘m currently sitting in an airport lounge on my way back to Paris for a few days before setting off again. I was trying to pass the time before boarding when I came across a snippet of a wonderful little vintage cartoon about Paris, thanks to an instagram account I follow. Scrambling through my carry-on to retrieve my…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. CXCXII)

1. Olympic Stadiums After the Games Ski Jump Tower, Cortina D’ampezzo, Italy, 1956 Winter Olympics Venue Bobsled Track, Sarajevo, 1984 Winter Olympics Venue Olympic Canoe And Kayak Slalom Center, Athens, 2004 Summer Olympics Venue Main Swimming Pool, Athens, 2004 Summer Olympics Venue Swimming Pool, Berlin, 1936 Summer Olympics Venue Kayak And Canoeing Venue, Athens, 2004…

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The Undiscovered Rainbow Market of Madagascar

It was love at first sight when I first spotted them gently blowing in the ocean wind, the rainbow of colours and intricate textures changing as they played with the midday sun. As we floated through the village, a maze of kaleidoscopic alleyways created by walls of hanging embroidery, timid local girls peeped out curiously…

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13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. CXCXI)

1. The World’s Steepest Street @JemimaKate Tucked away in southeast New Zealand is Dunedin, a small town with one big claim to fame: It’s home to the steepest street in the world. Baldwin Street is 1,150 feet long and has a slope of 19 degrees. Found on Mashable. 2. How to see if a…

Empty Mansion Hunting

This can’t all just be down to luck, I thought as I scrolled through his collection of abandoned luxury real estate; some of the most stunning urbex documentation I’d ever seen. To protect his identity, we’ll just call him by his photography pseudonym, Soul. He has curated his locations carefully, uncovering forgotten pearls of Europe one after…

Out of Office

Hey! Thanks for stopping by, I really appreciate you being here, whether you’re a daily devoted reader or an occasional visitor poking your head in to see what I’m up to. So I have an update to share. I’ve been writing a book on Paris as you might have heard, that will be coming out in 2017 and…

America’s Forgotten Pin-Up Girl

Word of the day Zaftig /zäftig/ adjective: (of a woman) Having a full, rounded figure; plump. Meet Hilda, the creation of illustrator Duane Bryers and pin-up art’s best kept secret. Voluptuous in all the right places, a little clumsy but not at all shy about her figure, Hilda was one of the only atypical plus-sized pin-up queens…

For Sale! The Antique Train Hotel

Maybe, just maybe, you might be the person who is perfect for this. I received an email tip from a reader with the subject line “I just discovered this place…”, (my favourite kind of email), pointing me in the direction of the Red Caboose Bed & Breakfast in the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State, USA. The unusual B&B…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. CXCX)

1. When Airplane Food Was First Class To mark their 70th anniversary, Norway-based Scandinavian Airlines released a collection of vintage photographs of onboard dining in the 1950s to 1980s. See more awesome vintage photos from the SAS Museum here. Found via Vintage Everyday. 2. Skyscraper Airport for City of Tomorrow, Nov, 1939 Airship Skyport from…

A Brief Compendium of the Traveling Salesman’s Vintage Sample Case

Unlike most of the vintage stuff we tend to get nostalgic about on this blog, I’m not sure travelling salesmen of yesteryear rapping their knuckles on our front doors is something we’d necessarily want to bring back. While I do like to touch and feel what I’m buying, briefcase-carrying bowler hat-wearing door to door sellers hawking…