Monday, August 03, 2009

I blame the kodachrome....

I have this affinity for the 1950's.

I think it is the beginning of track homes, and bright colors, and aquamarine appliances, and tidiness, and ....well all I really know about the 1950's are what i have seen in photos and film. My parents 1950's experience was mostly unlike what I thought was typical. My Mother was of the second generation born in the United States, and grew up very poor, and in rural RURAL, America. She rode a horse to school, her Mother made her clothing, and her life was less than what I have grown to see as typical 50's upbringing. There was no meeting Grandfather in his suit at the door with an old fashioned, and slippers.....and there was not 2.5 kids. There was a farm and a lot of work. My Father was a preachers kid, and a town marshall's kid, in a rural area. However since he grew up in town, my Mother always thought he was a "city kid", ha a city kid in a town of 400. Go figure...

All of the stories I have heard, and I still cling to the notion of my 1950's, white gloves, and red coats, and shiny cars, and being helped by actual sales people, men wearing hats, bomb shelters, dutch modern furniture, wiggle dresses, and pencil skirts...

And I blame kodachrome film, and old Hitchcock movies for these silly notions. Mostly the kodachrome...

Kodak announced in June they would not be making it any longer...it is like the death of an American icon. Far more profound to me than the death of Micheal Jackson.

Things will no longer look as blue, or red, or perfect...

1950s kodachrome flicker pictures random...
more here
and one more hilarious one here

4 comments:

Ellen said...

It is sad they won't be making the kodachrome any longer. I am a big midcentury modern fan myself. Someday I'm going to redo my house in that style... someday.

dick said...

Danish modern, not Dutch modern.

I grew up in 1950's town of 8,000 and yes it was white gloves, hats, dressing up for church. The town had 3 bars and 35 churches. Small town conservative Middle Western America - wonderful time to grow up and place to grow up. Wouldn't change it for anything.

Sarah said...

OK, you do really need to watch Mad Men...

Marc Miyake said...

As Paul Simon sang,

"Kodachrome
You give us those nice bright colors
You give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world's a sunny day, oh yeah!
I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So Mama, don't take my Kodachrome away"