From the monthly archives:

June 2009

Here’s to Toastmaster!

June 30, 2009
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I came across this vintage advertisement for Toastmaster toasters and was struck by the line, “Makes perfect toast for so many years”. Well folks, I can tell you from personal experience that what they said is true. My parents purchased a toastmaster toaster, identical to the model shown in this ad, in the 1940s, and [...]

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Wham-O

June 29, 2009
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It’s hard to imagine a toy company that captured the imagination of youthful baby-boomers like Wham-O. In the ‘fifties and ’sixties they released many toys that were not only overnight successes, but that became icons for a generation. The Wham-O Mfg. Co. was founded by Richard Knerr and Arthur Melin in 1948 to manufacture [...]

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These Krates are the Kookiest!

June 28, 2009
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Have you noticed the recent popularity of retro-styled custom cars? Suddenly people who were born well after the original hotrod craze of the ’50s are building custom ‘27 “T-buckets”, ‘32 coupes and ‘55 Chevys (and just about any other car from the ’30s through the ’60s), either styled for the dragstrip or in a custom [...]

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Exotica, the Sound of Tiki

June 27, 2009
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It’s only natural to conjure up visions of Chuck Berry or the Platters when the subject of ’50s music comes up. It was, after-all, when rock-and-roll was born, and it’s easy to imagine the decade as something akin to the film, “American Graffiti”. (no, I’m not knocking the movie… I saw it 30+ times at [...]

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Back to the Future

June 25, 2009

I know, the title to this post is far from original, but it was just too appropriate to pass up. Although I expect the content here to be all over the map, much of Atomic Antiques will center around mid-century-modern decor, a decidedly forward-thinking style. Mid-century-modern, Danish Modern, Atomic, Googie…whatever you call it, that’s what [...]

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