Going Metric tea towels

A couple of tea towels I missed out last week........Grrrrrrrr!

We come in peace!

Absolutely superb and really rather strange, 4.5" pink plastic female figure that Im lead to believe was made by Letraset, of rub down transfer fame. I'm still to be convinced.......

Apparently you were given sheets of colour that you rubbed down on to the figure (in this case her jumper). Unfortunately I cant find anymore to corroborate this story, but she does remind me of the rather awkward looking girl on the front of the Human League Being Boiled 7" cover, that I do know was taken from a Letraset catalogue.

Candy & Andy...... & Mr Bearanda

Apologies for the lack of recent posts, but back again with more plastic, this time in the shape of the rather unusual, Mr Bearanda.

Mr Bearanda was a Gerry Anderson creation that apparently, never really took off. Not surprising really given the very strange mix of dolls, animals and humans. Id not heard of the Candy & Andy series, until finding out who this little figure was. Like so many of Gerry Andersons TV shows, it appears he licensed the rights to Dinky, who created a diecast version of the car, Stripey (the magic mini) and a set of small plastic figures to go with it. Mr Bearanda is one of those Dinky figures.

I found out all about Candy & Andy at the very good Age of Uncertainty. Well worth a trawl. The comments on the post make interesting reading too.

Until next time...

1950s I-SPY books

Very excited to see I-spy People, over at between channels, last week. Its a real treat. It reminded me of my own collection of 1950s I spy books. Im sure there were more, but for the moment this will have to do.

The Maharajah- Air India's character trademark

In keeping with the recent aeronautical theme, here is The Maharajah. Created in 1946 by Bobby Kooka & Umesh Rao at J Walter Thompson, The Maharajah serves as a character trademark for Air India. Even with one hand missing, he cuts a fine figure. For the life of me, I cant remember where I found him, but possibly it was up at The Stanley Dock in Liverpool, in the late Eighties.

You can see The Maharajah at his splendid best, over at Demonstrate, where theres a nice collection of assorted  Air India posters. Below is the sticker on the base of the 4" figurine.

Belinda Lyon clothkit oxfam cut out doll

Last week my brother in law was clearing out his parents loft and he found this old doll. It looks remarkably like a figure I posted back in 2010. It turns out that she is designed by illustrator, Belinda Lyon who created a whole series of dolls for Oxfam, called cut out dolls. Sold as a pattern, and printed on a cotton tea towel, which you then, cut, stuffed and made up as the doll. It was a pretty impressive series, and so, of its time.

This doll is Malee, a Thai Temple dancer, you can see Nada, the Algerian girl from the series at h is for home, who have also set up a small flickr site celebrating Belinda Lyon.

Late Seventies Horror show

I just could not leave these frightening relics from the Seventies behind, at a car boot, last summer! The heady mix of 68% polyester and 42% acrylic was just all too consuming!

Now, while the urge to buy them may have been strong, there was never any intention to wear them! It should be noted that they fit a 3/4 year old, but there is no way Id put anyone I know through the shame of wearing them, even as a joke!

For anyone who's interested the labels are below.

"I know what you did on holiday" Knitting pattern.

Happy New Year! I do hope 2012 will be kind.

With the holidays behind us, here is the first post for 2012. Todays post is knitting pattern 4078 from Ladyship wools. It kind of follows on from the last post of last year, where I shared some slides, from Canada. The last three posts create a visual form of word association, which is kind of fun. There was the Fisher Price air stewardess, then the slide of the Canadian hostess , and then, todays knitting pattern of a family viewing a slide collection!

Over the years Ive amassed a vast collection of knitting patterns. The contrived, staged family togetherness is always amusing. Like most things these days, you used to pick them up for pennies, but now the more interesting ones cost 50p or more. I dont know! It doesnt seem quite the same!

Travel Hostess- Thunder Bay, Canada

Last weeks Fisher Price air stewardess reminded me of this old, souvenir slide, which I've been meaning to post for a while!

Back in the day, before digital cameras, videos and dvds, families would often invite each other round to one anothers houses, to view slides and cine film of their holidays. The quality of peoples own photos were generally, pretty ropey, so a gap in the market emerged and companies began to produce souvenir packs of slides, taken by professional photographers. Quality assured, you could now share those magical moments without embarrassment!

Todays post, of an Ontario Government Travel Bureau Hostess is taken from a pack of 5 travel slides of Thunder Bay, Canada produced by Gaf. Their series of slides was called pana-vue. You can see more from the pana-vue series over at Worldsfairphotos.com and also at disneypix.com. There are lots to choose from at disneypix, but my absolute favourites are of Tomorrowland.

Now, if the response is good to these slides, I could always share with you my set of Calgary stampede slides, featuring an Indian village and chief!!!

Fisher Price Air stewardess

Hot on the heels of Pan Am, thats recently been aired on UK TV, heres Fisher Price's very own Air Stewardess from the seventies. Although complete with matching bag, I cant see how she can hold it!