Fedora Lounge: The Book

[Cousin Hepcat]

It would be nice to have a Fedora Lounge reference book, with much of the collective intelligence of lounge members in an immediately findable form, and in print.

Going through all forums, all posts, collecting & organizing into a logical hierarchy of categories, all information for men, women & children on all useful "how-to" aspects of living a Vintage 1930s-40s Lifestyle, in an easy-to-access indexed format.

Couple of questions:

(1) Has someone already done this, even with just a segment of Lounge info?

(2) How much of the total Fedora Lounge postings over time are no longer available on the web server, and are they available on CD-R? Is the deletion of old material done automatically based on timestamps, or is any human intervention done to save old articles which may have been the best "overall FAQ's" for newbies on golden era lifestyles? If these have been removed, can I get a CD-R with FL post archives?

anyway, nothing web-based lasts, and so many good FL folks each individual holds the last real authoritative plethora of information on different "lost arts" of the Golden Era, it'll be a shame for all that to be lost... so I want to organize & save as much useful FL lifestyle info as possible in indexed printed form at some point, but need to know urgency (at what rate are old posts being deleted) & if this work's already partially done by anyone.

Maybe even some FL members with great knowledge in one area could volunteer to provide the majority of info for a section, i.e. Matt with the men's clothes, Lauren with the women's, Root with the music... this could be a really great resource

Swing High,
- Cousin Hepcat

 

[Feraud]

The Hats, WWII, and Powder Room forums have "stickies" that contain information relevant to their topics. Forums like The Display Case or General Attire frequently have photos and descriptions of items of suitable interest A CD-R with hats, suits, etc. would certainly be interesting. Movie prop boards have something like this available. Perhaps a member (with approval from the top) would accept this challenge?

I do think a 'Top 100' Golden Era sticky for Film would be great! It could contain a summary of the film, photos, trivia, etc.

I am not sure if this answers your question, but I do not think a Fedora Lounge book is in the works.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I had a similar idea. But i would have done it through closed threads. There would be no discussion on these threads. Someone would be in charge of putting the info (and editing when info is superceded) into each thread, and would veto any info they found wrong or unecessary.

This was discussed a while ago but seems to have been dropped.

For example, one i think is necessary. I've learned the hard way, by learning what fabrics feel like to the touch, and the various style features of various time periods of suits etc. But it might be useful to have a richly illustrated, closed thread entitled "What to look for when hunting for vintage XXXX" (insert suits, shoes, shirts, ties etc.) There'd essentially be a thread for each. People could add to it, but they'd have to get it past the administrator. The person who provided the info would be credited but the posting would be done by the administrator.

Good idea. It'll take some leadership to get it going.

For example, i'm prepared to put all my apparel arts scans into a thread (let's say one thread per AA issue (that'd be about 160 scans per thread)). These threads would develop over the years as i get hold of these rare books. There are only 40 libraries in the world that have these (and only one outside the USA)!

Let's see what the chaps in charge think. We certainly have the community knowledge of these matters to make it work ...

bk

 

[MK]

.

We don't delete posts.....yet. My desire is to keep it all intact. That may depend on how much we grow. We have over two thousand members and we are gaining 200 more each month. The good thing is that hard drives are enormous now, so that isn't a problem. The database is robust and should hold well into the future . I have back up copies so even if the server was lost, we would have all but the latest posts. The only thing that is not protected are the photos. Those are hosted by the members who post them to keep our database and the server from getting bogged down. So for the most part you don't have to worry about losing the information.

The advanced search works very well on the board. You can search by keyword, author, date, forum and other options.

As for a book....there are no plans at this time....but you will have a magazine this year....and that's all I will say about it at this time.

 

[mysterygal]

ah, you teaser! There are already a lot of books out now that have tons of information pertaining to all the topics in here.....but it was a good idea

 

[Cousin Hepcat]

I had a similar idea. ... It'll take some leadership to get it going.

Definitely.

Maybe we could Start Really Small, then add more layers of detail later. Something for total newbies. In fact, to start it may not contain any info at all, just pointers to weblinks and books, then fill it in over time with more permanent text summarized from those sources. This could actually also serve a dual purpose as a recruiting tool rather than just have "how-to's" and "where to find supplies"... Maybe we should start with an outline: Once that's fleshed out it should be easy to start filling it in by grabbing a couple or so posts & throwing them in for each item, followed by links for more details to fill in later:



I. What's the appeal of the 1930s-40s?
{Style, respectfulness, etiquitte, good clean fun, good crowd of folks,
whatever... what was it that initially drew FL members in?}

II. What's the 30s-40s vintage lifestyle scene like currently?
{What cities is it in, what age groups,etc: PERFECT opportunity
to include a companion CD-R with video clips of FL members in
period attire swing dancing, goofing off on the QM, etc - myself,
I had no idea this many folks my age were into this stuff!)

III. Pointers on how to find & care for the things you'll need
III. A. Men's clothes
III. A. 1. Suits & Ties
III. A. 2. Hats
III. A. 3. Jackets
III. A. etc...
III. B. Women's & Children's clothes, hats etc
III. C. Pointers to info on Reproducing vintage clothes
III. D. Et Cetera: Watches, eyeglasses, jewelry...
III. E. Home furnishings, from interior paint colors to Furniture to Appliances
III. F. Music
III. F. 1. on the record
III. F. 2. live
III. G. Cars
. etc

IV. Fitting in with the crowd: Etiquitte
IV. A. Dancing
IV. B. Hat wearing
IV. C. The Main Point: excessive swearing and general vulgarity is Not Cool
IV. D. General Golden Age etiquitte: Pointers to Further resources {emily post, etc}
etc

V. Places to go, things to do
V. A. Pointers to directories for Dance lessons & clubs
V. B. Ideas for vintage events: horseraces, picnics, searching for golden
era vintage or repro locations to visit or eat at in your area
V. C. The Golden Era house party {stuff besides just movies/records: lists of vintage board games & yard games; hire a band or invite musicians "for free" to a rent party; 40s ideas like "come-as-you-are" parties; etc}
V. D. Do-It-Yourself: pointers to resources for organizing your own local meetings or online meetup groups
V. E. Contact info for various web-based Golden Era lifestyle groups

ah, you teaser! There are already a lot of books out now that have tons of information pertaining to all the topics in here.....but it was a good idea

Hooray, we have our first volunteer! Mysterygal will provide the links to all the tons of books already out there for further details Seriously, being a total newbie myself aside from having watched tons of 30s-40s films and just generally "loving the style", any book suggestions you have which are not hopelessly expensive / out of print could be used.

Also rember, how much would it cost for one person to try to purchase all the books necessary to glean the "core info" which could be provided in one brief Fedora Lounge booklet, for every aspect of the Golden Era...

- Cousin Hepcat

 

[CWetherby]

....but you will have a magazine this year....and that's all I will say about it at this time.

Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Mycroft]

Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yes, I am looking foward to it. I think a book is a good idea or maybe just a yearly thing we print up with records and member directory.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

The website below would be the perfect place to host vintage reference pages with images. Alas, it needs more content:

http://www.thegoldenera.net/

 

[Cousin Hepcat]

The website below would be the perfect place to host vintage reference pages with images. Alas, it needs more content:

http://www.thegoldenera.net/

Marc,

Cool site, a great "non-computer" look - are you the admin?

- Bobby

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Nope ... but I think that someone around here is.