Other vintage lifestyles

[dnjan]

The fathest-along I've heard of are the fortunate few who live in period homes or farms. And even they don't usually dress that way, unless their jobs are doing historical interpretation. Their homes would probably look like period pieces, simply bcause of the gear they've accumulated. Things like oil/kerosene lamps, period dishware, woven coverlets (not quilts) on the beds, etc. This stuff costs a lot of money, and being able to use it for practical purposes in the present just makes sense.

The interesting thing about the really old stuff is how terribly practical it is. It was a huge, but freeing, mindset shift when I stopped asking myself, "How can do I this in a way that doesn't look anachronistic?" and started asking, "How did they do it?"

Yup. I grew up in an old farmhouse. The kitchen was heated by the cookstove (though the rest of the house was warmed by the coal-burning natural-draft furnace in the basement). There was always (from mid fall though mid spring) a kettle on the cookstove, so you had hot water whenever. There were gas burners and a gas oven as well, but stuff that just needed to simmer often was on the cookstove.

However, that house was drafty. I remember waking up one winter morning when I was a kid and seeing frost on the head of the bed.

Now it's nostalgic - then it was at times a bit miserable.

 

[pigeon toe]

My best friend is very into the 70's 'bohemian'/hippie style of dress, and I guess embodies the lifestyle in some ways. The girl looks like she should be living on a commune! All those long flowy dresses make her look very cute and pixie-like though. She wants to learn to play the banjo and is now a die-hard vegetarian. All she wants to do is hang out in the woods with squirrels and stuff, which is pretty hard for her now since she moved from Northern California to New York City this year.

Basically she's a lil hippie in 70's clothes. It's so funny because in high school she was one of those girls that would spend $400 on a pair of leather boots and always looked like she came off a runway. It's like a 180 degree change!

 

[Rafter]

Some people say I sometimes got the "Don Johnson" thing going on.

Am I a throwback to the 80's?, hope not.

Don't get me wrong, as I child of the 80's,
I have many fond memories of that decade.

video games ruled
heavy metal and hair bands were bangin'
true "American" muscle cars (Mustang, Camaro, TransAm)
the WWf was born and Roddy Piper kicked ass
NASCAR was popular
and kids could actually ride bikes, skateboards and roller skates without the use of "body armor" (helmets, kneepads, etc)

I was one of the first in my school to have a "Panasonic Platinum Boombox". Every lunch hour, I'd "cruise" around W/my friends, blasting it as loud as I could. Night Ranger, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Dokken, Wasp, Slade, Twisted Sister and Ratt were some of my faves.

Am I a throwback to the 80's?, hope not!

I no longer:

have nightmares about the Phantom Flan Flinger.
practice my Care Bear Stare.
do the Safety Dance.
know whose phone number is 01-811-8055.
drink Diet Coke because Max Headroom told me to.
want to change my name to Rio and dance on the sand.
practice getting in and out of my car through the windows.
do the 'Blockbusters' hand-jive.
cry 'For the power of Grayskull!!'.
have a wardrobe that's fluorescent.
want to shout, shout, let it all out.
feel St. Elmo's fire burnin' in me

I still have the tendency to turn up the collar of my polo shirts
and everytime I watch CSI Miami, I say, "Well, they're no Crockett and Tubbs, that's for sure".
Wait a minute, I've got to turn down the pounding Glenn Frey tune "You Belong To The City" from the Miami Vice Soundtrack.

I'm I a throwback to the 80's, don't think so!

 

[warbird]

I will say again, as noted above, there were no muscle cars in the 80's. In fact the average HP now is far above what it was in the 80's. Muscle cars were dead by 1974.

 

[Fletch]

Just as it's a bad idea to idealize any particular period, so too one shouldn't make sweeping assumptions about the worst aspects of a time. There really was no "universal experience" -- everyone experienced whatever era they lived in as individuals, and their stories will be as varied as the people themselves. After all, even in the worst pit of the Depression, with a third of the nation ill-clad, ill-housed, and ill-fed, two thirds of the population was warm and dry and had full bellies.

I was taken aback years ago to read that during WWII, only about half the draft-age male population actually served in the military. (Of course if you didn't, you wouldn't be likely to reminisce a lot about it.)

 

[Rafter]

I will say again, as noted above, there were no muscle cars in the 80's. In fact the average HP now is far above what it was in the 80's. Muscle cars were dead by 1974.

warbird!!!!,

Muscle cars were not dead by 1974. There were plenty of them still cruising the streets of my neighborhood in the 80's. Just because muscle cars ceased production in the mid 70's doesn't mean they were no longer around. In fact all the cool teens that I looked up to in my neighborhood had muscle cars... and were driving them in the 80's!!
- AMC Javelin and AMX
- Buick GS models
- Chevy SS models, Camaro
- Dodge R/T models
- Ford GT and XR models, Mustang
- Olds Cutlass 442's
- Plymouth Cudas, Dusters, RR/GTXs, and more
- Pontiac GTO and Firebird models

You're like a broken record....enough said already.
You are not the know it all expert on this matter.
Perhaps you wanted a muscle car back then and couldn't get one!!!

 

[warbird]

My point was they were no longer manufacturing muscle cars by the 80's. Many camaro and mustang owners who I went to high school with thought they had muscle cars, but they were not. They knew that once they rode in a real muscle car. I never said I knew all on muscle cars, never did I say that. I was sad in the 80's that the muscle car was relegated to an old car. Today you can get a lot of power even in some sedans. I wish that had been the case in the 80's as most muscle cars were not terribly comfortable and did not handle well. My post was not a chastisement of you so much as a sad refrain to what could have been , had it not been for the insurance industry mainly.

As to my wishing I had had a muscle car and never having the chance, during the 80's I owned
'67 Ford Mustang Fastback, 289K engine
'68 Mustang convertible, 302
'69 Mach 1 Mustang, 351 Cleveland w/ a California Hill Package, 400 mod crank, roller tip rockers, pumping out about 430 hp
'69 Ford Galaxy with a 396

My father owned a couple as well. So, no I had my fair share of money guzzlers thanks.

 

[Nashoba]

Every morning I pass a castle. The man who owns it is big into medieval reenacting, SCA type of things. A renaissance festival is held there every year, as is the regional Highland Game festival. But he lives year round in the house, which for the most part even inside is quite old in appearance and lack of ammenities.

I saw you're from TN. Is the castle you pass on 840 between Spring Hill and Murfreesboro?

 

[The Wolf]

Dan G.,
E.L.O.'s style changed over the years. I bet I could find a song (or piece of music) from them that you would enjoy. I think writing music for Xanadu hurt their approval rating.

Sincerely,
The Wolf

 

[warbird]

I saw you're from TN. Is the castle you pass on 840 between Spring Hill and Murfreesboro?

Yes sir. Pass it every day, usually on Hwy 96. I work in Cool Springs/Franklin area.

 

[berrybuzz]

As was discussed in a thread started by paddy, there are certain goth types who dress and somewhat revel in the victorian era. Morning coats, velvet waist coats top hats etc. They tend to be part of the goth scene, but I would bet in a place like London there is enough of them to form their own subculture. They probably get together to drink absynth and smoke pipes.

That was the type of Goth I was in High School....I still see these gorgeous Victorian goth dresses and go "I want! I want! I want!" but it's getting rarer and rarer. The whole goth scene seems to be merging with the Punk scene. Even the very Etherial sounding music is dying out in favor of stompy Industrial and Punk.

Now if I could jsut figure out how to merge Goth and Vintage into one, without coming across as a complete poseur for both.

 

[Nashoba]

Yes sir. Pass it every day, usually on Hwy 96. I work in Cool Springs/Franklin area.

That would be a yes MA'AM (the gent in the pic would be my beloved husband) and I live in Spring Hill. We're practically neighbors warbird
Nash

 

[Rafter]

'67 Ford Mustang
'69 Ford Galaxy with a 396
So, no I had my fair share of money guzzlers thanks.

warbird,
I guess you're no longer the American auto loyalist that you once were.
Sad to hear today that Toyota has just replaced GM as the world's #1 auto maker. What is your opinion on this matter.

E.L.O.'s style changed over the years. I bet I could find a song (or piece of music) from them that you would enjoy. I think writing music for Xanadu hurt their approval rating.
Sincerely,
The Wolf

Rock music with violins, ech!!
Jeff Lynne's music was weird. One of his hits was even called "Strange Music".
Xanadu the movie bombed.
I'm sure if Jeff Lynne is writing the music for Xanadu the show it will be an even worse disaster!!

That was the type of Goth I was in High School....
Now if I could jsut figure out how to merge Goth and Vintage into one, without coming across as a complete poseur for both.

berrybuzz, I bet were you were an "OMD" fan??
check out this goth site- it merges goth w. vintage
http://siblingrebelry.com/

 

[BegintheBeguine]

My dad (b.1924) said that some people he knew in the South dressed in Victorian styles during the 40s. (I bet they looked SO COOL!) So, berrybuzz, you could dress on the Victorian side of Goth and still be 40s' vintage.

 

[warbird]

That would be a yes MA'AM (the gent in the pic would be my beloved husband) and I live in Spring Hill. We're practically neighbors warbird
Nash

Please do forgive ma'am. A fine looking Marine he is too. Yes indeed we are practically neighbors.

 

[Senator Jack]

'67 Ford Mustang Fastback, 289K engine

My daily driver is a 66 289 C-code. It ain't no muscle car.

 

[Nashoba]

Please do forgive ma'am. A fine looking Marine he is too. Yes indeed we are practically neighbors.

lol no worries, he is after all in the foreground. And thank you, I'm trying to resist the temptation to count down the days until he comes back home. It's still a pretty high number. Perhaps one day we'll run into each other

 

[happyfilmluvguy]

I wonder if there are any other forums related to late 60s through 90s lifestyles.

 

[warbird]

My daily driver is a 66 289 C-code. It ain't no muscle car.

Yeah, you are right there. Ford initially didn't see the real potential of the pony car as a muscle car. Their first foray was the 65 gt 289 k engine. But all the way up until 68 they offered some of their coupes in 6 cyl and less hp 8's. In fact the original 289 in my 67 was detuned, it died and was replaced with a k engine. After that threw a rod, I replaced it with a built 302.

One thing Rafter was certainly right about is that there were plenty of those cars around in the 80's. I have noticed in the last few months just how few are around now. And I have been a bit sickened by watching some auctions and seeing what 69's like mine are going for now. That is my luck though. I had a '49 Harley Panhead which I sold in the early 90's and the value of it was literally doubled in less than 2 years. :eusa_doh:

 

[Jovan]

I wonder if there are any other forums related to late 60s through 90s lifestyles.

I have yet to find any communities based around the '60s that aren't just "mod" style fanatics. I can't stand super-skinny suits and low rise trousers. We get enough of that from the fashion companies today!