Re: [bomp] twisted retro -- the future is next?

[Brent Walker <bcwalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I think the 1960's take on the 1920's was a little more scattershot, because elements of the 1890's through 1910's (Victorian ornamentation) were mixed in as well. The San Francisco and London bands particularly, owing to the motif of their cities, went for more of a Victorian era vibe in the accoutrements and the fonts they used than a 20's vibe. The 1920's was more Art Deco, getting rid of that Victorian era holdover ornamentation with the cleaner lines anticipating the modern look, but despite using the megaphone/Rudy Vallee sound which suggests late 20's, for instance on "Winchester Cathedral", the New Vaudeville Band in photos dressed more Victorian. Peter Max, Sgt. Pepper, etc., also used the Victorian vibe heavily. I think the 20's nostalgia hit late in the decade with THE BOY FRIEND, THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE etc. (There was an earlier mini 20's craze in the late 1940's, actually.)

Then there was the whole WWI phenomenon in the 60's--with an emphasis on the aerial war, the Red Baron, the Fokker tri-planes and Sopwith Camels (Charles Schultz, the Royal Guardsmen, THE BLUE MAX, etc), also the Maltese Cross being used by surfers and bikers (who also wore Kaiser-styled helmets).  That was a very important element. Peter Max also drew off the Victorian and WWI vibe (I remember as a kid having a book of Peter Max paper airplanes that were his takes on WWI biplanes--I folded all of them and threw them off the roof. I'm sure that book's worth a lot of money now.) 

It seemed like the horrors of WWI were finally able to be put into more nostalgic content in the early 60's...while WWII was still too close for that: you had more serious WWII movies like THE LONGEST DAY and THE GREAT ESCAPE. It wasn't until the 70's that WWII became nostalgic (probably partly because of Vietnam), which was when you had a lot of nostalgia for the whole "home front" atmosphere, Bette Midler doing "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," CLASS OF 42, etc. But I'd still say the 50's nostalgia in the 70's--AMERICAN GRAFFITI, Happy Days and Fonzie--way overshadowed any 40's nostalgia during the decade.

Brent Walker


------------------------------

Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2005 08:38:14 EDT
From: ItsBoss9@aol.com
Subject: [bomp] twisted retro -- the future is next?

decade   nostalgia caze decade

60          20
70          40
80          60
90          70
00          90

obervation.....no nostalgia for the depression.  the nostalgia window closes 
each decade.  by 2080 the nostalgia craze will be the last five minutes.

THIS IS A PRETTY GOOD CHART and almost accurate, considering that in the 
'70s, it was the '50s that saw that nostalgia craze (not the '40s... the "Swing" 
thing didn't hit until the mid-90s).  Becky did a cover story on this whole 
phenomenon for Brandweek a few years back, and I'll have to say that in San 
Francisco, there was an article in the Bay Guardian that explained how the release 
of the Spice Girls movie was the moment when people attended it to laugh in 
retrospect... the moment it came out... i.e., nostalgia and retro caught up with 
the present when hipsters flocked to the Spice Girls movie in order to creep 
out on the now.

Domenic Priore

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