The Jewel in my Kitsch Crown

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Here she is, isn't she a beaut?

 If I had to choose one piece to keep above any others it would be my cabinet.

 It's quite an assault on the eyes, is this photo, but the basic cabinet itself fits in with the exact style era I love the most:
mass produced, overly ornate cheap 60's furniture.

 I found it again in a charity shop in Newtownards, Northern Ireland.
I broke out in a sweat when I saw it, I NEEDED this piece of furniture.

 Bought it for £40 & while I waited for the car to be brought to load it into, a middle-aged woman recalled the tale of how her mother-in- law had bought her one for her wedding & she absolutely detested it.

 Perfect.

Claire

Mariachi Bottle

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One of my absolute dream items to pick up would be a boat bar.
Home bars are notoriously kitsch & the ship shaped model, complete with gold anchor, would make me a very happy girly.

 Until then I keep a look out for a plastic, pineapple shaped ice bucket & console myself with this handsome treasure from Bangor car boot sale.

 It's a Mariachi figure, originally used as a bottle for spirits.
The head comes away with a cork & there is no clue to the previous contents with only 'Japan' stamped on the base.

 We love him.

Claire

Vintage Travel Posters

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My hometown pride & love of 50's design come together in my Bangor Railway Travel Poster.

 I picked this reproduction print up from Bangor's Heritage Centre.
It's one of a few prints available of the town, along with one of neighbouring Ballyholme.

 Vintage travel advertisments steer toward the retro side of kitsch, rather than it's tackiness.
Nostalgia plays heavily, even for folks like me who weren't around when these ads had pride of place in stations around the country.

 Marks and Spencers used the vintage travel poster design strongly in it's anniversary campaign this year. Their picnic ads & classic soda bottles are good examples.

 Amongst kitsch collectors, retro skiing holiday & cable car travel posters are favourites.
British seaside holiday versions cater to the tackier side of the genre.

 I recently was given a box full of postcards of these fantastic adverts by Twitter pal @herrbenz Looking forward to using them for decoration somewhere soon!

Claire

Welcome to the World of Tomorrow!

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The Home of TOMORROW!
Rocket ships & robot butlers, all this and more at any 19th centuary expo or world's fair.

 The memrobilia from these events can be picked up on eBay, myself I have a snowglobe & ashtray, but want a silk scarf badly!

 It was the time man was looking towards space travel & modern ways of living.

 Where the kitsch lies is in how misguided many of the potential inventions and ideas were.
Along side that the 'Jetsons' style design of the print & souvenirs, it makes for very cool kitsch.

 Another fledgling collection below are my snowglobes.
Purest tack.

Claire