The Patient Man

Hopefully I won't end up like poor old Ollie, nor be visited by the likes of catastrophic Stan, but such are the vagaries of life that I will be in my own variation of "County Hospital" from tomorrow for a week or so.

Thusly this wire service will fall quiet for a time, but I look forward to catching up with all the lovely vintage blogs once I'm home and recuperating.  I haven't forgotten any of my infrequent themed posts either - Film Friday, Forties Fashion, Tit-bits and more will all return, I promise you.  Not to mention the 100 followers give-away!  Plenty to look forward too!  I shall see you all anon...

"He's out of bed and looking for a computer again, doctor".

Leamington Spa railway's 1930s waiting rooms restored

The newly reconstructed Leamington Spa railway station, 1938.  Image courtesy of WarwickshireRailways.com

Leamington Spa railway's 1930s waiting rooms restored

Travelling through Leamington Spa by rail has just got a whole lot more enjoyable if this item of news is anything to go by.  Most modern railway stations (that's railway station, not train station - one of my pedantic pet hates!) are never the most salubrious places to wait around in, it's sad to say, so anything that brings a bit of Thirties glamour to the proceedings is all right in my book!

A pat on the back for Chiltern Railways for recognising the historical importance and existing potential of the original Great Western Railway décor instead of going for a soulless plastic and polymer refit.  Once again a group of dedicated individuals, the Friends of Leamington Station, have also given their time, skills and money to this worthy enterprise and I'll bet they're even more happy than I am to see the rooms back to their former glory.

The booking office.  They should bring that back too!  Image courtesy of WarwickshireRailways.com

This is further proof that the styles and designs of the Art Deco era are still valued by others and have their place even today, hopefully to brighten the journey of Warwickshire's commuters.  In fact the station manager, at the end of this press release, says it all - "The waiting rooms are bright, clean and have an airy feel. Staff will take pride in it and it shows we care."  Quite right!

Popular with the ladies...

There are good reasons why Girl Shy is one of my favourite films. 
For example I can empathise with the lead character... ;-)

This blogging malarkey, I mean!

This may well turn out to be what I believe in modern parlance is termed a "random" post, but let's see how it goes.

Over the last 4-day weekend here in Britain, which I hope everyone enjoyed, it came to my attention - between all the revelries and enjoyment of the Spring weather - that my unassuming little blog passed the 100 followers mark.  I promised that when this milestone was reached I would have a give-away and so I shall.  I am, after all, a man of my word.  Unfortunately it will have to wait a little while though for, as ever, life has intervened and I shall be away from the blogosphere for a time from this coming weekend.  When I return, though, the give-away will happen!

"I'm afraid it's a serious case of blogitis!"

Now, when thinking about all my splendid followers and what to give away, I began to think about an interesting [vintage] blogging anomaly.  Others have noticed it too, namely Andrea of The Deco Devotee, and I shall be interested to read her take on it in due course.  It is the dearth of male vintage bloggers.  A quick glance at the 90-odd vintage blogs on my blogroll reveals that almost 90% of them are written by women.  Of my 103 followers, roughly 75% are female.  Where are the chaps?!

Donning my scholarly hat for a moment my own theory, for what it's worth (based solely on a 10-year-old A-level English Language qualification) is this:  blogging shares a lot in common with gossiping.  At the risk of alienating the majority of my audience(!) - women like to gossip.  Men, less so.  ;-)  Perhaps it would be more fair to say that women enjoy sharing experiences, are generally more conversational than men, and that quite naturally extends to the vintage world as well.  To continue the academic point, another comparison can be drawn between blogging and the use of questions.  Men, ever the pragmatists, use questions to elicit information, answers.  Women can use questions as conversation starters/extenders.  So it is with blogging in a way, I think.  If I look at the few blogs, vintage or otherwise, which are written by men then by and large they are simply imparting information and advice.  My own blog is a case in point - I am basically saying "look what has happened here", albeit with a vintage bent.  A lot of the feminine blogs, I venture to say, are talking about new discoveries, handy hints and day-to-day personal incidents (but then, is that not what blogs are meant for?) - "look at what I found/did, isn't it lovely?" - again in this particular case with a vintage angle.  Looked at a certain way, the [vintage] blogosphere is a microcosm of the two gender groups (my goodness, that sounds awfully serious and didactic, doesn't it?  Does it even make sense?).

"Did you see the Royal Wedding on Friday?" 
"Yes."

"Did you see the Royal Wedding on Friday?" 
"Oooh, wasn't it lovely?" 
"Yes, didn't Kate look beautiful?" 
"Oh, her dress was simply darling, don't you think?" 
"And Prince Harry - swoon!"  Etc., etc., ad infinitum. :-P

Quickly, because I can tell you're drifting off (I don't blame you, either!), to focus on the vintage aspect I think it is easier for women to find and to post about vintage or vintage-inspired fashion than it is for men (and again, fashion tends to be a more feminine interest) but beyond that I can't imagine why there aren't more vintage fellows blogging about their experiences and activities - I'm sure it would make for interesting reading!

So this brings me back to the give-away and something that a certain female family member (who shall remain nameless because she doesn't like the Internet ;-P ) said about it that has given me pause for thought.  Without trying to give too much away as to the prizes, it has been suggested that none of them are overly "feminine" and that if a lady were to win - as seems statistically more likely - I ought to include something flowery, pretty or pink (or all the above!).  All the prizes are, of course, of a vintage-themed nature and aren't, I would say, particularly "masculine" or "feminine".  In fact, the thought never occurred to me  and to be honest I still think it is rather redundant.  Still, I'll never hear the end of it if I don't check, so should I include a particular gender-defining prize dependent upon the winner, or are you fine ladies and gentlemen more than happy to receive fairly unisex items?  Let me know!

Meet the George Formby fan, aged seven!

Meet the George Formby fan, aged seven!

Love him or loathe him, (and personally I'm in the first camp) there's no denying that George Formby and his ukulele featured prominently in 1930s popular culture and even today he is still synonymous with a particularly British form of novelty humour.

Still, it's not the kind of thing you might expect a 7 year old boy to like, never mind emulate, so that makes little James Bassett even more of a topping lad in my book.  If nothing else he's shamed me into getting a move on with my ukulele playing - if a seven year old boy can learn to play the uke in 6 months, to the point where he's taking off George Formby, I've really got no excuse!   

It's things like this that give one hope for the future; if there are young 'uns out there who enjoy George Formby or music of the Thirties in general then it's not likely to be forgotten any time soon.  In fact it is a testament to the enduring and universal nature of the likes of George Formby that there is now a new generation waiting to discover these songs.

I wish young Master Bassett the best of luck in the forthcoming awards and, regardless of whether he wins or not, I feel sure that his love of Formby's music will never leave him and hope it leads him on to greater things.

Eeh, champion!

Reports of the death of the typewriter have been greatly exaggerated

Some of you may have read or heard over the news wires that the "last" existing manufacturer of mechanical typewriters - India's Godrej & Boyce - has stopped producing its typewriter and has only a few hundred left in stock.

End of an era as last mechanical typewriters are sold

But fear not, my fellow vintage fans, because it is not true!  Well, the bit about Godrej & Boyce stopping production is, unfortunately, but not the bit about their being the last manufacturer of mechanical typewriters.  No, I have it on good authority that there are at least 3 companies still producing mechanical typewriters, all of them based in the Far East but using the familiar QWERTY layout and available for export.  Three cheers for Marshall Ind. and Chee-May (Goh's) of Taiwan for their MT-99 and Kota models, and the Shanghai Weilv Co. of China who still manufacture licensed versions of an old Olivetti design under the name (ironically for us Brits) of Rover(!).

The Shanghai Weilv Rover 8000

That's not to mention the fact that their are also several companies continuing to make electric typewriters (which are not quite the same, I grant you, but still not far off!) so there is more than a little life left in the device yet!  And of course being a good, old-fashioned piece of sturdy technology the mechanical typewriter is built like nothing else.  My 56-year-old Imperial feels like it could withstand a nuclear blast - at which point we'd need mechanical typewriters again because all the electronics would have stopped working! ;-)

Yes, it's in a disgraceful condition but it's nearly 60 years old.  Plus... it still works.  Good for another 60 years too, I'll warrant.

So typewriters both new and old look to be around for a long time to come, proof that even the all-embracing computer cannot kill a simple, enduring design (and indeed, through the QWERTY keyboard if nothing else, PCs owe a lot to the humble typewriter).  As long as there are companies willing to produce typewriters and their associate parts (that reminds me - anyone know where I can get some ribbons?) and people to use them, appreciate them and keep them working then the typewriter will live on!

South Devon steam train in emergency stop to save lamb

South Devon steam train in emergency stop to save lamb

We've all heard the excuse of "leaves on the line" from today's train operators but in the world of heritage steam railways it is "lambs on the line", at least in the case of this incident!

It's the kind of heart-warming story makes one smile, particularly at this Easter time when it somehow seems even more apposite.  It could even be said to have something for everyone - a steam train for the chaps and a cute little baa-lamb for the girls. ;-P

All's well that ends well, then, as Lucky the Lamb not only survives his close shave with the steam train but actually gets to ride on the footplate (!) before being nursed back to health at a Totnes animal sanctuary.  Added to which the South Devon Railway got an impromptu emergency stop test for one of their locomotives out of it and the vigilant crew deserve congratulations for their actions.

Happy Easter!

 

Wishing you all a Happy Easter!