vintage | kimberly ah

Sep 04 2015

adventures, Old Movies, Silent Films, vintage

Silent Summer Film Fest at the Pickwick

I’ve been heading to the theater on Thursday nights this month for the Silent Film Society of Chicago‘s Silent Summer Film Fest. The movies have been shown the past six weeks at the charmingly art deco Pickwick Theater in Park Ridge. The Pickwick is gorgeous. Much of it is still original, like the ticket window, the tiny concessions, and the lobby, but the seats have been updated so they are nice and big and cozy, and they even rock. (I hate sitting in uncomfortable movie theater seats!) We saw The Winning of Barbara Worth, Amarilly of Clothesline Lane, and Torrent. Of the three, I thought Amarilly of Clothesline Lane was the…oddest? It had a inexplicable fire and shooting incident. And the story line was disjointed. Barbara Worth was fun and had great (for the day) effects. And Torrent had a perfect ending and an incredible wardrobe. Oddly, all three had a love triangle of some sort. Oh, and the movies all have live accompaniment by an organist, so if there’s a slow moment in the movie, at least the music is entertaining.

Sadly, the Film Fest is over, but the Pickwick is going to start showing an older movie every month. The first one is North by Northwest and I’m so excited to see that one on the big screen!

If you ask me what the latest “mainstream” or “blockbuster” movie I saw was, the answer would be really lame. (Lincoln. And before Lincoln, it was Sex & the City…the first one.) But I’m really enjoying seeing some of these old films on the big screen. What can I say? I crave simpler times.

Tagged adventures, vintage

Aug 25 2015

13 Comments

celebrations, cocktails, Jell-O, Those Were the Days, vintage

Mrs. Roper Party

A few months ago on Twitter, I admitted that I was shopping for kaftans. I’ve been on a huge Three’s Company kick all summer, finding myself more interested in Mrs. Roper’s wardrobe than the storylines. If you’ve ever watched Three’s Company you know that every episode revolves around some sort of misunderstanding. But Mrs. Roper’s kaftans just keep getting better and better! The kaftans are so over-the-top fabulous and comfortable looking that I decided I needed one of my own. While I was deciding, we started chatting (on Twitter) about kaftans and Mrs. Roper and we all decided that we should get together and wear kaftans and lounge on the lanai. The Mrs. Roper Party was born. I didn’t need to send invitations, but I had these fantastic Three’s Company theme song postcards from Zerobird Studio, so I sent them as little reminders about the party. I had so much fun looking through old cookbooks and Pinterest for late 70s/early 80s recipes. For appetizers, Katie made crab dip, served on a groovy platter and I made a cheese ball, (I cut this recipe in half and used pimentos instead of green chiles and chopped cashews instead of pecans.) served with classic Ritz crackers. And I made a Jello mold! It wasn’t beautiful (My peach slices didn’t stay put and ended up floating around instead of making a pretty ring…rookie mistake) but it was delicious. And it was my first time using my vintage Tupperware mold and worked like a charm! For dinner we ate pineapple chicken (I used this recipe, but substituted canned pineapple for fresh, because 1970s…) and store bought fried chicken. Sidecar cocktail, Mrs. Roper Party As much as I wanted to stay on theme and make a Southern Comfort punch for the party, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Instead, I made a classic cocktail, the Sidecar. (Thanks, Kathy, for the photo above!) I was going to serve Brandy Alexanders with dessert, but we finished the brandy thanks to bartender Naoto keeping our glasses constantly filled. We had chocolate fondue for dessert. My parents gave me a vintage 1970s fondue pot and this was the first time I used it. (Fondue was so easy that I’m not sure why we don’t do it more often.)The weather couldn’t have been more perfect for lanai lounging. My only regret is that we didn’t get a full-length picture of us all in our kaftans. Other than that, 1970s entertaining is easy living. Not only did I get to throw on a breezy kaftan, but I could have made most of the recipes out of my pantry. Normally I’m rushing around buying fresh produce and chopping fruits and vegetables for party recipes. This time, I opened cans and boxes–Jello, canned peached, canned pineapple, crackers…everything just got tossed together. 1970s hostessing is amazing!
Thanks to Katie, Donovan, and Kathy for being up for a kaftan party and to Naoto for taking care of all of us Saturday night.

Next up…sometime in the future…a Golden Girls party complete with cheesecakes!

Tagged celebrations, cocktails, food, homemaking, summer, vintage

Aug 24 2015

1 Comment

adventures, Forest Park, Oak Park, In My Neighborhood, vintage

Kings of the Keyboard at FitzGerald’s

It was such a great weekend around here! On Friday night, some friends and I went to FitzGerald’s to see Kings of the Keyboard, an event hosted by Chris Ligon and Heather McAdams, the same duo who put on the Everything But Country Calendar Show last year. Chris and Heather brought together a wide variety of amazing musicians: Daniel Souvigny, a fourteen year old piano genius, Chris Foreman, a famous organ player who plays at the Green Mill, Paul Lewis, pianist for the Joffrey Ballet, Charlie Pierce and Choctaw Wilfire, a honkey tonk band from Austin, Chris Ligon who played hilarious songs on the Baldwin Fun Machine, and Scott Ligon and the Letter 3 who are so much fun to listen to (and I promise I’m not biased as Scott is my friend’s husband). Each act played a few songs and in between, Heather played an amazing collection of 16mm films of old keyboard acts. It was a non-stop cornucopia of entertainment!

I feel so lucky to live so close to FitzGerald’s.

Tagged adventures, cocktails, forest park, vintage

Jul 28 2015

2 Comments

adventures, Old Movies, Peggy's Parties, Those Were the Days, vintage

Double Indemnity on the Big Screen

On Monday night, Peggy and I went to see a special screening of Double Indemnity at the movie theater. The film was shown as a part of the Big Screen Classic Events with Turner Classic Movies (TCM) and Fathom Entertainment. They are showing classic movies in select theaters around the country with introductions from TCM’s Robert Osborne (or Ben Mankiewicz.) Before the movie, Robert Osborne shared some history of the movie. Fred MacMurray was very reluctant to do Double Indemnity because he was afraid of ruining his squeaky clean image by playing a murderer. In the end, MacMurray thought it was one of his best roles. And Osborne discussed how the Hays Production Code dictated changes to the script. Has anyone read the book? I just ordered it from the library because I’m curious about the original ending of the book. (No spoilers, please!)

I’d seen parts of Double Indemnity before, but it was such a treat to see it on a huge screen where I could appreciate the darkness and the light in the movie, the facial expressions, and the score. Someone on Twitter* mentioned that he noticed the silences during the movie better. I thought that was a great observation.

Sadly, there were only five other people in the theater with us at Melrose Park, so I hope they continue offering the rest of the series. Next up is a Grease sing-along**, but I am so excited for Psycho in September! (Full line-up is here. I’m sad I missed JAWS last month.)

Have you gone to one of these? Have you seen anything else good in the theater lately?

*If you like to watch TCM, the #TCMParty is a fun hashtag to follow if you want to have a Twitter chat during a movie.

**I hate Grease!

Double Indemnity image from here. (The article about women in Film Noir is excellent reading!) Photo of Robert Osborne is mine from the theater.

Tagged adventures, film, Film Noir, vintage

Jul 01 2015

2 Comments

celebrations, cocktails, thrifted, vintage

Vintage Ice Tongs

My parents came up to visit over the weekend and brought our anniversary gift. Part of the gift was these fantastic vintage ice tongs that they found in a vintage shop. Don’t my parents know how to score a vintage treasure? (And they know me so well…and Naoto, too, though he didn’t squeal like a school girl when he saw the box.)The tongs came in their original box, an added bonus. (And yes, I will totally keep the tongs in their box!)I love the Mid-Century style illustrations of cocktails on the handle. I think they are going to make a great partner with my vintage penguin ice bucket at our next Hasegawa Happy Hour!

Thanks, Mom & Dad! xo

Tagged celebrations, cocktails, homemaking, parents, thrifting, vintage

Mar 31 2015

1 Comment

celebrations, Office Supplies, snail mail, vintage

Going Postal Birthday Gifts

A certain mail-lover had a birthday last week and Naoto really hit it out of the ballpark (or should I say the post office?) with my gifts. He went with a postal theme and shopped on Etsy for some ideas and ended up choosing an upcycled mail bag purse, a postman rubber stamp, and an envelope necklace. I was thrilled with everything! The purse is made from an upcycled old Dutch mail bag. He ordered it from the Stiksel in the Netherlands and gave it to me with the idea that I could make it into a traveling mail pack. I love this idea, but I will probably carry it as a purse sometimes, too. I love that it has a “patina” and it’s the perfect size for both mail supplies and daily trips to the store. The next gift was a mailman rubber stamp from Pictureshow. Isn’t he dreamy? He reminds me of John if John was a mail carrier in the 1950s. Look at that overflowing mailbag of letters! It stamps like a dream and I love how detailed the image is. Here he is on a new Postcard Race. (By the way, I’m still doing some postcard testing…updates coming soon!) And last but not least, Naoto gave me an envelope necklace from MonyArt. The envelope charm is kind of rustic looking and I’ve been wearing it every day.

I love a good theme gift…way to go, Naoto!

In addition to the mail stuff, Naoto came home with a stunning bouquet of flowers. Those orchids…sigh…I’m reminded that spring weather is around the corner (even though it snowed seven inches on my birthday eve!)

Tagged celebrations, mail art, office supplies, rubber stamp, snail mail, vintage

Mar 30 2015

7 Comments

adventures, Office Supplies, snail mail, thrifted, vintage

New Vintage Stationery

vintage souvenir stationery, Abraham Lincoln and Yellowstone My parents came up for a visit this weekend and they brought me a few vintage treats including these fantastic old souvenir stationery sets. The Yellowstone is almost full but sadly the Abraham Lincoln one has one sheet left of each design. I’ve never been to Yellowstone, so I’d feel like a cheater using this stationery, but I think using it for a nature lover would be acceptable, right? (This stationery seems like a good enough reason as any to bump Yellowstone up on my travel wish list.) I have been to Springfield, the state capitol of Illinois, several times so these Lincoln landmarks are all familiar old friends from school trips and family trips of my childhood. I think every child who grew up in Illinois has rubbed Lincoln’s nose at least once. Since there’s only one sheet left of each of these designs, I probably won’t be writing letters on this stationery, but maybe I could use them in a mini-scrapbook of my next trip to Springfield? (First I have to get Naoto on board with a mini road trip!)

Have you seen any souvenir stationery lately? It seems like the best kinds of souvenirs (stationery, handkerchiefs, plates) are all things of things of the past now.

Tagged adventures, office supplies, parents, snail mail, thrifting, vintage

Mar 26 2015

7 Comments

home is a 1970s apartment, homemaking, thrifted, vintage

Old Painting = New Art

In January when I went thrifting with my parents, I found this old painting. It was only twenty dollars, it’s an actual painting, not a print, and for reasons I can’t explain, I really liked it. The painting is signed P. Rambert, which means nothing to me, but apparently people on Ebay think some of his paintings can fetch $50-550…mmhmmmmm. I’ve been working on hanging up more art (again) and so I tried this one in the living room near the lamp. (I do think the matchy-matchy pillow looks a little ridiculous…an interior decorator I am not!) I didn’t plan to keep it there, but it’s grown on me and I’ve really liked having some color on the wall! (I think my desire for spring and something other than grey skies and a grey home is getting to me!)

Am I the only one who freezes and fears decorating decisions?

Tagged decorating, home, home improvement, homemaking, parents, thrifting, vintage

Feb 27 2015

3 Comments

in my library, Letter Month, Mail Reads, Office Supplies, snail mail, vintage

Mail Reads: The First Book of Letter Writing

Out of the blue one day, long, long ago, I received a package from my online friend Holly. Inside was this fantastic children’s book, The First Book of Letter Writing by Helen Jacobson & Florence Mischel. The delightful illustrations were done by Lászlo Roth. Published in 1957, it covers everything the mid-century child needed to know about letter writing: how to write a letter, how to address the envelope, proper penmanship, writing celebrities, thank you notes, condolence notes, stationery, postage and more. The book originally came with a book of stamps to get the letter writing started! Just like yesterday’s book, some of the book reads as a time capsule of children’s correspondence in the fifties. I didn’t realize there were rules for children’s stationery: “boys always use a single, unfolded sheet of paper” while “girls may use folded stationery.” But most of the book is still helpful in its teachings of letter structure and helping children to learn that their letters should be a mix of news and questions for the recipient. I think it would still be a great introduction to letter writing. Receiving this book–which is a technically a “destroyed” library book–made me both happy and sad. Of course I am thrilled that Holly found it and thought of me and sent it my way. I will treasure it forever. But I’m sad because this book about letter writing isn’t out there in a library for a child to discover. Maybe checking out a book like this would inspire a new generation of letter writers. In my personal book collection, it has a very limited reach…how sad! But thankfully it was rescued from the dumpster, right?!

I just requested a bunch of letter writing books from the library, so hopefully in the coming weeks, I’ll have more books to share. It will be nice to keep the spirit of Letter Month going a little longer, right?

Tagged books, mail art, office supplies, snail mail, vintage

Feb 26 2015

1 Comment

in my library, Letter Month, Mail Reads, Office Supplies, snail mail, vintage

Mail Reads: The Etiquette of Letter Writing

My friend Peggy gave me this tiny book, (A Desk Book on) The Etiquette of Letter Writing, last summer. It was published by Eaton, Crane & Pike Company in 1927. It is a tiny guide that outlines the basic social rules regarding correspondence. The book comes from a time when married women signed their correspondence Mrs. Husband’s First & Last Name and when wives mailed handwritten invitations to dinner parties and responses came mailed back with handwritten notes. I grew up during a time when party invitations were mailed, but dinner invitations were offered with a phone call. Nowadays, we are lucky if we get a wedding invitation in the mail. Most invitations are offered through emails and texts. (I’m guilty of this too.) Think of the planning it would take to choose a date, write out your invitations, mail them, wait for responses and prepare for your party. You would have to have the proper-sized stationery (blind embossed with your family crest, of course!) ready to write out and respond to all of your invitations! While I am glad that we have fewer rules dictating our modern day correspondence, I really miss the days of real paper invitations. (I also miss the days of the R.S.V.P. but I can’t even talk about this or I’ll get ranty. This is a funny op-ed about the dying art of R.S.V.P.s.)Do you have simple, monogrammed stationery for everyday use (the initials “being placed in the left corner, of course”)? I’ve tried to limit myself when buying frivolous stationery with hopes that I could save up for some stunning engraved notecards. But there are too many good options out there and I like having a variety of paper and notecards to choose from. Still…think of how classy a gorgeously engraved monogram would be.
I love the suggestions for closing a letter: Cordially, Faithfully, Affectionately, Devotedly. When did we get stuck writing Sincerely over and over again at the end of our correspondence when there are so many other wonderful options?

I enjoy having this little gem on my desk to peruse and daydream about the formal days of visiting cards, handwritten invitation acceptances, summer home stationery, and family crests. Thank you, Peggy, for knowing me so well.

P.S. If you’d like to see a few more pages from the book, Donovan wrote a post for the Letter Writers Alliance blog here.

Tagged office supplies, snail mail, vintage