Collecting 1950’s: Vintage Board Games

Posted on April 21, 2020 by The Vintage Toy Advertiser

I’m sharing this wonderful post about 1950s board games, courtesy of fellow WP blogger Retro Dee
So cool! Please visit Retro Dee’s site for more 1950s goodness!

Retro Dee's Guide to the Best Era Ever

Hi folks, it’s Retro Dee and Collecting 1950’s!

Board games are always a fun way to spend a night in with the family. Even today, when video game systems, i-pads and smart phones have taken over the world, nothing is quite like the family fun interaction of a good ole fashioned board game.

Many classics that we still have today were available back then such as “Monopoly”, “Scrabble”, “Sorry”, “Chutes and Ladders”, and my personal favorite, “Clue”.

“Clue” came out just at the end of the 1940’s, and first arrived on the market with simple cartoon drawings depicting the six suspects on the box.

clue1950 “Clue” circa 1950

By 1956, Parker Brothers had already updated Clue, with a bit more detail given to the characters, but not yet the classic Clue game that most of us are familiar with.

clue1956 Suspect cards in “Clue” ca. 1956

Trivia: “Risk” is another classic board…

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Meccano Magazine 1958

Posted on October 16, 2019 by The Vintage Toy Advertiser

Cover of Meccano Magazine N°10, 1958, France.

Following on from my previous post about Frank Hornby’s Meccano toys, here is a Meccano enthusiast magazine sold in France in 1958.

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View-Master reels: Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea – 1954.

Posted on January 5, 2019 by The Vintage Toy Advertiser

The following selected scans are of the Gaf View-Master reels and packaging for Jules Verne’s sci-fi classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

More View-Master goodies can be seen here Thanks for looking 🙂

Reels and packaging images

Slide images

It’s really finicky trying to get images of View-Master slides which are less than an inch in size and more than fifty years old! I tried scanning them at first – to no avail, but ended up with some half-decent camera shots using my trusty Fuji. The set designs and character figures for the narrative are pretty stunning I think.

Thanks for looking 🙂 And big thanks to good friend and fellow WP blogger Spira who sent me the above View-Master reel in a recent trade. Please check out Spira’s wonderful art blog inspiration

Bonus TVTA trivia: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by French writer Jules Verne was originally published in serial format throughout 1869 and 1870. Its first translation into English language occurred in 1873, with many errors in the translation of Verne’s French, including some character changes. The French title – Vingt mille lieues sous les mers actually means Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas – plural, not Sea singular, and relates to the distance travelled under the sea – 80,000 kilometres, and not the depth. The farthest depth reached as mentioned in the novel is only 4 leagues. The novel’s full French title is Vingt mille lieues sous les mers: Tour du monde sous-marin, “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas: A Tour of the Underwater World”. Translation and character errors occurred up until the 1960s and 1990s when attempts were made to translate the novel faithfully to Verne’s original.

Chapeau!

Posted on March 14, 2018 by The Vintage Toy Advertiser

TVTA recently acquired some wonderful examples of early twentieth century advertIsing for hats. Dating from 1925 to 1953, the (mostly) black and white adverts feature famous French brands such as Fléchet, Tirard and Mossant. The original art and photographic images broadly cover the Art Déco period and aim to represent the luxury, style, glamour and technological progress of the times. I’ve include some additional ‘non-hat’ ads that were also included in the acquisition.

Mossant. 1949.

Fléchet. L’Illustration, 1937. France.

Fléchet. L’Illustration. 1937. France.

Fléchet. L’Illustration. 1934.

: Fléchet. L’Illustration. 1935.

: Fléchet. L’Illustration. 1932.

: Fléchet. L’Illustration. 1937.

: Fléchet. L’Illustration. 1934.

: Fléchet. L’Illustration. 1937.

: Fléchet. L’Illustration. 1937.

Tirard. L’Illustration. 1938.

: Tirard. L’Illustration. 1926.

: Tirard. 1925.

Ballot automobile. 1925.

Le Sphinx by Gant Neyret. L’Illustration. 1935.

Vieille Cure. L’Illustration. 1935.

: Carillon Vedette et Bayard. L’Illustration. 1937.

: Ciné Kodak. L’Illustration. 1939.

: Edacoto. L’Illustration. 1938.

: Exposition Deco Ameublement. L’Illustration. 1930.

: Artec. Date unknown.

: Hotchkiss. Le Mirroir Du Monde. 1932.

Mambo. Date unknown.

Morreton. Date unknown.

: Jean Peille. L’Illustration. 1925.

: Morreton. Le Mirroir Du Monde. 1932.

: Priola. L’Illustration. 1926.

Fléchet. 1953.

Afterword. I began preparing this post early this morning. I later heard the news that Stephen Hawking died. I wanted somehow to make a post about him, but as much as I admire his science work and even more so his courage, humour and his kind spirit towards humanity, I couldn’t find apt enough words or images to do justice. So I’d like to dedicate this post to him, and say “hats off” to you, and “chapeau” Mr Hawking.

Selected ads from The Gramophone, September, 1955

Posted on July 10, 2017 by The Vintage Toy Advertiser

The Gramophone is a monthly classical music magazine that was founded in 1923 by the English-born Scottish author Compton Mackenzie and his brother-in-law – Britain’s first DJ Christopher Stone.

Front cover of The Gramophone, September, 1955. Cost – one Shilling.

The issue I acquired is from September, 1955 – VOL. XXXIII – No. 388. It consists of 68 pages of classical and operatic musical reviews and features. There are a number of adverts dedicated to 1950s music recording technology and related accessories, a small selection of which are featured below.