Tag Archives: 1970s

Was Princess Leia’s white gown inspired by Princess Anne’s 1973 wedding dress?

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And how about those ‘buns’?

I’m certain the answer to my question is a big royal no.

But while scanning newspaper ads from a 1973 UK royal wedding special, the moment I saw Princess Anne in her wedding dress my immediate thought was…

… that look … it’s just so Princess Leia!

Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips were married on November 14, 1973, at Westminster Abbey, England. Anne’s wedding dress was created by designer Maureen Baker. Made in Suffolk, England from a speciality silk, it featured a high neckline (Anne’s idea), military-inspired epaulettes picked out in seed pearls, a tiny waist, and long medieval oversleeves with short swelling undersleeves.

Anne’s hair, though not made up in buns like Leia’s, gives a similar effect with its swept back sides, backcombing and a centre parting.

Princess Leia’s simple white hooded gown was designed by John Mollo who had the outfit made at Bermans & Nathan’s, a London costume shop. For me, this costume and the similar one worn at the medal ceremony in 1977’s Star Wars Episode IV – A New Hope, defines the ‘Princess Leia look’. I think it’s a tribute to great costume-making and the talents of actress the late Carrie Fisher who played the role.

Princess dolls

Certainly there are some similarities between these two famous 1970s Princess costumes. And one final similarity… both Princesses have been made into dolls – Anne as a Peggy Nisbet doll and Leia as a Kenner doll.

images:

Princess Anne images taken from Daily Mail, Thursday, November 15, 1973.

Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia photos property of Lucasfilm / Disney.

Peggy Nisbet doll image taken from Bidorbuy.

Kenner doll image taken from imperialgunnery.

Beautiful Crissy by Ideal

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Beautiful Crissy was first marketed by Ideal Toys in 1969. The doll has a unique feature whereby her hair can be ‘grown’ by adjusting a switch on her back to make it longer or shorter. Crissy measures just over 17 inches in height (approx 43 cm) and comes with fashion outfits and accessories, as well as a range of ‘family and friends’ dolls to keep her company.

Scans taken from the Ideal Toy company dealer catalogue, 1972.

ABBA Dolls by Matchbox

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Swedish pop legends ABBA didn’t escape the eye of the toy industry. In the 1970s, British company Matchbox launched a set of dolls based on Agnetha, Benny, Björn and Anni-Frid. The dolls measured 23 cm (9 inches approx) and came with their own costumes. Additional costumes were available to buy separately. The dolls were sold in the UK and other European countries. The below ad is from Denmark, 1978.

Denmark. 1978.

Matchbox made a great job of designing the clothes, even reproducing the famous ‘cat suits’ of Agnetha and Anni-Frid.

ABBA in cat suits, Bengt H Malmqvist. This well-known picture is taken at the Swedish Television building at Gärdet in Stockholm. Owe Sandström designed the wonderful cat suits worn by Anni-Frid and Agnetha. Photo and info taken from abbathemuseum.com

Bonus trivia: so far as TVTA is aware, ABBA is the only group with a palindromic name to score a hit with a palindromic title, namely SOS.

BUCKAROO

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The Vintage Toy Advertiser

Buckaroo is a turn-taking game of balance that inolves hooking items onto the saddle of a mule before it can ‘buck’ the items off. The toy was released in the UK by Ideal in 1970 and went on to become a global hit. Buckaroo is still sold to date and remains a popular toy.

1973 Ideal catalogue page.

UK. Ideal catalogue page. 1972

Bourico . French version of the bucking mule game, Buckaroo .

France. Pif Gadget. 1981. France. Pif Gadget. 1981.

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Office cat tales: this sucks

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NYHED!

This morning, Wooof came up from TVTA’s archives with a strange batch of vintage adverts.
“What you got there, Wooof?” I asked.
“Found these stuffed down the back of that old printing press,” replied the cat.
“That’s no printing press,” I said, “that’s the original TVTA office time machine, which is officially on ice until we get those replacement parts I ordered from 1928.”
“Whatever,” said the cat. “What shall I do with these ads?”
Wooof handed me the ads.
“Good grief,” I said. “Some of these ads are completely weird. No wonder they were hidden behind the time machine!”
“I dare say the previous editor intended to send them to the middle ages or somewhere,” said the cat. “Want me to shred them?”
“No. Let’s scan them double-quick, post them up, and hope no one notices! We can say it was a glitch.”
“Or fake news,” said Wooof. “If you hide them among some of our usual ads, no one will ever notice.”
“Good plan, Wooof” said I.
Cue sounds of office scanner…
… sounds like …
… stur… stur… smag…
… stur…stur… smag…
… stur… stur… smag …

NYHED!

NYHED!

This post was brought to you by office cats, broken time machines and Non-toy ad non-Tuesday Tuesdays.

 

Walt Disney’s Haunted Mansion

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mpc-horror-kits-weird-war-tales-25-1974-01-banner

OBJECT: Model Building  THEME: Disney / Road Runner & Wile E. Coyote / Coca-Cola on wheels  TIMELINE: 1970s  BRAND: MPC  CONSIDERATIONS: Assembly Required / Drink And Drive Responsibly

Model kit making company MPC produced this fiendish set of horror kits based on Walt Disney’s Haunted Mansion, as seen at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. The models came with action features known as ZAP/ACTION.

Page 1 of double page Disney's Haunted Mansion by MPC. 1974. Weird War Tales. US.

Page 1 of double page Disney’s Haunted Mansion by MPC. 1974. Weird War Tales. US.

Page 2 of double page Disney's Haunted Mansion by MPC. 1974. Weird War Tales. US.

Page 2 of double page Disney’s Haunted Mansion by MPC. 1974. Weird War Tales. US.

Beep Beep …

Next is this 1972 ad for MPC’s Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote super car kits … no need for glue, these are from the snap-together range.

US. The Unexpected. 1972.

US. The Unexpected. 1972.

It’s the real thing …

Another MPC production … it’s the “Coke machine on wheels”, the “Carbonated Cruiser”, it’s the 1971 Coke Vending Machine car!

But what exactly is a Vending Machine car?

US. Teen Titans. 1971.

US. Teen Titans. 1971.

The Vending Machine car was built by Steve Tansy and Glen Yealy in 1970 using Coca-Cola vending machine parts. The side panel was actually the door from a vending machine, and there was an ice cooler at the rear to store your bottles of Coke! The project was given blessing by the Coke company who supplied the machines and even suggested some additional features.

You can read more about this cool car here

Thanks for looking!