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Alternative music Christmas cards by Piper Gates Design

Alternative music Christmas cards by Piper Gates Design

20 affordable retro tech gift ideas

20 affordable retro tech gift ideas

10 of the best retro alarm clocks

10 of the best retro alarm clocks

Categories / Food and Drink

Original Arctic Roll returns to the supermarket shelves

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Arcticroll

A 1970s favourite that went out of fashion in the 1990s is back on the market – Arctic Roll, courtesy of Bird’s Eye.

For the uninitiated, Arctic Roll is a tough one to describe – think vanilla ice cream wrapped in a layer of sponge cake, with some raspberry jam holding things together. And it comes out of the freezer, meaning just a spot of defrosting is required to hit optimum temperature!

The new version comes complete with a 70s-style box and indeed a new flavour – a chocolate variation (with chocolate ice cream, sponge and sauce) is also heading to the supermarket freezer. Look out for it from this month, priced around £1.99.

Bird’s Eye website

Categories / Books

Retro Retro: Fictional Flashbacks edited by Amy Prior

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Retroretro

In between mince pies and mulled wine I found time over Christmas to read “Retro Retro: Fictional Flashbacks” edited by Amy Prior. For this anthology of short stories, 16 writers have taken the theme of our collective obsession with the recent past and its culture.

As is often the case with short story collections, this is very much a mixed bag, but there are enough good stories in here to make it worth buying. Amongst the best are Nicholas Royle’s “Empty Boxes” about a man’s obsession with disused cinemas in London, Joyce Carol Oates’ “Strand Used Books 1956” about a chance meeting with Marilyn Monroe in a bookshop and Tony White’s “The Jet Set Girls” which recreates the gangster milieu of 1960s Soho.

It is available to buy from various Amazon Marketplace sellers for as little as 1p, which even with the postage and packaging costs still makes it under £3.

Categories / Homeware

1920s Cocktail Wall Tiles

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Cocktailtiles

Florian Tiles are family run business that has been producing unusual tiles since the 1960s. Designs include scenes from Alice in Wonderland and vintage cars and trains, but my favourite is the Cocktails collection.

The six designs all feature a sophisticated lady in 1920s dress along with a recipe for a popular cocktail such as Gin Fizz or Manhattan Cocktail. A regular tile to add to your kitchen wall costs £13.25 but they can also be adapted for other uses, for example as table mats (£21), clocks (from 24) or as part of a cheeseboard (£33).

For further details and to view the whole collection visit the Florian Tiles website.

Categories / Art and Photography, Film and TV

Robert Fraser: Groovy Curator at London’s Barbican

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Groovybob

If you have any interest in the 60s London art scene, you might want to get down to Robert Fraser: Groovy Curator on 27th January 2009 at London’s Barbican.

The event is a mix of talk and rare art films, the former being a Q&A with Harriet Vyner, the biographer of famed London art dealer Robert Fraser, the man responsible for introducing the London art world to Peter Blake, Jim Dine, Richard Hamilton, Bridget Riley and Andy Warhol among others. Vyner’s book – Groovy Bob – tells Fraser’s story through the voices of those who new him best, which includes the likes of Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Marianne Faithfull, Kenneth Anger, Dennis Hopper and Vyner herself.

Aside from the Q&A, four rarely-seen associated films are also showing – see over the page for full details of those. Tickets are available now, priced at £7.50.

Read more

Categories / Design and Interiors

Cherner mid-century armchair

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Cherner_armchair

Not an armchair in the traditional sense, but the Cherner armchair is every bit the design classic.

Originally hitting the market in 1958, it’s a moulded plywood armchair ergonomically designed for comfort, with the added bonus of being a stylish looker too, thanks to the curves and graduated thickness of the wood.

This reissue has been remade using the original drawings and moulds, with a choice of walnut, ebony and natural finishes. Prices start at £850.

Find out more at the Nest website

Categories / Design and Interiors

Willy Guhl 1950s Loop Chair

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Loop_chair

Cement and style are rarely seen in the same sentence, but if you’re on the look out for a designer seat for indoor/outdoor (or conservatory use), the Willy Guhl Loop Chair could be for you.

Dating back to 1954, the Loop is made of Eternit, widely used in the building trade and offering a mix of cement and (would you believe) air to offer something structurally strong, but at the same time light and easy to manipulate – as the curves of the Loop (and accompanying table) shows.

A modernist classic now back on the market, it’s yours for £350.

Find out more at the TwentyTwentyOne website