Steve's Retro Blog
The retro blog is my take on the world of retro, both in the news and from the past. I cover design, furniture, interiors, fashion and gadgets. Just about anything fun or amusing from the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s.
Steven Braggs (founder - Retrowow)
Record price for vintage mobile
6 September 2009A 1980s mobile phone sold for an amazing £460 on eBay today. The phone was a Motorola bearing a BT logo. It may have been the coveted Dynatac 8000X, the world's first mobile phone. I say may have been because the seller's photograph was rather blurred that it was difficult to tell. It could have been a later 8000M.
The reason for this amazing price was a recent Daily Mail article. See Hello, I'm on the brick! in which it was claimed that the BT versions of the Motorola 8000X sell for £1000.
I was surprised at the seller's approach. He was by no means a first time trader, but took a very indistinct picture and described it as 'The Brick, 1986 Motorola Vintage'. The only extra information was 'Was this the first mobile phone?'
Read more: Brick mobile phones
Check out eBay -
Park Hill Flats, Sheffield
1 September 2009Did you see the BBC2 programme 'Saving Britain's Past - Streets in the Sky' last night? The subject was the Park Hill Flats in Sheffield and their famous or infamous 'Streets in the Sky'. The architects brought the community of traditional streets to a modern setting, with modern facilities. For a time it worked. Such a bold plan would be doomed to failure today. The question we should be asking is not why Park Hill failed, but what have we lost?
Retro breakfast
29 August 2009
I spotted this retro breakfast in Bath at the Retro Café. They do a range of salads was well as the traditional fry up. Enjoy!
Cath Kidston Roberts Radio
11 August 2009
Cath Kidston designed this lovely pattern for Roberts Revival Radio, left. It has a faded flower power feel to it. You can almost imagine that this radio was around in the Summer of Love.
Retro radios are a great way to get the retro look with a new product.
See our review of retro radios
Buy it from Amazon - Revival DAB Cath Kidston -Electric Flowers
Retro Olympus Pen
25 July 2009
There have been rumours of a serious retro style digital camera for over a year now. Olympus have finally made the bold step and put one into production. The Olympus E-P1 is a small, but highly functional camera that owes much to the Company's heritage. Olympus make no secret that the styling is heavily influenced by the Olympus Pen range, launched in 1959.
The camera is aimed at the serious amateur, or semi pro market. In the past,Olympus made small, but high performing cameras, from the original Pen range to the innovative OM series, which set the standard for professional cameras in the 70s.
See also original Olympus Pen EE and new Olympus Pen
The new retro Olympus E-P1 sells for £700 see Olympus Pen E-P1 Micro Four Thirds Digital SLR Camera (14-42mm Silver Lens Kit) - Silver
Jaguar to drop retro X-Type
15 July 2009
Jaguar is to drop its retro style compact saloon, the X-type. X-type production was to have gone onto 2010, but the small Jag has fallen victim to the recession. Jaguar will be making 300 workers redundant.
The demise of the X-type marks the end of Jaguar's new retro style cars. Read more Jaguar X-type - a retrospective
Retro on eBay
4 July 2009What are the hottest retro categories on eBay right now? I searched for the term 'retro' and found that the main headings are:
- Home and garden
- Clothes, shoes and accessories
- Collectibles
- Sporting goods
- Mobile and home phones
Retro style furniture and interior decor is really taking off in a big way, with many top retailers stocking retro or retro inspired furniture and gadgets. Heals, for example, has some great retro sideboards by Orla Kiely and some fabulous retro clocks. If you want the real thing though, eBay is often the best source, but you need to know what you are looking for.
Interest in retro phones has been strong for several years, but mobile phones seemed to have got their own retro following. Did you see the brick phones they had on 'Supersizers eat...the 80s'? You can still catch it on BBC iPlayer - see BBC iplayer - The Supersizers Eat...the eighties Remember to stay in for the 'Supersizers eat...the 50s' next week.
Retro wallpaper - 50s style
31 May 2009
'Look, this one matches your cravat dear'. In the 50s, it was a wife's duty to choose the right colour scheme for the home. Attitudes may have changed, but retro style wallpapers inspired by the 50s are back in fashion.
In the 50s you could chose from polka dots, abstract patterns or more traditional, floral designs. It was all about contrasting colours. It was trendy to mix and match two different wallpapers in the same room. You had to make one big choice though, contemporary or traditional.
Read our guide to Retro wallpaper
Joy for owners of white bathrooms
27 May 2009
What did you do with a boring white bathroom suite in the 60s? Answer: cover it with Contact self-stick vinyl covering, in a jazzy abstract pattern.
Stick on vinyl, often known by the trade name 'Fablon' (or as per Blue Peter - sticky back plastic), was a favourite way to improve an old piece of furniture in the 60s.
Read more about retro bathrooms
Retro kitchen colours
25 May 2009
These days our lives are more packaged. Manufacturers give us a choice of different styles and themes for our kitchens. You can get the country cottage look, the ultra modern look, even the retro look, but with a rather limited choice of colours. In the sixties there were fewer styles, but a much wider choice of colours.
This selection is from 1966. Sixties kitchen colours
Retro carpets
16 May 2009
I remember when we first moved into our house over twelve years ago, a colleague asked my wife if it had 'swirly carpets'. Clearly something nasty. The previous owners' taste was a multi-shaded, brown, 80s nylon carpet. This look from the late 70s and 80s is still languishing in the bad taste bin.
In the 60s people liked random, abstract patterns on their floors, this gloriously retro carpet, left, is from 1965.
The design is an Axminster weave. Axminster carpets can be woven with a number of colours, usually in a traditional pattern. But in the 50s and 60s abstract designs were in vogue. The Axminster weave was a wonderful way to make your floor look like a modern art masterpiece.
The Jackson Pollock inspired look for the floor was deeply unpopular for many years. Could it be poised for a comeback?