Playboy founder Hugh Hefner has passed away. Hef grew up dreaming of becoming a cartoonist, but found that his greater talents lay in his ability to envision a personal view and approach to living that, as it turned out, many men could relate to. The would-be cartoonist and his creation, Playboy, became a major influence in the 1950s and 1960s, entertaining a way of life based on pleasure, curiosity, and a male aesthetic. He rebelled against the stifling Puritan traditions in the culture, calling out their hypocrisies, and rejected the post-war American ideal based on family and a suburban lifestyle. Instead, he championed what he believed to be a liberating outlook rooted in natural instincts (from a male-fantasy point of view) and his magazine sported gorgeous gals, cutting-edge humor and fiction (he said James Bond and Playboy were a natural pair), hi-tech gadgets, and images of modern pads that electrified the imaginations of men weary of caving to the nine-to-five paradigm of the grey flannel suit-set. History professor Elizabeth Fraterrigo has written a study of the magazine’s influence: “In the 1950s and 1960s, Playboy promoted a decidedly masculine vision for the realms of home, work, and leisure in its textual and literal construction of their spatial corollaries- the bachelor pad, the white-collar office, and the realm of urban nightlife- which served as counterpoints to the cultural emphasis on the suburban-situated nuclear-family home. Through its magazine, television programs, and key-clubs, Playboy identified spaces where men could craft and nurture a masculine identity based on style, leisure, and consumption” (Elizabeth Fraterrigo/UNLV). He was a well-known movie fan and he shared his passion through film preservation and conservation and regular screenings of classic movies at his mansion. Hef was also a patron of the arts and champion of free speech and civil rights. He used the Playboy banner to host an annual jazz festival, as well as to spotlight innovative and revolutionary thinkers and entertainers on his television programs, Playboy's Penthouse and Playboy After Dark (I recommend the Lenny Bruce and Pete Seeger episodes). One of his most controversial debates was with William F. Buckley Jr. in 1966 (watch it on Youtube). His political work continued into his final years, proclaiming that the fight for gay marriage was the continuing fight for the sexual revolution against our past, puritanical times. Hef was married five times and had four children. He finally hung up his velvet robe and left today at the age of ninety-one. Mark Hammill posted today on Twitter: "1st met him months B4 Star Wars opened- Expected stereotyped swinger/wildman not the kind-thoughtful loyal friend he always was to ML and me." Rest in peace. Related posts: Interview: Playboy Deana and Swinging London.
Selected Spy Vibe Posts: Jack Good R.I.P., Interview: Shaken Not Stirred, Callan 50th, Spy Vibe Radio 7, The Prisoner 50th Event, Spy-Fi Event, Kaho Aso 007, Two Million, Bo Diddley, Carnaby Pop, Le Carre Events, Billy Bragg Skiffle, Elvis 68, Jack Kirby The Prisoner, Casino Royale Concert, Review: The Prisoner Vol 2, Interview: The Prisoner Essential Guide, Maud Russell Mottisfont, Spy Vibe Radio 4, Batman Gallants, Adam West R.I.P., Village Triangle, Roger Moore R.I.P., Spy Vibe Radio 3, Sgt Pepper 50th, Satanik Kriminal OST, 60s Overdrive, Make Love in London, Spy Vibe Radio 2, Spy Vibe Radio 1, James Bond Strips, Propaganda Mabuse, Interview: Police Surgeon, XTC Avengers, 1966 Pep Spies, Batman Book Interview, Exclusive Fleming Interview, Avengers Comic Strips, Robert Vaughn RIP, UNCLE Fashions, Thunderbirds Are Pop!, Interview:Spy Film Guide, Lost Avengers Found, The Callan File, Mission Impossible 50th, Green Hornet 50th, Star Trek 50th, Portmeirion Photography 1, Filming the Prisoner, Gaiman McGinnins Project, Ian Fleming Grave, Revolver at 50, Karen Romanko Interview, Mod Tales 2, Umbrella Man: Patrick Macnee, New Beatles Film, The Curious Camera, Esterel Fashion 1966, Exclusive Ian Ogilvy Interview, 007 Tribute Covers, The Phantom Avon novels return, Ian Fleming Festival, Argoman Design, Sylvia Anderson R.I.P., Ken Adam R.I.P., George Martin R.I.P., The New Avengers Comics, Trina Robbins Interview, The Phantom at 80, 007 Manga, Avengerworld Book, Diana Rigg Auto Show, The Prisoner Audio Drama Review.
Have a Mod Hi-Fi party with Jane & Serge today! You can see this futuristic bubble-turntable in action in the video below, and be sure to check out Friday's post about the new Jane Birkin/Serge Gainsbourg art book. Happy Saturday!
Recent Spy Vibe posts: The Goldfinger Variations, Mod Tales Interview, Pete Seeger nominated for Grammy, Kraftwerk returns to US, Beatles BBC on Fresh Air, Steranko S.H.I.E.L.D. Artist Editions, David Tennant's Ian Fleming audio books, Atomic Art, Modern Architecture LP, Julius Shulman, The Prisoner and Captain Scarlet, HMV returns to Oxford st w Beatles promo, Diego Fortunato and Verner Panton, Saturday Morning Cartoons, Assassination Bureau on DVD, new Young Bond series, new Beatles BBC album, new Hercule Poirot novel, Early Beatles image archive, Julie Newmar, Erno Goldfinger, Hitchcock tribute.
Recent Ian Fleming posts on Spy Vibe: Erno Goldfinger, Ian Fleming Music Series links: Noel Coward, Whispering Jack Smith, Hawaiian Guitar, Joe Fingers Carr, new Ian Fleming Catalog, Jon Gilbert interview, Double 007 Designs, Bond audio book reissues, discovery of one of Ian Fleming's WWII Commandos, James Bond book covers, Ian Fleming's Playboy interview for Kindle, Spy Vibe's discovery of a rare Ian Fleming serialization, rare View to a Kill, Fleming's Royal gold typewriter, Ian Fleming's memorial address, Spy Vibe's Ian Fleming image archive.
Looking for a luxury lair to rent for your next secret rendezvous? If Ian Fleming's GoldenEye estate is already booked in Jamaica, consider lounging at Frank Sinatra's Twin Palms in California. Designed in 1947 by E. Stewart Williams, this Mid-Century Modern estate sports a swanky living room area with Sinatra's original home recording outfit by Valentino Electronics of Hollywood, a piano-shaped pool, and four luxury master and guest rooms for your agents and minions. The house has been restored with vintage designer furnishings and memorabilia and has been featured in Architectural Digest, Town and Country, The Travel Channel, and many other media outlets. The Sinatra House is situated in the Movie Colony neighborhood of Palm Springs, where Sinatra lived for ten years. Living it up like Ol' Blue Eyes doesn't come cheap, however, so consider booking after world domination. Rental info here. Below are contemporary images from the official site, where you can compare with vintage photos from Sinatra's time. More about Twin Palms here. Learn more with Palm Springs Mid-Century Modern and Julius Shulman: Palm Springs.
Related Spy Vibe posts: Dieter Rams Braun exhibit, Schulz Modern, Futuro Cool, Cold War Lairs, Julius Shulman, Modern Architecture LP, Erno Goldfinger, Fortunato vs. Panton, Set For Adventure.
Recent Spy Vibe posts: The Goldfinger Variations, Mod Tales Interview, Kraftwerk returns to US, Beatles BBC on Fresh Air, Steranko S.H.I.E.L.D. Artist Editions, David Tennant's Ian Fleming audio books, Atomic Art, Modern Architecture LP, Julius Shulman, The Prisoner and Captain Scarlet, HMV returns to Oxford st w Beatles promo, Diego Fortunato and Verner Panton, Saturday Morning Cartoons, Assassination Bureau on DVD, new Young Bond series, new Beatles BBC album, new Hercule Poirot novel, Early Beatles image archive, Julie Newmar, Erno Goldfinger, Hitchcock tribute.
Recent Ian Fleming posts on Spy Vibe: Erno Goldfinger, Ian Fleming Music Series links: Noel Coward, Whispering Jack Smith, Hawaiian Guitar, Joe Fingers Carr, new Ian Fleming Catalog, Jon Gilbert interview, Double 007 Designs, Bond audio book reissues, discovery of one of Ian Fleming's WWII Commandos, James Bond book covers, Ian Fleming's Playboy interview for Kindle, Spy Vibe's discovery of a rare Ian Fleming serialization, rare View to a Kill, Fleming's Royal gold typewriter, Ian Fleming's memorial address, Spy Vibe's Ian Fleming image archive.
Some of my agents have been looking at stylish stereos from the 1960s and it's difficult to top the designs made for Braun by Dieter Rams. Here is post with images I took at his SFMOMA exhibit.
If your secret lair or bachelor pad has a modernist vibe, employing minimal Ikea shelving systems or Apple computer products, your environment owes a lot to German industrial designer, Dieter Rams. Rams, who is recently retired, was the visionary behind decades of sleek and functional gadgets produced by Braun and home organization and furniture by Visoe. If you're like me, you might have grown up in a household filled with Rams-designed clocks, coffee grinders and coffee-makers, juicers, hair dryers, and electric razors. Rams also designed cameras, and my favorite, a long line of stereo components and speakers. The philosophy that tied his work together was the notion that objects should be created to be instantly understood and useful. His pieces had a beautiful simplicity and functionality that were a direct inspiration for Apple products. In his foreword to a new book about Rams, Apple designer Jonathan Ive said, “surfaces that were without apology, bold, pure, perfectly-proportioned, coherent and effortless. No part appeared to be either hidden or celebrated, just perfectly considered and completely appropriate in the hierarchy of the product’s details and features. At a glance, you knew exactly what it was and exactly how to use it (Examiner)."
The exhibit, Less is More: The Design Ethos of Dieter Rams, ran at SFMOMA from Aug 2011 through Feb 2012. From SFMOMA: "Widely regarded as one of the most influential industrial designers of our time, Dieter Rams produced iconic works and innovative ideas (in particular his advocacy for "less but better" design) that have proved seminal for our contemporary design culture. For more than 40 years, Rams was the lead designer for the German household appliance company Braun. He has also been the active designer for German furniture company Vitsœ since his start there in 1959. This exhibition includes more than 200 models and objects by Rams and his team, as well as contemporary designs influenced by his Ten Principles of Good Design, such as Apple computers."
Here are some preview images I made at the museum to share with Spy Vibers. The piece that excited me most was his 1956 record player, the SK4 (image #6 below). When the original sheet metal hood rattled at higher volumes, Rams suggested using a transparent plastic lid- a material that only recently had appeared on the market. Detractors thought the plastic hood was too much in line with temporary fashion (see Spy Vibe's article Fear and Fashion), and the SK4 was nicknamed "Snow White's Coffin". Of course, the clear cover became ubiquitous around the world and changed the look of turntables forever. To learn more, check out the books, Dieter Rams: As Little Design as Possible, Less and More: The Design Ethos of Dieter Rams, Braun- Fifty Years of Design and Innovation. There is also a short video presentation with Rams at SFMOMA on Vimeo. Portrait above from the nice overview post, Who is Dieter Rams?
Spy Vibe has a birthday coming up- and I'm giving away the presents! Stay tuned for details about how to enter for vintage prizes. I had a chance to explore some really fun articles and new discoveries this year. As a run-up to our blog birthday, here is Spy Vibe's Top Ten list of favorite topics from 2012.
Spy Vibe's 2012 Top Ten #8: Dieter Rams Exhibit. Originally reported on December 28th, 2011, for an exhibit that ran through February, 2012. If your secret lair or bachelor pad has a modernist vibe, employing minimal Ikea shelving systems or Apple computer products, your environment owes a lot to German industrial designer, Dieter Rams. Rams, who is recently retired, was the visionary behind decades of sleek and functional gadgets produced by Braun and home organization and furniture by Visoe. If you're like me, you might have grown up in a household filled with Rams-designed clocks, coffee grinders and coffee-makers, juicers, hair dryers, and electric razors. Rams also designed cameras, and my favorite, a long line of stereo components and speakers. The philosophy that tied his work together was the notion that objects should be created to be instantly understood and useful. His pieces had a beautiful simplicity and functionality that were a direct inspiration for Apple products. In his foreword to a new book about Rams, Apple designer Jonathan Ive said, “surfaces that were without apology, bold, pure, perfectly-proportioned, coherent and effortless. No part appeared to be either hidden or celebrated, just perfectly considered and completely appropriate in the hierarchy of the product’s details and features. At a glance, you knew exactly what it was and exactly how to use it (Examiner)."
The exhibit, Less is More: The Design Ethos of Dieter Rams, ran at SFMOMA until February 20th, 2012. From SFMOMA: "Widely regarded as one of the most influential industrial designers of our time, Dieter Rams produced iconic works and innovative ideas (in particular his advocacy for "less but better" design) that have proved seminal for our contemporary design culture. For more than 40 years, Rams was the lead designer for the German household appliance company Braun. He has also been the active designer for German furniture company Vitsœ since his start there in 1959. This exhibition includes more than 200 models and objects by Rams and his team, as well as contemporary designs influenced by his Ten Principles of Good Design, such as Apple computers."
Here are some preview images I made at the museum to share with Spy Vibers. The piece that excited me most was his 1956 record player, the SK4 (image #6 below). When the original sheet metal hood rattled at higher volumes, Rams suggested using a transparent plastic lid- a material that only recently had appeared on the market. Detractors thought the plastic hood was too much in line with temporary fashion (see Spy Vibe's article Fear and Fashion), and the SK4 was nicknamed "Snow White's Coffin". Of course, the clear cover became ubiquitous around the world and changed the look of turntables forever. To learn more, check out the books, Dieter Rams: As Little Design as Possible, Less and More: The Design Ethos of Dieter Rams, Braun- Fifty Years of Design and Innovation. There is also a short video presentation with Rams at SFMOMA on Vimeo. Portrait above from the nice overview post, Who is Dieter Rams?
