The Colour Collaborative: August

Source: James Vaughan

 Vintage 50's...

When I think of the fifties, I think of domestic goddesses at work like in the picture above, I think of rock and roll, diners and poodle skirts, neck scarfs tied on the side, bowling shoes and pony tails.  I think of Grease, leather jackets, quiffed hair and pink Cadillacs.  Twin sets and pearls, Marilyn Monroe, glorious Technicolor, White Christmas and Bing Crosby.  When I think of the 50's, I think of America.

And when I think of the colours of the 50's I think of cherry reds, dark jades, pale teals and duck egg blues, of rich candy pink and bright aqua, of lemon yellow, atomic grey tones and the solid red, black, white and shiny silver of diners.  The fabulous fifties have inspired me before and the blanket that was the result is one of my absolute favourites.  The colour combinations in it are gorgeous to me.

So I was very happy to take another delve around the decade and see what colours it would throw up.

First stop is that perfect house wife image portrayed in a million different adverts.  The immaculate coffered hair, the pristine pressed piny and the dinner waiting on the table.  The adverts seem simple and direct, the colours eye-catching and strong.  I particularly love the colours in this advert for Crown wallpaper.  They make a pretty little palette.

Source: Crown/ellietennant.com

Then of course, the classic American diner.

It's a style that screams 50's to me.  Along with those full skirted girls with pop-socks and a ribbon tied around their pony-tails.  The stark black and white, brought alive with a loud shouting red and all encased in a bright, shiny silver.  But you can also find evidence those candy sweet pinks and vibrant aqua blues that were also popular in this decade.  Again, lots of bright cheerful and optimistic colour.

Source (Clockwise from top left): Antonin Rémond,Danielle Olson, Jenny Lee Silver, Rossie

The fifties was a time of the 'Atomic Age' and the spidery line and ball forms of molecular structures and Atomic Design were hugely influential in graphic prints and in the home.  I always think of iron filling greys and lemon yellows when I imagine that atomic look.  But primary colours were also used a lot in the molecular or 'cocktail cherry' designs.

I love the more muted palette these Sanderson wallpapers and fabric create though.

Source (Clockwise from top left):  'Mobiles', 'Seaweed', 'Perpetua',  'Festival', 'Fi-Fi' - All by Sanderson

As I said in the beginning, all of these references of mine are American.  Darling America seems to have dominated the decade completely.  In fact, I was hard pushed to think of a single British reference from that time.  After a little thought, I came up with Teddy Boys, but of course, they were massively associated with Rock 'n' Roll from where?  America, of course.

Here in Britain, we seemed to be pre-occupied with recovering from a World War, we were dark, dreary and grey.  Rationing was still in place at the beginning of the 50's, as my Dad has told me on more than one occasion.  The bright, brash, fun and exciting things happening across the wide ocean must have seemed like a whole other world, and a much better one.  No wonder we lapped it up with abandon.

I did think of one, very British event from fifties Britain though, the Festival of Britain.  Expressly designed with the idea of 'cheering up' the Great British public after the War, the Festival was supposed celebrate design, science and technology and generally promote the recovery of the country.

Whether or not that worked, I can't say but I can't help thinking that any Festival that could produce a booklet like this one below, can't have been a bad thing.

Source: Festival of Britain/shelfappeal

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Don't forget to check out the other great 'Colour Collaborative' blogs
for more of today's posts about vintage colour...

What is The Colour Collaborative? 

All creative bloggers make stuff, gather stuff, shape stuff, and share stuff. Mostly they work on their own, but what happens when they work together? Is a creative collaboration greater than the sum of its parts? We think so and we hope you will too. We'll each be offering our own monthly take on a colour related theme, and hoping that in combination our ideas will encourage us, and perhaps you, to think about colour in new ways.

S x

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