Saturday, March 31, 2007

Communist China

Communist China. Meaning china sold under Communist rule. I think these objects, especially the decanters, are clearly the tools of the class enemy. That rhetoric may have been important for revolutionaries from 1945 to 1955. By 1968, however, the party had embraced its inner class enemy. Perhaps for most people, a decanter was always a decanter was always a decanter, still is a decanter.
These images are from the Nama katalog, winter 1968-69 (please see post below for the cover).

A good blog you might like

The following blog is by Grant McCracken. Most of you know who he is. And for those of you who don't, I can advise you to read his blog if you like cultural commentary that is observant and straddles the lines of mundane and sophisticated in a way that has harmony.
http://www.cultureby.com/trilogy/

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Communist Department Store

Nama is a department store in Zagreb. There are three convenient locations: Ilica (next to the main square), Krvatric, and Crnomerec. Nama during state socialism was the equivalent of Sears Roebuck. It was a communist (or state socialist) department store. Here is the cover from the fall-winter 1968-69 catalogue.
I just bought this on Sunday at an antiques market. The catalog is in very good condition and I think it is a good investment. Lots of color photos to use as illustrations in publications and presentations. Oh, and just fun to look at. I always look at fashion from other eras and think, "wow, they thought that was fashionable, hilarious!" Or, sometimes, I like to think of what I would have liked to have worn if I were living in that era.
I'll show some of the contents in later blogs. You can enjoy the game...
Posted by Picasa

Monday, March 05, 2007

Sljeme





A perfect Sunday morning at Sljeme... some photos of and from the lift cars as well as a bit of the view of Zagreb from the trip up the mountain.