Map Creation Before Computers – Using T-squares, Rulers and Ink, ca. 1950s

Before the digital era, creating engineering and architectural drawings was an intensely manual and meticulous process. Draftsmen and engineers relied on traditional tools like mechanical pencils, compasses, T-squares, and set squares, working carefully on large sheets of paper. Every line had to be drawn with exact precision, as mistakes were costly and difficult to correct—there was no “undo” button. A single error could force hours of redrawing or even starting the entire blueprint anew, making the task both time-consuming and high-stakes.

Revisions added another layer of complexity. When changes were requested, drafters had to painstakingly erase and redraw sections without damaging surrounding details. For intricate designs, this could stretch over days or even weeks, consuming valuable time and resources. The fear of costly errors often made designers hesitant to experiment or innovate freely, as each iteration carried the risk of significant setbacks. The fragile nature of paper and manual tools meant that every draft felt like a delicate balance between perfection and potential ruin.

The introduction of AutoCAD in 1982 revolutionized this process by shifting drafting from paper to computer screens. This software brought unprecedented speed, precision, and flexibility to design work. Features such as layers, snapping tools, and easy scaling allowed professionals to make quick edits, streamline revisions, and manage complex projects with ease. AutoCAD not only improved efficiency but also expanded creative possibilities, enabling architects and engineers to push boundaries and focus more on innovation rather than repetitive manual labor. This digital transformation forever changed the landscape of technical design.

The Dawn of Cuban Art Deco: Rare Social Magazine Covers of the 1910s

Founded in 1916 by brothers Conrado Walter and Oscar H. Massaguer, Social was far more than a high-society chronicle, it was the intellectual and artistic heartbeat of early 20th-century Cuba. Most notably, it served as the gateway for the Art Deco movement into the island and made global history as the first publication to utilize photolithographic printing. Operating until 1938, the magazine’s journey was a turbulent one, marked by periods of silence as its directors and contributors faced exile and imprisonment for their bold stances.

While Social catered to the sophisticated elite, Conrado Massaguer famously used its pages to satirize the very class it served, blending haute couture with sharp social critique. The magazine was the unofficial voice of the Minorista Group, a collective of intellectuals at the forefront of Cuba’s cultural and political life. Within its vibrant pages, readers found a revolutionary mix of avant-garde poetry, philosophical essays, and art reviews alongside reports on motor racing and interior design.

Social is remembered as a pioneering force that didn’t just follow trends, it defined Cuban identity and modernism for an entire generation. Below is a collection of rare Social magazine covers from the 1910s.

Social cover, August 1916

Social cover, December 1916

Social cover, July 1916

Social cover, November 1916

Social cover, October 1916

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John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Trip to Japan, 1979

In 1979, John Lennon and Yoko Ono spent what would be their final summer together in Japan. This trip was a cornerstone of John’s “house husband” era, a period defined by domesticity, child-rearing, and a deliberate retreat from the music industry.

The family arrived in Japan in late July and stayed for approximately one month. While they spent time in the bustling capital of Tokyo, the heart of the trip was their retreat to the mountains. In the city, the family famously stayed at the Hotel Okura, a landmark of modernist Japanese design. John was known to appreciate the hotel’s quiet elegance and often used the suite to relax and sketch.

They spent a significant portion of the trip in Karuizawa, a historic summer resort town in Nagano Prefecture. This was Yoko’s ancestral summer home, and it provided the privacy John craved. They stayed at the Mampei Hotel, a classic “Showa-era” establishment where John’s favorite spot was the terrace, often ordering “Royal Milk Tea.” One of the most iconic images from this era is of John pedaling a bicycle through the cedar-lined paths of Karuizawa, often with a loaf of French bread from a local bakery in his basket.

The couple frequented the Mikado Coffee Shop in the Kyu-Karuizawa Ginza district. John was particularly fond of their “Moka Soft” (coffee-flavored soft serve ice cream). In a poignant memoir, Yoko later recalled visiting a small coffee house in a pine forest near Karuizawa. During their 1979 visit, John left his lighter there. They intended to go back for it “tomorrow,” but the rainy season started, and they eventually left for New York without it. When Yoko returned years later, the owner still had it waiting for her.

During these Japanese summers, John studied the Japanese language and became deeply fascinated by Zen and Haiku. He filled sketchbooks with drawings and Japanese characters, exploring concepts like Wabi-sabi (the beauty of imperfection). This 1979 visit was the last of four consecutive summers (1977–1979) the family spent in Japan. By this time, John had fully embraced his role as a father to young Sean. The anonymity he found in Japan allowed him to live as a “regular person,” a freedom that directly influenced the peaceful, domestic themes found in his comeback album, Double Fantasy, which he would begin recording the following year.

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Mary Pickford Before and After She Bobbed Her Hair

The transition of Mary Pickford’s hair from her signature “golden curls” to a short “bob” in June 1928 was one of the most shocking cultural events of the 1920s. For over a decade, her long, ringlet-styled hair had served as a global symbol of innocence and purity, earning her the title “the girl with the curls.”

Pickford’s iconic look consisted of roughly 20 thick ringlets that fell to her waist. This hairstyle was not just a fashion choice but a powerful branding tool. Her curls represented Victorian-style innocence and childhood. This allowed her to continue playing young girls and “Cinderella” roles well into her 30s.

Maintaining the style was labor-intensive. She spent a full day every two weeks washing her hair and used leather “curling rags” to set the ringlets. Her hair was famously valued at $20,000 per curl in contemporary press reports.

Following the death of her mother and the rise of “flapper” stars like Clara Bow, Pickford decided she needed a more mature image. On June 21, 1928, she secretly visited a New York beauty parlor to have her hair cut by stylist Charles Bock. She requested a “long bob” rather than a severe “shingle” to better suit her features.

“I had to take a courageous stand, once and for all... They’ve become a stumbling block to the future of my career.” As the barber snipped off the 20 long ringlets, she reportedly said: “Well, they’re gone and I’m glad.”

The news of the haircut made front-page headlines worldwide, with some fans writing her indignant letters as if she had “murdered someone.” She saved the cut ringlets, eventually donating some to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, where they remain part of the collection.

Post-cut, Pickford debuted a trendy, wavy bob that aligned with the “sophisticated” style of the late 1920s.  She showed off her new short hair in her first “talkie,” Coquette, playing a reckless socialite.

“I wasn’t at all prepared for the avalanche of criticism that overwhelmed me from all corners of the earth,” she said. “You would have thought I had murdered someone, and perhaps I had, but only to give her successor a chance to live.”

“For weeks I told myself that I shouldn’t have done it. I thought it would free me... and I suppose in a way it did, because I began to feel a change in me personally, a sense of ease and liberation I hadn’t known before.”

While she won a Best Actress Oscar for Coquette, the transition was professionally difficult. The public struggled to accept her in mature roles, and she retired from acting only a few years later in 1933. 

Publicity Photos of Carolyn Jones as Morticia Addams in the TV Series “The Addams Family”

Carolyn Jones portrayed Morticia Addams in the original 1964 television series The Addams Family, a role that became her most enduring legacy. As the first actress to bring Charles Addams’ cartoon matriarch to life, she defined the character's mix of gothic glamour, deadpan wit, and aristocratic poise.

Naturally a strawberry blonde, Jones kept her hair dyed black for the role and wore a long, center-parted raven wig. Her makeup featured pale foundation and lipstick so dark it appeared black under black and white filming. She wore a floor-length, skin-tight black hobble skirt with “octopus-like” fabric tendrils at the hem, designed to mimic Charles Addams’ original sketches. Jones eventually donated this costume to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Jones played Morticia as a calm, self-possessed woman who treated her family’s macabre interests as completely normal. She was known for her whispery, musical voice and her habit of trimming roses by clipping off the buds and keeping only the thorny stems. Her chemistry with John Astin (Gomez Addams) was a series highlight. Their passionate relationship, characterized by Gomez’s “Cara Mia” exclamations and Morticia speaking French to drive him wild, was groundbreaking for 1960s television.

Within the series, Jones also portrayed Morticia’s flighty, blonde older sister, Ophelia Frump, and the female version of Thing known as Lady Fingers.

Before finding television immortality, Jones was an Academy Award-nominated film actress, recognized for her work in The Bachelor Party (1957) and House of Wax (1953). Her portrayal of Morticia set the definitive blueprint for the character, influencing every subsequent adaptation, including Anjelica Huston’s performance in the 1990s films.

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London in the 1950s Through Hardwicke Knight’s Lens

Post-war London in the 1950s was a city of stark contrasts, transitioning from the gray austerity of the 1940s to the vibrant dawn of a new Elizabethan era. The decade began with the city still scarred by the Blitz, characterized by foggy “pea-souper” smogs and the lingering presence of ration books.

However, the 1951 Festival of Britain acted as a “tonic for the nation,” injecting a sense of modernism and colorful optimism into the South Bank. As the years progressed, the soot-stained Victorian architecture began to share the skyline with the first flickers of glass-and-steel reconstruction, signaling a city reinventing itself.

The atmosphere of 1950s London was defined by the rhythmic clatter of red double-decker RT-type buses and the sight of gentlemen in bowler hats juxtaposed with the emerging “Teddy Boy” subculture in South London. It was a time of traditional tea rooms and smoky jazz clubs in Soho, where the old-world colonial influence met a new wave of Commonwealth immigration, forever enriching the city’s cultural fabric.

These fascinating photos were taken by Hardwicke Knight, showcasing the vibrant and evolving street scenes of London in the 1950s.

Drink stand, London

431 bus to Sevenoaks, Five Bells pub on the left, Chelsfield, South East London

Alan Ladd in ‘Desert Legion’, Piccadilly Circus, London

Albert Embankment, London

Barnet, London, showing gas holder

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40 Vintage Postcards That Capture the Motel Pools of Mid-Century America

In the mid-20th century, the swimming pool became the sparkling blue crown jewel of the American motel, symbolizing the ultimate dream of leisure and the post-war roadside escape. As the “Golden Age of the Highway” flourished, a motel without a pool was often seen as merely a place to sleep, while one with a pool was a destination in itself. These aquatic oases, often kidney-shaped or rectangular and surrounded by vibrant lounge chairs, offered a refreshing sanctuary for weary families traveling across the vast stretches of Route 66 or the burgeoning Interstate Highway System.

The motel pool was more than just a place to swim, it was a vibrant social hub of Americana, characterized by neon signs, concrete diving boards, and the distinct scent of chlorine mixed with summer heat. From the luxurious courtyards of the “Googie” style motels in Florida and California to the modest, family-run motor inns of the Midwest, these pools represented a newfound middle-class luxury that was accessible to everyone with a car and a map.

Dive into the nostalgic charm of the 1950s and ’60s with these vivid vintage postcards, showcasing swimming pools that defined the American motel experience.

Arizona. Vinton Manor Apartment Hotel, 3312 North Central, Phoenix

Arizona. 4th & Country Club Apartments, 3033 E. 6th Street, Tucson

Arizona. Aladdin Apartments, 705 North Alvernon, Tucson

Arizona. Alkay Apartment Lodge, 2238 East Thomas Road, Phoenix

Arizona. Arizona Ambassador Apartment Motel, 335 Maryland Avenue, Phoenix

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