Charm and Delight

My last post inspired a new thought. In my previous post I commented that only people who lived during the time of a certain entertainer or social movement could fully understand it for what it was, and this appreciation is lost on later generations who can only look back academically on what came before, devoid of emotional understanding of the era. Ah! But now I realize that later generations gain something unique.

Nowadays, only BECAUSE we live in times of redefined values and changed experiences can we now find previously unknown delight and charm in old things. Back in the 1950s, for example, advertising style was just what it was. Nothing particularly charming at the time. But nowadays, the 1950s style of illustration, catalog photos, drive-in restaurant neon signs, movies, and even furniture, cars and small home appliances is looked back on as charming and delightfully retro! Because we consider our world today as complicated and with utilitarian design and cheap construction, we look back on 1950s advertising as charmingly naive and 1950s design as more colorful, whimsical, sparkly, hefty and all kinds of adjectives. These adjectives didn't describe style IN the 1950s; it was just what it was. It's today's values that give us whimsy, charm and beauty in old things.

At the time it was created, the above photo (movie still) was just the style of the day and nothing special. But in today's world of flat lighting and bland color, the photo appears endearingly charming. A souvenir from a more __________ [insert your interpretive adjective] time.