Vintage Space Stuff

I love vintage space toys from the 1930s - 1950s. The unique imagery from this time is at once both futuristic and nostalgic, space-age meets Art Deco, resulting in a sort of "toys of future past" appearance. Here are a few of my favorite pieces.

First up is this amazing ray gun (given to me by Christine of The Daily Postcard: thanks Christine!). Even though it isn't terribly old, it has, I think, a great "Forbidden Planet" look.

 Next are a couple of 4 inch Archer Space Men, made in the 1950s, but with a look that seems much earlier to me. They're almost sculptural in quality, with a lot of Art Moderne in their styling. They're also a bit reminiscent of Communist Bloc civic statuary, aren't they? The pointing guy has lost a hand, but they were a yard sale steal at ten cents, so I'm not complaining.

And here's my most recent find: a homemade child's pajama top from the 1950s with absolutely fantastic graphics of spacemen, satellites, and rocket ships. Some lucky little boy clearly loved this, and so do I!

 

 

 

The pajama top is modeled below by my 20 inch 1940s cinnamon Gund bear. He loves it too.