Some time ago, we featured the Verner Panton FlowerPot pendant light fitting, a design classic that still looks sharp today. Well, if you found that a bit too much for your ceiling, there is an alternative ‘pot’ on the market – the Verner Panton FlowerPot table lamp.
It’s an ever-so-slight twist on the 1969 classic, with the flowerPot now adorning your table rather the ceiling, with a matching pole and base for the light in the same range of colours.
Available online, the lamps retail for £185.
You don’t get more retro than a classic black cab – one of the most recognisable sites on the roads of London and indeed around the UK – and likely to be for many years to come. But did you know you can buy one easily without being a taxi driver?
You can from several places, including Elite London taxis, which offers cabs fully checked and serviced, all with warranties and a one-year MOT. And as these have been used as ‘working’ vehicles, you can be assured that they’ve been serviced and looked after over the years. But there are downsides – obviously these are high mileage cars, not to everyone’s taste, not the fastest on the road (70 – 75mph maximum) and mainly automatic.
A nice piece of vintage design with a story – these vintage Penguin novel pencils.
Here’s the story – Penguin started in 1965, but the company didn’t have a logo. So publisher Allen Lane sent office junior Edward Young to London Zoo to sketch the penguins for a company logo. And appropriately, here’s a set of six pencils based on the original design that Edward Young produced.
A very cool item and available online for £7.
If you’re after some interesting period artwork, check out the London Transport Museum online store – it’s packed with vintage artwork relating to London’s transport system, including this 1971 Piccadilly to Heathrow poster.
It’s the work of Tom Eckersley, one of Britain’s leading poster designers from the 1930s through to the 1970s – with this one produced in 191 as work commenced to extend the Piccadilly line to Heathrow (which was completed in 1977).
A great piece of design, sized at 20 x 30 inches and selling for just £9.95.
Find out more at the London Transport Museum website
Looking for something geometric for your living room? Mojo Interiors might have just the thing with its Verner Panton rug collection.
A choice of designs avalable, both colourful and the more recognisable black and white, all hand-tufted by craftsmen from New Zealand wool and all starting from size 6ft 7inch square.
Check out the range at the website, with prices starting from around £800.
Find out more at the Mojo Interiors website
Sick of Slade? Bored of Band Aid? Don’t despair – we have a selection of five retro Christmas albums, packed full of great tunes to soundtrack the festive period. Any that we’ve missed? Let us now below.
1. James Brown: Funky Christmas (Polydor)
The hardest-working man in showbusiness is no longer with us, but his festive favourites are. This is a compilation of all the man’s Christmas work including tracks from his 1966 LP, Christmas Song and his ’72 recording, Hey America – a mix of self-penned tunes, covers of early 60s R&B Christmas tunes and some full-on festive funk – typified by Soulful Christmas – classic JB, but with a seasonal message (and available a couple of years back as a limited vinyl 45). Get the party started for a ridiculously cheap £3.98.
More about the CD at Amazon.co.uk
2. Various Artists: Seasonal Favourites volumes one and two (Double Crown)
Guaranteed to liven up any party are the Seasonal Favourites volumes one and two albums, available from Double Crown Records. It’s Christmas music, but with a twist – as you might expect from a surf/garage/rockabilly label. If you want to know how much of a twist, check out the two tracks below. And if you like what you hear (and want indie/garage versions of Merry Christmas (War Is Over) and Little Drummer Boy in your collection), you can order both online from Double Crown for a bargain £6.59 each.
Frigg A-Go-Go – Santa Claus Go To The Ghetto (MP3)
The Lunatics – Rocknuts (MP3)
