If you’re looking for a last-minute stocking filler for Christmas, the An Alphabet by Sir Peter Blake postcard set might just fit the bill.
It is what it says – a set of alphabet postcards, with each letter featuring a distinctive pop art-style Peter Blake design, all packaged in an added Blake box. There’s only one downside – you might not want to give it away.
Kay Bojesen is no stranger to this site – we’ve already featured his classic mid-century Monkey and Elephant. But the Kay Bojesen Rocking Horse is an altogether bigger beast.
Designed back in 1942, it’s a timeless design for a timeless toy, made of beech wood and with a ‘trustworthy and open face’. After creating the horse Bojesen said: ‘From now on, no children are going to be bored.’ Obviously times have changed since he said it, but the rocking horse is still a stylish thing to have in your home, as long as you have children obviously.
Nice to see something a little different in the world of art, which is what Bret Kane is offering with his Space Invaders art prints.
The prints are sold in sets of three, in a choice of arcade green or the slightly more bold three-colour set, all featuring stylised images of the classic arcade Invader and limited to just 50 of each. Not just cheap print-offs either – the images are hand-pulled prints on archival art rag paper.
Each set retails for $150 (£100) and is available to order now.
The word “Peace” turns up a lot around this time of year, so it seems a good time to mention this book “Peace: 50 Year of Protest, 1958-2008” by Barry Miles.
Telling the story of one of the most widely recognised symbols, the book follows the creation of the Peace sign in 1958 as a logo for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament onto its appropriation by various protest movements from the hippies in the Sixties, feminists and punks. The book provides a fascinating insight into the popular protest movements accompanied by a collection of photographs of the symbol in use by rock star, activists and politicians.
The book’s author Barry Miles has the right credentials for putting together this book, as he was at the forefront of many influential organisations in the Sixities, including chairman of the Youth Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, co-founder of Indica Books and Gallery and International Times (IT) and head of Zapple, the Beatles’ spoken word label.
Peace is available to buy in hardback from Amazon for £17.50.
Well, Christmas and New Year is always a good time for a party – and if you’ve been asked to go fancy dress, you could cheat by slapping on one of these Cox & Cox Famous Faces masks.
Each pack contains eight masks, which includes David Bowie (Aladdin Sane era), Clint Eastwood, Dame Edna, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Charlie Chaplin, Audrey Hepburn and Carmen Miranda. And each has a fabric tie to keep your mask in place.
Looking to pick up a classic car and want something with a distinctly British feel? You need a copy of British Cars of the Sixties by Doug Nye.
This isn’t a modern-day book, instead it’s a reprint of a 1970 book, which means you get a contemporary and factual take on the cars, rather than a nostalgic look through some rose-coloured spectacles.
And it means you can get up close and personal with names like AC, Wolseley, Bristol, Triumph, Jaguar, Rover and MG over the 240 pages and 174 illustrations, discovering their original appeal and in some cases. the appeal almost 40 years on.
Just reissued in hard back, you can pick the book up for £13.99.