The Magical World of Barton’s Bonbonniere

Best of Alix, Vintage Photos, Vintage Pop Culture,

I love discovering something that just makes you go, “Oh WOW.” This is one of them! Back in 1938, Viennese chocolatier Stephen Klein started Bartons Salon De Chocolat in the New York area. They had great success creating delicious European-style chocolates and even expanded their line to produce kosher chocolates—earning a reputation in the Jewish community  for being “the” confectioner for Passover sweets. As demand increased, they opened more and more shops. In 1952, as they prepared to open their 50th store in Manhatten, they decided to give their brand a refresh. And what a colorful refresh it was!

Can you believe this place? I love it. LOVE!!!

Every colorful detail was intentional as can be—and quite unlike what was happening in architecture and design at the time. Apparently the rules for store design included missives like “the store front must look modern” “strong colors should not be used; they overwhelm the merchandise” and even “don’t call attention to the ceiling and away from the merchandise”. CLEARLY the brains behind Bartons had their own ideas!

In the August 1952 issue of Architectural Forum, architect Victor Gruen said “store design is taking itself too seriously,” and was determined to turn the candy store into a visual delight. They began by giving the traditional storefront a vibrant paint job that made it stand out on the street.

Together with graphic consultant Alvin Lustig, they set about to create a “toy shop for adults”. The plan? Clever displays, vibrant colors and whimsical Calder-esque light fixtures that were guaranteed to make customers smile and put them in the mood for some candy shopping! (It’s no coincidence that “Lustig” means jolly/lively/fun in German!)

Ahh, those lamps. No detail was spared and even the candy tins were colorful and featured fun illustrations. This spectacular one is my favorite:

So there you have it. The technicolor world of Bartons Bonbonniere! It’s amazing, isn’t it?

OH! And for those of you who would like to see a little slice of this awesomeness, head on down to LACMA in Los Angeles. They are having a special exhibition on California Design and THE LAMPS are featured!

 

images: article / tall candy boxes / round candy box

The Big Kate Spade Giveaway. CONTEST CLOSED!

Giveaways, , ,

This is it! The big ol’ giveaway we’ve been yackin’ about. When Dottie & I started Modern Kiddo, we did it as a way to celebrate our love of colorful vintage, cool design and childhood nostalgia. We’ve been so blown away by all the wonderful people we have met over these past few years—you guys are so fun and supportive, we wanted to do a little something to say THANK YOU. When we decided to do a Month of Color, we knew we wanted to do an awesome Giveaway. Something fun. Something fabulous. And of course something COLORFUL! The first thing that came to mind was Kate Spade. Walking into the Kate Spade store is my happy place! It’s the ultimate eye candy experience….and we just knew a Kate Spade handbag would be the perfect little indulgence. Something we all love, but might not necessarily splurge on for ourselves.

I have to tell you, Dottie and I had the most excellent time picking out something special for you! Of course, we were both immediately drawn to THIS sweet little bon bon! The Hot Pink Bond Street Florence handbag—part of the Florence Broadhurst Collaboration that has everyone swooning. The Kate Spade peeps call this bag, “The Star of our 2012 Spring Collection”. And I can see why. I’m mad for that golden turn lock closure….and dottie was dying over the gorgeous black & white floral print lining. And we both flipped for the “stunning pink” color. Yes. That’s the official name. Stunning Pink. Sigh.

 

 

It’s modern. It’s retro. It’s the Kate Spade Bond Street Bag. c/o us!

See that beauty below? That’s the actual bag you’ll be getting. Oh yes.

**CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. THANK YOU TO ALL WHO PARTICIPATED!**

“LADIES, LADIES! HOW DO I GET THIS FAB PINK BAG??”

Easy peasy! There are five different ways to enter to win the Kate Spade handbag. You can do each of these things once.

1. COMMENT. Simply leave a comment below and tell us what your favorite color is! This is all you have to do to enter.

To get bonus entries you may also:

2. LIKE US.  “Like” Modern Kiddo on our Facebook Page. If you already “like” us, just let us know!

3. FOLLOW US. “Follow” Modern Kiddo on our Twitter Page. If you already follow us, let us know!

4. TWEET. Post a link to this contest page on Twitter, using this link: http://modernkiddo.com/?p=6755 and the hashtag #ModernKiddoKateSpade (you can retweet as often as you like but it will only count as ONE entry!)

5.  REPOST. Post a link to this contest page on your own blog or Facebook page (using this link: http://modernkiddo.com/?p=6755 )and let us know by leaving a comment with the link to your blog post below.

**THE CONTEST ENDS NEXT THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2012 at 11:59pm PST **

A winner will be chosen at random and announced on [edit: MONDAY, APRIL 30, 2012].

So there you have it! Please enter. We’d sure love to see you struttin’ around with your new hot pink friend. Oh, and dont’ forget to spread the word and tell everyone you know (it’s good kharma, baby!).

GOOD LUCK, gorgeous!!

**CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. THANK YOU TO ALL WHO PARTICIPATED!**

Pink for boys!

Boys, Month of Color

Image via the marvelous  La Petite Magazine.

There is something so lovely about pink.  You just can’t help but look at it and not smile.

So, it is no wonder that it is making a little bit of a comeback in boys clothing. I say comeback because at the turn of the century, boys wore pink and girls wear blue.  I like the preppy pale pink which makes me think of Bermuda and looks so good with a bit of a tan. I also adore the fun neon pink of throwback eighties wonder–particularly as skinny jeans.  You can’t go wrong with a bit of pink in a boy’s wardrobe.  Here are a few of my favorite bits of pink!

Pink shirts are particularly a great addition for a boy’s summer wardrobe. Like this one from Mini Boden

and this from  J. Crew.

But even just a touch of pink can perk up a boy’s wardrobe. How hip is this little guy in his hot pink tie??

I also love little bits of pink, like this watch band:

or bring it out for fun on a special occasion with this sweet little bow tie:

I was originally going to highlight some great blue pieces for girls, but I quickly found that there were dozens of pretty blue outfits for girls. And of course tons and tons and tons and tons and tons and tons and tons of pink.  I recently went into the children’s section of a department store and for probably every twenty items there was perhaps one piece that wasn’t pink.  And those were still rather delicate in color.  So, instead of a round up of prettyblue dressies  I thought I would leave you with this wonderful LEGOS ad. More of a commentary about all of the pink toys for girls, but still it can’t help buy make you smile that this little lady in her blue outfit—head to toe blue actually!

Man, I love that little girl. The complete pride of creating something awesome.

But, I must ask–would you dress your boy in pink?  Have you? What was the response?

And of course some girls only wear pink. And a lot of mothers hate that.  Seriously! Are you a fan of that or not?  I don’t know.  The Peach’s favorite color is orange, but I’d be fine if she wanted to wear pink. Let me tell you, it is a lot easier to find pink dresses than orange ones…  But I’ve had friends that have insisted on no pink for their little girls—especially at baby showers.

Who would have thought such a pretty pretty color would come with so much baggage?

Color that Cares :: The Favela Painting Project

Art + Design, Month of Color

Straight on the heels of Dottie’s wonderful post about the Color Corp Project in Oakland, California, I thought it would be cool to take a look at a similar project that is already completed. The Favela Painting Project in Brazil is simply stunning. A favela is a Brazilian slum. Most of the buildings are run down and neglected. The Favela Painting Project has made it their mission to create striking artwork in these neighborhoods by collaborating with the local people—and using art as a tool to “inspire, create beauty, combat prejudice and attract attention”. Not a bad mission in my book!

“Sequestered within the city of Rio de Janeiro, two men are giving the poor, compact community of Santa Marta a radiant makeover. Dutch duo Jeroen Koolhaas and Dre Urhahn originally came to the favelas of Brazil in 2005 to film a documentary about hip hop for MTV, but after MTV left, they decided to stay. Soon after, the Dutch duo (known simply as Haas&Hahn) began Favela Painting, an organization dedicated to bringing outrageous works of art to unexpected places.”  — Flavorwire

Can you imagine your neighborhood being transformed like this? Pretty glorious!

Vintage Bookshelf :: Black + White and Pink all Over.

Vintage Books


Most of the vintage children’s books I show off have luscious rich illustrations—in bold colors and jewel tones that I just love! But for a little twist, I thought it would be fun to take a look at a more parred down book. What happens when the illustrations get a bit simpler? Say…..black and white. I  have a few books like this with just a hint of color and honestly,  they are every bit as excellent as the colorful ones. Let’s take a look!

Ahhh, I love how clean and simple the colors in this book look. Just black, white and a splash of pink. But oh what a splash it is! It just goes to show you how effective even the teensiest bit of color can be!

Hurray!

This is the House Where Jack Lives. By Joan Heilbronner. Illustrations by the marvelous Aliki. 1962.

{PS Sorry the photos are a little wonky…oddly enough, the colors were really hard to capture—they grey kept blowing out on me!}