Monday, November 14, 2011

What were you labled as back in the 1980's

Advertisers gave a whole range of acronyms to groups of consumers in the 1980s. Looking at these acronyms does help to understand how advertisers identified recognisable groups in society in the consumer driven world of marketing 1980s fashion.

A typical acronym was DINKY which described an increasing section of society, the couples not necessarily married, but who were 'Double Income No Kids Yet.' The Dinky was the type of consumer that might be targeted for spending on fashion and status symbols like perfume, label goods and stylish kitchen items that might never be used. The couple could even encourage each other in achieving their lifestyle of aspiration. Other labels advertisers favoured include Empty Nesters, Grey Panthers, Ladettes and Tweenies. The guppies term has since been hijacked by other groups.

Acronym Table for 1980s Fashion and Marketing Terms!

Yuppies-Young Urban Professionals

Yummies-Young Urban Mother

Dinkies-Double Income No Kids

Sinkies-Single Income No kids

Minkie-Middle Income No kids

Poupie-Porsche Owning Urban Professional

Swell-Single Woman Earning Lots Of Loot (Miss Yuppie)

Guppies-Greenpeace Yuppies (The original meaning of the term)

Bobo-Burnt Out But Opulent

Woopie-Well Off Older People

Jollies-Jet Setting Oldsters With Lots Of Loot

Glams-Greying Leisured Affluent Middle Aged

Deccie-D.I.Y Decorators Who Drag Stipple and Marble

Splappie-Stripped Pine Laura Ashley People

Drabbie-Ethical Urban Quaker With Anti And Pro Views

Dockney-East Docklands London Yuppie

Tweenie-Between 5 And 12 Years Old

Ladettes-Young Women Who Act Like Loutish Lads

Grey Panthers-Senior Citizens With Opinion

Empty Nesters-Couples Whose Children Are Grown Up And Away
************************************************************************
Yuppies

Yuppie was a 1980s acronym for 'Young Upwardly Mobile Professional Person'. The word was coined by the advertising industry to capture the essence of a particular type of work hard, play hard, ambitious minded city career person of either sex. The hectic lifestyle of a yuppie meant that after long hours of work, rare free time was spent in a self indulgent way frittering away the cash earned on anything, from expensive make up and perfume, to a bottle of fine champagne. Conspicuous wastage was part of the attitude.

For day Yuppies sported wide shouldered jackets and for weekends they wore a Barbour to effect a country aesthetic or a ball-gown to assume the appearance of a more advantaged lifestyle.

Take a look at all the 80's clothing I have for sale!
http://debkwek.ecrater.com/c/535780/clothing-accessories?&srn=4

Sunday, May 01, 2011

500-year-old book surfaces in Utah

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Book dealer Ken Sanders has seen a lot of nothing in his decades appraising "rare" finds pulled from attics and basements, storage sheds and closets.

Sanders, who occasionally appraises items for PBS's Antiques Roadshow, often employs the "fine art of letting people down gently."

But on a recent Saturday while volunteering at a fundraiser for the small town museum in Sandy, Utah, just south of Salt Lake, Sanders got the surprise of a lifetime.

"Late in the afternoon, a man sat down and started unwrapping a book from a big plastic sack, informing me he had a really, really old book and he thought it might be worth some money," he said. "I kinda start, oh boy, I've heard this before."

Then he produced a tattered, partial copy of the 500-year-old Nuremberg Chronicle.

The German language edition printed by Anton Koberger and published in 1493 is a world history beginning in biblical times. It's considered one of the earliest and most lavishly illustrated books of the 15th century.

"I was just absolutely astounded. I was flabbergasted, particularly here in the interior West," Sanders said. "We might see a lot of rare Mormon books and other treasures, but you don't expect to see a five-centuries-old book. You don't expect to see one of the oldest printed books in the world pop up in Sandy, Utah."

The book's owner has declined to be identified, but Sanders said it was passed down to the man by his great uncle and had been gathering dust in his attic for decades.

Because of the cotton bond paper it was printed on, not wood pulp paper like most present-day works, Sanders said the remaining pages have been well-preserved albeit literally coming apart at the seams

"Barring further calamity or disaster, it will last another 500 years," he said.

And Sanders is certain it's not a fake.

"It passes the smell test," he said. "I'm not sure there's ever been a forger born who is ambitious enough to hand-create a five-centuries-old book in a manner sufficient enough to fool people."

But what's it actually worth? Turns out, not much.

It is believed there are several hundred copies in circulation worldwide, making it not-so-rare of a find, and about two-thirds of its pages are missing.

Still, it's not the monetary value that excites Sanders.

"Just the opportunity to handle something from the very beginning of the printed word and the book itself, especially, ironically, in the 21st century with all this talk of the death of the book, and here we have a book that's survived 500-plus years," he said. "It's just exciting. ... The value of an artifact like this to me is the least interesting part of it all."

Sanders is displaying the copy at his rare book shop in Salt Lake City.

San Francisco-based antiquities book dealer John Windle said if this copy of the Nuremberg Chronicle were in mint condition and fully intact, it could be worth up to $1 million.

One in such shape sold last year at a London auction for about $850,000, Windle said, but not so much because it's such a rare find.

"The rarity of the book has almost nothing to do with its value," he said. "If you're collecting monuments of printing history, monuments of human history, if you're collecting achievements of the human spirit through the printed word, this is one of the foundation books. ... Every book collector wants a copy of that book or at least some pages from it."

Windle noted that while its worth to collectors is priceless, it is "probably the most common book from the 15th century making its way onto the market these days."

"We have a saying in the book trade: There's nothing as common as a rare book," he added.

Because of this book's tattered state, Windle said it's likely worth less than $50,000.

"It basically kills the value," he said. "If it turned up in perfect condition in Salt Lake City, now that would be amazing. That would be astounding."

Luise Poulton, curator and head of rare books at the University of Utah's J. Willard Marriott Library, called it an "exciting find," but largely just because of the way it surfaced.

"It's that classic story," said Poulton, who has several pages from another copy of a Nuremberg Chronicle on display. "You really never know what's in your attic."

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Introducing the beautiful... Lavender!

Photobucket

Celebrating the beautiful Lavender buds which bring peace, calm, and a good nights sleep!
Wear this pendant with Lavender (or any oil) to infuse peace and calm into your day!
Refresh it at night and put it on your nightstand to enjoy the fragrance all night long!

Special!

Recieve 1 free with an order of 3 pendants/car diffusers or more!

OR

Receive 3 free with a wholesale order of 20 pendants/car diffusers or more - any designs!
http://www.terra-cotta-pendants.com/?trk=71398

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Interesting history facts

Where did Piss Poor come from?

Interesting History

They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families
used to all pee in a pot & then once a day it was taken and
Sold to the tannery . . . if you had to do this to survive
You were "Piss Poor"

But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn't
even afford to buy a pot . . . they "didn't have a pot to
piss in" & were the lowest of the low.

The next time you are washing your hands and complain
because the water temperature isn't just how you like it,
think about how things used to be. Here are some facts about
the 1500s:

Most people got married in June because they took their
yearly bath in May, and they still smelled pretty good by
June. However, since they were starting to smell . . ....
Brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor.
Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting
Married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man
of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then
all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the
children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so
dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the
saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the Bath water!"

Houses had thatched roofs - thick straw - piled high, with no
wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get
warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs)
lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and
sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof . ... .
Hence the saying "It's raining cats and dogs."

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the
house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs
and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence,
a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top
afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into
existence.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other
than dirt. Hence the saying, "Dirt poor." The wealthy had
slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet,
so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their
footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until,
when you opened the door, it would all start slipping
outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance-way.
Hence: a thresh hold.

(Getting quite an education, aren't you?)

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big
kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit
the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly
vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the
stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold
overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew
had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence
the rhyme: Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas
porridge in the pot nine days old. Sometimes they could
obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When
visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show
off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could, "bring home
the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests
and would all sit around and chew the fat.

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high
acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food,
causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with
tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were
considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt
bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests
got the top, or the upper crust.

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would Sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days.
Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a wake.

England is old and small and the local folks started running
out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins
and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the
grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins
were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they
realized they had been burying people alive . . . So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell.
Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night
(the graveyard shift.) to listen for the bell; thus, someone
could be, saved by the bell or was considered a dead ringer.

And that's the truth . . . ... Now, whoever said History was boring!!!

Wednesday, February 09, 2011

Imagine life as a game

Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air.
You name them - work, family, health, friends and spirit … and you’re
keeping all of these in the air.

You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will
bounce back. But the other four balls - family, health, friends and spirit -
are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably
scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the
same. You must understand that and strive for Balance in your life.

How?

Don’t undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others. It is because
we are different that each of us is special.
Don’t set your goals by what other people deem important. Only you know what
is best for you.
Don’t take for granted the things closest to your heart. Cling to them as
you would your life, for without them, life is meaningless.
Don’t let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past or for
the future. By living your life one day at a time, you live all the days of
your life.
Don’t give up when you still have something to give. Nothing is really over
until the moment you stop trying.
Don’t be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect. It is this fragile
thread that binds us to each together.
Don’t be afraid to encounter risks. It is by taking chances that we learn
how to be pave.
Don’t shut love out of your life by saying it’s impossible to find time. The
quickest way to receive love is to give; the fastest way to lose love is to
hold it too tightly; and the best way to keep love is to give it wings!
Don’t run through life so fast that you forget not only where you’ve been,
but also where you are going.
Don’t forget, a person’s greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated.
Don’t be afraid to learn. Knowledge is weightless, a treasure you can always
carry easily.
Don’t use time or words carelessly. Neither can be retrieved. Life is not a
race, but a journey to be savored each step of the way…