Hemsby Weekender or "A day in the life of The 1940's Accountant"

Yes I know! I promised more, but seem to be stuck on a monthly cycle with the blog updates.

The past few weeks have been busy as we move into spring proper. I have just been to the Hemsby Rock ’n’ Roll weekender, which turned out to be very busy indeed. As it is a Norfolk show I spent much time travelling backwards and forwards to the workshop fitting sunglasses to vintage frames so that my band of merry customers could wear them on the first really sunny weekend of the year.

It wasn’t all work though, there was plenty of time to catch up with old friends such as Shona at http://www.heydayonline.co.uk/ and get an update on the progress of her new blog http://intheheyday.blogspot.com ( I must take credit, as where we pioneers lead others will follow :oD I’m whispering this as Shona has a wicked right hook! )

Shona auditioning for the role of Doc in Hemsby’s next Christmas panto!

I also met up with Chris, a fellow dispensing optician and got to hear about his latest venture into the world of rocking wedding cars. Take a look at his beautiful 1961 Ford Galaxie 352 cu V8 at http://www.v8events.co.uk/ and if the urge to wed comes upon you give him a call he can even get the reception swinging as DJ Galaxie.

Another highlight of the show was seeing the work of the very talented Su Owen with her wonderful 50’s inspired paper-cuts. Check out her work at www.sugar1970originals.com

I’m happy to report that Dead Men’s Spex have a new tea boy (at least at shows). It’s our very own Bunny Hooper The 1940’s Accountant. We broke him in gently at Hemsby as he is a weekender virgin and being an accountant unused to standing on his feet for long periods of time. His highlight of the weekend was being mistaken not once but twice as the bass playing member of one of the bands, that and a surreptitious bout of double entry book-keeping in the bar!

In a future blog I may call on Bunny to explain the finer details of the accountant’s art and how the 1940’s tax regime can save us all pounds, shillings, and pence in these troubled times

Please note that I’ve even been able to kit him out with a pair of genuine period tortoiseshell spectacles, despite his inordinately large brain filled head.

Also this past month has seen http://www.deadmensspex/ supply spectacles for the stage premier of Jonathon Harvey’s new play Canary at the Liverpool Playhouse. Liverpool born multiple award-winning writer Jonathan Harvey established his reputation with Beautiful Thing, his play-turned film for which he received an Olivier Award nomination and the John Whiting Award. As a screenwriter his credits include Gimme Gimme Gimme, Coronation Street and his recent cult series Beautiful People. With Canary Jonathan returns to the theatre where he wrote his first play.
Photos from the play can be seen at http://www.everymanplayhouse.com/Show/Canary/19/Media.aspx, look out for Mary Whitehouse wearing Dead Men’s Spex!

The next Hemsby weekend is October 7th-10th so if you are into the 1950s scene or just wish to see Bunny wielding his abacus come along and we’ll see you there!

TTFN

Deadman

Chocks Away

Hi, sorry it’s been a while since I last updated the blog. What was supposed to be a fortnightly event is slipping towards a monthly. I’m hoping that with the return of Dead Man Junior to school and Mrs Dead Man to work, after the Easter break, to turn over a new leaf and be more disciplined............famous last words.

The past month has been a busy one. Another show under the belt with Zoe of http://www.littlevintageloverfair.co.uk/ this time at the lovely North Norfolk coastal village of Blakeney.

We have also supplied a pair of vintage sunglasses as a prize in WWII re-enactor magazine’s Pin-up competition. You can read all about this is this month’s issue available at news agents or through http://www.reenactingww2.co.uk/ .

On top of this I have taken delivery of 200 1950’s frames from the USA. They are all original unused opticians’ stock and are currently going through the workshop to make sure they are up to my exacting standards before they upload into the shop http://www.deadmensspex.com/ . A few have already hit the shop on the Ebay site http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/Dead-mens-spex . With a further 200 coming in at the end of the month and Hemsby Rock ‘n’ Roll show on the way it looks like my work is cut out for the near future.

Why might you ask do new old stock frames have to go through the workshop? Well, frames are like all goods, if they sit around in boxes and drawers for 40 years or more they become dirty and misshapen. Also some plastics fare better with age than others, staying well coloured and flexible while others fade and become brittle. It is my policy that all frames I sell should be able to accept lenses being put into them. What’s the fun of owning a MG and being unable to drive it? Likewise what’s the point in having a swinging 1950’s cats eye and being unable to wear it? !!

Some of our new stock

Finally, with planes across Britain and Europe grounded due to the volcanic dust drifting down from Iceland, I think I’ve found the perfect flying goggles...

Chocks away

Dead Man

Show Time!

March starts the festival and show season for us at Dead Men’s Spex.

So far we have stood a one day vintage clothing fair for our friends at Little Vintage Lover Fair http://www.littlevintageloverfair.co.uk/ in the ancient surrounds of Dragon Hall in Norwich http://www.dragonhall.org/ . It is a building that has been standing for nearly 600 years and I’m happy to report that it survived the weekend even with Angela on bacon butty duty in the kitchens.

Waiting for the decorators!

Waiting for the doors to open.

The second show of the month was a three day event at Pakefield with Hepcats Holidays http://www.hepcatsholiday.com/ . Here we found ourselves washed up amongst friends in the hulk of a holed ocean liner swinging out to the JIVE ACES the DING DONG DADDIOS and the wonderful BERNARD BERKHOUT’S SWING ORCHESTRA.

The HMS Hepcat having hit the ice floating in a huge Dry Martini

Shows have always been a way of getting to meet new customers and friends. The internet is a wonderful tool and shop front, but nothing beats meeting people face to face.

I hope to see some of you at a show soon.

Deadman

I can see clearly now............

I thought I’d take a look at the stranger side of spectacles this week. I’m not talking about the gentleman who used to come in to an opticians I was managing years back and have a gent’s frame for work and a lady’s for the weekend!

It takes allsorts and if this is the case the following guy must be the Bertie Bassett in the packet!

http://www.odditycentral.com/pics/dude-gets-permanent-eyeglasses-tattoo.html

There is some talk that it might be a viral advert, perhaps Matt could give us an opinion on whether the tattooing looks right. I hope on one hand it’s for real as the effect of having to wear real glasses over the top when he needs them with age is going to look great. On the other hand, if it catches on it could be bad for business!

On a more artistic note (I know I’m asking for trouble implying that the tattoo isn’t art – but this one is at the Beano end of the art continuum) artist Stuart Haygarth http://www.stuarthaygarth.com/default.asp?V_DOC_ID=1177 uses old spectacle frames to make wonderful sculptural chandeliers.

Even more spectacular is his use of 4500 used prescription lenses:

With recycling being one of the buzzwords of the 21st century finding second uses for items that would otherwise be thrown away seems eminently logical to me. The wearing of vintage and second-use clothing and spectacles puts us not just at the forefront of fashion but also at the leading edge of sustainable living.

Wear your vintage frames with pride!

I’m off to the workshop as I’ve just had a great idea for a duvet made from used spectacle cleaning cloths, can anyone thread a needle?

TTFN
D.Man

A nod and a wink to the monocle

If you do a search on Google for monocles you will be told in no uncertain terms that the monocle is back.

“Monocles to be sold on high street
Monocles, last in fashion during the era of PG Wodehouse, are making a comeback.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/6780193/Monocles-to-be-sold-on-high-street.html

At http://www.deadmensspex.com/ I have been selling them for the past 5 years and can indeed confirm that the proliferation of monocle wearers is a very real phenomenon (unlike the users of pince nez).

We can trace the original decline of the monocle in the early to mid 20th century to one of two causes.

Firstly the monocle took a public relations hit in Great Britain just post WWI due to its close association with the enemy High Command. Caricatures were used in the press of the day to ridicule and demonise the Hun who was invariably wearing a monocle to symbolise arrogance and haughtiness. You’d have thought that a lesson would have been learned, but, come WWII they were at it again!

Secondly and perhaps more importantly was the demise of the waist-coated suit which by the 1940’s was well on the way out with the advent of double breasted suits. The increased wear by men of casual clothing and the popularity of pullovers and the ubiquitous sleeveless pullover (soon to be known as the TANK TOP Aghh!!) sounded the final death knell of the monocle as the waistcoat pocket was its true home. Un-housed and left to roam it quickly went the way of its companion the fob watch.

So why the increased demand for this rudimentary optical device that with improved refraction techniques and contact lenses should really have gone the way of the dodo?

I would suggest that firstly they are the perfect device to carry when a lens is required to aid short periods of reading i.e. the menu at your favourite bistro, as they are small, light and easily carried.

Secondly with the increase in popularity of historical re-enactment and lifestyle, nothing shouts "Dandy" or "Cad" like a monocle!

TTFN

D.Man

Snow blind in Norfolk

I hope that everyone had a good Christmas and has made it to the New Year unscathed. I am presently hibernating from the freezing temperatures and copious amounts of snow we have in North Norfolk and venturing out to the workshop only under duress, having first put the heater on for at least an hour before doing so.

The snow has got me thinking though. Living within 20 miles of Norwich I often go to the the Sainsbury Centre for the Visual Arts www.scva.ac.uk . This has a fine collection spanning 5000 years of human creativity and not surprisingly this collection contains eyewear. To be specific it contains a certain type of eyewear pertinent to the snowy weather that is currently affecting us – Snow Goggles

In the Arctic, the sun shines low on the horizon twenty-four hours a day for nearly 190 days of the summer ( I thought it was bad here after a fortnight !!). To combat snow blindness which occurs when the sunlight reflects off the surface of the snow combines with the light angled directly into the eyes so burning the retina, the local tribes came up with the snow goggle.
This consisted of eyewear fashioned from bone, antlers, leather or wood carved to fit the curvature of the head and across the nose with two slits for the eyes. The frame was then held in place with animal sinew. The slits allowed them to see, but blocked enough light to prevent snow blindness.

According to the Canada’s National History Society the first snow goggles date back to the Thule Inuit, two thousand years ago.

Below is a picture of one of the frames in the Sainsbury collection.

Snow goggles. North America, Bering Sea. Punuk period, c. AD 500-1200. Walrus ivory. w. 13.1 x h. 3.5 x d. 2.5 cm. Acquired 1982. Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection. UEA 830

Place
Bering Sea
Object category
Implement, NA (prehistoric eskimo)
Material
Walrus ivory
Dimensions
Height 35 mmWidth 131 mmDepth 25 mm

Now while researching this I came across probably the best pair of Snow Goggles that you could own in these credit crunching days:

http://scavenging.wordpress.com/2009/06/02/ten-practical-uses-for-your-credit-cards/

So come Visa expiry date watch out for the coolest pair of Spex - eat your heart out Kanye West you're 2000 years out of date - go Google a goggle!!

So stay warm and keep an eye on the blog as it's monocles next.

D.Man

Toll the bell, dig the hole, tend the pyre, but leave the spectacles for me

Toll the bell, dig the hole, tend the pyre, but leave the spectacles for me -
with appologies to Thomas Lynch "Local Heroes" www.thomaslynch.com

I’ve lost count how many times I’ve been asked “why Dead Men’s Spex?”

I usually give the standard response about being in partnership with the local undertakers and the bit about coffin robbing! This usually amuses and deflects from the real question “why Dead Men’s Spex?”

Truth be known, what initially started as a name to make people look twice has become a philosophy of business.

It stands for the uncomplicated nature of the business, in that; it is honestly where many of our frames come from.

This then hopefully reflects the nature of the path many of us have taken, looking back at the fashions and skills of our forbearers and literally taking on their mantle. We recognise the quality of vintage wares, much of them handmade and tailored in a time when we were the workshop of the World (at this point I’m going to stop as this is when I start to sound like my father ! :oD )

These skills and qualities are amply reflected in the frames made by Algha http://www.algha.com/ . A longstanding London based producer of fine rolled gold frames. They are still in production with their Saville Row Collection but it is their early pre-war and wartime frames that are most sought after by many connoisseurs of immaculately engineered fashion. I use the word engineered on purpose as if you take a look at one of their frame illustrations of the 1920’s you could imagine that you were looking at a schematic plan for a bridge or building.





So here we are posting 3 on the blog and already talking philosophy and the nature of life the universe and all the little bits in between. I’m off to do a little grave-digging now, well, a guy’s got to make a living some how ..............


D.Man