FUTURISTIC HOLIDAY WINDOWS (c) By Polly Guerin

New York puts on a grand show with holiday windows that glitter and dazzle with futuristic themes. It’s the best show in town with acrobats scaling a luxury retailer’s façade to scenes of a nostalgic department store and video projections that transform the island of Manhattan. Now is the time to catch magic, catch the glittering show, catch the entertainment!!! It’s the best of New York and Only in New York my friends, Here’s the scoop!!

BARNEY’S entertainment has futuristic visions with performers from the improvisational group, Upright Citizens Brigade, who wear Space Age costumes by Zaldy. Christmas gets a high-tech spin where Santa and Mrs. Claus ‘virtually’ spin around the city in a souped-up sleigh that looks strangely familiar, like Batmobile. Shoppers are invited to take part by entering the actual window to ride the Santa’s sleigh. It looks like entertainment art at its most forward thrust into the future.

BERGDORF GOODMAN’S Holiday on Ice theme features icy frozen dioramas that depict holidays throughout the year, the kind that can give you glacier chills. A frozen garden party takes some dexterity to view. A window depicting July 4th takes some dexterity to view. It depicts a frozen garden party installed upside down. Valentie’s day is frozen in pink time with rich cakes and desserts and a pink fur clad mannequin seated at a desk. Outside 3-foot-high icicles adorn the windows.

LEE’S STATIONERY while these windows showcase a treasure trove of Christmas gifts, the most eye-popping display is a tall ornament decorated Christmas tree that has a constant cascade emerging from the top of the tree sending snow falling down on its branches. Inside the store every imaginable color scheme is coordinated; silver, gold, traditional red, green, even blue for Hanukkah. Charming are the toys for children and adult--- Santa’s climbing a ladder, merry-go-rounds and snow-packed sky lifts.

LORD & TAYLOR delights as usually with a traditional theme that strikes at the nostalgic note in our hearts. Elegant windows with sophisticated figures depict shoppers in 20s to 40s era fashions in a store of yesteryear, a store with fairytale images where shoppers gaily carry packages with bright red ribbons. Most endearing is ‘Holiday Cheer’ a depiction of Santa in his traditional pose waiting for children at the top of the stairs.

BLOOMINGDALES goes international and adhere to its slogan “Like no other store in the world” with large gift boxes that rotate to reveal holiday scenes from different countries. Whimsical and magical scenes from Great Britain, Italy, France and China and New York reveal holiday windows in world venues. ‘Festive Greetings from Paris’ replete with the Eiffel Tower and pink poodles. Enchantment here is at its most worldly interpretation-- it’s a storybook adventure.

Ta Ta darlings!! I’m just an old-fashioned gal, I loved L & T’s windows, but the visions planted in my head of futuristic themes were the most inventive. Fan mail welcome at pollytalk@verizon.net. Visit Polly’s Blogs at www.pollytalk.com and in the left hand column click on the link to Blogs on fashion, remarkable men and women.



 

TIFFANY, A JEWEL-BOX GALLERY, MCNY By Polly Guerin

At the end of the nineteenth century New York was an unprecedented vibrant place, where the elite class expressed their high status through extravagant fashions, jewelry and the decorative arts. It was the era of Edith Wharton’s “Age of Innocence,” and the Museum of the City of New York pays homage to the gilded trip in an extravagant exhibition, “The Tiffany & Co. Foundation Gallery, “ which opened recently on the Museum’s third floor. It was during these years the United States, and its cultural capital, New York City, achieved a new level of sophistication in painting, sculpture and architecture, and when absolute decorum ruled. Image: Portrait of Cornelia Ward Hall and her children by Michele Gordigiani.

THE GILDED AGE New York had its own upstairs and downstairs when the existence of cooks, coachmen, valets and lady’s maids were deemed “de rigueur". Industrial titans, such as Jay Gould and John D. Rockefeller erected mansions that marched up Fifth Avenue. It was a display of sumptuous consumption, when, there was no income tax, enabling the nation to compete for the first time on the world stage, giving rise to the epithet of the era, The Gilded Age.

A JEWEL BOX GALLERYIt was an enviable time, but for other citizens, cut from a less fortunate

lifestyle, they could only observe how the leading industrialists vied with one another to exhibit their wealth by adoring their wives with glittering jewels and magnificent gowns created by the House of Worth in Paris. Onlookers could observe the guests attending fancy dress balls in glittering costumes or watch their horse-drawn carriages where ladies showed off rich accoutrements—on exhibit, a diamond and emerald broach worn by Metropolitan soprano Emma Eames. Walls were adorned with American and French paintings of the era’s social and financial figures. Most fetching in the gallery is the portrait of the exquisitely dressed entourage of Cornelia Ward Hall and her children by Michele Gordigiani, and Louisa Van Rensselaer Baylies by Carolus-Duran.

DOMESTIC INTERIOR The Museum’s jewel-box gallery does not disappoint but evokes a Gilded Age domestic interior with decorative wallpaper, mirrored window shutters, draperies and herringbone wood flooring, as well as an historic chandelier and fireplace mantel form the Museum’s collection. Step into the ambiance of the elegant space where display cases present the most opulent jewelry that hallmarked the rise of Tiffany & Co. and the fine craftsmanship of eye-popping jewels composed of gold, pearls, plique-a-jour enamel and diamonds.

FASHIONABLE LADIES Charles Frederick Worth, founder of the French Haute Couture, was the fashion superstar of the day. His stunning scarlet silk damask evening dress in chrysanthemum pattern showcases the trend toward a glamorous look. Decorative objects in silver and gold and elaborate silver flatware draw attention as does the artistic wares that could rival those in Europe. Silver presentation pieces marking important sporting and civic events such as yacht races grew in size and grandeur as the century progressed. Stylish interiors also included Venetian glass from Italy acquired on the Grand Tour to Europe. One of a fashionable home’s most prized possessions was fine furniture by Herter Brothers, sofas carved with high dimension roses or inlaid and gilded side chairs.

Make your way up to The Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Avenue, between 103 and 104th Streets and find out for yourself how the Gilded Age shaped the city’s metamorphosis into a cultural capital. www.mcny.org The exhibit runs through November 30, 2013.

The accompanying book GILDED NEW YORK: Design, Fashion and Society examines this period and coordinates with the

Polly Guerin is author of the book THE COOPER HEWITT DYNASTY OF NEW YORK (History Press 2012),  The Tradesmen, Craftsmen and Artisans of New York, publication date 20l5.

FASHION MERGES WITH CULTURAL TREASURES (c) By Polly Guerin

The culture capital of the world invites you to experience a wealth of museum treasures revisiting icons of historical reference from Alta Moda to The Salon and Botero. It’s more than meets the eye, the best of New York and Only in New York my friends. Here’s the scoop!!

ALTA MODA by MARIO TESTINO Known primarily for his work in fashion magazines, Testino makes a bold departure with his series Alta Moda---literally “high fashion” in Spanish. The exhibit at Queen Sofia Spanish Institute documents Peruvians in their vibrantly colored and ornately adorned traditional and festive dress from Cusco, one of the highest mountain regions of Peru. While Alta Moda appears to reference traditional ethnographic photography, Testino has, in fact, captured several stories within each photograph. “I usually try to capture the moment,” says Testino. “But with this series I wanted to do something very different. I tried to fit as much tine and history into each frame as possible from the traditional and festive clothing to the Chambi backdrops to the Peruvian people in them. Alta Moda will be accompanied by a series of related public programs. Check the website www.qssi.org for a schedule of events. Opens November 20-through March 29, 2014.

THE SALON ART + DESIGN which the New York Times dubbed a “museum in the making,” returns to New York for its second edition this fall November 14 through the18th at the Park Avenue Armory at 65th street. Seeking to reflect the eclectic style of today’s interiors the Salon combines the works of modern art and the design from 1890 to the present with older items that could be considered forebears, as well as ethnographic pieces. Fifty-three leading international dealers participate; half are members of France’s prestigious Syndicat National des Antiquaries, from the venerable Kraemer specializing in the very finest 18th century antiques and objets d’art, to the hip, forward looking Carpenters Workshop gallery, which collaborates with both established and emerging talents. For further details visit: thesalonny.com

FERNANDO BOTERO, CIRCUS PAINTINGS & DRAWINGS The artist’s latest book title marks the first time the complete circus series has ever been published together as a collection and represents all of the Botero’s work on one of his favorite subjects. In the tradition of great painters also inspired by circus fantasy-Renoir, Picasso, Chagall, and Calder, among others-Botero explores light, colors, style and space with a poignancy that highlights through the extravagant disproportion of his figures the exceptional beauty of the human body. In CIRCUS, a collection of more than 130 paintings and 50 works on paper, the esteemed artist uses bright colors and unexpected movement to artfully manifest the poetry of the circus, inviting the viewer to participate in a circus with Botero as the artful ringmaster. Available on Amazon.

Ta Ta darlings!! Alta Moda is my choice this week. Fan mail welcome at pollytalk@verizon.net. Visit Polly’s Blogs at www.pollytalk.com and in the left hand column click on the link to Blogs on fashion, remarkable men and women.



 

Cultural Venues: THE SKY'S THE LIMIT (c) By Polly Guerin

Frosty weather may direct us indoors but this week it is certain to percolate our agenda with diverse cultural venues. Whether you are a space age aficionado or looking for a place to entertain your creative sensitivities the sky’s the limit in New York City’s ever amazing events. Only in New York my friends. Here’s the scoop!!

DARK UNIVERSE A spectacular new Hayden Planetarium show at the Space Theater, American Museum of Natural History, sends you soaring into the universe with amazing images that dramatically show the recent dramatic advances in our knowledge of the universe and explores what’s to come in the future of cosmology.

PARACHUTE TROUGH JUPITER Dark Universe lets the visitor observe the night sky at the historic Wilson Observatory in California—where Edwin Hubble first discovered galaxies outside our own—then soar across the Milky Way Galaxy, and parachute through Jupiter’s atmosphere with a probe from NASA’s Galileo spacecraft. In this breathtaking show you find out how discoveries over the past 100 years have led us to two great cosmic mysteries: dark matter and dark energy.

NEIL de GRASSE TYSON, astrophysicist, prolific science communicator, and the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium, who I first met years ago when I was a member of ARCS, Achievement Rewards for College Scientists, narrates the new Space Show. In his rich sonorous baritone he keeps you riveted to your seat as he introduces viewers into the mysteries of dark energy, the force that is accelerating the expansion of the universe.

PIVOTAL DISCOVERIES The new Hayden Planetarium Space show celebrates the pivotal discoveries that have led us to greater knowledge and history of the universe and our place in it, and to new frontiers for exploration. Featuring exquisite renderings of enigmatic cosmic phenomena, seminal scientific instruments, and spectacular scenes in deep space. Dark Universe was produced by an innovative team that includes astrophysicists and science visualization experts. Tyson said, “Any kid can get something out of the show, and then comeback to get a little more, a little more of its layering information” Obviously this show takes time to assimilate into our mind's view of the universe. Dark Universe is not a one-time visit, it is an enticing 'come back' experience for children and adults of all ages. Member Tickets are $13.50 adults; $8.50 children. Location: 81street and Central Park West. Advance tickets are available by phone: 212.769. 5200 or by visiting amnh.org.'

Ta Ta darlings!! “DARK UNIVERSE” is my choice this week. Fan mail welcome at pollytalk@verizon.net . Visit Polly’s Blogs at www.pollytalk.com and in the left hand column click on the link to Blogs on fashion, remarkable men and women.


Polly Guerin author: THE COOPER HEWITT DYNASTY OF NEW YORK (HISTORY PRESS 2012)

 

COCKTAIL SHAKERS SYMBOL OF CHIC (c) By Polly Guerin

Ah!!! The sound of ice cubes dancing in a cocktail shaker. Nothing is more welcome than that rhythmic sound which signals the hour before dinner when the appetite is whetted by the brew as liquors, fruit juices, syrups mix with various alcoholic beverages are vigorously shaken into libations for the cocktail hour. My aunt Virgie’s husband Bruce, who prized among his possessions a cocktail shaker that looked like an airplane, was a master of the art and his airplane-inspired cocktail shaker went beyond the call of duty. Pictured here: the Duel-Fuel Cocktail Shaker with two side wings that double as flasks.

A POPULAR ARTIFACT The 1920’s prohibition era in the United States. The quintessential era of cocktail shaker history, produced many different cocktail shaker shapes and designs including zeppelins, lighthouses, penguins and towering bullet shaped or skyscraper models. These were the icons of the Jazz Age when they reached their zenith of popularity. The leading expert on these sophisticated and stylish artifacts is Stephen Visakay, a collector and dealer of cocktail shakers and bar accoutrements, and whose fascinating collection numbers over 1,400. These winsome artifacts became celebrities in their own right and were associated with the glamorous lives of movie stars and took star billing in numerous movies. 

SOPHISTICATED CHIC Cocktail shakers became symbols of sophistication and the good life for the cognoscenti and everyone else wanted to get into the act, even some Art Deco devotees who attended a recent vernissage. Visakay introduced some of the cocktail shakers from his rare collection at a meeting /cocktail reception of (ADSNY) the Art deco Society of New York. A lively gathering of Art Deco enthusiasts joined in the social amenities at an ADSNY member’s Deco- inspired apartment furnished with Art Deco artifacts and a spectacular cocktail shaker bar---truly we were in a stratospheric Art Deco venue with magnificent views. For information about ADSNY visit: www.artdeco.org.

COCKTAIL SHAKER LORE
Visakay has been featured in numerous magazines and he has been named one of America’s top 100 collectors so anything you want to know about cocktail shakers can be had in his book Vintage Bar Ware –Identification and Value Guide or visit: www.visakay.com. With the advent of WWII the cocktail shaker had a brief demise because all non-essential uses of metal were redirected towards the war effort. However, the cocktail shaker was never forgotten and it had a brief resurgence in the 1950’s in “rec rooms” with bars. Then the electric blender was the final blow. However, the innkeeper who invented the cocktail shaker as we know it can be rest assured that in bars and in private homes the cocktail shaker is holding its own today as a symbol of acquired taste and sophistication.

Polly Guerin author: THE COOPER-HEWITT DYNASTY OF NEW YORK (HISTORY PRESS 2012)

GEM CULTURE ADDS SPARKLE TO NYC (c) By Polly Guerin

Gem culture’s brilliant venues spark museum exhibitions with historical and modernity. Reaching to the chic of all ages fashion designer and jewelry venues offer the best of New York’s ongoing romance with luxury. Get your first row seat on the red carpet. Only in New York my friends. Here’s a gem of a scoop!!

GIRL WITH THE PEARL EARRING This just in from Lynne Saginaw, “Vermeer’s “The Girl with the Pearl Earring,” the winsome young woman gazing over her shoulder with wide, longing-to-see-you eyes takes up residence as the sole occupant of the Oval Room at the Frick Collection from October 22 through January 19, 2014. Last seen in New York in 1984 this is a rare and special opportunity.” Her portrait will be joined by 14 more works by the 17th Dutch masters in the exhibition, “Vermeer, Rembrandt and Hals: Masterpieces of Dutch Painting” all on loan from the Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis, in the Hague, which is undergoing a two-year, full-scale restoration. Fair warning: This is going to be a very popular exhibition, GET TICKETS EARLY. The Frick Collection is located at 1 East 70th St; Tuesdays thru Saturdays from 10 am to 6 pm. Sunday 11 to 5 pm. Closed Mondays, Thanksgiving and Christmas. 212.388-0700. Frick.org

PRIVATE: GIANCARLO GIAMMETTI has written the quintessential autobiography in a giant, photography-heavy, coffee-table book published by Assouline, and will be at Parsons The New School on Nov. 7th to dish out his life’s adventure with Valentino. Giammetti who met Valentino Garavani in 1960---the same year “La Dolce Vita,” hit the big screen—and who helped him mint multimillions, was in full form recently: dapper, chatty and still slightly in awe of the route that his life has taken. The book features photographs of his daily diaries and images ranging from black and white shots to color-drenched shots of pals including Pat Cleveland, Oscar de la Renta, Jacqueline Onassis, and Meryl Streep to name a few. The book written with W magazine’s Armand Limnander, will be available for purchase on assouline.com and online October 25, and at the publisher’s boutiques on Nov. 4.

SACRED VISIONS; 19th CENTURY BIBLICAL ART from the DAHESH MUSEUM COLLECTION, a dazzling jewel of an exhibition, explores great artwork inspired by the Bible, and Dahesh’s 19th century academicians who excelled at representing biblical themes. This exhibition considers the rich diversity and transformation of biblical subject matter and features approximately 30 religious paintings, drawings and sculptures by well-known artists like Leon Bonnat, Gustave Dore, Jean-Leon Gerome, Alexandre Cabanel, as well as their lesser known, but equally gifted contemporaries. In addition, on display are volumes drawn from the American Bible Society’s Rare Bible Collection. Of popular 19th century Bibles richly illustrated by Dore and James Tissot, Sacred Visions is on view at the Museum of Biblical Art, 1865 Broadway at 61st Street, through February 16, 2014. The Museum is open six days a week Tuesday-Sunday 10 am-6pm.

VARIATIONS on a THEME: 25 Years of Design from the American Jewelry Design Council (AJDC) showcases outstanding jewelry design at the prestigious Forbes Galleries in New York on Fifth Avenue, between 12th and 13th streets. The exhibition will dazzle museum visitors with one-of-a-kind works from over 40 American Jewelry Design Council (AJDC) members on view through February 22, 2014. Annually, the council asks its members to create a design project, interpreting a single concept or theme, the final product is a collection of unique jewelry pieces joined by a solitary concept. Past themes included simple conceptual elements such as “Water”, “Spiral”, “Ice”, and “Flight” imagined into breathtaking masterpieces made of precious metals, gemstones and unexpected materials. Not to be missed!!! www.americanjewelrydesigncountcil.org.

Ta Ta darlings!! “The Girl with the Pearl Earring” is my choice this week. Fan mail welcome at pollytalk@verizon.net . Visit Polly’s Blogs at www.pollytalk.com and in the left hand column click on the link to Blogs on fashion, remarkable men and women.

Author Polly Guerin: The Cooper-Hewitt Dynasty of New York (History Press 2012)

INTERROBANG ?! Punctuation Remembered (c) By Polly Guerin

With the popularity of personal shorthand text messages and tweets with as many abbreviations that the human mind can think up, could the Interrobang punctuation have a new place in today’s culture?

Also known as the quesclamation mark, it sometimes appeared as ?!” A stylish fusion of a question mark superimposed on an exclamation point the mark was used at the end of a rhetorical question for use in sentences like, “You did that?!” At first Interrobang was not available in type and the combined symbols were hand drawn by lettering artists. However, the Interrobang deserves its due recognition as it is the only punctuation mark invented by an American and was also featured in Americana (font). To this end we owe a note of gratitude to Martin Speckter, one of the original “Mad” men in advertising’s hall of fame.

INTERROBANG'S ORIGIN It was introduced in 1962 by Martin Speckter, president of the New York advertising and public relations agency, Martin K. Speckter Associates, Inc. In addition to running the agency with his wife, Penny Speckter. Martin was editor of the magazine, Type Talks, a trade publication put out by The Advertising Typographers Association of America. Speckter invited readers of the magazine to coin a name for the new mark and of all the names submitted Interrobang was chosen. It is a blend of interrogation and bang, an old printer's term for the exclamation mark. It is significant to note that Interrobang is the only punctuation invented in the 20th century. The mark was eventually made available on some typewriters and recognized by several dictionaries. Interrobang continued to be popular much of the 1960s during the time that the television series “Mad Men” is set.

Pictured Left; MARTIN SPECKTER with early interrobang designs. Image from the World-Herald, June 1967.

INTERPRETING INTERROBANG The mark is said to be the typographical equivalent of a grimace or a shrug of the shoulders. For example, the Interrobang could be used in expressions like this “You call that a hat ?!” Most significantly from a business point of view Speckter believed that advertising copywriters needed a new mark to punctuate exclamatory rhetorical questions common in advertising headlines. For example: “What ?! Whiter than White?!” In Allan Haley’s feature “The Interrobang is Back?! he wrote: “In this type of copy, neither an exclamation point nor a question mark (used alone) could fully convey the writer’s intent. Speckter’s solution was to combine the two into a single symbol.”

Penny Speckter, Martin’s widow keeps the Interrobang flame still burning brightly in her memories about the mark’s creator and his passion for typography. Well into her 90s, Penny still fulfills her role as the quintessential “Mad Woman.” Today she is editor of GSMT NEWS, the newsletter for The General Society of Mechanics & Tradesmen of the City of New York, whose motto is “By Hammer and Hand All Arts Do Stand. Penny also serves on the organization’s Board of Governors.

GSMT is located at 20 West 44th Street, New York 10036. www.generalsociety.org