This is the third of seven posts today.

6) SHOW-AND-TELL

For those participating on ZOOM, today, we open the floor to any club members who have “fancraft” projects to showcase—sci-fi scale models, SF/F woodworking or needlecraft, whatever genre-themed, hands-on project it may be that you are working on at present, or have recently completed.

Those not able to join our ZOOM-chat for the show-and-tell may contribute by using this post’s “Leave a Comment” feature to type in a quick description of any such project on which they are currently working.

7) GALLERY: ATOMIC-AGE CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS AND DECORATIONS

Alternately, with Christmas advertising suddenly upon us and holiday merchandise popping up on store shelves, with seasonal music playing on the radio, and some of our neighbours having already festooned their homes in decorative lights, we offer, in that spirit, a gallery of groovy Christmas ornaments and decorations.

All sci-fi fans have, no doubt, seen an episode or two of the original Star Trek, or the Saturday-morning cartoon series The Jetsons, and so have glimpsed an aesthetic known as Mid-Century Modern. A style of design and visual art, the distinctive MCM look arose out of the optimistic, avant-garde post-WWII years, pervaded throughout the 1950s and ’60s, persisting even into the ’70s, and has regained popularity in recent years.

MCM architecture and furniture, for example, emphasizing functionality over ornamental adornment, is typified by a spare, minimalist look, and the use of rich woods, glass, metal, plastics, and vinyl warmed by a vibrant palette of oranges, ochres, and umbers. Typical accent colours include a variety of hues like taupe, teal, avocado, and mauve.

Pictorially, MCM’s wild angles, smooth curves, and flat colours are characteristic of the style, with such iconic motifs as the globe, boomerang, and starburst associated with the look. MCM, one might say, is to design and illustration that which jazz is to music: colourful, playful, and the penultimate in cool! And, there’s a retro-futuristic feel to the style, which probably accounts for its popularity among many sci-fi fans.

So all of that to set up these examples of Mid-Century Modern, or “Atomic-Age,” Christmas ornaments and decorations, some commercially produced, others handcrafted. Merry Christmas, baby!