ere at Cladrite Designs, we meet many people who live with one foot in the past, one foot in the present, and an eye toward the future. That is to say, they love movies made back when they were still called "pictures," pop music of decades gone by, classic (and not-so-classic) fiction of the first half of the 20th century, venerable restaurants that predate the chains, and so much more, but not at the exclusion of the latest and greatest -- contemporary movies ("films," even), new music, innovative trends in dining, and the latest in groundbreaking technology. They are not so much nostalgic as they are intrigued by and appreciative of pop culture of the (relatively) recent past.
Film archivist Rick Prelinger said it nicely in a 2002 SF Weekly profile:
"I'm fascinated with the look of the past. I have an urgent need to form images of what a place looked like in the '40s or '50s. What did it smell like? What were people wearing? What [was] people's body language? Was it noisy or quiet? Was the air smoky?"Which pretty much pegs our penchant for the past (the allure that alliteration holds for us is another matter).
We like to think we (and Mr. Prelinger -- who has nothing whatsoever to do with this site, by the way; we're just great admirers of his. If you're not familiar with the Prelinger Collection of ephemeral films, check them out at www.archive.org) are not the only ones who feel this way. And while we can't promise that the various and sundry offerings you'll find at Cladrite.com will bring the past back as richly and fully as we'd all like them to, it's our sincere hope that they will, at least, keep the decades they represent alive in some small way.
We hope you'll let us know what you think of our products. We may be off to a modest start, but we wanted to begin slowly and simply, so as to iron out the wrinkles and get all (well, most) of our mistakes behind us early.
We'll soon have many more designs on the way, and we hope that you'll join our mailing list, The Cladrite Report, so as to keep abreast of all the goings-on here at Cladrite Designs.
We also encourage you to enjoy wonderful classics tunes from 1920s, '30s, '40s, and '50s on Cladrite Radio, our online radio station. We recently were ranked #1 in our genre at Live365.com, and the response overall has been terrific. Click on the "Listen Now" link on our homepage to join the fun.
Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy our cool new/old stuff.
Your pals at Cladrite.com