Retro Magazine

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Retro Magazine with cup of tea and green & orange striped knitted cushion

This copy of Retro Magazine arrived last week. It was sent by the lovely people at Hus & Hem as we’d supplied an image of a yellow Finel coffee pot for them to use.

page from Retro Magazine showing a photo of H is for Home's yellow Finel percolator

Hus & Hem (and this off-shoot publication) hails from Sweden so we did have a slight problem to overcome with regards to the language barrier. We should be fluent in Swedish judged by the number of Scandinavian crime dramas we watch – but alas not!

sitting room

It didn’t stop this magazine being a very enjoyable “read” for us though. We could pick up on the general gist of the articles, but we mainly let the pictures do the talking.

vintage Volkswagen Golf feature

There’s certainly no shortage of them with lots of vintage retro gorgeousness to peruse.

dining table

Scandinavia is of course home to many great designers both past & present – and the source of many pieces so sought after by collectors. So it’s no surprise that they should have some excellent publications dedicated to the subject.

vintage decorated kitchen

The magazine crams loads in. There are some inspiring house tours, vintage fashion and features on classic design.

vintage fashion feature

As you can see from the article on Mari Simmulson & Upsala-Ekeby pottery for example, these articles are quite extensive and make great source material for identification or collecting.

selection of vintage Ekeby ceramic dishes

There are also current product pointers and a location tour with an eye to vintage design  & retail opportunities.

selection of vintage kitchenalia items

In this issue, Helsingfors (Helsinki in Swedish) is the destination – it’s gone onto our list for when we do that much longed for Scandinavian camper van tour.

Helsinki feature

The photography is excellent throughout. There’s also much use of vintage magazine articles & advertisements to display products or show items in situ.

selection of vintage loungers

It costs about £5.00 per issue.

selection of vintage chairs and stools

It’s definitely worth giving a try – you might even learn a new language!