This is a RetroRenovation rerun originally published Nov. 9, 2008.

10. Camp sees everything in quotation marks. It’s not a lamp, but a “lamp”; not a woman, but a “woman.” To perceive Camp in objects and persons is to understand Being-as-Playing-a-Role. It is the farthest extension, in sensibility, of the metaphor of life as theater.

- Susan Sontag, Notes on “Camp”, 1964

Dan the Man at the Houston Architecture Info Forum recently linked to RetroRenovation.com with the following comment:

Here’s a neat blog on mid-century residential design. It tends towards the kitsch, but it recommends many resources and materials for appropriate renovations…

While I am truly grateful for the reco, I found myself reacting harshly at being called “kitsch” and the disparaging connotation. Hmmm. So what is kitsch…and should I care at being lumped in? I went over to Wikipedia to study etymology…

Of course, there was lots of discussion about avante-garde art and capitalist oppression of the masses… as expected. What really caught my attention, though, was this PostModern update, which to my mind,  confirms that this blog is not kitsch – it’s camp. Of this – I am proud!  Here’s more explanation for your Sunday Magazine reading. Warning: please caffeinate first, this is very “deep”:

With the emergence of Postmodernism in the 1980s, the borders between kitsch and high art became blurred again. One development was the approval of what is called “camp taste” – which can be related to but is not the same as Camp as a “gay sensibility.”^[2] Camp, in some circles, refers to an ironic appreciation of that which might otherwise be considered corny, such as singer/dancer Carmen Miranda with her tutti-frutti hats, or otherwise kitsch, such as popular culture events which are particularly dated or inappropriately serious, such as the low-budget science fiction movies of the 1950s and 60s. A hypothetical example from the world of painting would be a kitsch image of a deer by the lake. In order to make this Camp, one could paint a sign beside it, saying “No Swimming”. The majestical or romantic impression of a stately animal would be punctured through humour; the notion of an animal receiving a punishment for the breach of the rule is patently ludicrous. The original, serious sentimentality of the motif is neutralized, and thus it becomes Camp. Kitsch is never ironic. “Camp” is derived from the French slang term camper, which means “to pose in an exaggerated fashion.” Susan Sontag argued in her 1964 Notes on “Camp” that camp was an attraction to the human qualities which expressed themselves in “failed attempts at seriousness,” the qualities of having a particular and unique style and of reflecting the sensibilities of the era. It involved an aesthetic of artifice rather than of nature. Indeed, hard-line supporters of camp culture have long insisted that “camp is a lie that dares to tell the truth.”

More… on Susan Sontag and her role in all of this:

“Notes On “Camp”” is a well-known essay by Susan Sontag organized around 58 numbered theses. It was published in 1964 and was the author’s first contribution to the Partisan Review. The essay created a literary sensation and brought Sontag her first brush with intellectual notoriety. It was published in 1966 in book form in Sontag’s debut collection of essays, Against Interpretation (ISBN 0-87052-352-X).

The essay codified and mainstreamed the cultural connotations of the word camp, and identified camp’s evolution as a distinct aesthetic phenomenon.

Quotations

Indeed the essence of Camp is its love of the unnatural: of artifice and exaggeration. And Camp is esoteric — something of a private code, a badge of identity even, among small urban cliques.

9. Camp taste draws on a mostly unacknowledged truth of taste: the most refined form of sexual attractiveness (as well as the most refined form of sexual pleasure) consists in going against the grain of one’s sex. What is most beautiful in virile men is something feminine; what is most beautiful in feminine women is something masculine.

10. Camp sees everything in quotation marks. It’s not a lamp, but a “lamp”; not a woman, but a “woman.” To perceive Camp in objects and persons is to understand Being-as-Playing-a-Role. It is the farthest extension, in sensibility, of the metaphor of life as theater. [ Yes!]

18. One must distinguish between naïve and deliberate Camp. Pure Camp is always naïve. Camp which knows itself to be Camp (“camping”) is usually less satisfying.

41. The whole point of Camp is to dethrone the serious. Camp is playful, anti-serious. More precisely, Camp involves a new, more complex relation to “the serious.” One can be serious about the frivolous, frivolous about the serious. ["Yes!"]

44. Camp proposes a comic vision of the world. But not a bitter or polemical comedy. If tragedy is an experience of hyperinvolvement, comedy is an experience of underinvolvement, of detachment.

[Update: Dan the Man actually saw this post and emailed me to say he kind of just used the term casually. No insult intended. In any case, it was fun to explore the difference between camp and kitsch...]

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2. Original house plan and manuals – Susan’s entry Susan aka Kitty Mommy’s entry in the Found Objects Found...
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• Mission
• Improvements
• Planned content
• Other resources – and a reminder regarding safety
• Readership
• How you can help

Mission
The role and goal of Retro Renovation centers around learning from our midcentury design ethic and empowering homeowners to apply that knowledge in ways that are appropriate to their own homes: “Whether you own a mid century home or simply love the retro look, you’ve found your place for: New product recommendations for your home renovation projects … inspirational vintage images … stories of other readers’ homes … quirky info about the 40s, 50s, 60s & 70s design ethic… and a community of homeowners dedicated to cherishing their postwar ranch, cape, colonial, contemporary, split-level and bungalow homes.”

Improvements
With so much content now on the blog – and readers saying it’s hard to find things – improving navigation has been a key goal. You’ll notice the new Fast & Easy Box in the first sidebar: It will take readers directly to key product recommendations in six areas. I’ve also added a “New? Start Here” section on the nav bar to help readers understand and navigate the site. Finally, I am working to find a new Category widget that will help me organize all content in a more intuitive way. Other improvements have included: Adding a Galleries section (much wanted by readers); adding a new Gallery tool that makes viewing images easier; adding a new All-Topics Forum (sorry, cannot handle photos yet – and seems glitchy, argh); moving to a new theme, Thesis, which provides more design/navigation options; and moving to a new more high-powered server that can handle increased traffic. Oh – and I now pay real tech guys, who get called in every week to fix some glitch or another.

Planned content
In terms of content planned for this year, I think you could say “more of the same” and then some. I have always felt the fundamental role of the blog is to uncover products for you to use in your updates — as this was my key problem when renovating my kitchen and three full bathrooms. In addition to the practical stuff, I also love featuring vintage design images… reader stories… time capsules… social history… and an occasional story from the current news that relates to homeownership trends. Pretty soon, I also plan to master podcasting – as there are several people from the midcentury design world that I’d love to talk to and share with readers.

Other resources – and a reminder regarding safety
While Retro Renovation focuses principally on design, it seems that many of you are also interested in DIY and fix-it information. Since this is not my forte, I’m likely to recommend that you discuss these issues with local professionals, and perhaps check out other websites known for their restoration info and how-to, like Old House Journal or Old House Web. At the same time, we all care very much about managing environmental and safety issues properly, so this is a good opportunity to remind everyone that when undertaking a restoration project, be sure to familiarize yourself with and use recommended best practices regarding materials. For example, the EPA hosts websites on both lead and asbestos in the home. If the house is “new to you” I believe that it’s always good advice to bring a professional in to identify all the materials in your home so that you know what you are dealing with – on your floors, your walls, your pipes, insulation, etc. This also includes proper disposal. There seem to be some good resources to help.

Readership
Blog readership has grown a lot. Today, we have about 50,000 unique visitors monthly – that’s double 4-5 months ago. January was a particularly big month – I think everyone was bundled up at home researching their to-do lists! Readers are mostly from the U.S., but we also have several thousand from Canada, the U.K. and Australia. In all: folks from 145 countries tuned into to see what retro homes were all about last month! Interestingly, via comments and emails, I also am seeing more readers with homes from the pre-war era – bungalows and Victorians. Some feature post-war interiors, some have earlier styles. Moving ahead, I think I will try to reach back further in design history, occasionally. And of course, the 70s are hot, so I’m working to include more on that groove-fest era.

How you can help
How can you help the blog continue to pursue its mission and help other homeowners? Well – by reading, commenting and telling friends about the blog, as usual. Also, it’s great when you send me your finds and resources that can help other readers…or when you send articles or exhibits,  movies or simply ideas to feature…and when you let me know if there are products that you are looking for. Most of all: Have fun with the site, I hope it is helping you to “Love the House You’re In.”

I will close… first, with an apology – that with more readers emailing me, it’s getting harder and harder to respond promptly. I hope you understand. I may not get your photo on the blog for a couple of months – but know that I have it. Thank goodness for gmail’s infinite storage capacity.

…. And second, with gratitude for your continued readership and enthusiastic participation.

If you’re interested in starting a blog of your own, be sure to watch for an upcoming post with tips for home-bloggers based on my experience.

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2. Make a Big Impact with a Niche Blog — Pam Kueber of RetroRenovation.com at Alt It’s the rare blogger who is going to make a...
3. Jake & Barclay’s 1943 kitchen gets a retro update DOGGIE BLOGGERS JAKE AND BARCLAY — that’s Jake at left,...

Why why why why why? Why do I love this retro renovation stuff — more so now, than ever? The intensity of my interest never wanes, only grows. Is anyone familiar with Lean Six Sigma analysis techniques? They ask themselves why five times, to get to the bottom of things.

Why why why why why?

1 – Why midcentury style? Because I had a 50s house. It needed some work. I am cheap: “It’s fun to be young and poor, not fun to be old and poor.” So I decided to do it in the original style of the house so it would “never go out of style.”

2 – Okay, but why did I turn out to love it so much? There is no obvious logical answer. I never had any affinity before. My decorating awakening was 1970 – when I got to choose my own 5th grade bedroom decor (a triumph!). Flash forward, my apartments were charming, but un-self-consciously so. I was always a bargain hunter. My first married home, a 1912 colonial revival with lots of Arts & Crafts influences. I also renovated that – I “got into it” — but I did not get sucked into a vortex. This house, though…. Once I started with this house, what started as ‘going with the flow’ turned into something infinitely stronger.

3 – Why? My interest in the decoration quickly led to interest in the people, the era, the social history. The ‘why’ that led to the decor. My husband informed me that I am a populist, at heart. I just love the fact that the wealth of the postwar era was spread around… that there was little bit of something – a little ranch house, a dinette, a pull down light, a pink bathroom, a little piece of paradise – starting to become within everyone’s reach. That’s the era’s appeal to me.

4 – The pull goes even deeper, I think, as I brought the era into my own home, my own family’s life. The sentiment I felt toward the “stuff” I collected also transferred to the people it came from – and for the love they put into it. Over the past 5 years I also solidly entered into middle age.  I now have as much personal history to reflect upon that’s in my rearview mirror, compared to ahead. And my kid is growing up and will fly the coop soon. What kind of memories will stay with her, about the family home that I’m building?  The people – in the houses we now own – went through exactly the very same life stages. They bought the house – the stuff – they raised their kids – it was their family home and all that means. All this babbling rolls up to the fact that I do get emotional about saving, salvaging, restoring – or at minimum, saying a little prayer of gratitude when something that’s served its purpose really has to go. You can’t just tear the stuff out, tear the houses down, without thinking, or worse, with disgust.

5 – Why not just rip it out and start all over? Because what goes around – comes around. You rip out someone else’s stuff carelessly – and someone down the line will obliterate your hard work, as well. It’s very bad karma just to roll over the past.

Related posts:

1. Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me… Okay, I really only bring this up because there seem...
2. Happy Birthday, Hula Hoop! A retro renovation re-run June 19, 2008 was the Hula Hoop’s 50th birthday. I...
3. Watch soon for a new url: RetroRenovation.com After several months of very active blogging – and learning...