Archive for 2005
Friday, October 21st, 2005

This man is doing the hood ornament pose. Is he feeling cool ocean breezes in places where we don’t ordinarily feel cool ocean breezes?!
Southern California’s obsession with fitness began in the 1930s on Santa Monica’s sunny seashore. According to the legend, out of work actors began gathering there to lift weights while sun tanning […]
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Friday, October 14th, 2005

TWO MEN, FOUR LADIES, THREE LITTLE BOYS AND A BABY
Aqua cinderblock walls with peeling paint and matching rumpled plush carpet provide a perfect monotone backdrop for this week’s slide: FAMILY PORTRAIT, SOMEWHERE, USA, 1955.
A blonde homemade speaker, missing its gold flecked cloth and vintage furniture complete the unpretentious decor. Faceless dads wear pleated britches held […]
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Friday, October 7th, 2005

HELLO FROM FLORIDA!
After spending just two days running around Miami Beach and Ft. Lauderdale there is NO question in my mind that Florida is the ultimate destination for modernism! Woo-wee its EVERYWHERE you look. Miami Beach is STAGGERING! far more than I ever dreamed it would be. It’s truly a miracle that SO MANY […]
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Thursday, September 15th, 2005

Southern Californians are very lucky because the LOS ANGELES COUNTY FAIR is the BIGGEST and most WONDERFUL county fair in the world. Every year I recommend the gigantic kitsch fest to even my most jaded and snooty friends - and they love it too!!! And if you think the fair is beneath your station in […]
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Thursday, September 8th, 2005

Bonjour!!!! Parlez vous francais??? I love these American tourists in a French Museum - especially the oh-so snooty one in the middle.
I’m an American in Paris this week and so I thought it would be appropriate to have a little Paris-i-ana instead of Americana - French fries, French doors, French bread, French poodles, and of […]
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Thursday, September 1st, 2005

Last Saturday I had the distinguished and royal honor of meeting the King and Queen of all Tupperware collectors, Bob and Marilyn Wilson at the Cooper Museum in Upland, California where their enormous collection is now on display. There are also many pieces for sale! That is what inspired this week’s SLIDE OF THE WEEK: […]
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Thursday, August 25th, 2005

OKLAHOMA IS A MECCA OF MID-CENTURY MODERN!
Who knew? Well I certainly didn’t until I visited there last week. It’s the Tomorrowland of the mid-west - shocking but true.
In both Oklahoma City and Tulsa there is a truly spectacular array of deco, modern, roadside and vintage neon. They should change the name of the state to […]
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Thursday, August 11th, 2005

How-DEE - (like Minnie Pearl said it!
This week’s slide, THE LUER "QUALITY MEAT" ROCKET SHIP, SUNLAND, 1955, is one of my all time favorite finds.
Yes, I shrieked, then wept when I found it. Btw, you may find it in my latest book SOUTHERN CALIFORNIALAND: MID-CENTURY CULTURE IN KODACHROME, and many of you have seen […]
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Thursday, August 4th, 2005

Ahoy
Occasionally I weep when looking through the old slides that I collect. That happens when I find something really amazing. Well, this week I wept when I ran across this spellbinding shot taken inside the MARINELAND RESTAURANT, PALOS VERDES, CALIFORNIA, 1955
This is where you ate when you went to see porpoises jump through hoops on […]
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