Submitted by Leah Collier

“I present to you my first ever Astro-Weenie Tree. It was made for a “Good Luck and Good Riddance” party for a co-worker who was moving to a job out-of-state. My soon-to-be ex-co-worker is extremely fond of Chik-Fil-A Chicken Nuggets so I gladly incorporated them into the creation along with pineapple chunks, maraschino cherries, baby gherkins, olives, cubed cheese and of course, WEENIES!!! Everyone loved it and now they think I am even weirder than before. Thanks a lot!!!! I owe it all to you! I can’t wait for an occasion to make another!”

Oklahomans gawk at a beautiful brand new 1957 Plymouth. The car has just been lowered into the cement tomb and covered in plastic where it will rest undisturbed for fifty years. Visible is the white roof and the left front fender. 2007 must seemed like an eternity to these people because 2057 sure seems like an eternity to me. I can’t even imagine fifty years in the future.

To see what hundreds of classic car enthusiasts and I saw when the lid was finally lifted on Wednesday please check out my new blog, CHARLES TRAVELS! It will be lifted out of the time capsule and revealed for the first time tonight.

Here’s to Tulsa, 1957 Plymouth’s, time capsules everywhere and YOU!

The NPR Special Series “Destination Time Capsule” follows Charles Phoenix on his Route 66 road trip to Tulsa, OK for the unearthing of a 1957 Plymouth fifty years after it’s burial.

Listen here

The slide of the week is on vacation while I’m on a classic car road trip to TULSA for the unearthing of a 1957 Plymouth after 50 years of being buried in a time capsule. Beginning Sunday, June 10th I will be blogging about the trip which begins in Las Vegas where I will marry my friends Bruce and Suzanne in the neon graveyard. Check out my new “CHARLES TRAVELS” blog.

On June 16, 2007, a brand spankin’ new 1957 Plymouth Belvedere Sport Coupe will be unearthed after spending the last fifty years in a time capsule buried on the front lawn of the county courthouse in Tulsa, Oklahoma. And someone, whoever then, in 1957, guessed closest to what the population of Tulsa would be in 2007, will win the car. If they are no longer among us the car will be given to their next of kin.

This amazing time capsule was part of “Tulsarama,” the city’s celebration of Oklahoma’s semi-centennial. Among the other things in the time capsule is a bottle of tranquilizers and a case of beer. The big question is what condition will the car be in? Nobody knows. Will it be a rust bucket or pristine?

There is SO no way that I’m going to miss this event. I’ve been waiting for the unearthing of this car since I read a tiny article on it in a classic car magazine in 1989. It was one of those “gee, how-old-will-I-be-then?” moments. I promised myself I would be there no matter what. Well the time has come and I’m on my way. And I’ll be bloging my whole classic car road trip there beginning Sunday June 10th here.

For more on the 1957 PLYMOUTH TIME CAPSULE watch the youtube video.

Here’s to the unearthing of the 1957 Plymouth Time Capsule and YOU!

Submitted by Amy

“I’m the owner of a group called Southern Tier Mommies of Babies. It’s a group for moms in the Southern Tier of New York who have babies from ages 0-36 months. We have gatherings/playdates/meetings all the time. Yesterday, I hosted a “fancy tea party” where everyone dressed up in their best clothes, drank different teas, and snacked on hors d’oeuvres. I brilliantly thought, “Oh, that astro weenie tree would be perfect for this.” Of course, since it’s nearly June, I didn’t want it to be a Christmas tree. So I improvised and made a topiary using a candle-stick-holder and a styrofoam ball.

All of the toddlers absolutely loved my astro-weenie topiary, and the parents were impressed, too. Everyone kept asking me if I made it. So, I just had to submit it.”

Light daiquiri ice colored walls behind them. Linoleum printed with a modern motif below them. Four men drink beer in a Wisconsin turkey farm house. Overalls are clearly a major fashion trend. Purple shirts are in too.

The room is as unpretentious and unselfconscious as they are. The table cloth and curtains are plastic. The table top radio is slightly stylized with a slant front.

Among other things on the table are a loaf of bread, newspaper, black banded fedora and a box of starch. Below the table is a teddy bear sideways in a baby doll cradle and a beach ball. Mother Nature makes an appearance in the form of spindly house plants. And never have I seen a more creative alternative use for a smart two toned dust pan than hanging it on a wall and using it as a wall pocket planter. Truly inspired.

Deep Fried Beer Batter Fish:
Speaking of beer may suggest you mix some with Bisquick until it makes the perfect batter. Dip fresh fish fillets in it just before you carefully toss them into a deep fryer full of hot oil. Fry them with pride until they are deliciously golden brown. Serve generously to friends and relations with fresh homemade coleslaw and…what else, beer. Your favorite homemade pie ala mode will be the perfect desert. Enjoy life. Deep fry more often!

Here’s to beer drinking turkey farmers, deep fried beer battered fish and YOU!

A man dons a rain slicker, smokes a cigarette and cradles a little girl sporting a hooded rain cape over a coat and dress combo who sips sweet, delicious boysenberry juice from a wax-paper cup through a straw. They are prepared for wet weather but the lady is not. She has no rain gear to speak of just red painted lips accentuating her cheeky smile, a simple-yet-stylish suit and a conservatively colored scarf gathered in her hands.

As millions have over the years these fine folks pose proudly with Handsome Brady and Whiskey Bill, totally fake Gold prospectors permanently on a bench positioned on a bench outside the Gold Trail Hotel in Knott’s Ghost Town. If this isn’t a classic Southern California Kodak moment I don’t know what is!

In the vast and spectacular scheme of Southern California history Knott’s Berry Farm has a huge place. It is the first permanent theme park where architecture, transportation, displays, demonstrations, food, music, performance, dramatic reenactments, souvenirs and costumed employees all came together to create total emersion, environment. And to think it was all inspired by the question of how to entertain all the people waiting in line to eat Mrs. Knott’s famous Fried Chicken Dinner on Sunday Afternoons. Surprisingly much of the ghost town still stands today, sixty-seven years after it began.

The Knott’s story is epic. The transformation a boysenberry field into the first theme park will be well told with slides and rare film clips this Monday night, May 21st at 7pm by the World’s Leading Knott’s Berry Farm Historian, Chris Merritt, at the La Crescenta Historical Society 4845 Dunsmore Ave. La Crescenta, CA. 91214
Admission is FREE.

This Saturday May 19, 2007, 11am til 4pm don’t miss the World’s Greatest Vintage Trailer Show Open House and Swap Meet at the Newport Dunes Waterfront RV Resort in the scenic back bay of Newport Harbor in Newport Beach CA. Admission is FREE.

Here’s to Knott’s, vintage trailers, everyone that help make my BIG SHOW a SELL OUT and YOU!!!

For experiencing the craze that’s sweeping the nation, this man sports
a cool weather plaid wool work shirt with double patch flap pockets over thin-belted jeans with navy socks and green thongs –a perfect ensemble to experience the ultimate exercise accessory- the hula hoop.

Spinning a hula hoop is an essential human experience quite unlike anything else. Far more vigorous than the moody and melodic Hawaiian dance the space age plastic hoops were cleverly named for. Like freeways, fast food, movie making, theme parks, car culture, drive-ins, and shopping malls, the hula hoop wasn’t invented here in Southern California but it was perfected here. Humans have been spinning hoops around their waists for ages. But it was Wham-O, the innovative Southern California toy maker that also brought us Frisbees, Slip ‘n Slides and Superballs, that first mass produced hula hoops in 1958. The masses bought them in epic numbers and a hula hoop fad that swept across the nation.

Speaking of Hula Hoops, Matt Plendl, the World’s Greatest Hula Hooper will join me on stage next Friday Night, May 11, at the John Anson Ford Amphitheater for —THE UNITED STATES OF CHARLES PHOENIX— my BIGGEST RETRO SLIDE SHOW EVER! Live music by legendary roller rink organist, Domenic of Moonlight Rollerway, and I will make desert for everyone on stage. Vintage dress, boos and pre-show picnics encouraged! Tell your friends!!!
Tickets & Info

Here’s to Hula Hoops, the BIG SHOW and YOU!