http://www.charlesphoenix.com God Bless Americana! -- Books, Slide Shows, & Field Trip Tours Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:39:34 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I just love the fact that we celebrate the birth of the good ‘ol USA by exploding colorful things made in China! Don’t YOU!!! What are your 4th of July traditions??? Here’s to Chinese fireworks, the USA’s 233rd Birthday and YOU! http://www.charlesphoenix.com/happy-4th-of-july-everywhere-usa/ Broken twigs cleverly placed on a lawn spell out what happened to our beloved Kodachrome this week. Yes, the fine folks at Kodak, in Rochester, NY, announced that the granddaddy and gold standard of all color film has been discontinued. The last roll of Kodachrome film has left the building. ... http://www.charlesphoenix.com/the-end-in-kodachrome-somewhere-usa-1969/ “Folks” is hand written on this slide. Do these “folks” realize they left their camera on the hood of their car? The camera is the Argus Seventy Five, mass-produced in Ann Arbor, Michigan between 1953 and 1958. The car is a 1961 Plymouth Fury. Flaring, wrap around front fenders make ... http://www.charlesphoenix.com/the-folks-and-the-fury-pasadena-ca-1964/ An enormous package of Oreo cookies jumping out of a TV, two giant little girls and white-lined red letters, spelling out what is short for National Biscuit Company, simply dwarf a sideswiped 1940 Dodge. The giant little girls are properly dressed alike for TV viewing in matching puffed sleeved blouses ... http://www.charlesphoenix.com/oreo-billboard-southern-california-1955/ Mod abstract print curtains frame the clapboard siding of the house next door peeking though the window into a flash lit kitchen. Westinghouse light bulbs, “enriched” wheat bread, Morning Glory Butter, a plastic squeeze bottle of mustard, an iron and a metal canister clutter the counter behind a lovely young ... http://www.charlesphoenix.com/fat-newspaper-milwaukee-wisconsin-1961/ A hot summer sun cooks the breeze as it blows over rolling hills into the valley. Power lines and the proud poles that place them follow the leisure country road on both sides leading to and from Olive Headquarters. It sounds so official! If those lipstick red soft drink logos ... http://www.charlesphoenix.com/olive-headquarters-santa-clara-valley-ca-1962/ Colonel Sanders is not dead. He’s catnapping on an ultra lounger. As usual he is dressed for success his trademark double-breasted white suit, black western bow-tie and matching cane. Behind him is a palm potted in a timeless classic fiberglass bullet planter. Gazing adoringly and cozied up beside him is ... http://www.charlesphoenix.com/sleeping-colonel-salt-lake-city-utah-1950s/ A lone gunboy takes aim from the tailgate of a 1958 Plymouth Sport Suburban station wagon. His stance is sure and his aim is studied as he stares down the barrel of a toy rifle. He is dressed to kill in a smart striped knit tee tucked into indigo denim ... http://www.charlesphoenix.com/suburban-shooting-california-coast-1959/ This slide isn’t about that big, beautiful shocking pink bow on the fruit-filled Easter basket that has a thanksgiving horn of plenty attitude or the gray crushed velvet patterned Formica tabletop its sits on slightly off center. It’s not about how well Spanish gold curtains go with sage green walls, ... http://www.charlesphoenix.com/easter-display-portrait-somewhere-usa-1975/ It’s a quarter past high noon in the very midst of the San Fernando Valley. A futuristic high tech digital clock tells us so. But the clock isn’t as futuristic as the curvaceous creation it marks. This is the Tomorrowland of Van Nuys Boulevard. A man and a woman pose ... http://www.charlesphoenix.com/van-nuys-savings-panorama-city-ca-1957/