Allee Willis Blog » 2009 September

30Sep 2009

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Vintage Individual Jell-o Jello Molds

30Sep 2009

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Vintage Individual Jell-o Jello Molds

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I love Jell-O! I love all colors. I love it plain or with things floating inside except when people suspend stuff like little sprigs of broccoli or carrots in it that interrupt the smooth chew. I especially love Jell-O when it comes from a little individual mold. This vintage set of six is the real deal made by the Jell-O company itself. Made of aluminum, the all-ruling metal of the 1950’s, the scalloped sides make for an impressive sculptural mound of Jell-O but I wish the Jell-O name on the bottom (or top depending on which way you look at it) was embossed on the inside as opposed to the outside so that the brand name was gouged into the mound when it popped out. I know I’m not the only one who would eat around everything and leave the Jell-O logo until last.

I’ve actually made Jell-O birthday cakes using these molds by pouring different colors of the gelatinous stuff into each cup and unloading them around a giant peak of whipped cream with shredded coconut scaling down the sides. They look like futuristic condominiums surrounding a snow-covered volcano.

29Sep 2009

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Pineapple Grape Lamp

29Sep 2009

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Pineapple Grape Lamp

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Resin grapes were a huge thing in the late 1960s/ early ’70s but none so succulent or popular as those that were fashioned into pineapple table lamps. I have the red one pictured here as well as a yellow one and a purple one. It’s a bitch to change the bulb though. I always have to call my electrician when one burns out. If I were the inventor of these I would have had one easily decipherable grape that popped out for an easy change. But for all I know these lamps have that feature because as adventurous as I am in my life and career that’s how unadventurous I am when it comes to figuring out anything mechanical or that involves following detailed instructions of any kind. Lucky for me,these grapes look fantastic whether they’re turned on or off.

28Sep 2009

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Vintage Ceramic Poodle Pitcher Bank

28Sep 2009

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Vintage Ceramic Poodle Pitcher Bank

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Poodle anything almost instantly qualifies as Kitsch. This one is a double K because for years I thought it was a pitcher until I finally went to use it and the canine started hemorrhaging lemonade from its back. I was upset because I’ve never noticed any hairline fractures but upon closer examination I discovered it wasn’t a pitcher at all but, rather, a bank!

I find the heavily detailed ceramic and wobbly head a rather odd choice for a children’s toy and lay odds on it breaking within the first five uses or whenever a silver dollar’s dropped inside, whichever comes first. But with a little putty jammed in the coin slot I still think it would make a lovely pitcher. Since that discovery about 10 years ago it’s just been a lovely nothing, something for my cat Niblet to rub herself against every now and then so I can take these cute pictures of her.

27Sep 2009

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – 1960’s Canadian Club Whiskey Pitcher

27Sep 2009

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – 1960’s Canadian Club Whiskey Pitcher

I’ve collected four of these porcelain pitchers from the late 1960s over the years. I’ve only seen this particular style with the casual, beaming Afro-endowed hostess on the front, never the matching male, so perhaps Canadian Club was making a pitch to the swingin’ middle-class lady set that things other than water and lemonade should be pouring out of their petite white pitchers.

I always liked that the blouse they chose for this hostess was so bold yet conservative, picking up enough of what they perceived as a ‘Right On/ That’s Soul, Baby!’ feeling but still looking like it could have been bought at any department store in the white suburban malls. 5-1/2″ high by 3-1/2″ high and made in the USA, at least Canadian Club’s sprang for printing the image on both sides of the pitcher. Nothing bothers me more in household accessories, especially things like glasses and pitchers where how you pick them up depends on whether you’re right or left-handed, when the image is only stamped on one side. Nothing less expressive for this the happy hostess who writes this blog then drinking out of something that is blank on the side exposed to the public. I’ve collected four of these porcelain pitchers from the late 1960s over the years. I’ve only seen this particular style with the casual, beaming Afro-endowed hostess on the front, never the matching male, so perhaps Canadian Club was making a pitch to the swingin’ middle-class lady set that things other than water and lemonade should be pouring out of their petite white pitchers.

I always liked that the blouse they chose for this hostess was so bold yet conservative, picking up enough of what they perceived as a ‘Right On/ That’s Soul, Baby!’ feeling but still looking like it could have been bought at any department store in the white suburban malls.

5-1/2″ high by 3-1/2″ wide and made in the USA, at least Canadian Club sprang for printing the image on both sides of the pitcher. Nothing bothers me more in household accessories, especially things like glasses and pitchers where how you pick them up depends on whether you’re right or left-handed, when the image is only stamped on one side. Nothing less expressive for the happy hostess who writes this blog then drinking out of something that is blank on the side exposed to the public.

25Sep 2009

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Bacon Shoes

25Sep 2009

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Bacon Shoes

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Nothin’ tastier in the morning then to slip on a nice pair of bacon shoes and go about your day. As someone who loves the meaty stuff, this is the perfect way to avoid all that grease and and keep your feet looking crisp and scrumptious all day. I have bacon bandages, bacon scarves, designer bacon everything, but the printing is so cheap on most of it it just looks like pink and red wavy stripes. But on these Keds it actually looks like the real thing.

24Sep 2009

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Libby The Lovely Liberated Lady and the Black Power Statuette

24Sep 2009

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Libby The Lovely Liberated Lady and the Black Power Statuette

Popular causes have always been prime breeding ground for Kitsch but none so powerful as the first wave of products that spin out of these Pop Culture phenomenon. Both Libby The Lovely Liberated Lady and the Do-It-Yourself Coloring Kit Black Power Statuette are two such statements from burgeoning Civil Rights movements in the 1960s and ’70s when these folks were expressing themselves freely among the masses for the first time.

Unintentionally Kitsch, the best kind, these qualify as Kitsch treasures for two different reasons. Libby because she took on THE characteristic of the oppressor she was attempting to free herself from and the Black Power Statuette because whoever his product manager was was too cheap to spend the extra pennies to add a little tan color to the resin. Power to the Kitsch people!

23Sep 2009

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Photos from Party #2 for the Grand Opening of The Allee Willis Museum of Kitsch!

23Sep 2009

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Photos from Party #2 for the Grand Opening of The Allee Willis Museum of Kitsch!

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Seems like there are hundreds of photos circulating on the Internet from my party Monday night where, among a zillion other things, members of Earth Wind & Fire performed in a parking lot for anyone who wanted to sing my EWF hits, “September” and “Boogie Wonderland”.

The Grand Opening Party #2 at Ghettogloss for The Allee Willis Museum Of Kitsch at awmok.com also featured a Thrift Shop Art auction,

a raffle to win a personally-conducted-by-me tour of Willis Wonderland, the physical home of the AWMoK, and massive amounts of gourmet Street and standard faire junk food to keep the minds of the 400 attendees tweaked to Kitsch perfection.

I usually go through the photos and pick out the 20 or so best ones but I loved the fantastic mix of people and ages so as long as it was in focus it’s here.

People keep sending me new photos everyday so I very likely may be adding to these everyday. And video of the insanely kitschy performances with EWF is coming as soon as I can grab enough minutes to edit something together.

People magazine said of my parties, “Invitations to Allee Willis’s ultra-exclusive … parties are the campiest hot tickets in LA.” I’m confident I quite lived up to my reputation with this one!

Go to AWMoK.com to join a fantastically witty and friendly community of very cool people with very kool Kitsch.

Sincerely, Your hostess/curator aKitschionado, Allee

22Sep 2009

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – An UNBELIEVABLE 21st Night Of September!

22Sep 2009

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – An UNBELIEVABLE 21st Night Of September!

Yes, it was the opening line of my very first hit and it was the greatest way ever to celebrate the opening of The Allee Willis Museum Of Kitsch with bad karaoke versions of the song and have Verdine White and Larry Dunn, original members of Earth Wind & Fire who played on “September” and every other EWF classic, back up me and Luenell, the hysterical hooker from Borat, on a $39 1981 Casio MT-65 and a 1965 knock-off Apollo bass. We proceeded straight into “Boogie Wonderland” with hundreds of people in attendance at Ghettogloss singing along. It was that scrumptious combination of the very highest form of the art smashed together with the very lowest that made this aKitschionado’s heart spinnnnnnnn out of control!

I’m racing out now to my good friend and collaborator, Dave Koz’s, ceremony to get his star on The Hollywood Walk Of Fame and I won’t get THE photographs from the party til tomorrow (and God knows when I’ll get to editing the video but I will) so I’m throwing a few up now as bait to come back for more.

Al Yankovick, me and Luenell:

With Real of VH-1’s Real Chance Of Love, to which I co-wrote the theme song:

A very pregnant Lisa Loeb, a not at all pregnant me and Verdine White:

Auctions of stunning Thrift Shop Art occurred throughout the evening:

Many guests dressed appropriately for the evening:

Wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy more to come…

21Sep 2009

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Party Photos from The Allee Willis Museum Of Kitsch Grand Opening Party #1

21Sep 2009

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Party Photos from The Allee Willis Museum Of Kitsch Grand Opening Party #1

The response to awmok.com has been insane, beyond my wildest and most hopeful expectations both from the press and from the public who has been contributing so much mindboggling Kitsch to the museum it staggers even this ol’ aKitschionado. Once I get through party #2 tonight at Ghettogloss, the cap to the end of a glorious week of Grand Opening festivities, and taking the physical display down tomorrow and setting everything back down in my house and studio I hope to properly document what has truly been one of the most thrilling weeks of my life not to mention events in my career. I know the nature of the Internet is to post these things immediately but it’s all part of a massive, organic, oozing project of connections to me and I don’t want to just slap up a bunch of photos and thoughts online without giving them their proper creative do. So enjoy some photos from party #1 now, have a chocolate milk or Kool-Aid on me, and know that much, much, much, much more is to come.

The response to awmok.com has been insane, beyond my wildest and most hopeful expectations both from the press and from the public who has been contributing so much mindboggling Kitsch to the museum it staggers even this ol’ aKitschionado. Once I get through party #2 tonight at Ghettogloss, the cap to the end of a glorious week of Grand Opening festivities, and taking the physical display down tomorrow and setting everything back up in my house and studio I hope to properly document what has truly been one of the most thrilling weeks of my life not to mention events in my career. I know the nature of the Internet is to post these things immediately but it’s all part of a massive, organic, oozing project of connections to me and I don’t want to just slap up a bunch of photos and thoughts online without giving them their proper creative do. So enjoy some photos from party #1 now, have a chocolate milk or Kool-Aid on me, and know that much, much, much, much more is to come.

Please proceed directly to AWMoK.com to see some of the glorious submissions to the Museum. remember, it’s the beginning of what I hope will become a great social network so don’t be shy. The people there are very cool and they’re showing some really crazy, cool stuff..

Xx, Your hostess/curator/ Kitsch luv’r, Allee

Please also proceed directly to AWMoK.com to see some of the glorious submissions to the Museum. Remember, it’s the beginning of what I hope will become a great social network so don’t be shy. The people there are very cool and they’re showing and talking about some really crazy, cool stuff.

Xx, Your hostess/curator/ Kitsch luv’r, Allee

Photos from Party #1

20Sep 2009

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – NBC News features The Allee Willis Museum Of Kitsch!

20Sep 2009

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – NBC News features The Allee Willis Museum Of Kitsch!

This ran on September 18, 2009. Thank you, NBC and especially Cary Berglund, for getting what Kitsch is and giving it the props it so richly deserves!