Very nice of the Federal Credit Union of Signal Hill, CA to give these promotional money sack banks to Long Beach city employees but the gift would have been ever more meaningful if it came with a little cash jingling inside, something I’m sure the employees needed more than this lump of clay.
I’m not sure what year this is from but it’s definitely after November, 1991 when the 310 area code went into effect in that part of the financial world.
The Pigmy goes all out and serenades us with the definitive version of “La Bamba”. His band is pretty cool too.
Though as a rule I abhor reproductions, this modern day toilet clock rides the elevator to the penthouse of Kitsch never to came down with it’s raised gold coated Roman numerals, once live butterflies, dried fauna, glitter and swirling string encased in pearlized white resin. The lid lifts to reveal the clock mechanism that runs on one AA battery. It ticks like a champ and is the most popular toilet in my studio.
These gained popularity in the 1950s when most of them came with the signature ”Johnny-On-The-Spot” emblazoned across the lids.
I’m very attached to my home state of Michigan and collect anything from the 1940s to 1970s that honors it. I particularly love when architecture is involved as in those decades Michigan exemplified the Atomic Age with its number one industry, automobiles, and much of the architecture in the state was inspired by the cash cow’s huge tail fins and modern color palettes.
The Harris Motor Inn in Kalamazoo couldn’t quite decide if it was traditional (lots of brick) or modern, though the excellent slate, floor to ceiling glass windows and suspended light fixtures suggest the latter influence was greater.
I love when anything proclaims itself “the best”. In the case of the Harris it’s “Michigan’s Best for Food and Rest”. If this place is still standing I just might make it there one day to sample the food by Zeman, who was heavy enough to get his/their initial in a larger font size than the Harris itself.
Right, the first thing that hits your lips when you think of Maya Angelou is that she’s “Miss Calypso”. But in her early days the prophet poetess was a chanteuse in a slinky red dress back-bending under the limbo bar. This Liberty LP was recorded at The Keyboard club in Hollywood in 1956. Angelou’s Afro-Cuban-with-a-pinch- of -Blues-and-Jazz standards include “Scandal In the Family”, “Mambo In Africa”, “Donkey City” and “Stone Cold Dead In The Market”, the first two of which she wrote.
The owl is a national bird of the state of Kitsch. This is a set of four textured ceramic wood coffee cups with a happy owl peeping out. I don’t usually like the bark effect in ceramic but I love these cups because the owls are so happy.
These are obviously made from a mold but the bottoms are individually signed by someone who spent a sizable amount of time attempting to perfect their signature (and never quite got it right).
A simple but elegant gold ‘B‘ adorns this simple shortie white ceramic vase. Because of their classic vintage aura, I don’t discriminate against initial adorned artifacts despite the fact that the ‘B‘ has nothing to do with Allee or Willis. I keep it in the Bathroom where it looks Beautiful and holds hairBands, toothBrushes and other health and Beauty Bounty.
I’ve been collecting Shriners artifacts since I found a group portrait of hundreds of Zurah Temple members in their Fezes in the mid-1970s looking like little lined up Pez dispensers. I never knew the difference between Shriners and Masons or what either of them really did. I just like any organization that has hats, pins and a super-costumed regulated look. My alter ego, Bubbles the artist, has even honored them in her popular “The Funsters Of Zurah Temple” line of collage art, ceramics and paintings.
This transparent red plastic salt and pepper shaker is a two in one deal, salt on one side, pepper on the other.
I imagine it was shaked over many a Salisbury Steak and meatloaf since its birth in 1950 when it was given away as a souvenir at the 76th Shrine Convention in Fresno, California, courtesy of Tehran Temple of Fresno,California, the “Baby Temple Of Shrinedon”. I think that The Allee Willis Museum Of Kitsch is in its own way a “baby temple of shrinedom”, more deserving of its own salt & pepper souvenir shaker for glorifying kitsch in all of its glory, not the least of which is this fantastic Shriner S&P shaker.
His autograph etched on the back, TV kingpin Ralph Edwards handed out these etched gold keychains as promotional swag from “This Is Your Life”, the TV behemoth he hosted from 1952 to ’61. The show, precursor to current documentary faire such as “Biography”, featured surprise salutes to prominent show business luminaries, politicians, sports stars and the like. Edwards was one of the first TV personalities to produce his own show. Hence, the particularly fancy giveaways like this keychain.
I have one more of these gold “This Is Your Life” books, based on the big red book Edwards read his guests’ life stories from. It’s a locket that hangs on a Pop-it bead chain and used to contain the key to my Ponytail diary.
Here’s a slice from a 1954 “This Is Your Life” featuring Laurel & Hardy. L&H were evidently unhappy about the stealth appearance, saying after that they never planned to make their live TV debut on an unrehearsed network show, especially one they weren’t getting paid for.
Made from 1954 – 1960, possession of a bottle of Max Factor Sophisti-Cat perfume was de rigueur for any little girl growing up in ’50’s and ’60’s. My kitty is brown with pink rhinestone eyes, a pearl choker and a white feather that constantly gets stuck to the cardboard covered velveteen, fake suede or whatever this little pussy is made out of.
Sophisti-Cats came in a variety of colors – black, brown, purple, chartreuse, red, pink, yellow and blue that I know of, and held 1/8 ounce of either Golden Woods, Primitif or Hypnotique perfume between their paws. In her rounded hard plastic case she stands a regal 6″ tall.
My favorite thing about this apparently stray Sophisti-Cat is that the bottom part of the package is printed upside down.
