22Jan 2010

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Vintage Fold-Up Rain Hat

22Jan 2010

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Vintage Fold-Up Rain Hat

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I keep this vintage 1950’s rain hat tucked in my purse regardless of whether it’s raining like in the days of Noah’s Ark as it has been in LA for the past week. Hi fashion for water emergencies, this quintessentially color schemed packet is always there to cover my head and stretch a smile across my face because it’s so cute I don’t mind that the skies are breaking over my head.

My favorite thing about the hat is that it says the style is “Polka Dot Design”.

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I don’t see any polka dots.  Do you?

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This is actually a salesmens sample,  evident from the “Your Copy Here” text on the back. The Amsterdam Company that makes them better keep a closer eye on quality control before they turn out that many non-polkadotted Polka Dot Style 412-P’s.

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21Jan 2010

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – “Rainy Days And Thursdays”, Ultimate Karaoke Performance

21Jan 2010

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – “Rainy Days And Thursdays”, Ultimate Karaoke Performance

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A more appropriate title for this ultimate kitsch rendition of The Carpenters legendary “Rainy Days And Mondays” is “Raining Or Not, I Can’t Find the Key”. The problem with the stupefyingly scale-jumping Leo isn’t his voice so much as his ears. He slips over and under keys faster than a greased cat, consistent in his own musical universe thousands of miles beneath the melody only to rise like a phoenix into an entirely different melodic universe drenched in its own never-before-heard key. To be fair, there are actually two bars where Leo sings in the right key. Unfortunately they don’t follow each other.

I love when Leo gazes into the camera at 2:08 and then closes his eyes and FEELS the song even more. I love how his mouth gapes open at 2:07 and remains in a state of quivering preparedness waiting for the lyric to appear until 2:11 when he finally switches to spectacular nose wipe choreography during the instrumental. I love that all of this is performed in a “Jesus Loves You” t-shirt. Perhaps so, Leo, but I wish he loved you enough to include a check for vocal lessons.

20Jan 2010

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – 1950’s Sky King Rubber Stamping Kit

20Jan 2010

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – 1950’s Sky King Rubber Stamping Kit

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I shared many a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and Vernor’s with Sky King and Penny as nothing could separate me from the TV when they were puttering around the sky in their beloved Songbird in search of bad people, hikers and whoever else roamed the environs near their Flying Crown Ranch. I wish that Sky and Penny were roaming around the skies of LA right now zipping up the clouds so the rain and hail would subside and we could have our nice sunny LA back.

This is a teeny weenie little rubber stamp kit from the early 1950’s. I’m not sure what the tie-in to the show was but this wasn’t a show with a lot of swag so this is a rare piece of memorabilia indeed. I can’t completely make out whose stamp it was either but I’m happy to give it shelter now.

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18Jan 2010

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Jell-o Spoon Candy

18Jan 2010

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Jell-o Spoon Candy

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“The dessert that tastes like a candy bar” was a junk food lover’s xtreme fantasy when it hit the shelves in 1972. Short-lived – it was gone by ’73 – Jell-o Spoon Candy was a puddingish dessert with a topping you cracked through as you would the chocolate shell on a Dairy Queen. Spoon Candy, a kitschingly brilliant name especially when combined with the word “jello”, came in a variety of combo flavors like peanut butter and chocolate, chocolate with chocolate, vanilla with chocolate, caramel with chocolate, I guess chocolate came on everything. The topping inhabited a separate package stuffed into the box that you cut and squeezed onto the pudding.

The official reason given for Jell-o Spoon Candy’s demise was the rising cost of sugar but junk food lovers the world over still mourn its early demise and would have happily paid a few pennies more to get their fix.

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17Jan 2010

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – 1970’s Sanka Ashtray

17Jan 2010

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – 1970’s Sanka Ashtray

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Along with Postum, Sanka is the brew that revolutionized the coffee world and kicked off the decaf trend. It was also the proud sponsor of quintessential 50’s TV shows like “I Love Lucy” and “The Andy Griffith Show”.  In those days, cigarettes were almost de rigueur with anything smelling like coffee, hence the promotional ashtray to top off the perfect cup.

Because the color orange was so synonymous with Sanka, coffee pots in restaurants with orange handles, universally signifying they contain the unleaded version of the brew, also have Sanka to thank for their instant recognition factor.

15Jan 2010

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Long Beach City Employees Ceramic Money Pouch Bank

15Jan 2010

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Long Beach City Employees Ceramic Money Pouch Bank

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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.bank-Long-Beach-city-employees_2173

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13Jan 2010

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Toilet Seat Clock

13Jan 2010

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – Toilet Seat Clock

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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.

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12Jan 2010

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – The Harris Motor Inn Ashtray

12Jan 2010

Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – The Harris Motor Inn Ashtray

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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.

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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.Ashtray-harris-motor-inn__2322