A guide to the best oddball kitsch in the country
If it’s your lifelong dream to be the King of Kitsch, Charles Phoenix is the guy you have to beat out for the title. Good luck. In his book “Addicted to Americana” (Prospect Park Books, 178 pages, $29.95), Phoenix combines his love of America’s midcentury pop culture explosion with his massive collection of cast-off Kodachrome slides into a book that is part guide to wacky sites, part travelogue on his search for more great spots and part history book on everything from statues of Paul Bunyan to themed drive-in theaters to the Trailblazer monorail car (which ran on the Texas State Fair grounds in the 1950s, but that the author found is now part of a rural Texas farmhouse). Definitely a guilty pleasure.
The Madonna Inn, San Luis Obispo: “The over-thetop, fairytale-storybook motif is a mad mashup of the Flintstones, California Arts & Crafts, Old World and Victorian styles, all cleverly handcrafted with love. At its core the Madonna Inn reflects Mr. and Mrs. Madonna’s inspired Candyland sensibility, oozing with creativity and integrity, plus heart and soul to spare.”
The Stardust sign, Neon Museum, Las Vegas: “The Stardust was the ultimate example of sparkling spaceage super signage to have ever graced our galaxy. After dark, you could see it glittering from the outer space that inspired it. To call the Stardust a masterpiece of midcentury modernity would be a gross understatement. The futuristic font set the standard by which all ultramodern fonts have since been measured.”
Roadside America, Shartlesville, Penn.: “Roadside America is the world’s greatest indoor miniature village. If you’re looking for genuine, homespun, familyrun Americana, this is it. You can feel the heart and soul of this time honored attraction the minute you pull into the parking lot. Covering some 7,450 square feet, this massive made-with-love display is the life’s work of one man, Laurence T. Gieringer, who began building miniatures in 1899 when he was five years old and didn’t stop until his dying day in 1963.”
Sip ’n Dip Lounge, Great Falls, Mont. : “The seethrough pool has been at the Sip ’n Dip Lounge at the O’Haire Motor Inn in Great Falls, Mont., since its opening day in 1962, but the mermaids didn’t make a splash until 1995. Until then, bar patrons got to see whoever happened to be swimming during cocktail hour.”