Americana The Beautiful: Mid-Century in Kodachrome

ICE CREAM SOCIAL & BOOK RELEASE PARTY

This is not the Slide of the Week as usual; it’s more like Slides of the Week. And they all just happen to all to share the cover of my new book, AMERICANA THE BEAUTIFUL: MID- CENTURY IN KODACHROME!

Spiraling from the upper left to the center they are: Giant Cement Native, Bryce Canyon, Utah, 1955, Boy’s Room, Los Angeles, 1957, Aquamaids, Cypress Gardens, Florida, 1960, Space Needle, Seattle, 1962, Trailer Travel, California, 1959, Refrigerator Pride, Danbury, Connecticut, 1953, Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox, Bemidji, Minnesota, 1955, Unisphere, Queens, New York, 1964, and last, but certainly not least, Oscar Meyer Wienermobile, New York, 1964. And, of course, there are tons more slides in the book!

While feverishly putting together Americana the Beautiful I was forced to ask myself the question: What is Americana anyway? Yes, its baseball and apple pie but we all know there’s a lot more too it than that! I took a stab at trying to explain it in the book. This is what I came up with:

“Americana doesn’t discriminate between classic and kitsch, high-tech or homespun, mass produced or one-of-a-kind, the authentic or make-believe. It draws no borders between town and country. It embraces Mother Nature and man-made, the future and the past. Americana is the essence of American culture.” I called the book AMERICANA the BEAUTIFUL, because Americana is beautiful.

It’s PARTY TIME and you are cordially invited to celebrate

What: Ice Cream Social and AMERICANA THE BEAUTIFUL Release Party

When: Sunday afternoon, June 25th 3pm to 5pm

Where: Zanzabelle 2912 Rowena Ave, LA, 90039 323 663-9900

a colorful, whimsical ice cream-candy-gift store that just-so-happens to be my favorite place in Silver Lake.- (½ blk east of Hyperion, near the Coffee Table in Silver Lake)

Here’s to you, the beauty of Americana and the new book!

Charles Phoenix

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