One man, two women and two little boys gather ’round to enjoy the defining moment of our most patriotic holiday. Yes, collectively as a society we Americans just love to gather ‘n gawk at flying sparks provided by festive explosives mass produced in the place where they were invented more than one thousand years ago, China. It’s our way of saying Happy Birthday USA!

The women both have handy sparkler lighters, aka cigarettes. And between those lovely multi-media butter sculpture to me. But everybody knows that even after the sun goes down on the 4th of July in El Monte, CA, its still to hot to display your latest work of butter art. Who do you think she is? What do you think she could be!

Here’s to flying sparks, the Chinese that invented them, 232 years of Americana and YOU!

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Tourists bask in the glorious glow of yellow, pink and aqua neon as they stroll the spectacular central plaza of Old Chinatown. The highly stylized, 1938-vintage themed environment of extreme exotica is one of my absolute favorite places in all of Los Angelesland and an Americana landmark of the highest order. A better virtual sweet-and-sour-pupu-platter of authentic 1930s Chinese modern architecture you will not find anywhere. The legendary Chinese Theater in Hollywood is its closest cousin. Sometimes I like to imagine them living next door to each other.

I can’t think of a more colorful place than Old Chinatown. Can you? The paint scheme is straight out of a comic book. And if you love neon like I do it’s a treasure trove. This weekend a great place is about to get even greater. After decades of not being there anymore the neon highlighting those spellbinding pagoda rooflines has been replaced. Miracles do happen! I weep! The relighting ceremony is part of Chinatown’s 70th anniversary party, Saturday evening June 28, 2008. The neon light switch will be flipped on at 8:30.

If you love timeless Chinese modern style like I do, I seriously recommend while experiencing Old Chinatown that you see two of the best vintage Chinese restaurant interiors in country. The upstairs dining room at Hop Louie (formerly the Golden Pagoda) is still serving sweet and sour pork, while Realm, a gift shop housed in the long-gone Hong Kong Low Restaurant, serves up the most spectacular retail space in the city! Oh, and speaking of Chinese modern time-warps, the old lawyers office upstairs in the Hong Building (seen here on the left,) was recently revealed after decades of being moth balled. Don’t miss that either. Ask to do so inside of Realm and make sure to tell them I sent you!

Here’s to Chinatown, Chinese modern, those that restored the neon and YOU!

Visit Charles’ site or join his Slide of the Week Mailing List.

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Size really does matter! It should be called the longest trailer. Certainly it must be. The highway hog is a rather stylish and very deluxe creation with that smart two-tone turquoise and white paint scheme. Those porthole windows on both the front and back door are amazing. I know!

The enormous home away from home on wheels simply dwarfs a creamy white and light lime green 1956 Oldsmobile four-door hardtop. Can you imagine in your wildest dreams being the captain of this accident waiting to happen? On level ground ok. But what about trying to pull this motion mansion up a hill or worse yet have it behind you going. I smell brakes. And what about baking up? I’d be up for the challenge anytime.

Never mind the stress on the driver think about the stress in the poor car. Oldsmobiles were notorious in their day for being powerful cars but this haul job would be a bit much for any car of any period. And the whole thing perched on those tiny little tires just waiting to blowout.

I’ll never forget the first time I saw the 1954 movie classic, The Long Long Trailer starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. It was during the late seventies when ABC showed movies in the afternoon opposite Dinah and the Mike Douglas Show. I was already a huge fan of Lucy and Ricky and it didn’t take me long to figure out that The Long, Long Trailer is basically a feature length version I Love Lucy in color. And I loved it, of course!

Here’s to the Long, Long Trailer, the longest trailer, the driver and you!

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People parked at the curb line the main street for the annual date festival parade. Among the paraders is a snow white ass. This is not any old ordinary barnyard ass. This is an ass with special skills. It has roller skates attached to its hooves and it’s roller skating down the street. I love it when animals skate.

With all the talk of roller skating lately, with planning the Moonlight Rollerway Jubilee and all, I can’t believe how many people tell me they can’t skate. Even I can skate. And you can’t possibly be more uncoordinated than I am. I can count on one hand the times I’ve been skating since I was in third grade and took skating lessons at the Holiday Roller Rink in Montclair. So, since its been a while, tonight I went to the rink to practice a bit before the big show this weekend. Before long I was gliding around the well-skated wood floor like I had wings on my heels. It was wonderful and I can’t recommend it enough!

This weekend I host the moonlight Rollerway in Glendale at Southern California’s most historic roller rink! Come experience a cast of more than 60 thrilling champion skaters in a spectacular variety of costumed musical acts, I’ll be doing a slide show story of roller skating and there will be an after show all skate party - All this to live Hammond organ music by the world’s greatest rink organist, Dominic! Free snack bar treats will be served!

SATURDAY NIGHT May 17 at 8pm - . STANDING ROOM TIX ONLY (Seating for this Saturday’s performance is sold out!)

SUNDAY MATINEE, May 18 at 3pm - . FEW SEATS STILL AVAILABLE!

Don’t miss out! Tickets and Info!

Here’s to Asses that can skate and YOU!

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Three palms on one side, two on the other and an almost-centered flagless flagpole compliment one of Southern California’s least known architectural treasures.

According to the legend the builder of the Angeles Abbey Memorial Park sent two architects to India in 1922 for inspiration. Two years later this Byzantine-Moorish-Spanish hybrid style Castle-esque mausoleum, was standing in stark contrast in the middle of a patchwork quilt homes and of small farms in one of Los Angeles’ oldest suburban cities.

I discovered this amazing place quite by chance one day about a decade or so ago when I got a bee in my bonnet to go check out my mother’s childhood home in Compton. After driving back and forth a few times in front of the ‘ol house and being reminded of some of my earliest childhood memories I decided to drive around the neighborhood. Two short blocks later I found this. I was shocked! I drove around the tombstone decorated grounds a bit but was too chicken to get out and go inside.

A couple of months later I couldn’t stand the suspense any longer so decided to go back and this time go in. Walking inside felt like walking into a European Cathedral. Spectacular old world style hand painted motifs repeating on walls, wood beams, and balconies were peeling from age. Stained glass windows colorized the late afternoon sunbeams that illuminated the one thousand crypts. In a dusty room upstairs urns filled floor to ceiling glass front cabinets. Another room housed babies and children.

And as if one castle in Compton isn’t enough there is another one behind it. The second little tower that you see sticking up on the right is actually on the slightly smaller sister mausoleum behind this one. It was built in the late ’20s.

Discovering architectural treasures and oddities is always a joy to behold. But finding them in places where they are least expected is even better. Angeles Abbey is located at 1515 E. Compton Blvd. Compton, CA 90221-3499. Call first to make sure they are open: (310) 631-1141.

Here’s to The Angeles Abbey, treasures in unexpected places, and YOU!

Charles Phoenix Presents…
THE MOONLIGHT ROLLERWAY JUBILEE!
A Roller Skating Show Spectacular!
Get your tickets now.

Visit Charles’ site or join his Slide of the Week Mailing List.

LA’s legendary Clifton’s Cafeteria is a local landmark of the highest order. It’s also my all-time favorite place to have a stuffed moose stare at me as I enjoy a tasty turkey dinner and Jell-O beside a waterfall overlooking the redwood forest mural. After I finish eating I step inside the tiny chapel and push the button to hear the prayer. After that, it’s up to the third floor ‘VIP Room’ to enjoy the Clifton’s memorabilia on display. Among the array of amazing artifacts on display is this poster from about 1960. Don’t you just love how happy daddy-o, mommy-o and junior are? That’s exactly the way I feel when I’m at Clifton’s! And, btw, please enjoy the timeless classic gold metallic and red-flocked wallpaper you can barely see behind the poster!

You can experience Clifton’s and dozens of authentic Los Angeles attractions with me this Sunday, Feb 24 or next, March 2, on my ‘Disneyland’ Tour of Downtown Los Angeles. The MAIN STREET USA, ADVENTURELAND, FRONTIERLAND, FANTASYLAND and TOMORROWLAND of the heart and soul of our city awaits you! There are a few tickets left.

For Tickets and all the info click here.

Here’s to CLIFTON’S, rediscovering Downtown Los Angeles as theme park, and YOU!

Visit Charles’ site or join his Slide of the Week Mailing List.

Here in the kingdom of Southern Californialand we don’t have a king, but we do have a queen - the Rose Queen. Her reign is brief - just a year. The Queen and her court work their way up through the charm schools and debutant balls of the San Gabriel Valley. The highest call of duty for the bevy of beauties is waving very properly to their subjects and cradling a super-sized bouquet of red roses like a baby while being strapped on a flower covered barge vehicle riding toward the morning sun of the first day of the New Year. Palm trees and crystal clear blue sky provide the picture perfect backdrop.

Without a doubt the Rose Parade is the grandest and most detailed parade on the planet. It’s run with military precision by an army of men and woman dressed in red blazers over white shirts, pants and shoes. It’s oh-so civilized. The prized show horses, champion marching bands and, most importantly, the giant, rolling flower petal art procession have been a New Years Day tradition on Colorado Boulevard since 1890. If this is not American I don’t know what is!

If you’ve never been to the parade in person WHAT are you waiting for? It’s waaaaaaaaaaaaay more dazzling and fragrant in person and a zillion times better than it is on TV. You don’t have to get there the night before to get a great spot. The trick is to get a spot at the end of the route - Colorado and Sierra Madre. Get there about 8:30AM.

DIRECTIONS: From LA take the San Bernardino Fwy (10) exit at Atlantic Blvd. Go north to Huntington Drive, turn right, then left on Sierra Madre Blvd. PARK YOUR CAR just east of Sierra Madre Blvd, on a residential side street, four or five blocks South of Colorado Blvd. Then observe the legendary spectacle somewhere near the corner of Sierra Madre and Colorado Blvd, which is near the end of the parade route.

Afterwards you’ll be starving of course. For me and the gang it’s usually a hearty-heavy-fatty lunch at the North Woods Inn, nearby at the corner of Rosemead and Huntington Drive (7247 Rosemead Blvd, San Gabriel, 626-286-8284). Please don’t forget to marvel at the fake snow on the roof.

Here’s to the Rose Parade and a Happy New year to YOU!!!

Visit Charles’ site or join his Slide of the Week Mailing List.

A serpentine, sidewalk-less, suburban street frames front lawns planted with modest winter-blooming posies. A toddler age Mexican fan palm and a street lamp flank the driveway. Both are bordered by circular cement scallops, which match the scalloped hemline on that smart felt tree skirt.

I’m not sure if the lady is modeling or working the curb!

Here’s to working a tree skirt and YOU!!!

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See THE CHARLES PHOENIX HOLIDAY JUBILEE at the REDCAT Theater in LOS ANGELES at the WALT DISNEY CONCERT HALL

December 17, 18, 19, 20 8:PM
Tickets and Info

Cheers!

A papered wall printed with Spanish moss hanging from tall trees separates tasteful titty-pink satin drapes. An itty-bitty day-glo airplane hangs above the four-flag centerpiece. The table is set with Franciscan’s apple pattern and fancy golden-rimmed glassware. Pickles and olives are waiting to be eaten.
»continue reading Charles Phoenix’s Slide of the Week: Bon Voyage Party, Long Beach, CA 1955

Frankenstein, Pasadena, CA 1965

Can you believe those beautiful honey blond closet doors? They have no doorknobs!

This slide was clearly marked ‘Pasadena, 1965.’ OK fine. But what I want to know is where in Pasadena in 1965 do you find Goth shoes? They don’t have Goth shops in Pasadena in 1965. Finally I figured it out. Frankenstein had to go to one of those shops that you go to if you have one leg longer than the other!

Wishing you the best Trick-or-Treating EVER!!!!

Happy Halloween!

Visit Charles’ site or join his Slide of the Week Mailing List.

Clifton’s Pacific Seas Cafeteria, Los Angeles, 1950

A turquoise neon backlit waterfall is the centerpiece and crowning touch of what has to be the most exotic and over the top restaurant façade ever. The craggily cafeteria front has ‘lil caves of multi-colored light and a jungle of tropical plantings. This was Adventureland before Adventureland - the Tiki Room before the Tiki Room. Clifford Clinton, the king of cafeterias, dreamed this up in 1939. It must’ve been shocking then. It still is today. His son, Don, took this slide IN 1950. Thank you Don!

In the realm of Polynesian themed eateries Clifton’s Pacific Seas is, without a question, one of the most spectacular ever! It is the younger and shorter-lived sister of Clifton’s Brookdale Cafeteria. The Brookdale, delightfully done in a most charming redwood forest theme, serves up steam table savories and delicious desserts at the corner of Seventh and Broadway in downtown Los Angeles just as it has since it opened 1935. Clifton’s Pacific Seas was just blocks away on Olive just below Sixth. After just twenty-one years the Polynesian palace closed in 1960. For what reason I don’t know. The parking lot that replaced it is still there.

Themed interiors and environments were not invented in Southern California, but they certainly were perfected here. Clifford Clinton was a master right up there with Walt Disney, Walter Knott and Alex Madonna (Madonna Inn.)

Even without our dearly departed Clifton’s Pacific Seas cafeteria, downtown Los Angeles is still a hotbed of unique, unusual, bizarre and breathtaking vintage places to experience. And you can do so this Sunday Oct 14 and next Sunday the 21st. Of course, we’ll be eating lunch at Clifton’s Brookdale Cafeteria!!!

Here’s to Clifton’s Pacific Seas Cafeteria, the DISNEYLAND TOUR OF DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES and YOU!!!

Visit Charles’ site or join his Slide of the Week Mailing List.

Felt Guitars in Bob Baker: This is Your Life!

1970s vintage dancing felt guitars playing themselves take center stage at a puppet show extravaganza this labor day weekend at the “Fantasyland” of Downtown Los Angeles, The Bob Baker Marionette Theater - a landmark since 1961. Metallic Martians from outer space, glow-in-the-dark dancing skeletons and fez wearing monkeys along with dozens of other vintage handmade Bob Baker puppets appear in a wide variety of amazing musical/comedy acts from every decade since the 1930s.

I will host the colorful tribute to the world’s greatest puppeteer and puppet show extravaganza and tell the story of Bob’s life and 75+ year career as a puppet showman with a short film and vintage slide show. Cake and ice cream reception will follow the final act - a performance by the master himself!

Here’s to Bob Baker, his amazing Marionettes and YOU!!

BOB BAKER: THIS IS YOUR LIFE! LABOR DAY WEEKEND!
Bob Baker Marionette Theatre
1345 W. 1st St., downtown Los Angeles
(under the bridge where Beverly becomes 1st St.)

FOUR PERFORMANCES ONLY:
Thurs-Fri-Sat August 30, 31 & Sept 1 @ 8pm
& Sunday Sept 2, @2pm

Buy tickets here or at the box office 1 hr before showtime.

Visit Charles’ site or join his Slide of the Week Mailing List.

Knott’s Berry Farm, 1955

A man dons a rain slicker, smokes a cigarette and cradles a little girl sporting a hooded rain cape over a coat and dress combo who sips sweet, delicious boysenberry juice from a wax-paper cup through a straw. They are prepared for wet weather but the lady is not. She has no rain gear to speak of just red painted lips accentuating her cheeky smile, a simple-yet-stylish suit and a conservatively colored scarf gathered in her hands.
»continue reading Charles Phoenix’s Slide of the Week: Knott’s Berry Farm, 1955

Ben Frank’s, 1962

A brave pedestrian jay walks across the legendary and very busy Sunset Strip. Behind him a man hangs his arm out of a two-toned 1959 Chevrolet Station Wagon. It has gull-wing fins, cat-eye tail lights and a two-tone paint that coordinates with one of LA’s greatest coffee shops in its first year of business. Ben Frank’s sophisticated yet snappy harvest gold and orange color scheme is way ahead of its time. And that smart and sassy asymmetrical a-frame looks like a relaxed Der Wienerschnitzel or House of Pancakes
»continue reading Charles Phoenix’s Slide of the Week: Ben Frank’s, 1962

In three weeks…

Ladies and Gentlemen Boys and Girls, I present to you…

THE UNITED STATES of CHARLES PHOENIX

A retro slide show extravaganza celebrating mid-century Americana

Cooking live on stage ‘n more

The fashion! The passion!

Friday, May 11, 2007 8:30PM

Live Under the Stars…in Hollywood at the historic John Anson Ford Amphitheater

Vintage dress & pre show picnics encouraged

Tickets and Info
Tickets by phone (888) 464-2468
Box Office info (323) 461-3673

Charles Phoenix

My New Car, Arcadia, CA 1958

A forward thinking new car owner poses with pride sporting a buttoned-all-the-way-up blouse, shoulder-riding cardigan and lady-like-length full skirt. She is as prim as she is proper; as proper as she is progressive. Few Americans were buying foreign cars in 1958 unless they were sports cars. And this is definitely foreign but it’s not a sports car.
»continue reading Charles Phoenix’s Slide of the Week: My New Car, Arcadia, CA 1958