She’s big, blonde, beautiful, and boldly sculpted in that iconic white-dress-flying-up moment from The Seven Year Itch (1955). She’s “Forever Marilyn,” the dramatic creation of 80-year-old American artist Seward Johnson (Johnson and Johnson Company heir). This Marilyn is 26 feet tall and poses at the corner of “Main and Main” (Palm Canyon & Tahquitz Canyon…
Year: 2012
PICTURE THIS: It’s Football Season and Surf Meets Turf on Santa Monica Beach
Check out this fun retro image . . . featuring a bevy of 1930’s bathing beauties kicking off a huge football on the sands of Santa Monica beach! To me, this photo perfectly captures how our Southern California seasons (and, yes, we do have them, folks . . . subtle as they may seem) crazily overlap. This time…
Refrigerated Air . . . What a Concept
So it’s one of those “dog days,” and it’s crazy hot here in L.A. The whole country has been roasting this summer, and now we here are heading into our 4th (or is it 5th?) week of unrelenting 90+ degree heat. Seems like all I can think about is water, beaches, and cool air-conditioned spaces….
Picture This: Van De Kamps Coffee Shop and Drive-in, Atwater Village
Van De Kamps Bakery and Coffee Shop with drive-in service, ca. 1945. This restaurant was located at the corner of Fletcher Drive and San Fernando Road in Atwater Village. It was designed by local architect Wayne McAllister in the Streamline Moderne style with neon trimming the roof line and iconic windmill blades. The high-strutting…
The Moana Hotel, a Banyan Tree, and Waikiki Beach Boys
At the grand and venerable Moana Hotel might seem a bit like a cat with nine lives. The gracious hotel was originally built among one and two-story summer residences and small bungalows on the sands of Waikiki at the turn of the 20th century—the first of its kind geared to the newly-hatched tourist trade. Today…