View allAll Photos Tagged Googie
Taken in December last year and posted at the time... but I just turned the contrast right up and I prefer it.
This is a very silly photograph.
(I did not eat the fried livers.)
Dinah's Family Restaurant
Culver City, California
114 w. main street in Stroud, Oklahoma.
three daughters were running the place when we stopped in...all were just as sweet as could be. we sat for a minute and drank coca-cola in glass bottles.
Built in 1969, this Googie Futurist Modern-style building was constructed for the chain of NEBA Roast Beef Restaurants, with identical buildings being present in various other parts of the United States, including New York, Massachusetts and Florida. The building features a butterfly roof, large storefronts with opaque spandrels inserted between the tapered and angled steel columns that support the roof, giving the building a distinctive appearance and profile, and a simpler facade at the exterior of the kitchen to the rear of the dining room. Inside, the building features a vaulted ceiling and a service counter in the center of the wall dividing the small dining room from the kitchen, and outside, features walkways sheltered from the elements by the edges of the roof that extend as canopies from the exterior of the building. The building presently houses the Sunrise Chinese Restaurant, and is an architecturally significant example of the mid-20th Century development that replaced the previous Victorian-era residential housing that once defined the Grand Center neighborhood.
Photo scanned from the must-have book "The Magic Sign" by Chuck Barnard
Photo credit: Photo Arts-San Francisco
The Caribbean Motel in Wildwood New Jersey.
Wildwood has one of the highest concentrations of Googie designed mid-century hotels and motels on the Eastern Seaboard. My favorite of all these gems is the Caribbean Motel. The motel was original built in 1957 by Lou Morey. Among the signature features of the motel was a curving, almost floating in the air, ramp that winds its way from ground level up to the second-floor sundeck & lounge (shown in the above photo). An oversized neon sign, designed by Harry Lanza of Allied Signs in Wildwood sits above. When first proposed, no sign this large had ever been installed - or permitted - in Wildwood Crest. Local ordinances were changed to allow installation of the extra-large sign, which set the stage for other motels to follow suit with similar neon signs.
In the Fall of 2004, the Caribbean Motel was purchased by its new owners, George Miller and Carolyn Emigh. Rooms were renovated based upon designs by New York-based interior designer Darleen Lev, and are a re-interpretation of classic 1950s kitsch, combining vibrant colors and giddy optimism with a flare for the exotic.
The Caribbean is a true mid century modern masterpiece
Source information from www.caribbeanmotel.com/index.shtml
Holbrook Inn, 235 West Hopi Drive, Holbrook, Arizona. This motel was built in 1959. It was originally called the Woods Inn, and then became the Pope Inn, and finally the Holbrook Inn.
Down the road from Swoosh Restaurant, next to the plot where the new motel is being constructed, you'll find Gabe's.
Komet 60 by Kuba, Wolfenbüttel, 1959. Originally intended as a novelty for a trade show, they ended up making this for retail market and it became a bestseller. You have to see in person to comprehend its size and ridiculousness.
The spires of Space Mountain in Tomorrowland show off their clean modern design and point to a better tomorrow.
Per Walt Disney "Tomorrow can be a wonderful age. Our scientists today are opening the doors of the Space Age to achievements that will benefit our children and generations to come. The Tomorrowland attractions have been designed to give you an opportunity to participate in adventures that are a living blueprint of our future."
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If you are a fan of architecture that was influenced by car culture, the space age and the atomic age then you are probably familiar with the term Googie. Googie architecture originated in Southern California and was popular among motels, gas stations and restaurants. Features of Googie include upswept roofs, curvilinear, geometric shapes, and bold use of glass, steel and neon. This poster celebrates Googie style. Grab a milk shake and burger and dive into all the fun futuristic details of the Comet Cafe!
The model is lighted with Blinky Bricks lights. www.blinkybricks.com/
The Union 76 gas station at the corner of Crescent Drive and Little Santa Monica Boulevard in Beverly Hills is a true icon of Mid-Century Modernism, recognized everywhere as one of the highest examples of Googie architecture in the world.
It was designed by architect Gin Wong of Pereira and Associates and completed in 1965. The design came earlier, though, and was meant for a very different location: in 1960, Wong designed the building to be part of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).
Its futuristic style was meant to complement the famous Theme Building. But since it didn’t work out with the airport’s plan, this amazing building ended up as a gas station in Beverly Hills.
Most gas stations have a canopy, but only this one has a hugely swooping, curved canopy reminiscent of a giant parabolic spaceship.
The canopy perches above the nondescript rectangular building containing snacks and a cashier station, spreads out over the pumps, and lifts its angled corners to the sky. It is anchored by two large supports that descend to earth at the pumps.
The edges of the roof are decorated with a frieze of simple squares, and its underside is illuminated by long rows of shimmering fluorescent lights that follow the curve above.
It is no exaggeration to say the Beverly Hills Union 76 is the best gas station in Southern California.
A classic googie taco stand Henry's Tacos opened in 1961 goes out of business because of another greedy landlord, even though there was a huge outcry and petition drive with thousands of signatures to save this landmark stand the landlord wouldn't budge: www.laobserved.com/archive/2013/01/saturday_is_the_last_d...
A unique piece of Googie/space age advertising from Anaheim, California. Handbuilt by the store owner.
Zucky's, located on Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica, is a perfectly whimsical example of Googie architecture during the car/space/coffeeshop era that exploded in California. Zucky's had been open for 39 years when it unfortunately closed without much warning on February 16, 1993, leaving customers and employees alike in tears. Renovations were needed to the building that would have cost the owners over $500,000 in 1993 currency, and so the decision was made to close. Fear not, however; the building is now a bank, and both the sign and the building were preserved. Here's an article from the LA Times with more information about Zucky's history and its last day:
"Better fill up, only gas for a hundred miles in either direction..."
Petr-O-Rama is a rusty, grungy and junk-filled retro 60s-esque gas station somewhere deep on Route 66. Some of my favorite details include a vintage Coca-Cola vending machine, art deco radio and gas pump. I built the car (based on the 1960 Chevy Impala) to help further the dingy vibe... it is supposed to be broken down, hence its lack of tires and dark rusty brown color.
It was a fairly quick build I finished a while ago... I just didn't have time to photograph it! Despite my lack of posting, I have been busy as a beaver building big things, so stay tuned for those.
OMG... I wanted to jump out of the Trucklet and just hug this sign.
Whooee! Googie, big-ass star, neat shapes, neon, Color TV sign and an old AAA sign too. Who would think that in a small town like Rock Springs, such a wonder of the signmaker's craft would exist. (And the motel looked pretty clean too.) And wonder of wonders... the sun popped out for a moment and bathed the sign in light. If I had to get great light on just one sign in all of Wyoming, I don't think I could have picked a more deserving subject.
Anyone who considers remodeling, removing or defacing this sign in any way should be met by a firing squad.
According to an article in the Baltimore Magazine the Bel Loc Diner opened on this corner in 1964. It's name comes from the Baltimore Beltway, I-695, which the diner sits just off of and Loch Raven Boulevard that passes by the place. Unfortunately I didn't get to eat at the place; it closes at 3 P.M. on Sundays and I missed it by about an hour. I doubt if I could have eaten another thing because I had just filled up at Gino's just up the street but I would have had a cup of coffee and some of the rice pudding that they are known for had they been open. Anyway, I've not been able to find anything about the manufacturer but I love the googie style roof line.
PIkesville (Towson), Maryland
1700 East Joppa Road at Loch Raven Boulevard
Hutch's Car Wash located in the shopping centers surronding the San Lorenzo Village "suburbia" development. This car wash has been demolished.
Well, former fire station. Dirk Sutro's architectural guidebook published in 2002, San Diego Architecture, gives this brief description: "Catchy 1950's design with a folded-over roof resembling Los Angeles "Googie" coffee shops from that era".
Architect: Arthur Decker, who designed may civic buildings in San Diego county including a city hall, a police station, and many school facilities as well as churches and a performing arts center.
Intersection of Sunset, Laurel Canyon and Crescent Heights Blvds. where lot of film folk hang out. Schwab's drug store is favorite rendezvous — has been used in films — figures in several cases. Jean Spangler hung out here.
Whittier, California's Googie architecture (1950s-1960s space age design) includes the Friendly Hills Bowling Alley, in addition to the Five Points Car Wash (photo here: www.flickr.com/photos/mollyblock/14603758499/.
Love the towering vintage neon sign that stands tall in the bowling center's parking lot.
Address: 15545 E. Whittier Blvd, Whittier, CA
Photo taken in Hipstamatic app on iPhone 5. Hipsta combo: John S lens, KodotX Grizzled film, no flash.