View allAll Photos Tagged Googie
This Italian-designed Googie masterpiece was built in 1965, paid for by east-coast gambling interests. It closed after only two seasons and has been empty ever since. It was engulfed in a tremendous fireball for the 1998 B-movie No Code of Conduct, which blew out most of the windows and killed hundreds of roosting birds. Watch it blow up at 1:50 during the movie trailer.
Shot in 1999. Night, full moon, 160 T film, 8 minute exposure. Ambient light only.
Flagstaff, AZ. From where I was standing, it looked like it was straight out of the movie The Killers (the one with Burt Lancaster and Eva Gardner).
Located at 1694 Saratoga Ave. in San Jose
Architect - Vincent G. Raney
Built in the late 1960s.
First opened for business in 1969.
I took this picture thinking (at the time) that the theater's days were numbered. The marquee had been dark for some time.
Recently, however, I discovered that the theater has received a nice makeover and will be reopening as the Retro Dome in September... for more info., see www.TheRetroDome.com
Built 1961-1965 Architect - Viljo Revell .... in International style / Mid 20th Century "Googie" style .... Toronto City Hall, is the seat of Toronto's Municipal Government & is internationally recognized as an architectural masterpiece. Since its opening in 1965, Toronto City Hall has been one of Toronto's most famous landmarks. A very daring look for 1960s Toronto, it's a monumentally sculptural design, with two tall curved towers of unequal height embracing a low saucer shaped city council chamber....
classic googie sign, now preserved at the valley relics museum in van nuys, ca. nikon N90s + 28-105mm + fuji velvia RVP 50. lab: the icon, los angeles, ca. scan: nikon coolscan 5000. exif tags: lenstagger.
For more information on the artist MATEO, and more amazing paintings, see
worldofmateo.com/portfolio.php
The Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign is a Las Vegas landmark funded in May 1959 and erected soon after by Western Neon. The sign was designed by Betty Willis at the request of Ted Rogich, a local salesman, who sold it to Clark County, Nevada. The sign is located in the median at 5100 Las Vegas Boulevard South, north of the historic stone pillars of the old McCarran Airport on the east side, and across from the Bali Hai Golf Club and the (closed) Klondike Hotel & Casino on the west side. Some consider the sign to be the official southern end of the Las Vegas Strip. The sign, like most of the Strip, sits in Paradise and is located roughly 4 miles (6.4 km) south of the actual city limits of Las Vegas. (Such distinctions are usually ignored by both locals and tourists, who refer to the entire metro area as "Las Vegas".) The sign is a 25-foot-tall (7.6 m) classic roadside pole design, mounted offset on two flat poles which are joined by a cross piece at the top. The poles extend above the top of the sign. The sign is a horizontally stretched diamond shape, with the top and bottom angles pointed while the side angles are rounded. It is double-backed, internally lit, with a border of flashing and chasing yellow incandescent bulbs outside around the perimeter. In a nod to Nevada's nickname as "the Silver State," across the top of the sign are white neon circles, designed to represent silver dollars. The circles each contain a red painted letter, outlined in neon, which together form the word "Welcome." Crowning the sign, located between the two poles and just under the crosspiece is an eight-pointed, red-painted metal star outlined with yellow neon. The intersecting vertical and horizontal lines of the star extend over and wrap around the frame that is created by the two poles and the cross piece, which give the star a dynamic, explosive appearance. The cabinet is faced with translucent white plastic and covered with blue and red painted text. The south side of the sign reads "Welcome" inside the silver dollars, with "to Fabulous" in blue, in a 1950s-style cursive, underneath. The words "Las Vegas" are on the next line in red, all capitalized, and large, almost filling the width of the sign. Under "Las Vegas" is the word "Nevada" in blue, all capitalized, in a much smaller font. On the back or north side, which is less frequently photographed and thus is lesser known, the sign reads "Drive" on the top line and "Carefully" on the second in red capital letters, with "Come Back" in blue on the third line, in script, and "Soon" all capitalized in blue on the fourth line. The design is characteristic of the Googie architecture movement. Betty Willis intended to design a sign that was unique in its shape, style and content. Legend has been written that “Willis considered this her gift to the city and wanted it to be in the public domain.” In fact, Young Electric Sign Company (YESCO) currently owns the sign, which leases to Clark County. The sign has never been copyrighted; this has resulted in the image being ubiquitous on Las Vegas souvenirs. In 2007, Clark County installed decorative artificial turf inlaid with four playing cards underneath the sign. In late 2008, Clark County employees sought to have the sign listed on the National Register of Historic Places; the Nevada State Historic Preservation Office officially nominated it, and the National Park Service approved the designation on May 1, 2009. On December 6, 2013, the State Historic Preservation Office for the State of Nevada announced that the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign had been added to the State Register of Historic Places. On April 19, 2015, the designer of the sign, Betty Willis, died in her home in Overton, Nevada. She was 91 years old. On May 5, 2015, Clark County commissioners declared May 5 "Betty Willis Day" honoring the designer of the sign. Commissioners issued a proclamation to her daughter Marjorie Holland.
Pawn 4 More pawn shop in Tacoma, Washington
1222 South 38th Street
Tacoma, WA 98418-3917
(253) 471-7296
Coonalley Lady Luna Moonshadow (aka Googie) is 2 years old today. Still intense, but has mellowed out a lot since her wild kitten days!
Oh, this building took my breath away -- it's so Googie fantastic! Unfortunately, my camera died on me as I was shooting this building, so I don't have as many photos of it as I would like.
Here are some links about the Rose Bowl:
Theme Building at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The structure on World Way houses a revolving restaurant and public observation platform. Designed by Pereira and Luckmann and opened with the new airport in 1962. It is indeed supposed to represent a flying saucer. Restored in 2010.
Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument 570.
the soon-to-be demolished covina bowl, an example of classic 1950s socal googie bowling architecture. mamiya 6MF 50mm f/4 + kodak portra 160. lab: the icon, los angeles, ca. scan: epson V750. exif tags: lenstagger.
Astro Family Restaurant, formerly known as "Donly's" and "Conrad's", is a Googie-style coffee shop in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, CA; designed in 1958 by architects Armét and Davis.
The beautifully styled storefront for Cornell Men & Boys Wear in downtown Newark, Ohio. I'll need someone else to tell me what that blue stuff is.
For more information on the artist MATEO, and more amazing paintings, see
worldofmateo.com/portfolio.php
mamiya 6MF 75mm f/3.5. film: kodak ektachrome E100VS, cross-processed in C-41, push +1 stop. lab: the icon, los angeles, ca. scan: epson V750. exif tags: lenstagger.
Pawn 4 More pawn shop in Tacoma, Washington
1222 South 38th Street
Tacoma, WA 98418-3917
(253) 471-7296
Promoted as “San Jose’s Newest and Finest Bowling Alley,” Futurama Bowl opened in 1961 at 5390 Stevens Creek Boulevard. Designed by the architects Powers, Daly, and DeRosa, Futurama featured 42 “automatic” lanes, a restaurant/cocktail lounge called the “Magic Carpet Room,” and a fitness center called the “Glamorama Room.” After a 30+ year run, the bowling alley was closed to be transformed into a Safeway grocery store. All that remains today is Futurama’s quintessentially Googie sign, revamped and repurposed, its towering bowling pin supplanted by a giant Safeway logo.
A nice little place with odd themes in the rooms. Ours was chickens. Go figure. Clean, reasonable price, nice pool, so what the heck. The googie sign was a bonus.
(Recent reports state this sign, and the motel, are gone.)
The iconic Flying Saucer restaurant in Niagara Falls, Ontario, has been serving “out-of-this-world food at down-to-earth prices” for more than 50 years. Originally opened as a carhop-style drive-in, waitresses would roll your order right out to your car on skates. The first structure was a single saucer, with the twin added later during expansion. Today, the restaurant and its updated yet retro-style sign stand as a playful example of Googie architecture.
I came of age in Niagara Falls, and back in the ’90s the Flying Saucer was the late-night spot. After the bars closed, everyone ended up there because it was the only place still serving food. The giant circular booths made it easy to cram in an entire crew, and when the dining saucer filled up by 3 a.m., the atmosphere was raucous. The food quality? Questionable at best. But the vibe? Unbeatable.
Places like this carry a kind of kitschy magic that’s hard to explain but I absolutely love. If you’ve ever been to the Peppermill in Las Vegas, you’ll understand exactly what I mean.
Have you ever visited the Flying Saucer? What do you remember?