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From Flame to Flicker: Inside a Working Neon Shop

You walk into a neon shop expecting nostalgia. You leave thinking about chemistry, electricity, municipal zoning codes, and 1940s craftsmanship. That’s what happened when I toured Morry’s Neon, a family business opened in 1985 by Morry and his son Glen, a business built on a neon legacy that began in 1946 when Morry first started bending glass. Established the same year America decided diners, drive-ins, and optimism were perfectly reasonable things to mass-produce, Morry’s has

Route 66 at 100: Why the Centennial Is Igniting a New Era of Retro Road Trips

As the Route 66 Centennial approaches, something interesting is happening. This isn’t just an anniversary tour or a nostalgia lap. It’s a full-scale reawakening of interest in the American road trip—one rooted in history, preservation, and the lived experience of the road itself. The centennial is acting like a spotlight, illuminating not just the highway, but the stories, architecture, roadside culture, and communities that grew up along it. And people are paying attention. Travelers want

Los Angeles Potteries: A Whimsical Walk Through Mid-Century Ceramic Dreams

From our retro coffee table to yours comes a great book – an awesome gift or something to pour over in our own home! Suppose you’ve ever spotted a cookie jar shaped like a hamburger or a canister set with tropical fruit motifs and thought, “I remember that design!” or “I have to have that design!”. In that case, you’ll want to get your hands on Los Angeles Potteries: A Collector’s Journey through Artistry, Craft,

El Cortez Hotel: Where Vintage Vegas Still Lives

Opened in 1941, the El Cortez Hotel & Casino is one of Las Vegas’s oldest operating casinos — and one of its most authentic. In a city obsessed with reinvention, the El Cortez is a rare survivor, maintaining its vintage spirit while still feeling alive and relevant. Preservation That Matters In 2013, the El Cortez earned its place on the National Register of Historic Places, and it’s easy to see why. The building’s Spanish Colonial

Witco – Tiki and 60’s cool!

The first time I heard about Witco was on a discussion on a Mid-Century Facebook group about Tiki art, the name that kept coming up was Witco, with a link to this post on a Tiki Fan board: My name is Burke Hovde (aka…The Witco Kid on www.tikicentral.com). I’m the son of Ron Hovde, one of the Witco Co-Founders and Artists with Bill Westenhaver. I grew up with Witco everywhere. Witco wallhangings and furniture are

Interior Decorating, lesson on color

Taken from the “Better Homes and Gardens Decorating Book” Copyright 1956, we thought we’d turn Mid-Century Photo Friday into a learning experience. This week we tackle color – which if you’ve seen full color photos in the 50’s, they had a different interpretation of. I wonder how many interior decorators still follow the following rules? As usual you can leave a link to your Mid-Century Photo Friday in the comments.

Mies van der Rohe’s gas station in Montreal preservation success!

It’s wonderful when we can report a Mid-Century preservation success: “Long, low and in his trademark black steel, the shuttered-since-2008 Esso station by Bauhaus master Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, at boulevard de l’Île des Soeurs and rue Berlioz in Montreal’s Nuns’ Island community, currently lies stripped of a little of its beauty – huge sheets of glass and their associated mullions have been numbered and disassembled for restoration – but by autumn, the building

A Route 66 Preservation Project needs help

From the “Save the Boots Motel Facebook page” The National Park Service, Route 66 Corridor Grant Program awarded the historic Boots Motel owners in Carthage, MO. a matching grant in 2012 to remove the 1978 roof addition and restore the structure to it’s original appearance, and qualify this venerable Route 66 Icon’s placement on the National Register of Historical Places. The “Raze the Roof” fundraising effort is underway and the Volunteer event to remove the