Home - Mid-Century Style Magazine

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

MidCentury Style on a budget

We’ve seen a resurgence of mid-century style in the past few years, thanks to era-specific shows like AMC’s Mad Men. Since its airing, viewers have had a chance to see how appealing mid-century design really was. Nowadays, you’re hard pressed to find a bar cart for under $300. You can thank Don Draper for that. While the design movement is picking up, it is still highly possible to decorate a mid-century modern room without breaking

Mixing my worlds

If you read my “other blog” you realize I love to stitch. I’m a crazy quilter and a self-confessed fabric-o-holic. However, I think I’ve found the perfect blend of my love for midcentury style and my love for fabrics. This past Friday I had the chance to help a gal in our neighborhood mount a piece for an exhibit of these wonderful fabrics: The design is by Lucienne Day, who is one of the most noteworthy British designers

El Cortez Hotel: Where Vintage Vegas Still Lives

Route 66 – Around the Web

In another one of our attempts to save you looking for all the best resources. I thought I’d give you links to my new (or at least newly renewed) passion of Route 66. Because of publicity, movies like “Cars” and other ways of generating awareness, Route 66 is one of the best “known” preservation efforts centered around mid-Century. From Wikipedia: U.S. Route 66 (also known as the Will Rogers Highway and colloquially known as the