O/T... Jet Age/Googie Architecture in So Cal

Ok guys as ya'all know were not just car nuts. Some of us embrace a lot more than just the cars themselves, and more often than not this includes the types of music, clothes and architectures from a different time.

Some don't and thats ok too !!

I really dig Art Deco and mid 50's Jet Age/Googie design and was wondering how many of you guys live near some of these icons of 50s-60s design? Particularly in Vegas and So Cal? Did it exist back East and in the Mid West?

Places like bowling alleys, coffee and donut joints, burger joints, city buildings, servos, diners and motels/hotels.....

I know many were torn down in the 90s (*******s!!) but how many are really left standing as original, unmolested sites?

Post ya pix and stories......like this !!

Rat

 

One of the original McDoggy's built circa 1954/55 I believe. Downey, Ca.
<a href="http://s63.photobucket.com/albums/h137/punkazzgearhead88/?action=view&current=Mcds2.jpg" target="_blank"></a>

Not sure if this one is still there, this was an old cafe built circa 1962 near Calico, Ca. (Just east of the 15 Fwy.) This pic was taken 4/06.

 

Dam it didnt work lets try this again.

 

i live up the street from this pretty well known place...

 

Vegas used to be full of Googie design, but no more.
Of course, the well known "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign is Googie.

 

Here's a few old signs in Fresno, CA....

 

Yah...Ive heard Vegas has been pretty much pillaged of her Googie design.

Hey Sanford, those sings are killer....aint nuthin like a backdrop of blue sky against an original sign like that. Fantastic !!

That building with the martini gl***/olive...where is it located?

More?

Rat

 

I got a real laugh out of the way you phrased that question.

The art-deco theme was actually an east coast fashion. Most notably in NYC and Chicago. It started in the 20's and slowly spread west.

By the time the 50's rolled around and ushered in the Jet-age [via T.V.], the whole country seemed to adopt the theme at once.

Most of the art deco stuff out here is gone now due to our climate.
For the most part, art deco was about making things look light and streamlined. This was mostly acomplished with stucko over cantilevered wood framework.

Our brutal winters and high humidity summers played hell on the wood frameworks, and when they started to deteriorate, their cantilever construction techniques made them un-salvagable. So they were either torn down [in the 70's] or re-worked and covered in aluminum siding.

A lot of our jet age stuff is gone or badly deteriorated also. The jet age seemed to be done in sheet meatal, which does not hold up well here in the "rust belt"

You guys out there in the desert south west and sunny so-cal have a much more forgiving climate that tends to preserve such structures much longer. Also the wide open spaces meant that the existing structers didn't have to compete for real-estate when new construction "came to town".

I'm not old enough to have actually expirenced it, but the mid 20's to about 1962 are some of my favorite "nostalgic" times... Except for that great depression thing, and that pesky war stuff.

 

That building with the martini gl***/olive...where is it located?
It's on Olive St. in Fresno, in an area known as the 'Tower District' named for the historic 'Tower Theatre' on the same street. (I don't know why I don't have pictures of that?!)

More?
A few more...but they don't really fit the 'Googie' theme.

 

"I got a real laugh out of the way you phrased that question."

Dude I was referring more to the Googie design when asking that qun...sheesh !! Of course Deco was an NYC and Chicago deal.

I'm not old enough to have exerienced it either, (Im 41)...but hey, the rose we remember, the thorns we forget. Yeah that pesky Depn and little conflict called WWII. What a PITA hehe !!

Fresno huh? I gots to visit some of these places on my next trip.

Thanx for posting guys.....love to see more !!

 

Great Googie Arch Site:
http://www.roadsidepeek.com/

-J

 

Theres some great stuff you'd like here Frank... http://www.plan59.com

Or go down the road and check out oakleigh hotel, thats kinda cool!

 

Sorry if my comment seemed harsh or insulting. It was not meant to be. It just seemed humorous to me the way it was "phrased", not that I thought it was a silly question or anything like that.

 

I've got a lot pics saved but most are housing .

 

A nice googie/mid-century site ive been frequentling lately is www.lottaliving.com
they have some nice threads with some great info/photos (most of it is house related though)

 

The northeast still has a lot of these old sign in the backwoods area's, I have seen a lot of them at old motels and such and even here in the city I know of a couple of googie and art deco signs.

 

Hey, Sanfordsotherson, I notice you posted those Fresno pics in the middle of the night - what'r you embar***ed about where I live?! Just kidding. I remember when you took those, but I think this is the first time I've seen them - pretty cool!

 

No offence taken champ !! Thanx for sharing photos,sites and pix....

Necro, somehow the Oakleigh Hotel don't measure up the same way hahaha !!

Any more takers?

Rat

 

this book has tons of good ones. "googie" by alan hess. It has an appendix that gives you the addresses of all the diners. My girlfriend and I tried to hit all of them, we did maybe half.

this one's right by my house...


this one's across the street from the petersen museum...


and a few of my favorites growing up in west LA...

 

Some real cool jet age stuff in Palm Springs

Gas Station, now the ticket office for the aerial Tramway


The "House of tommorrow" built 1960


The Springs restaurant built 1957

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular][/FONT]

 

The cool thing about living in central California...well, from Fresno south to Bakersfield...is that a lot of that design/architecture still exists.

In fact, here in Bakersfield, we have so much that we take it for granted (and don't "see" it).

Fortunately, neither do the land developers. They have ignored interior Bako and built a few billion cookie cutter homes west of Hwy 99.

Besides, let's be honest. The terms "urban redevelopment" and "Bakersfield" are mutually exclusive. Hey, as long as it saves the Googie!

 

My parents are contractors and they dug up some real old house plan books from the early 60's that have some sweet midcentury-modern plans in them.

If I can ever afford it, I'm going to have them build me a house based on one of those plans. All new houses look the same, for whatever reason.

My shop is an old meat market that was built in the 40's, but other than the gl*** block windows it's about as plain as can be. I'd like to change it around a bit but I don't know how hard that'd be to do.

 

Let me know! haha.
This is one I designed to be built as a prefab/modular home.

 

The McDonalds in Downey is the second one built. The first one was actually in San Bernadino.

 

The Broiler...in Downey

 

Can't forget Harveys Broiler!!!!!! There's also a resturant called Ships on LeCieniga. Resembles Harveys alot. Havent seen anybody post any Norms pic's yet. They were everywhere. Another Googie staple were car washes!

 

cool post. theres another one on here somewhere with houses from back in the day. the 50s/60s i think.

 

I am surprised that no one has mentioned Wildwood, NJ, one of our Southern Jersey vacation towns with the widest beach on the coast..........Wildwood has a rich historyof Art Deco motels and restaurants.......except in Wildwood they call it *Doo Wop* Architecture........the town has made a very concerted effort to preserve, restore, and protect their heritage and the Doo Wop arcitecture is highly revered here........check it out:

http://www.doowopusa.org/ If you like this kind of stuff I think you'll really like this web site!

Brucie

 

This was the Metro Diner in Tulsa, OK......now torn down to make more
room for a local college. Ate there a few times.

There other old signs around the midwest.....Missouri, Okla, etc.....just
don't seem to have pictures.

 

well at least we still have the Shelter lounge here in Tucson,I remember hangin out there with my folks as a kid in the 60s (when kids could go in bars).....since the ***holes at walgreens tore down the old Johnnies drive in