Other nostalgia interests besides tiki and exotica

It seems that, in addition to tiki, there are other nostalgic interests that many people share here. I've been in a particularly nostalgic mood lately and have been indulging some other interests (through books, movies and music, mostly), and got wondering how many others here are into some of them and if there are others that I did not mention. In no particular order, they are:

Surfing movies (both documentary and fictional) and music (particularly surf guitar instrumentals)
Hot Rods, custom and drag cars
Beatnik culture (including jazz)
Space age and sci-fi culture
Cocktail and lounge culture (Rat Pack!)
Googie architecture (and other prominent styles from 50s and 60s)
Elvis movies
Ads and magazines from 50s and 60s
Just about any movie or TV show that reflects the 50s 60s culture

Any that I left out?

Any that I left out?

Punk Rock.

[ Edited by: Tikiholic 2005-08-08 10:14 ]

Burlesque

James Bond

"Do you expect me to talk? NO Mr. Bond, I expect you to DIE !!

Beef Jerky

On 2005-08-08 09:58, Tikiholic wrote:

Any that I left out?

Punk Rock.

---

[ Edited by: Tikiholic 2005-08-08 10:14 ]

I guess I didn't think of this as nostalgic because I have regularly listened to it for twenty years, sop to me it's contemporary. BTW The landlord is trying to evict CBGBs and there is a big effort here in NYC to save it.

On 2005-08-08 10:01, Humuhumu wrote:
Burlesque

Good one!

On 2005-08-08 10:03, Monkeyman wrote:
James Bond

"Do you expect me to talk? NO Mr. Bond, I expect you to DIE !!

I intended to include Spy culture- really bad oversight. I also love spy music- Theme from Bond, Peter Gunn, etc.

On 2005-08-08 10:20, Unga Bunga wrote:
Beef Jerky

That's timeless.

Old time radio - I particularly like mystery/detective shows from the 40's and 50's! To those who have never given them a listen, check out the CBS show "Suspense" that ran from 1942 until 1962 - great stuff, kinda like Hitchcock for your ears!

Westerns - the 1950's and 60's nostalgic interpretation of a previous era.

On 2005-08-08 12:15, johntiki wrote:
Old time radio - I particularly like mystery/detective shows from the 40's and 50's! To those who have never given them a listen, check out the CBS show "Suspense" that ran from 1942 until 1962 - great stuff, kinda like Hitchcock for your ears!

Cool. In a similar vein, I forgot to mention serials were shown in movie theaters before the main bill (also newsrteels are cool, too). When I was a kid in the 60's my father was in the Airforce in Spain. He had a part time job as a projectionist at the base theater, and used to take me to work with him. Even though they were about twenty years old at the time, they showed these serials before the movies. Two that come to mind are "The Black Whip" and "Radar Men from the Moon". The former was a western with a Zorro like hero and the latter was a guy with a helmet and rocket pack that fought evil. He was the character model for The Rocketeer movie not too long ago. I have both of these series on video.

On 2005-08-08 12:16, ookoo lady wrote:
Westerns - the 1950's and 60's nostalgic interpretation of a previous era.

Nostalgia for nostalgia. Also cool are the spaghetti westerns and their cool soundtrack music, typically from itqalian composers.

[ Edited by: Urban Tiki 2005-08-08 13:47 ]

Pink Panther/Peter Sellers

Does your Dog Bite?

Hey MM, thats 1000 for ya . Cool

Carnivals / Sideshows / Amusement Parks
Atomic Bombs / Nuclear Culture (Dr Strangelove)
vintage non-Disney theme parks (i.e. Enchanted Forest, Storybook Gardens, etc)

Vern

Eating in vintage diners... there's a stainless steel diner called the New Ideal in Aberdeen Maryland, that dates back to 1931. I absolutely love eating there and they have without a doubt some of the best blueberry pancakes you've ever tasted! Sure the place is a tad rundown but it makes you appreciate its history even more...

JohnTiki

Aloha from the enchanted Pi Yi Grotto in exotic Bel Air Maryland!

[ Edited by: johntiki 2005-08-08 16:18 ]

While it's still fresh in my mind I thought I'd add another... I don't know if anyone else would be into it or would even understand my interest but I really dig small/localized/old-school soda companies that still produce their products in glass bottles. My Dad does a considerable amount of driving for his job and he routinely comes home with a six-pack of something I've never heard of before or something I have heard of but have never tasted. Recently he picked me up some Moxie, an odd tasting root beer-ish tasting drink from New England, that was actually the first mass-marketed soft drink! I've also received some "small batch" bottles of Birch Beer from a small company in Pennsylvania but the best score was when my parents gave me a case of Dublin Dr. Pepper for my birthday a couple years ago. Dublin Dr. Pepper is the original formula Dr. Pepper which uses pure cane sugar as a base and not corn syrup or whatever crap they use nowadays and comes in the coolest 8 oz. bottle! They were so damn good I drank the whole case in less than a week and was nearly at the verge of tears when I polished off the last one!

Check 'em out!
http://www.drpep.com/

I'm actually kind of envious of those TCers in Texas... I know if I lived there I'd be making Dr. Pepper runs every weekend... and probably drink myself into a sugar coma! :)

On 2005-08-08 16:50, johntiki wrote:
I don't know if anyone else would be into it or would even understand my interest but I really dig small/localized/old-school soda companies that still produce their products in glass bottles.

You can buy many of these sodas at Galco's in Los Angeles, and they do mail order! Obviously, the shipping can be pretty steep.

http://www.sodapopstop.com/home.cfm

We used to get sodas from The Pop Shoppe, they had the best flavors, always a treat as a kid. They closed in 1983.

Looks like they're back in business!

The Pop Shoppe

The flavors they produce are Lime Ricky, Cream Soda, Grape, Orange, Pineapple, Root Beer & Black Cherry.

You can get it in Ontario & Quebec, I'm going to see if the hubby will bring me back a few bottles.

[ Edited by: Tikiwahine 2005-08-09 15:22 ]

On 2005-08-08 12:15, johntiki wrote:
Old time radio - I particularly like mystery/detective shows from the 40's and 50's! To those who have never given them a listen, check out the CBS show "Suspense" that ran from 1942 until 1962 - great stuff, kinda like Hitchcock for your ears!

OTR is awesome but dangerous if you're a collector. It's all in th public domain so you can download it until your PC bursts. I like Jack Benny and Dragnet.

My main passion is Telechron electric clocks. Telechron in Ashland, MA made the first electric clocks.

http://www.telechron.net

The original Mickey Mouse Club serials. Spin & Marty, the Hardy Boys, Annette.

I'm way into the period between the world wars. Every time I see a picture of Portland or any big US city from that era I get jealous. Streetcars, cool fashion, classy autos, great architecture, etc.

Also very cool: Automats!! Where the hell did all the automats go?

Do I have to be nostalgic for things I actually lived through? Because that was mostly crap.

-Joe

On 2005-08-08 18:24, Rum Demon wrote:
I'm way into the period between the world wars. Every time I see a picture of Portland or any big US city from that era I get jealous. Streetcars, cool fashion, classy autos, great architecture, etc.

I love streetcars (and trains). No trip to SF is complete without a trip on one of the cable cars - I always take the California Street route (past the Tonga Room) - no waiting and the trip across Nob Hill is fantastic.

Street cars are being discussed again in LA and, as an added bonus, the route would be walking distance from my front door (hopefully MTA will get more Fed $$).

On 2005-08-08 18:24, Rum Demon wrote:
Also very cool: Automats!! Where the hell did all the automats go?

Do I have to be nostalgic for things I actually lived through? Because that was mostly crap.

I had the distinct pleasure of eating at a Horn & Hardart Automat in New York City circa 1983. I was twelve years old at the time and still remember how cool it was to get food out of those cool chrome doors on the wall. I still remember that I had an egg salad sandwich. If you want to get a small glimpse of the glory-that-was, the Smithsonian's American History Museum has a good chunk of an automat on display in their cafeteria.

It's more impressive in person...

On 2005-08-08 12:15, johntiki wrote:
Old time radio - I particularly like mystery/detective shows from the 40's and 50's! To those who have never given them a listen, check out the CBS show "Suspense" that ran from 1942 until 1962 - great stuff, kinda like Hitchcock for your ears!

I love OTR, especially "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. There are a ton of the old episodes online that are in the public domain. They even have the old advertisements.

I also have a small collection of antique radios from the 1930s.

I have a great interest in the 'Golden Age' of airline travel. From the Pan Am China Clippers in the 30s to the early Jet Age of the 50s & 60s (when first class was the only option and people dressed-up to fly).
Also 50s and 60s culture, cocktails, music, design and fashion.

I'm diggin' this topic!

Another of my interests is the Empire State Building. I don't know how I got into it but ever since I went to New York for the first time (on the same trip as the visit to the automat) and I stood on that observation deck freezing my ass off admiring the view from above, I was hooked. Now even when I was a kid it wasn't the tallest building in the world but to me it was still the coolest! My parents bought me a skyline poster at the gift-shop with the ESB predominantly featured and it hung on the wall in my bedroom until I was about 17 years old!

When I got older and I discovered Ebay I started collecting the hand-out pamphlets and brochures that tourists were given (I have them dating back to the mid-30's), tickets to the observation deck, miniature buildings (some before the massive antenna was added), matchbooks, menus from the restaurant that used to occupy a large part of the 82nd floor, postcards and even a hand-out magazine with a sparkling silver ESB on the cover that was given to people attending the grand opening of the building in 1931. And of course I visit the observation deck every time I go to New York City... it's kind of weird but I always manage to get a little choked up just gazing at that 2 story chromium and granite art deco representation of the building hanging in the lobby.

SOme really cool responses and I have to admot a certain degree of interest in all of them. I would love to travel back in time (for just a little while) to Manhattan in the 30s or 40s. It was so elegant then with the supper clubs with floor shows and places like the Stork Club and Copacabana. Men wore tuxes and women wore gowns.

Automats, diners, and trains are also very cool. I particularly love the old art deco streamliner trains. Come to think of it, I love anything art deco. Being in Mnahattan, I love to visit some of the great buildings here that reflect art deco. Besides the great Empire State Building, there's the Chrysler Building, The GE Building and Rockefeller Center. There are still alot of places in NYC where it feels like your stepping back into that era. One of my favorites is the Monkey Bar in the Hotel Elysee. The bar still has these cool scenes with monkeys drinking cocktails in that very 30s style of illustration. The dining room is decorated like the 30s and has pictures of the celebrities that used to hang out there. Many movie stars lived in the Hotel Elysee including Marilyn Monroe and Joe Damagio, Tellulah Bankhead, and others. It is said that in the bar is where Tennessee Williams discovered Marlon Brando to star in Streetcar Named Desire.

Johntiki, a little Empire State Building trivia question for you: Inthe lobby they have discplays of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Can you name them?

On 2005-08-08 10:01, Humuhumu wrote:
Burlesque

Yeah!!!!!!

and Bettie Page

and Airstream Caravans

Hot bodies on all of them.

.

Lucha's movies.
Nuclear area movies, Sci-Fi and all B and strange films from that area.

On 2005-08-08 18:36, christiki295 wrote:

On 2005-08-08 18:24, Rum Demon wrote:
I'm way into the period between the world wars. Every time I see a picture of Portland or any big US city from that era I get jealous. Streetcars, cool fashion, classy autos, great architecture, etc.

I love streetcars (and trains). No trip to SF is complete without a trip on one of the cable cars - I always take the California Street route (past the Tonga Room) - no waiting and the trip across Nob Hill is fantastic.

Street cars are being discussed again in LA and, as an added bonus, the route would be walking distance from my front door (hopefully MTA will get more Fed $$).

I think I've mentioned it before, but the Poway & Midland RR down here in Poway, Ca. (just North of San Diego on I-15), has an opperational Los Angeles Yellow Car from the LARY Yellow Line.

On 2005-08-08 16:50, johntiki wrote:
While it's still fresh in my mind I thought I'd add another... I don't know if anyone else would be into it or would even understand my interest but I really dig small/localized/old-school soda companies that still produce their products in glass bottles. My Dad does a considerable amount of driving for his job and he routinely comes home with a six-pack of something I've never heard of before or something I have heard of but have never tasted. Recently he picked me up some Moxie, an odd tasting root beer-ish tasting drink from New England, that was actually the first mass-marketed soft drink! I've also received some "small batch" bottles of Birch Beer from a small company in Pennsylvania but the best score was when my parents gave me a case of Dublin Dr. Pepper for my birthday a couple years ago. Dublin Dr. Pepper is the original formula Dr. Pepper which uses pure cane sugar as a base and not corn syrup or whatever crap they use nowadays and comes in the coolest 8 oz. bottle! They were so damn good I drank the whole case in less than a week and was nearly at the verge of tears when I polished off the last one!

Check 'em out!
http://www.drpep.com/

I'm actually kind of envious of those TCers in Texas... I know if I lived there I'd be making Dr. Pepper runs every weekend... and probably drink myself into a sugar coma! :)

Don't forget Mexican Sodas like Mexican Coke & Topo-Chico that're still made with pure Cane Sugar and come in glass bottles.

The pinup art of the '50s. In particular Gil Elvgren - the man has some awesome art that has me droolin like a puppy in a butcher. (closely related to betty page and burlesque, but different enough i feel to warrant a mention).

WWII nose art as seen on the fighter planes of the time. In particular the ones that played on words like "Miss Behavin","Lucy Equipment" etc.

Vintage drum kits (anyone got a VOX?) and "Breweriana", old brewery signs, lights, etc.(anyone got a photo of the old Brew 102 brewery in downtown LA?)...these are some of my favorite things...

I belong to Hollywood Underground -- they were featured on "All Things Considered" yesterday:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4792967

This story was part of a series on Americans with unusual hobbies. Maybe we should tell this reporter about us! 8)

50's Las Vegas. I have a a small collection of programs/brochures and other paper from then up to now.

I have also started watching alot of the Hanna-Barbera cartoons. The Wacky Races was my favorite when I was a lad.

On 2005-08-10 10:39, johnnievelour wrote:
50's Las Vegas. I have a a small collection of programs/brochures and other paper from then up to now.

I have also started watching alot of the Hanna-Barbera cartoons. The Wacky Races was my favorite when I was a lad.

You have got to get the DVD of the original Ocean's 11. It's the Rat Pack in Vegas in 1959- it's the greatest!

Maybe I'm stating the obvious but we all like old junk (ow! blinding flash of the obvious!) We refuse to move into the future without bringing the stuff we like with us. We're all champions of lost causes.

Tiki, old time radio, mom & pop soda pop, googie architecture, hot rods--this is all the best stuff from the last century and we refuse to let it be buried with the past.

It all seems so clear now. Hooray for us!

On 2005-08-10 09:59, tikitortured wrote:
Vintage drum kits (anyone got a VOX?) and "Breweriana", old brewery signs, lights, etc.(anyone got a photo of the old Brew 102 brewery in downtown LA?)...these are some of my favorite things...

I just got a DVD that has two movies on it- Ghost of Drag Strip Hollow (1950s B&W), and Ghost in the Bikini (Early 60s in color). In the Ghost in the Bikini, there is a pool party scene with a band playing by the pool. Not only are all of the instruments Vox (big Vox emblem on the bass drum), but there are big tiki planters around the pool. There is this really crazy shaped Vox guitar. This is a great (cheesey) DVD.

[ Edited by: Urban Tiki 2005-08-10 11:57 ]

On 2005-08-10 11:56, Urban Tiki wrote:

I just got a DVD that has two movies on it- Ghost of Drag Strip Hollow (1950s B&W), and Ghost in the Bikini (Early 60s in color). In the Ghost in the Bikini, there is a pool party scene with a band playing by the pool. Not only are all of the instruments Vox (big Vox emblem on the bass drum), but there are big tiki planters around the pool. There is this really crazy shaped Vox guitar. This is a great (cheesey) DVD.

Sounds like a couple of flicks I'd love to see! I'll have to look them up at my local independent video rental place. Thanks Urban Tiki!

Great reading everyone's "other than tiki" loves. Here's my own list:

Collecting antiques (40’s, 50’s, & 60’s)
Collecting and watching 60’s surf movies (even the cheesy beach movies)
60’s cars (especially station wagons)
Anything beatnik and related art, music & fashion
Anything lounge and related art, music & fashion
Virtually all 50’s & 60’s film and television (horror and sci-fi, but especially when related to the ocean, such as the Kon-Tiki expedition, Sea Hunt, Flipper, Key Largo, Tabu, etc., etc.)
60’s spy stuff (James Bond, The Avengers, Man from U.N.C.L.E.)
60’s Florida memorabilia and architecture
Monkeys (I just love monkeys!)

Reading about Las Vegas in the 50s fascinates me, along with stories of the Rat Pack days.

What great thread - it is nice to know so many others share my interests in Art Deco, diners, and a touch of Tiki.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned film noir... Who doesn't love the moody look and gritty feel of a great, or even pretty bad film noir thriller! I recommend Double Indemnity w/Fred MacMurray, D.O.A. w/Edmond O'Brien, Laura w/the extremely lovely and talented Gene Tierney and Mystery Street w/Ricardo Montalban (unfortunately not available on DVD but I saw it late one night on TCM and I absolutely loved it!)

Valentino movies and Star Trek. (Valentino's memorial service is in a week or so at Forever Hollywood cemetery).

On 2005-08-09 06:16, Urban Tiki wrote:
Johntiki, a little Empire State Building trivia question for you: Inthe lobby they have discplays of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Can you name them?

I know exactly what you're talking about and I glance at them everytime I'm there! I could've cheated on this question, looked them up and fired them off like I was a contestant on Jeopardy but I didn't... below are the 3 that I remember...

1. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
2. The Colossus of Rhodes
3. Great Pyramid of Giza

...I had to look the rest up...

4. The Statue of Zeus at Olympia
5. The Pharos of Alexandria (The Lighthouse of Alexandria)
6. The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
7. The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

I would never have guessed the last 4... the Statue of Zeus rings a bell but the other 3 don't even sound familiar.

I'm not a huge fan of film noir, but I adore old movies in general, and just added a few to my Cary Grant collection.

My tastes include cheesy sci-fi (Plan 9 From Outer Space and The Robot Monster hold special places in my heart), classics like Sunset Boulevard, and so much more.

Vintage 50's house plans, Decorating Books, Felt pennants from tourist destinations, Canadian Kitsch (I dont collect that yet, theres no room in my home, but I like it), Midcentury Modern Furniture... ooh the list goes on!