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

A perfectly preserved 50's kitchen

A week ago I had a chance to visit a kitchen trapped in time. This kitchen is at St. Dominic’s Parish in Denver. Partially because they have taken such fabulous care of it and maybe because they haven’t done any upgrading, the kitchen is like walking back in time: There are more photos on my flickr page…but I just thought it was fabulous (funny because the Sister there wasn’t really impressed at all when I

1950's furniture arranging

I got to thinking today about what has made our house more of a 50’s home. I think part of the challenge of living in any period house is to try to keep within the time, but to update it and make it your own. Our furniture is partially 50’s and partially – well, “dorm room”. I refuse to update any of it until the kids and pets quit destroying it and/or until I find

Fabulous 50's Motel preservation opportunity

A couple of months ago, my husband and I took our kids (and my in-laws) to New Mexico. In travelling we realized how many awesome 50’s motels are out there that are dated, but with a little love (and a website to get travellers there) would be great stops for many money-saving families out there! So, last week we just took a trip and went out of our way to stay at 50’s motels. The

Dome Theaters in San Jose in danger!

In danger of demolition are the Winchester Theaters, a group of dome-shaped movie theaters which opened nearly 50 years ago showing It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World to herald both the space age and new cinema. The buildings—originally called the Century Theaters—were the first theaters of their kind. Designed by San Francisco architect Vincent Raney and opened between 1964 and 1966 to accommodate a new widescreen technology called Cinerama that was developed to help theaters