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

The iconic Charles Eames DAR Chair

When you think of iconic furniture designers, for most people, one of the first names that will spring to mind is that of Charles Eames. The American designer, born in 1907, was one of the 20th century’s most celebrated and revered designers of furniture and he was responsible for crafting some of the most recognisable and sought after pieces of designer furniture of his generation. Charles Eames was responsible for countless pieces of designer furniture

Backgrounds set the mood!

Presenting pinch pleat walls of drapes! Have you found those in your 1950’s home and wondered why they’re there? Read all about why you use them as a “background” and other 50’s style tips! Taken from the “Better Homes and Gardens Decorating Book” Copyright 1956, we thought we’d turn Mid-Century Photo Friday into a learning experience. As usual you can leave a link to your Mid-Century Photo Friday in the comments.

50’s Preservation has it’s challenges

Arapahoe Acres is the first Post World-War II residential subdivision listed as a historic district in the Nation Register of Historic Places. But according to a March 5th article in the Denver Post “Last summer, Arapahoe Acres was named an “At-Risk Landscape” by the Cultural Landscapes Foundation of Washington, D.C., because of an increasing number of botched renovations, from removal of classic carports to covering original brick facades with stucco.” (Read more: Englewood’s Arapahoe Acres

Updating and renovating? Purist?

I was thinking about renovating this morning – mainly because we’re at a lull on projects until we have some money drop in our lap! 🙂 But I was looking at some real estate ads in Palm Springs (pretty much the mid-century capital) and one mentioned that the kitchen had been “ruined” in an update. There weren’t any pictures, but it got me to thinking about a house we have down the street who ripped