Los Angeles and pop culture are inextricably linked. The city’s coming-of-age story is stamped with products and design from the entire spectrum of the 20th century, and a small army of local collectors routinely scour thrift stores and garage sales to build collections of those artifacts. In the right hands, matchbooks, velvet paintings, and neon signs can be transformed from tacky and disposable into a means of communicating a shared experience. While LA is still a city emerging, it’s cool to see objects of our past documented and assembled with care.
Velveteria
The word “kitschy” can be used in some pretty dismissive ways. You get the impression that Caren Anderson and Carl Baldwin’s velvet painting collection operates less on kitsch and more on a sincere appreciation for the medium. One doesn't amass a collection of 3,000 velvet paintings otherwise. Velveteria moved its operation from Portland in 2013, and many of the 400+ paintings on display at their Chinatown gallery depict recognizable celebrities and motifs.
Valley Relics Museum
The SFV has morphed from pastoral agricultural center to booming mid-century suburbia to the metropolis that almost seceded from Los Angeles in 2002. The artifacts assembled by Tommy Gelinas at the Valley Relics Museum span these eras and include vintage memorabilia from bygone businesses, a Cadillac customized by rhinestone cowboy designer Nudie Cohn and a fleet of BMX bikes that were ubiquitous during the mall-centric 80’s. There’s a sentimental significance to these items that is evident when you make the pilgrimage to this Chatsworth industrial park.
Museum of Neon Art
The Downtown location was closed in 2011, but a Glendale incarnation of the Museum of Neon Art will be opening on Brand sometime this year. In the meantime, MONA still offers 3-hour Saturday night bus tours that give you double-decker views of the iconic neon signage lighting up our skyline. A noble gas indeed.
To Live and Dine in L.A. at Central Library
Through November 13, the Getty Gallery at the Central Library Downtown presents a comprehensive exhibition of menus from local restaurant relics in, To Live and Dine in L.A. In a corresponding book written and edited by Josh Kun, vintage menus are read as historic documents, complete with insights on the politics, economics and sociology of eating. Or if you ever want to see a vintage menu come to life, just grab a table at Musso & Frank’s for Lobster Thermidor, Welsh Rarebit or a wedge salad.
Pins and Needles
It’s hard to play pinball and not look cool—just try. If you’re looking to bask in the glow of coin-operated glory, Pins and Needles in Echo Park offers 24 pinball machines from the 70’s and 80’s that are guaranteed to over-stimulate your senses. Just remember, it’s not a bar and make sure to check their blog for hours. And if you’ve got what it takes, you too can join the LA Pinball League.