19 Items Tagged

Kitsch

Seattle, Washington

Elephant Car Wash Sign

This giant pink elephant stood in downtown Seattle for more than 60 years.

Madrid, New Mexico

Connie's Photo Park

A little slice of Florida face-in-a-hole kitsch, unexpectedly located in a small New Mexico town.

Neve Ilan, Israel

Elvis American Diner

In a small town outside Jerusalem, a roadside diner is devoted to all things Elvis Presley.

Brooklyn, New York

Turk's Inn

A Wisconsin kitsch palace from the 1930s lives its second life in 21st-century Brooklyn.

Yermo, California

Peggy Sue's 50's Diner & Diner-Saur Park

Like a kitschy mirage in the Mojave, this eatery serves up classic 50s-style diner meals and a dinosaur sculpture garden.

Video • AO Docs

Meet Piano Pat and the Sip 'n Dip Mermaids

Cave City, Kentucky

Mammoth Cave Wildlife Museum

Amazing taxidermy dioramas from the 1960s in a cement building meant to look like an ice cave.

Bucharest, Romania

Romanian Kitsch Museum

A celebration of all things tacky, garish, and bizarrely creative in the Romanian capital.

Castillo de Lamas

A kitschy Italian medieval-style castle incongruously located amidst one of the most historic towns in the Peruvian Amazon.

Los Angeles, California

The Tonga Hut

Though tiki culture has gone in and out of fashion, the Tonga Hut has always been flying the flag in Los Angeles.

Kingman, Arizona

Hackberry General Store

Don't blink or you'll miss it.

Twirl Paper Umbrellas at the Vintage Tiki Bars That Taught Americans to Relax

The tiki bar tour of your chill vibey dreams.

Molly McBride Jacobson August 4, 2016

Memphis, Tennessee

The Jungle Room at Graceland

Elvis' own personal tropical hideaway.

San Francisco, California

The Tonga Room

Tiki luxury on Nob Hill.

Great Falls, Montana

Sip 'n Dip Lounge

"Polynesia on the Plains."

Los Angeles, California

Velveteria

The art and history of the velvet painting are on full display in this Los Angeles museum.

Vancouver, British Columbia

The Shameful Tiki Room

A high point in Vancouver kitsch.

other capitals of the world

When Americans Embraced the Bob, This New England Town Had To Make Something Besides a Comb. Enter the Pink Flamingo

George Pendle January 4, 2016