That Vintage Girl

The Hollywood Heritage Museum has a new exhibit called Broadcast from Hollywood: When Movie Stars Met Television that displays memorabilia from televisions shows like I Love Lucy (1951-1957),  The Lucy Show (1962-1968), Here's Lucy (1968-1974), Adam-12 (1968-1975), Three's Company (1977-1984), The Survivors (1969-1970), and Mad Men (2007-2015). The exhibit explores how television transformed the Hollywood entertainment industry.  In the 1950s, Hollywood studios considered television a threat as the rise of televisions in the household lead to a decline in theatre attendance. According to the Library of Congress, the number of American households with televisions grew from 9% in 1950 to 90% by 1960.  However, Hollywood eventually embraced television as it diversified its scope of entertainment to engage audiences in both the theater and home.   Starting in the late 1940s, television studios such as the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), Columbia Broadcasting S...

I just finished reading a fascinating page-turner by Jennie Fields called  Atomic Love . It is a captivating story that takes place in 1950 America about three solitary souls, still healing from the damages inflicted by Word War II, whose lives intertwine with dramatic and unexpected consequences. Eloquently written, the story encompasses love, intrigue, mystery, sacrifice, and redemption. I truly could not put the book down!

Built in 1925, the Nirvana is one of the oldest apartment-hotel buildings in Los Angeles that recently underwent a massive restoration project that unveiled an extraordinary part of its original structure that had been concealed for decades.  The Nirvana was designed by architect E.M. Erderly in the Exotic Revival architectural style which became popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  This style blended western architectural elements with eastern architectural elements that drew inspiration from cultures like Asia, Egypt, and the Middle East.   When the Nirvana was built, it had a beautifully painted entry and large lobby with colorful Asian inspired murals and motifs.  However, at some point the entire entry and lobby was painted and the lobby was converted into two apartment units. As years past, additional layers of paint further buried the original artwork that had inspired the building's Exotic Revival theme. But sometime in the 2010s, a tena...