GHOST TOWN

Rebuilding the Past—A Portal to the 1950's

Bendix the Big Robot

August 09, 2024  /  Theodore Paul

I have been going through the spare parts pile lately and building some robots. This fella is around 7ft tall and lights up. Made from a variety of vintage and new stuff. His name is Bendix because the glass panel on his chest is a salvaged door from an old 1950’s Bendix Duomatic washer/dryer. More pics in the gallery.

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The NORGE VILLAGE Laundry globe sign

June 30, 2021  /  Theodore Paul

I just rescued 2 of these awesome Norge Globe signs. Both need some work but there are not many left out there… so you have to take what you can get!

Norge started opening "Norge Village" laundry centers in 1960. These globes were designed in 1962 by Rohm & Haas and now are commonly referred to as Norge Balls in the retro world. Definitely an icon of Mid Century signage!

Watch the vid as the Norge Ball floats gracefully through the air - with the help of some retro music!

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When we played on sculptures. The playground art of Jim Miller-Melberg

February 11, 2020  /  Theodore Paul

First -a quick request for some help: I am searching for one of the twisted DNA looking “tree form” play pieces - the small curved wall pieces and the smaller slides with the 3 holes shown in the pics below - if you have a lead… please let me know!

I grew up in a classic post war suburbia neighborhood in Maryland. One of my earliest fascinations (and perhaps a watershed moment which could be responsible for my retro design obsession) was the first time I saw the “Saddle Slide”.

I was four in 1975. I still remember going to the playground at my local elementary school for the first time and standing in complete awe of this creation. It made me feel instantly happy. It was pleasingly curved and seemed to want you to run your hands along it as you crawled all over it. It even provided some cave-like shelter underneath if you needed a break from the sun or wind. On a hot summer’s day, the smooth concrete construction was cool and refreshing against your skin. Sometimes I pretended it was a strange magical animal and sometimes it was spaceship from another world.

At that time, I of course had no idea about the details of how it came to be. I had no idea that it was a vision brought to life from the mind of artist and sculptor Jim Miller-Melberg. I just knew it was somehow something very, very special. Sometimes, I would even just sit on the steel monkey bars nearby and look at it because when I was playing on it I simply could not see it in it’s entirety.

There was also a shopping center nearby that had a play courtyard. The courtyard had green astro turf and in addition to a “Saddle Slide” like the one I enjoyed at the school- it was outfitted with several other Miller-Melberg creations. I spent some time crawling on these pieces as well on occasions when my family shopped there.

About 20 years ago, I knew the school was getting remodeled so I called the county and tried to purchase the Saddle Slide - but in the end, I was unable to get them to let me buy it and it was demolished. What a sad, sad day.

Recently though, I was able to find and rescue this one from a long unused park in Toledo, Ohio. THANK YOU, TOLEDO!

I will post some links below if you want to learn more about Jim Miller-Melberg and his creations. The first 2 pics in this entry shows the actual one I ended up getting. There are also some pics of his other creations.

Basically - Miller-Melberg was an inspired genius who - as an adult - was still able to tap into the imaginative heart and mind of a child. I got to play in a sculpture garden as a child and that did some wonderful things for my mind.

http://jimmillermelbergsculptor.com/BIO.html

http://jimartwork.com/artwork-type/playground-and-park/

Behold the mighty "Muffler Man"!

July 01, 2019  /  Theodore Paul

From a time long before the internet and advanced advertising technology - when roadside shock value was the name of the game, businesses along the American roadside used all kinds of wacky signs and statues to lure motorists in. This big fella is an enduring testament to a bygone era of the kitschy American roadside landscape.

There is a lot of documented history on these giants already - so I won’t go into all of that here. But, if you are interested in the back story of the Phillips 66 Cowboy (a.k.a. Muffler Man) check out: https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/47459 and https://usagiants.com/about/ Both are excellent resources on the history and variations of these giants as well as information on the International Fiberglass Company that ended up producing them. The Roadside America link above actually has an interview with the owner of International Fiberglass and he goes through the entire history.

Ron and Maxine (the original owners) operated a Phillips 66 station back in the early 60’s in Havre de Grace, Maryland. When the sales reps came around showing off their new “sales booster” (a 20 foot tall fiberglass cowboy who looks like one of the lantern jawed characters from a 50’s Superman comic book), Ron opted to purchase one and have it permanently in place at his station.

He became an instant attraction. He originally was mounted on the roof of the station but was later moved to the ground and stood in front of it. Ron fashioned a special cart for the cowboy and he was even wheeled through downtown Havre de Grace for a parade. He is so enormous that he had to be leaned back at times to clear the power lines that crossed the road.

In the early 90’s Ron painted him in Desert Storm camouflage to show support for the troops.

By the early 2000s Ron had sold the station and retired but he knew he could not just leave the big fella out there alone, so he put him on a trailer and stored him at his home nearby. I was able to get in touch with Ron a while back and after more than a year of talking and going back and forth, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to buy the cowboy. In my opinion, he looks a lot like my good friend and old band mate Jeff Ball… So I am going to name him Jeff. (There is a pic below of Jeff mugging it up next to his fiberglass likeness).

No offense to the troops, but I will be repainting big Jeff back to his original colors (or at least very close to original). I feel that it is the right thing to do. He will become part of a service station installation at Ghost Town. He still has his original hat which is very uncommon as all too often the hats blew off and were lost or severely damaged.

The pics and video below are a sampling of some that I just took when we were moving him and a few vintage shots that Ron and Maxine still had… along with a shot of the two of them standing with the big guy right before we loaded him on the truck.

Removing cataracts from a vintage 60's color roundie television set

June 06, 2019  /  Theodore Paul

I have read different accounts and posts from other folks who have done this. I have also watched some YouTube vids of folks doing it. I am not criticizing anyone else’s strategy here - just saying that I personally found that many of the lengthy steps (pre-soaking - pre-heating - and scraping out the edges) were totally unnecessary.

Below are some pics showing the stages. The chassis on this set still needs to be recapped. The color and picture tube are actually quite nice… but the filters are bad which is keeping the picture from properly spreading out and filling the screen completely.

It was my first time doing this - but with the help of a friend - we were able to do 3 of these picture tubes in about an hr and a half.

In some of the pics of the tube - you will see that the perimeter has chunks of adhesive that were dug out. I did this on the first tube we worked on - but on the next one we found that this step was not necessary and just wasted time.

We supported the picture tube safely in a tall bucket and wrapped the tube with a heavy blanket for safety. There is a band of tape around the perimeter of the picture tube that we scored with a razor knife. We then used a heat gun to soften up the adhesive between the 2 pieces of glass. You can actually see the air getting in under the adhesive as it loses it’s attachment to the top glass. As you see this happening… you move the heat gun along. In one of the pics you can actually see the slightly darker area developing under the heat gun. This darker area is the indication that the adhesive bond has let go. Probably a good idea not to stay in one area too long with the heat gun … and also if the glass is cold to start with, you should probably warm it up slowly so that it does not crack from a sudden drastic temperature change. And the same would apply for not letting it cool down too quickly either… in case you are doing this in the winter in a cold garage (which I would not recommend).

We moved in a spiral starting on the outside edge… moving along the perimeter and working in towards the center.

Then with just a little pulling by hand - the top cover glass lifted off. If pulling it by hand does not work and you need a little more force… you can gently tap some wooden shims in between the two glass pieces and apply some more heat with the heat gun. Space 3 or 4 shims at even intervals around the perimeter and tap in very slowly. Remember that you are working on glass.

While the adhesive layer is still warm - it is quite easy to then peel off in one sheet . Then - a good cleaning with some lacquer thinner or acetone and then a final cleaning to the glass surfaces with some glass cleaner.

For re-assembly some folks like to put little pieces of double sided foam tape around the perimeter… this helps to keep an even gap between the two pieces of glass. Some folks also then seal the perimeter with some tape or even a bead of silicone caulking. This helps keep dust from getting in between the two glass sections.

We skipped the double sided tape and just put the 2 pieces of glass directly together and then taped around the edge seam.

The Spartan Mansion move

July 09, 2018  /  Theodore Paul

This 1950 Spartan had been parked for a long time about 25 miles from me.  Finally, after a couple years of detective work to track down the owners... I ended up buying it.  It definitely needs some love.  It has dings and dents and lots of wood on the inside will need to be replaced.  On the good side, all of the panels and cabinets are there to use as templates.  I will be taking everything out and starting with new flooring and underlayment as well as new insulation all around and wiring.  Big project... like I needed another big project.

This will be parked inside the Quonset hut and not only be a place to sleep - but also serve as part of the "motel / used car lot office" vignette.  I have a giant vintage motel sign that I am working on currently which will stand next to the Spartan - so stay tuned !... coming soon hopefully !  It will look awesome next to the trailer.  There is a pic of that sign below in it's rough stages so you can get the idea.

I couldn't resist putting a few vintage pieces in front of the trailer for a quick picture.

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