Elvis, showgirls, crooners and the Rat Pack may be a thing of Las Vegas history. But their memories live on. Come and take a trip with us as we explore some Vintage Las Vegas history. Famed neon signs from casinos such as Stardust, Caesars Palace and El Rancho, glittering and sparkling like stars in the Nevada desert, lured people from all over the continent. Las...
“I’ll see you at the luncheonette” is not a phrase most people hear anymore in America and most people wouldn’t even recognize the term luncheonette. A luncheonette is similar to a diner, but is not a diner – the biggest differences being that a diner has a larger range of food and is a full restaurant. The main focus of a luncheonette was to serve...
In the Atomic Age retro scene, there have always been folk with a taste for the gothic. You can thank The Cramps. One of the first punk acts to use the word “gothic” to promote themselves in the 1970s, The Cramps went on to influence what would eventually become the post-punk Goth scene. However, unlike Siouxsie and The Banshees, Bauhaus, and other Goth scene progenitors,...
Exotica jazz is no longer well-known to the average joe. It’s a genre of jazz that is based on exotic locales and sounds that emerged after WWII, predominately within the span of the 1950s to mid-1960s. The music was influenced heavily by Asian, tropical islands, South American, and African sounds, whether native beats or sounds of nature. Many men and women musicians emerged after the...
I remember the first time I saw the mighty Pink Flamingo formation. It was in front garden of my Aunt’s 1949 Art Deco Home. A spectacular home with a perfect lawn and a distinct late fifties sixties furnishing inside the house and a 1956 Ford Customline in the driveway. The cool thing about all of this was that the year was 1988. Not much had...
I’ve always been a sucker for shopping malls, even as a kid I thoroughly enjoyed going to the mall with the folks. Nowadays most shoppings centers are just loud, generic and boring. Where’s that sense of soul and character? Well fear not, Ultra Swank takes you back to take a look at some of the mid-century gems. Every mid-century mall needs three things; a water...
Why do even the most standard Hotels and Motels look so much better in mid-century America? It would seem that generally they cared much more about the looks and aesthetics, and making the guest feel right at home. They were often themed and the color schemes could have been copied straight from a Eames chair. Large, buzzing, sometimes Googie inspired signs, advertising a plethora of...