Here are three random scans of random places (or things) around the country.
First up is this scan from a black and white negative, showing a place called the Pioneer Motel, which is attached to "Pioneer Fine Food" (breakfast, lunch, dinner - EAT). I thought that finding the location of this place would be pretty easy, but I had no luck. How about YOU? There are a LOT of Pioneer Motels.
Next is this photo from June, 1967. I had no clue as to where this is, but luckily that sign behind the VW Beetle is legible - it's the Twin Light Motor Inn, in Gloucester, Massachusetts. One postcard states that this is "part of the former Campbell Soup estate. Which explains the omnipresent vegetable soup aroma.
I guess this place is fairly well-known to travelers in that area. Nobody told ME about it! Here's another postcard:
And the back:
And here's one other postcard.
Changing gears a bit, here's a photo of a vintage (1950s I believe) billboard, with a sobering (see what I did there?) message about alcoholism, along with encouragement for "Total Abstinence". Good luck on that one.
Major-
ReplyDeleteThe Twin Light Manor Motor Inn looks like the place for me, as I prefer 'Turn-of-the-Century English Tudor Mansions' residing On the open ocean."
And as for that billboard, all I can say is: Drink up, Shriners-!
Thanks, Major.
Well, I tried searching for "Pioneer Motel next to Pioneer Fine Food Restaurant". I only found one that could, maybe, might be this one here... Nope. It was on Route 66 in Illinois. I tried mightily to make it look like the one in today's post. But no. So now it's someone else's turn. ;-) That one car parked(?) in front of the restaurant has what looks like, a load of 2x4s strapped on top. I wonder if that could help identify this location? :-p
ReplyDeleteNice looking house! The whole property looks to be well kept up. I know someone else will mention that lawn chair strapped to the front of the VW, but I'll mention it anyway: Look! There's a lawn chair strapped to the front of the VW! I guess it just wouldn't fit anywhere inside.
Well, the scan of that billboard came outta nowhere! Next you'll be posting hilarious cat videos! ;-) I guess it IS one of the "Scenes from America" that you promised in the header... so there's that. Now I'm wondering why someone used a precious frame of film to photograph it?
Interesting tour of America today. Thanks, Major.
JB, the thing that got me about the lawn chair…..it’s not strapped in. It’s just shoved into the bumper and they are driving around like that.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the “Abby-normal” pictures today Major
It seems like that lawn chair on the front of the VW bug would be a pretty dangerous way to carry an extra passenger, and illegal, too. But the house in the background looks mmm, mmm, good!
ReplyDeleteThat man inside the bottle reminded me immediately of this picture of my brother at Universal Studios:
Universal Studios Prop Plaza
Thanks for the vintage "Scenes From America", Major!
Nanook, I guess that word “on” in “on the open ocean” is doing a lot of work. “Near” doesn’t sound quite so amazing I suppose. “Drink up, Shriners!”… is the Education For Total Abstinence Group a Shriner organization?
ReplyDeleteJB, believe me, I really tried to find that Pioneer Motel. I thought I could do it! But no such luck. 2 X 4s?? And they’re still warm! The Twin Light Motor Inn looks like a good house to haunt if you are a ghost. If it is “part of the Campbell’s Soup Estate”, what does that mean exactly? Was it a servant’s quarters? It doesn’t look grand enough to be the sort of mansion I’d imagine the Campbell’s soup owners would live in. The lawn chair is a charming detail. I included that photo of the billboard because I am preparing to be very preachy in all of my blog posts. Get ready!
Budblade, ha, you’re right, I see no straps or string holding that lawn chair in place. Seems like a good idea to me!
TokyoMagic!, since when have you and I worried about anything being illegal? We don’t follow the rules. We MAKE the rules! Come and get me, coppers! I’m sure I’d seen that photo of your brother in the giant Prop Plaza bottle before, but don’t remember it. I have quite a few pictures from the Prop Plaza, but none include that bottle!
Major-
ReplyDelete"... is the Education For Total Abstinence Group a Shriner organization?"
I highly doubt it-! The Shriners [whether deserved, or not] have often been associated with a 'drinking culture', in spite of their many philanthropic endeavors. The "drink up, Shriners" reference is a famous line from comedian George Carlin's routine, dating back to 1974, about drugs and alcohol, and its been rolling around in my head since then.
Here's an excerpt from the routine where the line comes from:
"Mom's got her fix. Coffee freaks running around. Alcohol. Y'know, that's the biggest, of course, and most abused. Incredible. Fifty percent of all traffic deaths, no, yes, that's about 25,000, right. Forty percent of all arrests, traceable. Fifty percent of all first admissions to mental institutions traceable to alcohol. And then, of course, there's diabetes, gout, high blood pressure, heart disease, insanity, divorce. So I always say "Drink up, Shriners!" whenever I see a couple of 'em".
That lawn chair strapped to the hood is just begging for a mother-in-law joke.
ReplyDelete^ ….and a song from Melissa!
ReplyDeleteNanook, ah, while I watched a number of Carlin TV specials, I’m not up on his albums (which I assume the Shriner bit is from?). Besides, as you know, I prefer the comedy stylings of Don Rickles! ;-)
ReplyDeleteDean Finder, if only Wally Boag were able to comment.
Lou and Sue, aw, don’t make Melissa have to work so hard!!
"I’m sure I’d seen that photo of your brother in the giant Prop Plaza bottle before, but don’t remember it. I have quite a few pictures from the Prop Plaza, but none include that bottle! "
ReplyDeleteMajor, I had never posted it before. But I did recently scan it along with some other family pics taken at Universal Studios, Disneyland, and Knott's, and I will be posting them in the future. I have also never seen another pic of that bottle and I don't remember seeing it in person. It seems like the large props that were always there were the table and chairs, the telephone, the books, and the scissors. Maybe the plastic bottle didn't hold up well, sitting out in the sunlight. I also have a pic from this same batch, of my brother sitting on a huge park bench, which I don't remember seeing in person.
"I see no straps or string holding that lawn chair in place. Seems like a good idea to me!"
ReplyDeleteMajor, that's where they "put" Imogene Coca, since she would have rolled right off of the roof!
I like the Pioneer Motel and restaurant. Too bad it’s lost in time.
ReplyDeleteSounds like the Twin Light Inn was the centerpiece of a vacation complex as well as the former centerpiece of soup fabrication. No need to stay in that musty old mansion when deluxe motel rooms surround this WELL-KNOWN POPULAR RESORT.
This slogan reminds me of the Laws of Comedy. If you have to explain why something is funny, it isn’t; and if you have to explain why something isn’t funny, it is. Yelling in ALL CAPS might make it true.
Thanks Major!
JG
24 hours later, and a search for "pioneer motel next to pioneer fine food" yields the following:
ReplyDeleteThe phrase "pioneer motel next to pioneer fine food" matches a vintage photograph from a black-and-white negative featured on the historical photography blog Gorillas Don't Blog.
AI is apparently a GDB fan.