Charles Phoenix returns to Portland December 26th!

It looks like Portland will have a great alternative for the day after Christmas! After enjoying a day of holiday left-overs come on down to the Clinton Street Theater for an evening of vintage slide joy!

From the press release:

"After a sell-out performance in October, Pop Culture Humorist and Author Charles Phoenix brings his live Holiday slide show performance to the Clinton Street Theater one night only, December 26th. This laugh-out-loud celebration of Mid-century Holiday style is being presented by Portland's Speedboat Coffee.


Charles Phoenix super-charges the classic living room slide show by reinventing it into a hip and high octane celebration of classic and kitschy Mid-century American life and style. His informed and often hilarious narration of the very best of his massive collection of flea-market found Kodachrome slides will inspire your imagination and make your spirits soar.

In this hilarious holiday show you'll see how Americans decorated, dressed up, dined and drank to celebrate - New Years, Easter, 4th of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas in the 50s and 60s."

Plus to add to the coolness factor Mr. Phoenix will be projecting the original vintage slides. No Powerpoint presentations here!

Tickets are available at Speedboat Coffee located at 5115 SE Foster Rd., and at the Clinton Street Theater box office the day of the show.

A night with Charles will set you back a mere $19.00.

On the web:

Charles Phoenix
Speedboat Coffee

Come see Vintage Roadside at Crafty Wonderland Sunday the 14th!

Hello all,

We wanted to let you know we'll be at the Crafty Wonderland Super Colossal Holiday Sale this Sunday, December 14th at the Oregon Convention Center.

So, if you're looking for that one-of-a-kind, unique gift come on down! You'll have over 180 different local vendors to choose that perfect gift from.


Jeff & Kelly
Vintage Roadside

A peek at our vintage motel collection

As winter approaches and we all start looking forward to next Spring (and warm road trips) we thought it would be fun to share a few pieces from the Vintage Roadside ephemera collection. The pieces below are a few of our favorites from our tourist court, motor court, and motel collection. The next time you head out on the road we'd like to encourage you to keep an eye out for mom and pop lodging. They might not have wi-fi or a fitness center but they sure provide some great memories along the way!

The Roberta Motor Court was once located on US 341 in Roberta, Georgia. The court is a nice example of lodging that also provided an onsite restaurant for guests. Love the sign with the landscaped garden bed around it!


This copy of the 1956 New England Motor Court and Cabin Guide was provided by the Ko-Z Motor Court & Diner of Clarendon, Vermont. The guide lists numerous lodging choices for those on the road between New York and Quebec. These vintage motor court guides generally listed "member" businesses and many times included black and white photos of the establishments.


We love the pink bedspreads along with the matching pink car shown in this vintage postcard for the Park Motel of Morris, Illinois. The motel offered many of the amenities guests had come to expect - air conditioning, sound conditioning, wall to wall carpet, color TV in each room, direct dial phones, and a combination tub and shower.


The vintage postcard for Felix's Motel is a bit earlier than the Park Motel above in that they are still advertising "steam heat", a cooling system of "fans", radios in each room, and good ol' "cross ventilation" which meant you could open a window on each side of the room to cool down:-)


The Combahee Motor Court appears to have been quite a midcentury gem. They billed themselves as a "Modernistic Motor Court" and from the looks of the architecture they certainly were! The location of the Combahee was Garden Corners, South Carolina.


We hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season!

Jeff & Kelly
Vintage Roadside