Allee Willis’ Kitsch O’ The Day – 3D, Miami Beach & Charles Phoenix
With 3D all the rage today many people forget that the first ubiquitous mass consumer experience with the technology was with View-Masters. Introduced in 1962, one could view seven 3D images as they spun around on a paper disc creating lifelike reality inside the mouse hole of two eyepieces. The earliest View-Masters featured popular tourist attractions like this one of Miami Beach, where I first started buying these.
When I was young my parents drove to Miami Beach from Detroit twice a year.
We stayed at the Carlyle Hotel.
I bought every Viewmaster reel of Miami Beach I could find because the Deco architecture drove me so batty. When I had my first hit record I immediately bought a house that reminded me of Miami Beach.
A frequent visitor to my house is Charles Phoenix, one of my best friends and Kitschmaster General of vintage slide shows and books featuring insanely on-the-nose location and human examples of living wheels of brie. The last time he came over, Charles gave me a lesson in how to bake one of his signature Cherpumples, a cake with three pies stuffed inside of it. As soon as I get done editing the footage we shot I will post our instructional film.
Something like the Cherpumple with M&Ms bubbling out of the pepto -bismolian-pink frosting and utensils at rest would make an excellent 3D photo if only we had the right camera.
Yesterday, I went downtown with Prudence Fenton, Nancye Ferguson and Jim Burns and saw Charles’ first ever all 3D retro slide show.
We learned a lot about how 3-D photography and View-Masters came into being.
We saw a lot of families in the 50′s learning how to not only use their View-Masters but make their own 3D reels.
Of course, you won’t be able to see anything clearly because you don’t have your 3-D glasses on. As opposed to this slide from Charles’ show featuring an attractive threesome with a very clear view of the LA freeway when it was built in 1960 standing less than 10 feet away next to oncoming traffic.
I hope to have a clear view of the week ahead of me although it could go either way. I could feel like an outsider…
… or I could choose to see the world in super enhanced, bigger than life 3D.
Thank you, Charles for an excellent afternoon and thank you View-Master for putting 3-D in the palm of our hands.
Categories: Architecture, Clothes, Creativity, Detroit, Fashion, Gadgets, Kitsch, Kitsch O' The Day, People, Photograph, Place, Toy
Tags: Allee Willis, Charles Phoenix, Cherpumple, Kitsch, Kitsch O' The Day, Viewmaster, vintage Miami Beach
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I gained three pounds just looking at that 2-D shot of a Cherpumple… who knows what a 3-D image could have done.
Great site! great blog!
Nice to see I’m not the only one infatuated with Kitsch stuff!
Great job!I love it!
Amanda – Absolutely not! I hope you post some of your kitsch in The Allee willis museum of Kitsch. Direct link to upload is http://www.alleewillis.com/awmok/kitschenette/how-to-submit/
Troy- How to make a Cherpumple film coming very soon!
“human examples of living wheels of brie” to say the least!
I can not believe the life you lead, Willie. I am laughing all the way to the bathroom!
Nice to see I’m not the only one infatuated with Kitsch stuff!
so nice to see places that aren’t snowbound, like we are here in Pennsylvania!