Did Glam Rock Wrestling Give Bowie and Elton Their Style?

Before Ziggy played guitar, Adrian Street pounded the ring (and the makeup counter) in silver tights. The pro-wrestler changed the game forever in the 1960s when he decided the game needed more panache. More glitter. More glam. He emerged from his chrysalis, that of the former coal miner and man’s man that he was, like…

Wish You Were Here: Saugatuck Art Colony, 1949

I‘m currently yearning for the itching of grass on my bare legs, for that awful predicament of having nothing to do but lounge around in the sun all day until I think to myself: “maybe I could take up painting for the summer”. This photostory I found buried in the LIFE Archives, labelled “Saugatuck Art…

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Back to the Borscht Belt: Exploring the Ruins of another Doomed Resort Hotel

The Borscht Belt in the Catskill Mountains was once one of the New York’s premiere holiday destinations. Named after the Eastern European soup, during its heyday the Borscht Belt boasted around 500 hundred hotels. Catering to mostly Jewish holiday makers, the so-called ‘Jewish Alps’ were filled with everything from grand hotels and resorts, to more…

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Don’t Judge this Potato Hotel by its er, Skin

Beauty’s in the eye of the beholder, as they say. Especially if that beholder happens to own Idaho’s chicest new B&B, The Big Idaho Potato Hotel. At a glance, the spud seems like another loveable wonky, abandoned roadside gem from the golden days of Route 66. But this six-ton ‘tater has Pinterest-perfect interiors that feel…

Nazi Summer Camp, Long Island, USA

Camp Siegfried was forcibly shut down by the US government when Germany declared war on the United States. It had been protected by the 1st Amendment until that time, when it became illegal for US citizens to swear allegiance to Germany. Founded in 1935, it was operated by the German American Bund, an American Nazi…

Let’s Get Whisked Away by Kitschy Kaiju Japanese Monsters

Who doesn’t love a good B-movie monster? Step into the world of tokusatsu (特撮), or “special effect filming” in Japanese. The term is shorthand for a genre of live action films bursting with heavy handed special effects, and a slew of freaky, giant creatures known as kaiju (monsters). Some top notch cheese, for sure – but…

She Played the World’s Most Unappreciated Music, but looked Fabulous Doing it

First things first: it’s not like we hate the accordion. We like it on the occasional metro platform, and we love to hear it in a distant summer breeze by the Seine. Few things are as effective at stirring up good ‘ole Parisian nostalgia, even after all these years. It’s just, well, a lot. It…

So the Real Hobbits Vacation in Sweden

In a hole in the ground, there lived a seriously pampered Swedish Hobbit. He had a private sauna, and a nearby manor retreat; a charming staff to make him a charcoal-fired pancakes and take him on moose safaris. For the right price, you too live like a glamping Hobbit. Welcome, friends, to the Kolarbyn eco-lodges: the…

Holiday like Hemingway in Africa

I once read that it was the legendary writer Ernest Miller Hemingway who brought the Swahili word “safari” (meaning journey) into popular use in the English language. In 1935, a New York Times reporter reviewed Ernest Hemingway’s latest novel and wrote: “Even if you do not approve very strongly of men who go out and blast innocent rhinos into kingdom come you…