Have the Time of Your Life Here

Madonna Inn
San Luis Obispo, CA
1970's?
Room 102 ("Time of Your Life")

Perhaps I should consider Saturdays the Madonna Inn days, as I have quite a bunch of Madonna Inn postcards in my collection. As rooms at Madonna Inn go, this is relatively demure -- no rock walls or hot pink carpets. One does get the sense that someone was struggling to come up with a name for this room, and probably got the idea for "Time of Your Life" by looking at the clock wallpaper seen in the background (to the left of the photo).

This room is still there, but redecorated quite a bit, as you can see here. However, if you look closely, it looks like they still kept these cool metallic headboards.

Fruit Stripe Carpet

Coronado Motel
Nogales, AZ
1970's?

Look at those dizzying stripes on the carpet.  Perhaps they are meant to hypnotize you into staying one more night at the motel and lose track of time? And get a load of these ubiquitous harvest gold bedspreads.

Back from Tucson, Arizona

Greetings, everyone -- I apologize for my tardiness in making new posts. I'd just come back from visiting Tucson, AZ. Unfortunately, I do not have any ugly motel room postcards from there, but I do have a few cool postcards to post:

Tucson Inn
Tucson, AZ
1960's?

Look at that awesome googie-style sign on this motel. The description on the back bragged that it was one of Arizona's largest motels at the time, with 216 rooms. If you look this up on Google Maps (127 W. Drachman St, Tucson, AZ), you will be amazed to discover that not only the motel is there, that sign is also there, clearly visible in Street View. Unfortunately, it sounds as if the motel has fallen on hard times, based on what reviews I can find. (Note: as far as I can tell, the motel is still in business, but you can't book it online, which is kind of telling.) One Yelp reviewer described a night there as "straight out of Hunter S. Thompson's drug-addled mind." (See the Yelp reviews here.)

A Quaint Canopy Bed in New York City

Van Cortlandt Motel
New York City, New York
Mailed in 1962

Take a wild guess where this bedroom was situated in. Some quaint bed and breakfast inn in New England, perhaps? Nope, right smack in New York City, on Broadway.  It could have passed for a museum room, if it wasn't for the vintage television, barkcloth curtains and coral orange vinyl cushions. Though I can't find proof of this, I seem to recall that coral and beige were a popular color scheme in interior design in 1960's. For example, IHOP restaurants had this color scheme back then, in these days when the restaurants were in these then-ubiquitous A-frame buildings.

Fifty Shades of Brown

 

Broadwater Beach Hotel

Biloxi, Mississippi

1960's?

 Definitely lots of brown in this postcard. Brown carpet, brown bedspreads, brown curtains, brown picture frames, and brown crossbeams. The only pop of color here are the side chairs in coral pink. At first, I thought this room was from 1970's until I saw the vintage television, which appears to be from 1950's or early 1960's. Nice tiki-inspired curtains, though.

 

Quick Note

Just so you know, I changed the scope of this blog a bit wider, so I can feature postcards of other subjects now and then, not just motel rooms. I have a bunch of postcards that I feel are worth posting here. Also, this is so we don't get all "motel room-ed out" as well.

Featured: Madonna Inn

Since today is Valentine Day, I'll be doing this blog's very first feature piece, focusing on one of the most iconic motels in US -- Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo, California. I have blogged on two of its rooms here -- room 137 and room 139 -- and I'll feature more postcards from 1970's in my collection here.

A bit of history on Madonna Inn. It began life as a small 12-unit motel in 1958, and though it's not clear from my resources, I suspect it was an ordinary motel. The motel burned down in 1966, and when the owners, Alex and Phyllis Madonna, rebuilt, they decided to build something very different, resulting in a most unique, 110 themed room motel that we all know and love today.

As you approach Madonna Inn from the highway, it looks like a series of buildings built in Swiss style with carved railings, balconies and dormers. 

Groovy Staircase in Amarillo

Holiday Inn West
Amarillo, TX
1960's?

Here's a postcard showing a lobby more groovy than the one shown in the previous post. A couple pauses halfway on the staircase to gaze upon what looks like a fake-looking rock garden below, their Sixties hairstyles framed by that big circle of crackle glass lamps. I would say the best feature in this photo is the staircase's intricate-designed railings that is almost reminiscent of Art Noveau.

If you would like to buy this postcard, it is available for sale on Playle's site.

 

Do Not Gaze at This Lest You be Hypnotized

Ramada Inn
Greensboro, NC
1970's

I've been featuring guest rooms on this blog, but for a change of pace, let's show a motel lobby. As you can see from the postcard above, lobbies weren't safe from  wild decorating tastes of the era. Judging from the ubiquitous use of reds in carpets and walls, red seemed to be a very popular color, at least for motels and hotels, in 1970's.Ditto for wacky wallpaper -- can you gaze at these upper-level panels of burgundy-gold wallpaper without getting hypnotized yourself?

Note: if you are interested in buying this card, it is available for sale on Playle's site.

Room Fit for GEICO Cavemen

Madonna Inn
San Luis Obispo, CA
1970's?
Room 137 ("The Cave Man Room")

If you feel that the room 139 at Madonna Inn is too refined for your tastes, then perhaps this room is for you. This room -- and the bathroom -- has way more rockiness. Even the ceiling is made of rock. Though not visible in the postcard of the bathroom below, the bathroom has an interesting shower (all made of rock, of course) where water comes down from the above in a waterfall. From what I can tell, the room still exists -- go here for more information.)

Yet More Grooviness in Hawaii

Kauai Surf Resort
Kalapaki Beach, Kauai, Hawaii
1960's?

Here is another postcard of a room at Kauai Surf Resort (see the first one). Despite the outdated furniture and decor (oh, look, here's another of these day beds), the architecture of this room is great, with the vaulted ceiling and large windows. And great views, not to mention. Just remember to close the curtains on that side window, so your neighbors don't get a free porn show.

All That Glitters is Harvest Gold

Little America
Various Locations
1970's

In case you don't have enough of motel rooms from 1970's, here is yet another postcard of a room from Little America, all done in harvest gold. That chandelier with metal flowers above the glass table certainly gives off a most 1970's vibe. (Little America seemed to love itself some chandelier -- see here for another Little America postcard.) Also, that heavy-looking coffee table, in front of what suspiciously looks like a sleeper sofa, seems to be designed carefully to give people banged shins as much as possible in the middle of the night.

A Mid-Century Modern Room In Oklahoma City

Hotel Black
Oklahoma City, OK
1950's?

This is a rather neat example of a hotel done in mid-century modern style. Check out these big semi-circle sofas with blue cushions and black metal frames. (By today's standards, they look more like patio furniture.) Also, look at the guest room in the middle section -- it's done in aqua blue, so popular in 1950's. The best part of the room is the plaid curtains which are almost reminiscent of Mondarian's art. And get a load of that definitely antique TV console in front of the window. Unfortunately, the coffee shop in the lower section isn't as interesting as the lobby and the guest room.