Friday, February 29, 2008

Movieland- Antony and Cleopatra

The Movieland Wax Museum tableau featuring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in the movie Cleopatra was one of the most popular in the museum. Based on the price her figure went for, there is no doubt that she was truly one of the most popular stars of her era. Here we see her on the throne as Cleopatra, queen of Egypt. Although it took some time for this 1963 motion picture to recoup its $44 million budget, it did eventually become a money maker for the studio.


Insert joke here. Taylor gave a "larger" than life performance.


Richard Burton as Mark Antony. His figure played second fiddle to Taylor's all the way up until the end of Movieland.


A clapboard sign that was the standard at movieland.

Elizabeth Taylor's wax figure sold at the Movieland auction for $25,000, while Burton's sold for a mere $5,000. The props sold for $1,500, and the set/stage sold for $200.

See even more wax museum pictures at Houses of Wax.

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Saturday, February 23, 2008

Hot n' Tot Coffee Shop

2347 Pacific Coast Highway, Lomita CA, 90717

I always love it when I see the sign for the Hot n' Tot Coffee Shop in Lomita. The building is actually not as interesting as the sign because it's covered in canopies. But the coolness of the sign makes up for it. Here we see the full sign in all its glory. Very mid-century.


The signage sans pole. As far as I can tell, the original building is from 1946, then it was remodeled in 1954, and I have no idea what improvements or addition were created since then.


The main sign up close, The font for the words "Coffee Shop" is very similar to that of J's Coffee Shop.

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