The Purple Tree Lounge, Washington DC
The Sweet Shop, West Layfayette IN
Emil's Steer Inn, Columbus OH
Caldwell's, St Petersburg Beach FL
Hawthorne Room, Chicago IL
Les Shaw's Restaurant, Connecticut
Mac's Dining Room, Rochester MN
Mark Twain Café and Bar, Cairo IL
New County Fair Restaurant, Tucson AZ
Senator Motel, Augusta ME
The Glass House, Vinita OK
The Goodie Shop Cafeteria, Terre Haute IN
The Mel-O-Dee Restaurant, Sarasota FL
The Terrace Lounge, Grossinger NY
Town House Coffee Shop Duval Hotel, Tallahassee FL
El Ray Café. Grand Marais MN
Images from postcards
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Thank you to Lileks
If the Elephant Man was a bar, he would be the Cowboy Bar, Jackson WY
The Frost is still open - and looks pretty much the same:
http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/Csi-kCUNBlaIIpGBwafRyA?select=LmXwSdlFdg-dasYB1xyoiQ
They started out being modern, then they were seen as tacky and tasteless, and now they’ve become fascinating. So awful they’re brilliant.
If you want to see a lot more of this kind of thing, take a look at http://www.lileks.com
That Les Shaw’s in CT was in New Haven. It was just as retro awesome from the outside as evidenced by:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?VISuperSize&item=250314771915