BS: Delightfully Tacky Places

Subject: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: LilyFestre
Date: 06 Dec 04 - 02:53 PM

What are some of the delightfully tacky places you have heard of or visited? I recently saw (on tv) a place in Wisconson called Mars'Cheese Castle. I immediately looked it up on the net and sent for a catalog...it's a big old building that houses hundreds of different kinds of cheese...and it looks like a castle!!!   Tacky...and yep.....................CHEESY!!!!! *GROAN* *Giggle*

How about you? Tell me of your adventures...........

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: Ellenpoly
Date: 06 Dec 04 - 03:41 PM

This is a WONDERFUL place Michelle! I used to drive by it regularly when I was going to University in Milwaukee and going home to Evanston, Illinois to see my mom on the weekends.

Like stopping at Lourdes.

I'm sure it's why I now have lactose intolerance for cheese. I ate too much if it in my youth.

This is NOT a tacky place! By the way, there used to be some great Beer factory tours in Milwaukee in the seventies as well.

Beer and cheese...CLASSICS!! BRRRUUURRRPPPP, PPFFFTTTT! Oops, Pardon me!

..xx..e

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: Once Famous
Date: 06 Dec 04 - 03:57 PM

I was just there also coming back from Milwaukee, maybe about 3 weeks ago.

The Mars Cheese Castle is an American institution, a regional original. It is a cherished part of lost America.

Route 66 still holds some classic American landmarks of this type.

I think that you should redefine your description of tacky. Now a Takamine guitar, that is something truly tacky. do you play a tacky Takamine?

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: LilyFestre
Date: 06 Dec 04 - 04:13 PM

To me, tacky is silly, fun, out of the ordinary...something folks like to poke fun at....in a good kind of way! :)

I once lived in an apartment building where my neighbor specialized in tacky things....he had a classic Santa head that hangs in the window with a blinky nose...and between our two apartments, he hung a collection of black velvet paintings...with the bull fighter taking center stage...OF COURSE!

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: Ellenpoly
Date: 06 Dec 04 - 04:20 PM

I didn't take any offense at your calling the Mars Cheese Castle tacky, Michelle. I'm sure it does qualify in some ways as exactly that.

But I do think that paintings on velvet are more accurately right up there in the annals of great tackiness.

But what's the difference between tacky and kitch?

(Martin, I ENVY you! Cheese heaven on your very doorstep! It's right up there with some of what I miss most about living in that area. I also have some real sense memories of the Buckingham Fountain turning all those colours at night on special occasions. Please tell me that still happens..?)

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: wysiwyg
Date: 06 Dec 04 - 04:26 PM

Bar art, I love bar art. Inflatable, garish, neon, tacky bar art. It's a good thing I lack a den or it would be overrun with bar art.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: GUEST,Charmion at work
Date: 06 Dec 04 - 06:10 PM

German beer steins ...

My favourite tacky place of all time was "Der Gruner Baum" (sorry, I don't know how to put in umlauts) the gasthaus on the corner of the street where I lived in Hugelsheim, a village near Rastatt in southwest Germany. It was decorated in the most outrageous Black Forest kitsch style, featuring a Stammtisch lamp so huge I was afraid to sit anywhere near it -- not that I was _allowed_ to sit anywhere near it. All the waitresses were named Gisele (at least that's how it seemed to me) and the people who lived in the village brought their dogs when they came to drink lager and play skat in the evenings.

It's probably a McDonald's now. Speaking of tacky --

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: SINSULL
Date: 06 Dec 04 - 06:12 PM

DISNEYWORLD!

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: catspaw49
Date: 06 Dec 04 - 08:33 PM

Canadian side of Niagra Falls! Completely tacky! Karen and I met Rick and Heather there one afternoon and had a ball.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: Peace
Date: 06 Dec 04 - 08:52 PM

And what, may I ask, is tacky about art on velvet? Imitation velvet, yeah, then ya got somethin'. That's tacky. Take the scantily clad woman and surround her with a 'gold' frame--it's right up there with the Moaning Lisa. Some people just got NO taste at all.

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: GUEST,petr
Date: 06 Dec 04 - 09:07 PM

well maybe that cheese castle is an American institution, but Im willing to bet most of the cheeses sold in it arent (American) then it would be tacky.

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: SINSULL
Date: 06 Dec 04 - 09:34 PM

Favorite Italian Restaurant in NYC had a "paint on velvet" scene of a town AND the windows lit up at night! Totally Tacky

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 06 Dec 04 - 10:17 PM

I beg your pardon! Elvis on velvet is high art compared with those huge, pseudo-three-dimensional, illuminated Chinese landscape scenes that it seems like every Chinese buffet has on at least one of its walls. Take your pick, mountains or junks in a harbor?

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: Peace
Date: 06 Dec 04 - 10:25 PM

Tell 'em, BDE.

We have just launched "The Velvet Overground".

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: Sorcha
Date: 06 Dec 04 - 10:33 PM

Las Vegas Nevada
Neon swirl coloured bread
Classic B films (Killer Tomatoes, etc)
Plastic figurines of animals
Commemorative Plate collections
Psuedo Mexican decor (usually in restaurants)
I'm sure I'll think of more.......

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: LilyFestre
Date: 06 Dec 04 - 10:37 PM

Speaking of films, how about the full she-bang at the Rocky Horror Music Show? I LOVE THAT!!!!!! About 13 years and 50 pounds ago...I used to go to that in full make-up, black teddy and a raincoat...WOOO HOOOOOOOOOO! *G*

Michelle

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: dianavan
Date: 06 Dec 04 - 10:39 PM

Remember those big-eyed children holding big-eyed pets. I think it was Keene. Now those are tacky.

We have an East Indian restaurant (I won't mention the name) in Vancouver that displays posters of Indian movie stars by hanging them from clother hangars dangling from the ceiling. Christmas lights are up all year! The food is great!

How about those little porcelain cats in every Chinese restaurant. They are supposed to be good luck. I actually want one but they are soooooooo tacky.

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: LadyJean
Date: 06 Dec 04 - 11:15 PM

My sister's home in Ravenswood I call the Greater Chicago Museum of Good God! Where did she find that thing! I have been contributing to the collection for years. I sent her an Elvis Presley clock for her birthday. The legs swing back and forth.
She and a friend discovered Mr. Ed's Elephant Museam in Gettysburg PA. You get in free if you bring an elephant.

My mother used to take tours up to St. Anthony's Chapel, in Troy Hill, home of the world's largest collection of holy relics.

Now, I go to the Ligonier Highland Games at Idlewild Park, a pleasantly tacky amusement park in Pennsylvania's Laurel Highlands.
Then there are Rennaissence Faires. Tacky tacky tacky. But I rather enjoy them.
I saw a musical Nutcracker, performed by only slightly gifte amateurs, who were having the time of their lives. It was likewise takcy, but I did enjoy it.
Incidentally, if you're out that way, the Greensburg Garden and Civic center has a nice little auditorium.
OH! How could I forget! The Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial here in Pittsburgh, a nineteenth century marble monstrosity, used as the Shelby County Courthouse in "The Silence of the Lambs". They also have a nice BIG auditorium, the best accoustics in town for my money, though the music hall at the Carnegie Library, also pretty outrageous, has good accoustics too. Andrew Carnegie brought Lillian Russell out to test them when the hall was under construction.

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: Ebbie
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 12:04 AM

Tackiness is not a new phenomenon. Here is one of Alaska's favorite buildings.

Arctic Brotherhood Hall, Skagway, Alaska

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: LadyJean
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 12:11 AM

Mom took tours to St. Anthony's Chapel. One day she told the bus driver that the collection was something pretty special, and he should take a look. She explained to him what relics were, and he looked at her in horror, "What do they do!" he asked,"Chop them all up and ship them all over!!!!!"

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: Peace
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 12:18 AM

Ebbie, I thought the velvet paintings said it all. I stand corrected.

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: Ellenpoly
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 02:18 AM

Can I add beaded curtains?

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: Ebbie
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 02:47 AM

brucie, that'll larn ya. (It is something, isn't it!)

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: GUEST
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 10:51 AM

Most of Glastonbury

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: SINSULL
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 11:03 AM

All of Atlantic City

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: GUEST
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 12:16 PM

Large chunks of PEI

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: Wesley S
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 01:11 PM

The Big Chicken in Marrietta Georgia { a fried chicken place - go figure }
And the former Pink Poodle Cafe on the Northside of Ft Worth.

I grew up in Florida so there too many to list there.

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: Micca
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 01:22 PM

I am with Catspaw, on this, The Canadian side of Niagra Falls!!!! after a day touring (and Tasting at) Winemaking establishments on the Niagra Peninsula. It is tackier than Blackpool!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: Ellenpoly
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 01:37 PM

There's a town near L.A. called...Solvang It's a replica of a (I believe)Danish villiage and I used to stop there for the best pastries in the state. But really, a replica of a European village? Why?

Then again, there's Colonial Williamsberg which is kind if creepy, if not actually tacky. I mean, some of those people just stay in costume for decades! Kind of like civil war reenactments. I don't get it...but is it tacky?

BTW, the cheese at the Mars Cheese Castle, back in my day (God, I LOVE saying that!) was primarily an outlet for Wisconsin cheeses. Their Jack Cheese (with Jalapenos) was outstanding.

..xx..e

(If I had to vote, Blackpool might well win as the tackiest city I've ever been to. I loved it!)

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 01:57 PM

My favorite wonderfully tack places are --

House on the Rock in Spring Green, Wisconsin -- music machines, fake music machines, automaton music machines (the Mikado!!!), the Infinity Room, and multiple carrousels with hundreds of figures that are NOT horses. House On The Rock

M. Schettle Sales outside of Oshkosh, Wisconsin -- the road is lined with huge fiberglass figures and metal art. Giant Figures Click on "Miscellaneous Items for Sale" on left hand menu.

Clark's Trading Post, Lincoln, New Hampshire -- especially Murray Clark's stand-up comedy routine with his trained bears (c. early 1980s) Clark's Trained Bears

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 02:05 PM

At Schettle Sales, don't miss the metal art. Mel's Metal Creations

They don't show pictures at the website of the miscellaneous figures lining the highway -- everything from a herd of buffalo being chased by Indians to rhinosceros and jungle creatures with Land Rover. Pirates surrounding one of the metal fantasy submarines, a whole wall of sharks, Pegasus, King Kong holding Fay Wray in his hand . . .

The pictures at the website are of the smaller fiberglass figures inside the store that are for sale -- including aliens on motorcycles, dancing sandwiches, Elvis, the Blues Brothers . . .

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: Ellenpoly
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 02:09 PM

Wow! Bat Goddess, I went to House on the Rock, when all there was, was just the House on the Rock, and I though it was wonderful. What a CIRCUS it's become!

But you reminded me of my all time favorite place of tackiness in the U.S. of Aw Come ON!...Which is...

THE MYSTERY SPOT!

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 02:19 PM

Dunno about places, but every seaside shop that sells animals/boxes covered in seashells... I detest those nasty little things.....

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: frogprince
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 08:18 PM

The House on the Rock gets another vote; to begin to really appreciate it, you have to know that they have a life-size fiberglass sculpture of a whale swallowing a sailor in a boat while fighting with an octupus.

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: Bobert
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 08:48 PM

Oh, my God...

There is a place in Hamilton, Va., called "Planet Wayside" which takes the gold in the tacky olympics...

It is a rsturant... Well, kinda... You stoop to walk thru the door and upon enterin' you look to your left and there is a Bullwinkle doll with an aviator hat on him... Two booths, two tables and a short bar and not a right angle in the joint... Not even close to a right angle...

Tim O'Niel, the proprietor and chef, is as wacky as the joint he has been serving gormet food in for the last 30 years...

Now, for folks who aren't aware of Hamilton, Va., it is a small villiage on the outskrts of Washington, D.C. and it seems that lots of the power folks, when they get a wild hair, stop into "Planet Wayside" regularilly...

Robert DuVall, the actor, has been known to stop in... Madalane Albright stops in... Lots of really powerful people stop in... Now remember that the joint only holds about 20 people so when you are there it is *collectively* intiment so you party with whomever happens to be there..

BTW, the food is great and Tim, ahhhhh, too much...

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: Auggie
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 09:58 PM

I live near both the House on The Rock and the Mars Cheese Castle so I know tacky when I see it, and you simply can't have a thread like this without mentioning Wall Drug in 'beautiful' Wall, South Dakota.

This should, of course (at least to any Sturgis-bound Harley riders living in the eastern or southern US) call to mind the Corn Palace in equally beautiful Mitchell, South Dakota. Which brings up Sturgis itself as well...

www.walldrug.com

                  and

www.cornpalace.org

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: KT
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 10:02 PM

Aw, Micca, Spaw....What was it? Was it the casino? Madame Tussaud's? The Maid of the Mist? Honeymoon Capital?

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: Mary in Kentucky
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 10:23 PM

Lynn's Paradise Cafe has 'em all beat!

I used to go there in the early 90's when Lynn herself waited tables. She is quite a salesperson. She would describe a certain dish as having fresh, home-grown tomatoes grown by her father and picked that very morning! The food is delicious - a mixture between California health food and down home biscuits and gravy. There are lots of events - pajama party on New Year's Day, tacky lamp contest... and each table has lots of tacky memorabilia, many from the 50's, lots of snow globes, funny creamers, cheap souvenirs from all the states.

When it first opened I described it to a friend as the kind of place where guys wore purple turtlenecks...But I went there with the guys in lab who wore flannel shirts...

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: number 6
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 11:24 PM

Honest Ed's Department store in Toronto.

Not only is it tacky it's a fire trap waiting for a disaster.

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: LadyJean
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 11:33 PM

SHAME SHAME UPON BRITAIN, THAT AN AMERICAN HAS TO BE THE ONE TO MENITON PENZANCE AND LAND'S END!!!!!!!!
It's difficult to say which is the tackier. But they're both quite special, and quite tacky.

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: harpgirl
Date: 07 Dec 04 - 11:42 PM

America is soooo tacky everywhere you go when you come out of the woods.

I like the Indian River Fruit Stands in Florida and the truck stops off I75 are gems! Panama City Beach, Weeki Wachi, the Jungle Cruises, Busch Gardens, the alligator farms, the governor's mansion....

Bass Pro Shops...

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: M.Ted
Date: 08 Dec 04 - 12:29 AM

Wildwood, NJ--full of fifties style motels and neon signs--

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: Bunnahabhain
Date: 08 Dec 04 - 12:42 PM

Virtually all of the Royal Mile, and various streets nearby in Edinburgh. Yes they are that bad all year round, not just festival time!

And yes, we know about the Lands End monstrosity, but we quietly hope it'll fall into the sea. Soon.

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 08 Dec 04 - 07:42 PM

America...

:D

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: Joybell
Date: 08 Dec 04 - 08:19 PM

I love these places/objects. Thanks LilyFestre.
We have nearby:
1. A 35 foot cement koala with a gift shop inside. Doorway is sort of in it's - well - pubic area.
2. A KNITTED Nativity display. (Private home. Lovely lady. Maybe not exactly tacky - strange though.)
3. Several gardens full of mosaics and figurine tableaux made from broken china and seashells.

Also, speaking of America, I have read that Tombstone, Arizona, has MUSIC coming out of the graves in the cemetery. We'll be visiting in that area next year. Can't wait to hear THAT. I really want to go there. We've already spent a day at Forest Lawn. We liked that a lot!Cheers, Joy

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: Flash Company
Date: 09 Dec 04 - 06:37 AM

I love Cornwall, but there is a lot of it that I avoid. Lands End is pretty high on the list, but Flambards runs it close.

FC

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: Strollin' Johnny
Date: 09 Dec 04 - 08:13 AM

Cleethorpes, Mablethorpe and Skegness (three holiday 'resorts' (ha-ha!) in Lincolnshire, UK.
They don't come any tackier.
S:0)

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: Strollin' Johnny
Date: 09 Dec 04 - 08:13 AM

Not delightfully so, though.

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: Strollin' Johnny
Date: 09 Dec 04 - 08:17 AM

Bunnahabhainn, do you hail from your namesake-place?

Subject: RE: BS: Delightfully Tacky Places
From: Bunnahabhain
Date: 09 Dec 04 - 09:23 AM

I don't, except if you're American in which case all of the British isles are small enough to be the same place....
I keep meaning to make it to Islay, but my walking trips out to the west coast and isles are far too infrequent, as getting sufficient people/time/car/whiskey together is hard work

Edinburgh, so almost the same country.