Frank Sinatra's Tony Rome shot in Hotel Dolphin

 

When I was a young man in the '60s, I quickly learned how to identify a good hotel. You must realize that my definition of good was generous as a young fellow even if it was governed by the application of a set of rules. The goal was to find a hotel with a past, a good past but a checkered present.

When I visited Miami with a good friend, we found the beach area impossibly expensive. We had friends staying at the Deauville Beach Resort while others were staying at the Fontainebleu Miami Beach. This meant we could party with the spring break crowd at these hotels, our friends would get us in, and with luck all our drinks would be free. There most certainly would be lots of free stomach-filling finger foods. But when it came time to crash for the night, we could not stay at either place.

And so, we headed for Miami and sought out the atmosphere of a deteriorating neighbourhood. The Hotel Dolpin popped out. It was old and large but had no parking. It did have fully tiled bathrooms, complete with showers, attached to each room: a plus. It was not a shared-washrooms-off-the-main-hallway hotel. The Dolphin had been a high class place when new.

The lobby was large with a wrap around mezzanine ringing the lobby. Off the mezzanine there had been stores and a barbershop. By the time we stayed there, all the businesses were closed as were the ones at street level that once enjoyed walk-in traffic. The elevator was amazing. All shiny brass and covered with very ornate designs. It required an elevator attendant and he was proud of his elevator. It was his baby and his love of the old lift was the reason it sparkled so. He spend his days polishing his love.

Staying at a place like the Hotel Dolphin was like staying in a hotel museum. It was steeped in historic atmosphere. And, best of all, it was cheap. In the mid '60s it may have cost a couple of bucks. This price was a fraction of the cost of staying at either the Deauville or Fontainebleu.

Today the Hotel Dolphin is gone. The once beautiful Deauville ran down, right on schedule, and suffered the indignity of a serious electrical fire making the place all but uninhabitable. Instead of becoming a worn, faded jewel welcoming those folk who are money-challenged, the Deauville is being torn down. Despite its heritage, dare I say, designation, the historic hotel resort is being demolished.

A slice-of-life picture

 

Please allow me to share another picture from the past. The best enterprise pictures taken by news shooters capture neat moments: simple slices-of-life. Sadly, many of the images taken by news photographers are set-ups. The photographer, desperate for a perfect pictures acts as the art director as well as the photographer. 

This image was not a set-up. I did not carry a pair of roller skates with me in order to set-up a picture when the moment was right. No, this was a true slice-of-life captured and shared.

Spring in the '70s: the decade not the temperature

Photographers at local papers are all well aware of the "enterprise" photo. These pictures are used as filler for inside pages. If an image is good enough to spur news stand sales, it may run large above the fold on the front page. Of course, that only happens if there is no important front page story complete with art available.

Tidying the basement today, I discovered this enterprise image from the five decades ago. It was spring in Sault Ste. Marie, the snow was melting, coats were unbuttoned and the short skirts were reappearing after month of hiding.

Today this image says more than spring. Now, it also says '70s in Canada.

One little girl glowed at seeing her "kitty".

 

The kids have their painted pottery back. What a difference a week plus a visit to the kiln makes. Some of the glazes on the fired pieces sparkled. And some did not. But one piece, a small kitten, not only sparkled but so did the little girl who painted it. It's nice when things work out.

LOVE art has roots going back 5 decades or more

 

It was 1970 when (reportedly) the first LOVE sculpture made its appearance but its origin goes back at least as far as the '60s and a Museum of Modern Art Christmas card. It may even have been in the formative stages back in the '50s according to Ursinus College. The college reminds us that "by 1973, the image was so popular that the U.S. Postal Service incorporated the design into one of its stamps, which sold about 330 million copies."

In today's world, the LOVE sculpture is as popular as it has ever been. The little paint-your-own pottery operation in London moves a lot of the LOVE art. This fact makes me smile and gosh it can be difficult finding stuff that puts a smile on one's face today.

Crock A Doodle

It is called Crock A Doodle. It's a franchise operation. Crock A Doodle supplies the green-ware and the customers then paint it. It's a cool place to hold children's birthday parties, ladies nights or teambuilding and corporate events.

It was a fairly popular place before Covid-19. The pandemic must have been tough on it. There might be a good story behind it's survival. Possibly a generous landlord? A franchise owner with incredibly deep pockets?

Hopefully, the pandemic problems are now behind us. The problems were nowhere to seen when I took four little girls to the studio over March Break. It was like old times. The girls wore masks for the ninety minutes they were there but there were no complaints. The kids clearly thought that for the pleasure of again spending some time with friends painting pottery the small inconvenience of face masks was simply no big deal.

This hawk is a crow, a scarecrow

 

When the tulip bulbs push little green sprouts up above the earth in the early spring, the rabbits eat them. The result? No sprouts, no tulips, no flowers. My wife has tried numerous ways to keep the rabbits away but all to no avail. This year she has a new approach: a scarecrow. So far the hungry, little. hopping monsters have not dared to brave the gaze of the "hawk" guarding the flower garden