Flipper’s Roller Boogie Palace

Los Angeles, California, USA Closed 1981 Flipper’s Roller Boogie Palace was converted from a bowling alley into a roller rink in 1979, becoming a brief sensation for its live bands and celebrity guest list. An episode of Charlies Angels (Angels on Skates) was filmed there in 1979. It closed in 1981 and today the building […]

Florent

New York, New York, USA

Closed 2008

Howard Johnsons

Henderson, Kentucky, USA Closed 1990 It’s not the sign that is important to me, but what it stands for. Not so much a bygone era but more representing the overall aesthetic of Howard Johnson’s and the way it defined an period in American history and the American landscape. For instance, they hired Jacques Pépin in […]

Idora Park

Oakland, California, USA Demolished 1929 Idora Park was an amusement park constructed by The Realty Syndicate in 1904 in Ayala Park and leased by the Ingersoll Pleasure and Amusement Park Co. In addition to several roller coasters, the park also had a zoo, an ostrich farm, animal shows, a dance hall, a racetrack, an outdoor amphitheater, […]

Kim’s Video

New York, New York, USA Closed 2014 Kim’s Video and Music were a group of video and music retail stores in and around New York City, known for their esoteric titles and knowledgeable if haughty staff. The owner, Yongman Kim, opened the first location inside his laundromat at 85 Avenue A. There was a second store at […]

Madison Square Garden II

New York, New York, USA Demolished 1926 The second Madison Square Garden was a Manhattan indoor arena that replaced the first Madison Square Garden. It was designed by noted architect Stanford White, who was murdered there in 1906 by millionaire Harry Thaw over his affair with Thaw’s wife, the actress Evelyn Nesbit. Although the Garden hosted […]

Mars Bar

New York, New York, USA

Closed 2011

Masonic Temple Building

Chicago, Illinois, USA Demolished 1939  I love the idea of a skyscraper that is also a temple of masons! Anon. The Masonic Temple Building was an early Chicago skyscraper designed by the firm of Burnham and Root, completed in 1892. With 21 stories, it was the tallest building in the city until the 1920s. It was […]