Michael Ely

I have been living with my partner, Spider, for over 40 years. We were part of the first wave of young gay couples living together openly shortly after Stonewall. We are originally from Los Angeles, but we have been living here in Tucson for the past 17 years. We are both musicians. Back in the day, we performed together in alternative rock bands, whereas today we record soundscape CDs (mixing different music genres ranging from rock to ambient to world to jazz to film score) which we release independently (in other words, we have no label support). We live in a pueblo style track house and our inside decor is an eclectic mix of cowboy and Indian, Hindu, nautical, Alice in Wonderland and, of course, lots and lots of kitsch! I am so happy to have discovered this great site, a place where I can share my love of kitsch with others, a site created by the wonderful, talented and charming Allee Willis.

Submissions


Crocheted Beards

Recently my partner (Spider) and I received a package and inside we found three crocheted beards crocheted by his sister (Diane Franks). As ...

Smoking Monkey

This is a vintage Monkey that blows smoke. He is made of solid brass, stands about four inches tall and his hands are cupped to his mouth, ...

Tucson Weekly Robot

This robot man stands on 4th Ave, downtown Tucson. 4th Ave is sort of Tucson’s colorful bohemian street, home to ethnic restaurants an...

Mexican Planter

This little hand-painted ceramic planter dates back to the late 40’s / early 50’s. Although it has a Mexican motif, it was act...

Table Lamp

I inherited this 1960’s table lamp from a dear friend who passed away. The base and globe is made of pot metal and the shade is fash...

Picnic Basket

This old picnic basket has been with me for many, many years and it has been on many a picnic, picnics in the park, picnics at the beach, pi...

Lotus Blossom Lamp

Don’t know much about this beautiful lotus blossom lamp. I found it in a thrift store many, many years ago. It is made of wood and sta...

Monkey With A Mohawk

Hi everyone. Sorry I haven’t been around. First, our computer graphics card went south and had to be replaced, and then we lost our de...

Poodle Thermos

This is a metal thermos with pink plastic lid that originally accompanied a vinyl lunchbox (manufactured by Aladdin Industries in 1962). T...

Roofy

This is Roofy. He stands outside of a roofing supply house on 1st Ave near downtown Tucson. As you can see, he is made out of roofing suppl...

Babies And Cigarettes

Came across these ads from the 1950’s and I was shocked. Did they really use babies to sell cigarettes?! Wonder how many babies grew u...