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


Hoover Dam Ashtray

Hoover Dam (also known as Boulder Dam) was constructed between 1931 and 1936, and was dedicated on September 30, 1935, by President Frankli...

Sanitary Underwear Box

All I have is the box. That is, the box is empty. The side of the box still shows the $.15 price tag. A friend gave this to me for my 50th b...

Minnie Pearl fan

How-w-w-DEE-E-E-E! This is a Minnie Pearl cardboard fan with a stick handle. For those of you you don’t know who she was, Minnie Pe...

Junior Nurse Thermos

This thermos was part of a vinyl lunchbox set called “Junior Nurse,” made in 1963 by King-Seeley Thermos Co. Gotta love the wond...

Window To The Stars

This is an art piece of my own making. I wanted to create something interesting above our bedroom entry, something magical and over-the-top...

David Bowie Throw Pillows

Ground control to Major Tom. What’s a house without a couple of David Bowie throw pillows laying about?  I had these pillows made spe...

Toys!

This is my toy collection, all kinds of toys from the 1940’s thru the present. I keep most of them in this vintage restaurant pastry d...

1960 Christmas Photo

This is a photo of my brother and myself sitting on Santa’s lap in 1960. I’m the older one (practicing my movie star smile) and ...

Fiesta Dinnerware

I love Fiesta china, and as you can see by these photos, I collect it all, old and new, vintage and contemporary. There is just something th...

Train Track Andirons

These rustic and old (about 60 years old) fireplace andirons were a housewarming gift from family members, family ranchers who live in North...

Motion Lamps

I have always loved motion lamps beginning with the lamps made in the 1950’s by Econolite and L. A. Goodman, lamps featuring waterfall...

Air Vent Birdcage

This is another bit of my own kitsch….Not sure if the full effect comes across in the photos, but I’ll try to explain….I h...

Cactus Pad Spoon Rest

This is a ceramic spoon rest fashioned to look like a prickly pear cactus pad. It is hand-painted and signed by the artist on back. btw, if ...

Desert Garden

I realize that one usually finds gnomes and fairies in flower gardens, but we have them here too in Tucson rock gardens. As you can see, my ...