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


Wagon Wheel Rocking Chair

This is a vintage naugahyde and ranch oak wagon wheel rocking chair. The saddle graphic is stitched onto the back of the chair with contrast...

Nine Flags Cologne

The Nine Flags men’s cologne collection first came out in 1965 and sold well into the early 1970’s It was distributed by the Col...

Flaming Toilet Seat

My partner and I have very eclectic taste when it comes to our home d√©cor, everything from cowboy to Hindu to tiki to 1950’s retro...

Mini souvenir books

I don’t know what to call these mini souvenir books, but I have a large collection of them. In fact, I first began collecting them as ...

Mexican Windup Donkey

This is a little donkey made in Mexico (circa 1950’s). He is very fragile. He is flocked and soft to the touch, his eyes are little gl...

Covered Wagon Planter

This little covered wagon planter was made in Japan circa 1950’s. The colors are nice and bright and I love the painted cactus on the ...

Saguaro Kitsch

First some facts about saguaros: The giant cactus tree often associated with the West grows only in the Sonoran Desert here in Arizona and M...

Little Black Doll

Not sure if this is very politically correct and not sure what it is. Is it a Ubangi doll? My partner won this at a school carnival when he ...

Cactus Cabin Lamp

This rustic little cactus cabin lamp was made here in Arizona (sometime during the 1950’s or 1960’s). The cabin itself is made f...

Found Object Lamp

This is a found object / steampunk-type lamp made by Tucson artist friend, Lane Patterson. The base of the lamp is fashioned out of old meta...

Covered Wagon Lamp

Back in the 1950’s, cowboy movies and TV shows were all the rage as was cowboy / Western d√©cor for the home. This vintage covered ...