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


Tiki bathroom

This is a tiki bathroom, a room filled with tiki mugs, vintage aquarium ornaments, model ships, tiki masks, ceramic mermaids, plastic fish w...

Cowboy Mike

Howdy Partners! Okay, I have been having a heck of a time trying to post a profile photo. Not sure what I’m doing wrong. First it says...

Kitschenette

This is a 1950’s Marx “Pretty Maid” tin litho toy kitchen. The kitchen is complete with appliances including a refrigerato...

Cactus lamp

This water pump cactus lamp is one of several kinds of cactus lamps (including covered wagon lamps) produced here in Tucson, AZ during the 1...

Pay to do your thing

This is from my gas station bathroom collection. Yes, I actually collect things associated with gas station bathrooms! Pay toilets were popu...

Macho Man cookie jar

Macho, macho man. I’ve got to be a macho man! I’ve had this construction worker cookie jar for about 15 years. When I originally...

Lawn Sprinkler Lamp

This is a one-of-a-kind lamp made from found art (created by a local Tucson artist named Lane Patterson). The base consists of two old vinta...

Golden Egg

This is a 1960’s golden egg toy savings bank from Red Goose Shoes for boys and girls (the store slogan embossed on the egg is: Half th...

Let’s Play Monopoly

This is a collection of Monopoly tokens ranging from the 1930’s to the near present. My partner and I built the display case out of a ...

Twist con Texaco

This is a HI-FI album of incredible twist music (the tunes REALLY rock and are sung in Spanish) produced in Puerto Rico in the mid-1960̵...

Cacti Couple S&Ps

This pair of salt and pepper shakers are from the 1950’s. Living here in Tucson, I must admit that many of the giant saguaros do look ...

Ride ’em Pep Boys

Here we have the Pep Boys (Manny, Moe and Jack) out in the wild West riding bareback on a bronking horse (looks to me like they’re abo...

Dish me up, Partner

This wonderful and campy cowboy china was produced in the 1940’s and 1950’s by Wallace China, once one of the largest suppliers ...

Tis’ the Seasoning

Here we have a collection of salt and pepper shakers, mostly Western and mostly vintage. Notice how stereotypical and exaggerated many of th...

Cowboy lunchboxes

Yahoo! Here are some cowboy lunchboxes. My favorite is the Chuck Wagon dome box at the top (from 1958). The wagon is under attack and you ca...