Googie in the
Orange County Register
The Register now charges a small fee for archived stories. The best we can do is offer an index and refer you to their website if you want to read an entire article.


SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED 
Friday, April 21, 2000 

Humberto Del Toro disassembles the Al's Liquor sign, done in the Googie architectural style, on the corner of State College and Lincoln in Anaheim on Thursday. The sign will be placed at the L.A. Museum of Neon Art.

OUR COMMUNITIES CITY-BY-CITY 
Friday, October 22, 1999 

Googie architecture: Anaheim Public Library historian Jane Newell will be one of three experts who will discuss Googie architecture at the Orange County History Conference from 1:30 to 3 p.m. Saturday at California State University, Fullerton. Googie architecture was themed around the space age and Polynesia. The conference will be held at the Ruby Gerontology Center, 800 N. State College Blvd. Registration for the day is $30. Information: (714) 278-5808.

NEW LIGHT SHED ON ORANGE COUNTY'S PAST 
Friday, October 22, 1999 
Credit: JOHN WESTCOTT:

...Saturday's revived Orange County History Conference...

ANAHEIM LIBRARIAN IS GAGA OVER GOOGIE 
JANE NEWELL IS DOCUMENTING THE GOOFY, GAUDY SPACE AGE PHENOMENON BEFORE IT'S ALL TORN DOWN
Monday, May 3, 1999 
Credit: MARLA JO FISHER:

Not every librarian would be willing to tramp around to trashy, rent-by-the-hour motels, but Jane Newell isn't your average librarian. She's a woman on a mission.

And if that means walking past the hookers and drug dealers to ask the desk clerk at a Beach Boulevard motel for old postcards, hey, no problem.

ANAHEIM PONDERS PLANS FOR CONVENTION CENTER
NEW LONG-TERM IDEAS FOR AS FAR OFF AS 2020 WOULD RETAIN THE LANDMARK ARENA
MORNING, Metro section, ID# 1999097026
Wednesday, April 7, 1999
Credit: MARLA JO FISHER

City officials unveiled new long-term master plans for the Convention Center on Tuesday, including one version that would retain the landmark Space Age-looking arena built in 1967.
"I'm glad to see the option of keeping the arena," Councilman Tom Tait said Tuesday after looking at proposed site plans for long-term expansion of the center. "I think by the time 2020 comes around, that will be an historical arena." The plans presented Tuesday by architects and convention officials differ from previous...

BOWLING ALLEY ADDRESS SWITCH PEEVES READERS 
Sunday, February 7, 1999 
Credit: DENNIS FOLEY

Lisa Butler knew immediately that something wasn't right. 
She'd bowled at Linbrook Bowl since she was a kid, and had been in adult leagues there for more than 20 years.

POP GOES THE ARCHITECTURE 
ENOUGH MEDITERRANEAN WACKY, BRIGHT AND WHIMSICAL BUILDINGS ARE CHANGING ORANGE COUNTY'S LOOK
Tuesday, February 2, 1999 
Credit: VALERIE TAKAHAMA 

French-fry columns hold up a colossal yellow star at the new Carl's Jr. in Anaheim. A car crashes into the roof of the sleek, needle-nosed Speedway Grill on Pacific Coast Highway in Newport Beach. Larger-than-life surfers catch waves on an ocean awash in blue neon at Ron Jon Surf Shop at The Block in Orange.

Bright, wacky buildings are popping up all around Orange County.

SPARE TIME IN THE FUN LANE: LEAGUE BOWLING ISN'T WHAT IT USED TO BE, BUT IT'S STILL A GREAT WAY TO SOCIALIZE
MORNING, Saturday section, ID# 1998318135
Saturday, November 14, 1998
Credit: DANIEL CHANG

Kona Lanes in Costa Mesa is a throwback.
Outside the Harbor Boulevard bowling alley, a neon sign in Polynesian theme glows above the parking lot. Volcanic-like rock, angular roofs and glass walls depict the popular Googie architecture of the era.

COUNTY LINE
MORNING, Metro section, ID# 1998179074
Sunday, June 28, 1998

SATURDAY'S QUESTION: SHOULD ORANGE COUNTY PRESERVE ITS GOOGIE ARCHITECTURE? (165 RESPONSES) YES 72% NO 28%

TIKI! TACKY? ARCHITECTURE: THE GOOFY GOOGIE STYLE POPULAR IN THE THE 1950S AND '60S IS VANISHING, BIT BY NEON BIT, FROM ORANGE COUNTY
MORNING, News section, ID# 1998178033
Saturday, June 27, 1998
Credit: STEPHEN LYNCH

On Harbor Boulevard in Anaheim, past blocks of rubble and razed buildings, there's a sign that reads, "You've just seen history in the making."
John English sighs. "More like history destroyed," he says. Googie _ the wild coffee-shop architecture of the 1950s and '60s _ is being dismantled linoleum tile by terrazzo block in Orange County. Gone are the leatherette booths of the Inn at the Park's restaurant. Gone are the whales, the knights and the tiki masks of neon motel signs. Gone is the spinning

EXCURSION ROADSIDE RETRO BE IT SPACE-AGE, COCKTAIL OR TIKI, ORANGE COUNTY HAS GOBS OF GOOGIE
MORNING, Saturday section, ID# 1998178044
Saturday, June 27, 1998
Credit: STEPHEN LYNCH

Googie is architecture for the masses _ the bright neon, swooping roofs and endless glass walls of diners, motels and bowling alleys. Even the name came from this roadside world: Googie's was a chain of coffee shops in Los Angeles during the 1940s and '50s.
The style encompasses everything from oversize signs to curved, padded booths in turquoise and salmon shades. It is flagcrete and dingbats and terrazzo. There are Turkish-style screens and woodsy A-frames. Spaceships, martini glasses and tiki to

ANAHEIM ICON WILL GLOW AGAIN CULTURE: SATELLITE SIGN IS DOWN, NOT OUT
MORNING, News section, ID# 1998163057
Friday, June 12, 1998
Credit: CAROL MASCIOLA

Satellite Shopland's ultra-kitsch satellite sign has been saved from the wrecking ball and hauled to Pasadena to be restored.
The spiky, blinking Sputnik was taken down last month after rotating proudly on a pole in front of the Katella Way strip mall for 30 years, an exemplar of the '50s and '60s outer-space architectural style called Googie. The satellite was purchased in the nick of time by Daniel Sullivan, owner of Pasadena's Thunder and Neon, which makes and restores signs. Sullivan, who decli

CURRENT PROJECTS ANOTHER PHASE OF CITY'S HISTORY
ANAHEIM:ANAHEIM HILLS, Community section, ID# 1998113073
Thursday, April 23, 1998
Credit: IBON VILLELABEITIA:ANAHEIM BULLETIN

Anaheim has always been synonymous with growth. Throughout its history, the city has seen projects big and small. Today is no different.

GOING GOOGIE GONE GOOGIE ONCE DOMINANT ON KATELLA
ANAHEIM, Community Section, ID# 1996326185
Thursday, November 21, 1996
Credit: BRADY MACDONALD:ANAHEIM BULLETIN

Katella Avenue circa 1969 looked like a cartoon set from "The Jetsons."
On one side of the street was Disneyland _ with its X-shaped House of the Future filled with gadgets popping out of the wall and up from the floor. Across Katella was the Space Age Lodge _ an other-worldly motel with a rocket ship on the roof.

GOING GOOGIE GONE '50S ARCHITECTURE CRAZE GIVES WAY TO CONFORMITY
ANAHEIM, Community section, ID# 1996326184
Thursday, November 21, 1996
Credit: BRADY MACDONALD:ANAHEIM BULLETIN

Say goodbye to Googie.
You may have never known the 1950s and '60s architectural design by name, but you probably recognized its distinctive style. Now, Anaheim is about to lose its Googie-ness.

GOING GOOGIE GONE GOOGIE CAN TRACE ROOTS TO THE '50S
ANAHEIM, Community Section, ID# 1996326180
Thursday, November 21, 1996
Credit: BRADY MACDONALD:ANAHEIM BULLETIN

The Googie style dotted the landscape.
It could be found at car washes, auto dealerships, bowling alleys, motels, coffee shops and even the Theme Building at Los Angeles International Airport. It was the indigenous architecture of Southern California.

GOING GOOGIE GONE CITY CATALOGING GOOGIE ART IN ANAHEIM
ANAHEIM, Community section, ID# 1996326181
Thursday, November 21, 1996
Credit: BRADY MACDONALD:ANAHEIM BULLETIN

A souvenir postcard snapshot of Katella Avenue in the 1960s _ a chaotic, yet energetic hodgepodge of Googie scenery _ may be just a faded memory. But, city officials _ who want to bring visual order to the resort boulevard _ have been working to preserve the city's essential Googieness. City staffers have been cataloging the remaining Googie architecture in the city and storing the photographs and histories in the Anaheim History Room at the Main Library downtown.

GOING GOOGIE GONE GOING GAGA OVER GOOGIE
ANAHEIM, Community section, ID# 1996326179
Thursday, November 21, 1996
Credit: ANAHEIM BULLETIN

There's plenty of Googie to go see in the Anaheim area and throughout Southern California.
Several examples of the classic coffee shop architectural style _ thought lost forever _ recently have been resurrected. One of the original McDonald's restaurants in Downey, shuttered several years ago, is planning to reopen Dec. 15.

GOING GOOGIE GONE STOVALL'S MOTELS EPITOMIZED GOOGIE IN ANAHEIM
ANAHEIM, Community section, ID# 1996326178
Thursday, November 21, 1996
Credit: BRADY MACDONALD:ANAHEIM BULLETIN

EDITOR'S NOTE: The names of Al Stovall and Bill O'Connell are intertwined in Anaheim motel history. In the 1960s, Stovall opened a string of motels _ all with an outer space theme: Galaxy, Cosmic Age, Space Age and Inn of Tomorrow. O'Connell started as a busboy in high school at one of Stovall's motels near Phoenix. He moved up the ranks to head cook and then assistant manager before Stovall expanded to California and made O'Connell general manager of the Anaheim motel chain. Today, O'Connell is owner of t

GOING GOOGIE GONE GOOGIE SIGNS BEING REMOVED IN CITY BID TO REMAKE TOURIST AREA
ANAHEIM, Community section, ID# 1996326182
Thursday, November 21, 1996
Credit: ANAHEIM BULLETIN

City officials are bidding a not-so-fond farewell to those classic symbols of Googie architecture _ the tacky, kitschy collection of signs surrounding Disneyland.
The tiki torches and neon signs at the Eden Roc and Kona Kai motels are already gone. The Jetsons-style silver orb advertising the Satelitte Shopland and the grinning genie streaming from Aladdin's lamp at the Magic Lamp Motel are next. Anaheim's five-year, $186 million face lift of the Disneyland area will replace the signs with simple....

CONVENTION CENTER PLAN DOUBLES SIZE TOURISM: THE LANDMARK SPACE AGE DOMED ARENA WOULD BE RAZED TO MAKE ROOM
MORNING, Business section, ID# 1996038004
Wednesday, February 7, 1996
Credit: BRADY MACDONALD

An architect's vision of a revamped and expanded Anaheim Convention Center combines big spaces with high style and carries a hefty price tag: $185 million.
Expansion of the 28-year-old facility would double exhibit space to 1.3 million square feet, quadruple meeting space to 300,000 square feet and add a 60,000-square-foot ballroom _ all key to retaining current shows and attracting new conventioneers. The landmark Space Age-like arena would be history _ razed to make more room. Hellmuth, Obata

ANAHEIM WAGES WAR ON TACKY CITIES: A $186 MILLION FACE LIFT COULD MEAN THE END OF ALL THOSE KITSCHY SIGNS NEAR DISNEYLAND
MORNING, Metro section, ID# 1995068064
Thursday, March 9, 1995
Credit: MARLA JO FISHER

Officials here are hoping soon to bid a not-so-fond farewell to those classic symbols of Googie architecture _ the tacky, kitschy collection of signs surrounding Disneyland.
The grinning, spouting whale atop the Village Inn sign. The Jetsons-style silver orb advertising the Satellite Shopland. The mock turrets atop the sign announcing the Castle Inn. All could soon fall to the city's five-year, $186 million face lift of the Disneyland area known as the Anaheim Resort. City officials plan to repla

IN SEARCH OF THE TERRIFICALLY TACKY CULTURE: HUGE BOWLING PINS AND TIKI TOTEMS. FOR ONE MAN, KITSCHY '50S ARCHITECTURE IS A TREASURE
MORNING, News section, ID# 1995057053
Sunday, February 26, 1995
Credit: JESSICA CROSBY

Slide onto the bright-red vinyl passenger seat of John English's 1965 Rambler Classic and buckle up _ it's going to be a "Googie" ride.
First stop: the Satellite Shopland sign, which spins atop a strip-mall marquee at Katella Avenue and the Santa Ana (I-5) Freeway. The 6-foot-diameter ball with its 10 7-foot spikes jutting toward the heavens is a prime example of Googie _ the term used to describe outlandish roadside architecture of the '50s and '60s. At night, adorned with 240 bulbs, the satellite

VEGAS AND THE WESTERN VISION BOOKS: AUTHOR ALAN HESS LOOKED PAST THE GLITZ OF THE GAMBLING MECCA AND UNCOVERED AN ARCHITECTURE UNIQUE TO THE WEST
MORNING
Sunday, October 3, 1993
Credit: KITTY MORGAN

Alan Hess seems pretty straight. Family man. Two kids. Nice townhouse in Rancho Santa Margarita.
So how is it this nice guy who wouldn't be caught dead wearing a gold chain knows Vegas inside out? "You can't understand a piece of pop culture unless you're both attracted and repelled," says Hess, an architect and writer. "And I'm both attracted and repelled by Las Vegas."

YESTERDAY'S TOMORROW: DESPITE `GOOGIE' REVIVAL, FUTURISTIC INNS ARE ON THE OUTS
EVENING, News section, ID# 1988136081
Sunday, May 15, 1988
Credit: PAT BRENNAN

The Space Age Lodge was born in a time when rocket ships and astronauts captivated the public imagination, when satellites and men in orbit seemed to spring suddenly from the pages of science fiction.
It was the beginning of the space race, the middle of the Cold War and the end of Anaheim's innocence. Endless acres of citrus groves made way for developers, dreamers and moneymakers. Infected by the Walt Disney optimism that spawned Tomorrowland, plastic-maker Al Stovall built a chain of motels a...