Theme Building

201 World Way

Los Angeles, California

Circa 2007

The Theme Building at Los Angeles International Airport is a mid-century modern architectural icon shaped like a landed flying saucer on four sweeping arches. Designed by the firm Pereira & Luckman. Construction began in 1957 and was completed in 1961. Founded in 1950 by University of Illinois classmates William Pereira and Charles Luckman, the partnership brought togther Pereira's background in West Coast architectural design and Hollywood art direction with Luckman's executive expertise as the former president of Lever Brothers.  At its peak, the firm was one of the largest in Los Angeles, employing over 300 architects including renowned figures like Paul Williams.

The Theme Building was built as a visual anchor after an ambitious central glass dome master plan was scaled back.

It was designated the Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 570 on December 18, 1993. It features a massive tuned mass damper or counterweight to reduce vibrations added in 2010 to protect the structure against seismic activity. 

The structure was dedicated on June 25, 1961 by Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson.

It exemplifies Space Age architecture, representing postwar optimism for the Jet Age and space exploration. The crossed stucco-covered steel arches create an illusion of motion and structural lightness, serving as a symbollic gateway to Los Angeles.

It formerly hosted the elevated 360-degree view observation deck (closed in 2018) and the futuristic Encounter Restaurant (operated 1997-2013).  A $4 million renovation with retro-futuristic interior and electric lighting designed by Walt Disney Imagineering* was completed before the Encounter Restaurant opened.  An airport spokesperson said that because of its appearance and views, some people thought it revolved after visiting it, even though it did not revolve.

  The Encounter Restaurant closed for business in December 2013 with no future plans to reopen.  The reason cited was that the restaurant was in a non-secure area of the airport being located outside the airport's secured area, necessiating passengers to pass through security lines twice which was a significant deterrent.  

*Walt Disney Imagineering was founded by Walt Disney in 1952.  The connection between Walt Disney Imagineering and the Encounter Restaurant is one of the rare instances where Disney's master theme designers were hired to create an experience outside of their traditional theme parks.  In the mid-1990s, LAX underwent a massive upgrade to its food and beverage facilities.  Concessionaire CA-One Services secured the contract to revamp the restaurant space inside the iconic, flying saucer-LAX Theme Building originally built in 1961.  Looking to maximize the building's striking mid-century architecture, they hired Walt Disney Imagineering to completely reimagine the interior. Led my Senior VP of Concept Design, Eddie Sotto, WDI turned the space into a high-concept, retro-futuristic dining experience.  

Disney Imagineers treated the space as if it were a Tomorrowland attraction, spending $4 million to execute a vision Sotto described as a place where "George Jetson, James Bond and Barbarella could drink together".

The experience began at the ground level, where guests stepped into an elevator featuring custom galactic graphics and sound effects to simulate as ascent into an alien spacecraft.  The center of the restaurant featured a crater-shaped bar equipped with custom "bar guns" that emitted interactive laser lights and space-age sound effects whenever a bartender poured a drink. Renowned designer, Lisa Krohn was brought in to create pod-like chairs that appeared to float in mid-air.  The flowing, abstract linework on the carpet was intentionally designed so that no pattern repeated anywhere on the floor.  WDI lighting specialist, Michael Valentino designed an exterior and interior lighting system that bathed the Theme Building arches in shifting shades of electric blue and magenta making the entire structure look dynamic at night.

The restaurant officially opened as Encounter in January 1997.  Thanks to its Disney pedigree and striking atmosphere, it initially thrived as a hotspot for both tourists and Hollywood celebrities like John Travolta and Quentin Tarantino.  However, the restaurant faced severe operational hurdles following the September 11 attacks which restricted airport access to ticketed travelers and closed the building's popular observation deck.  Combined with subsequent structural repairs and retrofitting closures, foot traffic plummeted.   The Encounter Restaurant permanently closed its doors in December 2013, leaving the iconic WDI-designed interior urrently inaccessible to the dining public.

LAX is currently undergoing a massive $30 billion modernization overhaul ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games which includes the construction of an Automated People Mover train system.  While a LAX planning document noted that the train will bring significantly more foot traffic into the general vicinity of the Theme Building, the transit system will not connect directly to the building. 

Former Walt Disney Imagineering Senior VP, Eddie Sotto (who designed the original restaurant) has publicly noted that the configuration of the new People Mover severely lacks proper integration with the historic landmark, missing a prime opportunity to easily funnel visitors into the space.

As of 2026, the upper restaurant level is reportedly being used primarily for storage and official airport fact sheets have confirmed there is no active plan or designated timeline for its future.  The lower ground level of the Theme Building does remain active, but strictly as a USO center providing lounge and travel services to military service members and their families.  The building's famous observation deck which briefly opened on weekends after the restaurant's closure has also been entirely closed to the public since late 2018.

While aviation enthusiasts frequently discuss a desire to bring a restaurant back to the space, airport officials have found the logistics unviable in the modern era of aviation travel.  For now, the Imagineered interior remains frozen in time as an historic relic.

Encounter Restaurant

Circa 2013

 

The Rich-Twinn House

145 Main Street

Akron, New York

The Rich-Twinn House is the only period octagon house in Erie County.  This geometric wonder was constructed circa 1850 on what was then the outskirts of town by Charles Rich, a mulifaceted local businesssman.

Akron was settled originally by the Seneca people and by the late 1850s, Akron grew to be a valuable gypsum and limestone cement source for the rest of the area. Octagon houses were a phenomenon from the 1850s to the 1870s.  They were constructed from all the major building materials, including cobblestone and concrete, but most of them were wooden.  Only an estimated few thousand were ever built, with approximately 120 of them in New York State.  

Because of the era in which they were built, octagon houses tended to be either Greek Revival or Italianate in style, but some were Gothic Revival or Moorish as well. They ranged from one to four stories, but the majority were two stories.  Many of them sported octagonal cupolas.  The most famous, or infamous, octagaon house in the United States is the two -and-a-half story brick mansion called Longwood in Natchez, Mississippi.

One of the more interesting aspects of the Rich-Twinn House is that the primary working entrance leads into the basement where the receiving area and kitchen are located. The more ornate exterior entrance brings visitors to the first-floor hall, through which they access the dining room and drawing room.  On the second floor are the bedrooms and a curved staircase to the cupola.  As with most octagon houses, the forty-five-degree angles produce rooms that are not rectangular. 

The building passed through a series of owners after it was sold by the Rich family and over the decades the deteriorating process of time was not kind to the house.  The Newstead Historical Society has been its custodian since 1981 and over the following two decades, restored the structure as close as possible to its original grandeur.  It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 10, 1995 and is currently operated as a house museum and is occasionally open for touring. 

  

🌟 Happy 75th Anniversary 🌟

..the first I Love Lucy broadcast on CBS..

The Girls Want to Go to a Nightclub

..the first episode to be broadcast on CBS..

The plot:  Lucy and Ethel wanted to celebrate Fred and Ethel Mertz's 18th anniversary at a nightclub while Ricky and Fred prefer to go to a boxing match.

On this day, Lucy fans around the world celebrate the 75th anniversary of I love Lucy which aired on CBS from October 15, 1951 to May 6, 1957 spanning six seasons and 180 half-hour episodes. The show became the most-watched show in the United States and was the first to end its run at the top of the Nielsen ratings. 

 

The Siesta Court in Alpena, Michigan offered colorful spring chairs.

Sylvester, Georgia 

These court linen postcards are vintage American postcards produced roughly from the 1930s through the 1950s that advertised roadside motor courts.

Smith's Motor court

Mrytle Beach, South Carolina 

Many of these motor courts were located on U.S. Route 20. They offered vintage charm and direct exterior parking. 

A Postcard of the Motel Inn

Circa 1940s

The term "motel" itself is a blend of "motor" and "hotel" coined in 1925 by Arthur Heineman when naming the Miletone Mo-Tel in San Luis Obispo, California because he ran out of space on his sign.  It was the oldest motel in the world opening on December 12, 1925. 

  Across the country, thousands were touring in their cars.  Auto travel was becoming normal though on this day in San Luis Obispo, a town roughly between Los Angeles and San Francisco, something totally new was happening.  An architect and developer named Arthur Heineman had spotted a niche in the market.  His response was the Milestone Mo-Tel Inn.

Heinemann created a hotel designed specifically for drivers.  It had small garages next to several dozen  bungalows.  It cost $80,000 to build in its ornate Spanish-mission style with a three-tired bell tower,white pillars and a tree-fringed courtyard.  Up to 160 people could stay at the motel.  Units had modern conveniences and there were even rooms for chauffeurs.

It wasn't long before the Milestone had competition from other motels.  Heineman had originally planned to open a chain with 18 California locations, but he wasn't successful.

Starlite Tourist Camp and Diner

"Your Home Away From Home"

Circa 1952

Westfield, New York

The owner was Bert Maggio.  The Starlite Diner originally operated as a vintage train-car style diner with quaint cottages on US Route 20. Motor courts and cabins  heavily relied on linen picture postcards for tourism advertising.  

 

"Love, exciting and new

Come aboard, we're expecting you."

"Love, life's sweetest reward

Let it flow, it floats back to you."

Captain Merrill Stubing

portrayed by Gavin McLeod

Main Cast

Bernie Kopell as Dr. Adam Bricker (Doc)

Fred Grandy as Burl "Gopher" Smith (ship's purser)

Ted Lange as Issac Washington (bartender)

Lauren Tewes as Julie McCoy (cruise director)

Jill Whelan as Vicki Stubing (Captain Stubing's daughter)

Performance by Jack Jones

The Pacific Princess

The name Pacific Princess refers to two distinct cruise ships in the history of Princess Cruises, most famously known as the primary setting for the hit television series The Love Boat.

The original Pacific Princess (The Love Boat) was built in 1971 as the Sea Venture for Flagship Cruises.  She was acquired by Princess Cruises in 1975 and renamed Pacific Princess.  She became globally famous as the primary filming vessel and inspiration for the 1970s-1980s TV show.  Her capacity was roughly 640-660 passengers with a crew of 350

She was launched on May 9, 1970 and was christened on May 14, 1971.

She left the Princess fleet and was eventually retired and dismantled in 2013.  

 

E. T. Lufkin Board & Log Rule Mtg.

The history of the Lufkin folding ruler began in 1869 when Edward Taylor Lufkin founded the E. T. Lufkin Board and Log Rule Manufacturing Company in Cleveland, Ohio.  The firm transitioned into the Lufkin Rule Company in 1885. It pioneered measuring equipment with the iconic wooden folding rule being patented in 1919.

The company first made specialized log rules to measure timber for the logging industry.  Lufkin produced rules of superior quality, using only the best materials.  The company flourished, gaining a substantial following of loyal customers.  The company soon moved to Saginaw, Michigan in 1895 which at the time was the center of the logging industry.

The Lufkin Rule Company 

Saginaw, Michigan

Circa 1918

The folding rule remained the dominant measuring tool for tradespeople of all types until the 1940s when Lufkin, along with several other manufacturers made the retractable tape measure a reality.

Lufkin Tape Measure

Vintage Lufkin No. 372 Boxwood Brass Folding 12 Inch Rule with Caliper

In 1951, Lufkin decided to locate operations near the best source of raw materials for their products so they purchased the Anson Stick Company in North Anson, Maine.  The hard maple harvested in Maine's northern forests was considered superior and by the mid-1960s, Lufkin had consolidated all wooden rule manufacturing operations there.

Long Ago and Far Away

The history of hardwood rule manufacturing at Sknowhegan Wooden Rule Co. Inc. began long before 1999.  It all started in 1869 with E. T. Lufkin. In 1967, Cooper Industries purchased the Lufkin Company and added it to the Cooper Hand Tools Division.  Cooper sold folding wooden rules as mass market items though viewed the original E T. Lufkin product line as the industry's standard.  By 1998, Cooper had moved their main facility to Apex, North Carolina. Eventually, Cooper sold the Anson plant and discontinued Lufkin's original lines.

The Meisner Family Era Begins

The Meisner family purchased the Anson plant from Cooper Industries in 1999.  Included in the sale was all of the equipment and the process instructions required to produce the discontinued Lufkin roducts.  On the day the sale was finalized and in the weeks tht followed, a number of distributors and industrial customers contacted the Meisner family.  They asked them to continue manufacturing the Lufkin rules.  Demand appeared small, but consistent.  The Meisner family decided to gradually rebuild rule manufacturing and the Sknowhegan Wooden Rule Co. Inc. was formed to promote and market these products.  Since 1999 they have been able to re-employ some of the skilled local workers who had spent generations crafting these products. They have completely rebuilt and refined the rule manufacturing process and have not relaxed any of the standards that made E. T. Lufkin's orginal rules so desirable.  The maple is still the finest quality produced in Maine's western mountains with each piece still hand selected and inspected.  The fittings and fasteners are still all solid brass and the markings are engraved into the wood (not printed on it) and blackened by hand to last a lifetime. 

Each rule is carefully finished to bring out the beauty and personality of the wood.  

The Meisner family think E. T. Lufkin would be proud. 

Rowan & Martin's Laugh In

 "Joke Wall"

The "Joke Wall" backboard on the sketch comedy show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In is one of the most iconic set pieces in television history. Behind the Scenes, the back of the iconic Joke Wall was an unglamorous, strictly functional wood scaffolding structure built at NBC Burbank Studio 3.

To television viewers at home, the front of the wall was a brightly colored, psychedelic, mod-styled masterpiece. It featured a grid of hexagonal painted wooden doors and windows.  During the grand finale of each episode, cast regulars like Goldie Hawn, Lily Tomlin and Ruth Buzzi along with high-profile celebrity guests would rapidly swing open the doors to pop their heads through and trade quick, rapid-fire one-liners, jokes and running gags.

Goldie was 22 years old when she first appeared on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In by opening one of the iconic doors on the Joke Wall. 

The raw wooden backboard was covered in handwritten notes, jokes and signatures from many celebrities such as Sammy Davis, Jr. and Jack Benny plus the entire Laugh-In main cast.

A segment of this original signed Joke Wall and its historical backboard is preserved and displayed as a permanent television artifact at the National Comedy Center in Jamestown, New York. 

Gladys and Tyrone

portrayed by 

Ruth Buzzi and Arte Johnson