In his books, TV appearances and touring slideshow events, Charles Phoenix celebrates the fabulousness of eras gone by, from colorful cuisine to retro designs and pop culture icons. He'll bring his irreverent yet reverent Retro Holiday Slideshow about kitschy food, architecture and more to the Empress of China restaurant and bar; a rather appropriate venue, since the ornately designed building will also soon become kitsch history.
Based in Los Angeles, where some of his favorite 1950s architecture still remains, Phoenix was busy cooking brownies for an upcoming Food Channel taping as we spoke by phone. Phoenix said he looks forward to his visit north.
"It's interesting to see the places that haven't budged," said Phoenix of the rapid changes taking place in our city. "I have my favorite little haunts, the classic old school places, including, of course The Tonga Room." The bar's d�cor is known for its camp bamboo chic.
Phoenix described San Francisco as a sort of "big amusement park for tourists," from the cable cars, to Fisherman's Wharf and old-time diners. Even the Ferry Building has a retro appeal that Phoenix finds charming.
"Back in the day there was even more," said Phoenix of San Francisco's past. "It's not a city that gets a lot of credit, but there were tons of themed restaurants years ago." From clown-themed cafes to Doggy Diners, the Bay Area does have a festive past.
Even the Empress of China restaurant, where Phoenix will bring his show, is compellingly over the top. "When you enter, you have to ask yourself, what decade are we in?"
Despite the camp aspects of looking back at old stylish kitchenware and recipes, Phoenix comes from a place of reverence for his subject matter.
"I'm about walking around when I visit, and looking and finding the heart and soul of a place. That's part of what I talk about in my show." Phoenix will share vintage Kodachrome images of San Francisco in his show, which includes hilarious colorful imagery from all the major holidays that have come to visualize Americana at its best and worst.
We discussed one of my favorite historic local sites, the Sutro Baths, which have decades of lost kitsch from many eras.
"One of my favorite things from that site, from 1955 to 1961 they had a sky tram," said Phoenix. "It went from the south of the Cliff House to the north side of Sutro baths, hovering over it all on a wire; so unbelievably scary."
But the 1950s are a favorite for Phoenix, particularly for the housewares that expanded the suburban market after World War II.
"One of the things that the 1950s had in its favor, and why its items have really risen to the top for collectors, is that it's highly stylized and made out of material that lasts," said Phoenix, as he was using a decades-old industrial-strength mixer. "It's solid metal, and built like a car!"
As shag rugs and groovy egg-shaped chairs moved in, things changed. "By the 1970s, the materials were reduced in quality, so planned obsolescence was inevitable," he said. "Whatever survived beyond our throwaway culture is now collectible. We have been incredibly successful at filling dump sites with stuff."
And while he collects some things, Phoenix, now 50, has more recently focused on collecting images of things, which takes up less space, and expands his slideshows.
"It's a fun show, because we're barely laughing at it and more laughing with it," said Phoenix. "In my show, there is respect for the era. I respect American culture. It's my way of selling it to people, and telling them it's important, that we've a culture of style and productivity."
The son of a used car salesman in Ontario, California, Phoenix's first fascinations stemmed from the hoods and fins of the autos his father sold. At around age 14, the collector in him was born after a few thrift store visits, which he dubbed "museums of merchandise, the underbelly of culture."
Asked if he considered Christmas season as the ultimate kitsch holiday, Phoenix disagreed.
"It really hasn't changed that much in the past few decades from what it was created to be," he said. "After WWII it really kicked in and lots of things have become traditions. We're creatures of habit. The only thing that's changed is how we shopped."
Phoenix pondered the state of modern consumerism, Christmas without a sense of religion, Christian or even pagan. "Gimbel's, Macy's; they perpetuated the idea of gift-giving. It's all for consumerism, merchandising and salesmanship."
Other holidays are explored, including Halloween, which Phoenix cites as the more creative booming holiday. Along with holiday field trips, his show includes test kitchen experiments and food crafting, like the gelatin tower of tree, shaped from a traffic cone mold.
You may have seen Phoenix on Conan O'brien and Martha Stewart's shows, where he takes a vintage recipe, or makes up a new one in a retro style, and makes it happen.
"I try to be original," he said. "I make up new food crafts. But I do love the old ones. There was one thing in my show, a 1962 Best Food Mayonnaise ad, which included a recipe for a Cole Slaw Snowman. I had two people make them, with various results."
Another sculptable, moldable retro classic: Ambrosia salad.
"I kept running into it everywhere," said Phoenix. "So many plates would be ambrosia. I didn't grow up with it, but it wasn't on our family menu. I was kind of fascinated by it. That is kind of the kitschiest dessert. So I started to include slides, and then decided to make it for the audience."
So, in the past few years, Phoenix has become known as the , creating everything from a Halloween Rat Ham to a seven-layer cake made from kids' cereal. Oh, and don't forget the CherDumple!
All of this is in part Phoenix' way of paying tribute to a bygone era.
"It was amazing," he said. "I'm not saying it was better; I wouldn't want to live in the mid-century era, an unbelievably conformist society. But it was amazing what they accomplished, and this is my little tribute to the people of that era."
Phoenix said that he used to "do a ton of shopping," but that he now focuses on images of bygone eras. And in his searching, does he have a long-desired item, perhaps, not unlike Charles Foster Kane's longed-for sleigh? What is his Rosebud?
"I'm not so much about material possessions anymore," he explained. "Now it's more about the experience and travel, as opposed to 'its mine.' "
Nevertheless, Phoenix still likes to browse the occasional estate sale.
"I do recall wanting a set of very specific DeForest dishes," he said. "Everything, including the soup tureen, is all ceramic, and all onions with faces." (Seen here on Pinterest.)
Sounds like a perfect addition to any kitschy kitchen.
Charles Phoenix shares his Retro Holiday Slideshow at Empress of China Ballroom, December 14, 6pm and 9pm. $25-$35. 838 Grant Ave. www.charlesphoenix.com