Memorial Coliseum, 1960

It ain’t lost. Yet. 

Luke from the Save the Portland Memorial Coliseum blog http://www.savethecoliseum.blogspot.com/ graciously loaned me a copy of a booklet that was used to promote the newly built Memorial Coliseum. In it are amazing photos of the construction and every day scenes from Portland, Oregon, 1958-1960. 

I have to admit I’ve been on the fence on preserving the structure. But, after seeing its baby photos, I’m on board: don’t tear this baby down. 

Following are some of the photos from the booklet. I have also added them to my Flickr account so they can be viewed in all their glory. 

Luke from the Save the Portland Memorial Coliseum blog  graciously loaned me a copy of a booklet that was used to promote the newly built Memorial Coliseum. In it are amazing photos of the construction, the inner workings [boiler room!] and every day scenes from Portland, Oregon, circa 1958-1960. 

I have to admit I’ve been on the fence on preserving the structure. But, after seeing its baby photos, I’m on board: don’t tear this baby down. It’s been spared, for now. But things can change. 

Following are some of the photos from the booklet. I have also added them to my Flickr account so they can be viewed in all their glory. 

Looks like an A-bomb was dropped on the existing neighborhood. Ready for the Coliseum. 

During construction. 

The ticketing office.

Portland Transit Mall, 1979

We hardly knew ye – the award-winning [Special Award for Civic Enrichment from the AIA] Transit Mall had a major face lift with new stops and kiosks [and tracks being put in for the past couple of years]. Busses will start to use the new and improved mall later this month with the MAX sometime later this summer.

Man-about-town Dieselboi noticed new signage on OurPDX at one of the kiosks that forbids roller skating. Roller skating. As in “laced up” and “late 70s roller disco”? Did planners forget to update the copy? I think the last time I saw someone actually roller skating [besides Oak Park] on the street I was 12 – and that was a lonnnng time ago.

In the spirit of the 1970s and our transit mall, here are some photos from the 1979 AIA awards booklet:

And, since we’re talking about disco roller skating, this is a must see:

Lane County Roadside Dog Mystery

Larry and Jennifer from Travel Lane County passed on an email to Lost Oregon that they received from someone looking for more information about a wonderful dog stand photo they recently found. Here’s what we know:

• It’s called “The Dog.”
• It’s [or was] on US 99 in Lane County, Oregon.
• The photo was taken in 1935.

Anyone have any idea on this?

The Vintage Roadside gang just made a Highway 99 pilgrimage last month – any sightings?

Welcome Oregonian readers

Howdy,

if you found me via today’s Oregonian article, welcome to Lost Oregon! Hope you enjoy your stay.

And, if you have old postcards, photos, or memories you’d like to share, please contact me – I’d love to hear from you!

Have a bitchin’ summer

Long before Twitter, the web and [really kick-ass!] online campaigns from Travel Oregon, we had brochures, postcards and word of mouth [now called "viral" by the marketing crowd] to get folks to visit our fine state.

Frankly, if I got any of these postcards from friends I’m not sure my first thought would be, “Honey, look in the ‘yellow pages,’ call our ‘travel agent’ and book a hotel! We’re going to Oregon for the summer!”

Though still around and looking good, this early 60s postcard looks more like a army camp kitchen, without the charm:

I’m no tanning expert, but I’m pretty sure in order to get one, pieces of clothing need to be removed:

Woodland Deer Park in Cave Junction, Oregon.

Here’s the postcard blurb [emphasis mine]:

Feeding the tame foreign deer at this famous resort which features buffalo, tiny monkeys and a Mother Gooseland which is animated with the appropriate animals. Aiieeeeeeeeeee……

Regardless, this looks like the cover of a familiar album.

Here’s the Redwood Motel Court in Grants Pass:

Wow, looking pretty good – and even better these days.

Ecola Cottages in Cannon Beach:

No one is in their room – they’re all on their porches, all eyes on the pink-bikini clad diver. Kind of creepy.

Stay here, if you want. Silver Sands in Florence, Oregon.  Some hotels don’t even try. Some staging perhaps? Night shot? Chick in a pink bikini? No? Oh, OK, let’s just run with this then:

Looks like they grew some plants and gave the ol’ broad a paint job. Well done!

Mapping issues

Hi readers!

we’re having some issues with the LostOregon.com address – it’s not mapping correctly, so change your rss readers, bookmarks, etc. to our native address: lostoregon.wordpress.com.

Thanks!

Oregon Coast – 20 Miracle Miles

Now that Oregon’s summer is slowly [very, very slowly] starting to make its entrance in a few months [anywhere from early June to mid-July if we're lucky], it’s time to start thinking about trips to the coast – where it’ll undoubtedly be raining the weekend the plans are booked.

That’s OK though. I find places like Seaside, Wheeler and Manzanita way more enjoyable than some of the bigger, well-known coastal regions. I’ll never forget the world’s most amazing junk shop in Wheeler a couple years back – ran in from the rain and stayed until they closed.

But are there really any undiscovered coastal spots left anymore, small towns just off the beaten path or untouched bays and lagoons?

There were most certainly were when this brochure was designed, somewhere in the mid-60s.

The copy is priceless [and as a type and design nerd, I love the choice of fonts and clean design].

Here’s a sample of the copy:

Whether you are a do-nothing relaxer, a charging golfball chaser, a fishing fanatic, or just a plain died-in-the-salty wool beachcomber, Oregon’s 20 Miracle Miles is your kind of country. You won’t want to go home. Ever.

You have the foam-flecked blue Pacific right there in front of your bare, comfortable toes with the luxuriant green of the Coast range at your back to relax against.

Wow. I can’t decide if this is a hack job or Ogilvy-worthy. It’s certainly a product of an era though.

Here’s the logo and type treatment from the front panel:

Boat racing on Devil’s Lake. Total bad-ass and I’m not going to be the one to tell these dudes their boats should have NCC-1701 on the side.

Scene from the Roads End.

The 20 Miracle Miles. Love the hand-drawn type, requisite space-age starbursts and illustrations. Biggest. Woman. On. Towel. Ever.

Oregon City swimming pool

Scribbled on the back of the photo in pencil is: New swimming pool at Oregon City.

File this baby under, “creepy.”

Have some time for some low-level navel gazing? Pull up a chair.

Lost Oregon was never intended to be a history blog. It was more of a way for me to explore Portland through the eyes of recent history – most notably the post WWII era – and the myriad of postcards, brochures, pictures, that seemed to fall in my lap at various ye olde junk shops and thrift stores around town. It just kind of morphed into a blog that definitely falls under historical. The changes in Portland in just the past 20 years have been enormous so the comparisons of “now” vs. “then” can be striking.

Lately, additional content for the blog has had another venue –Twitter. There, at @lostoregon, I post short bits about buildings, older historical businesses or museums – many that are closing. Gone. Oregon’s history is disappearing in front of us. Doing these quick Tweets, it finally dawned on me that instead of slowly fading away like an old building that’s been ignored for years and eventually demolished, the cuts and demolitions are daily. I feel like I’m recording history being erased.

But, instead of being an undertaker I still plan on celebrating Oregon’s uniqueness – and its colorful history through found imagery. Lost Oregon certainly won’t turn into an economics blog, that’s for sure.  I’ll let someone else write the state’s obit – I’ll merely illustrate it.