Charles Phoenix in Newton, KS, Friday

Humorist, historian and all around fun guy Charles Phoenix will deliver the keynote address during a banquet Friday night, June 4, at the 2010 Kansas Preservation Conference in Newton. The conference started today and continues through Saturday. Ticket information may be found on the conference's website. Here's Charles Phoenix's website.

I've had the pleasure of seeing Charles' presentations at the Kansas City Airline Museum (above) and the Denver Modernism Show (below).



Phoenix is the author of Americana the Beautiful: Mid-Century Culture in Kodachrome, Southern Californialand: Mid-Century Culture in Kodachrome, Southern California in the 50s: Sun, Fun, and Fantasy, God Bless Americana: A Retro Vacation Slide Show Tour of the USA, and Cruising the Pomona Valley 1930-1970.

His retro slide shows (such as the one he'll present Friday) utilize vintage images that evoke a time when Americans in plastic-frame glasses attended roadside attractions, theme parks and tiki parties while living in cities colored by wild googie neon signs.

God Bless America, indeed.