Roadside Stuff Archives | Girlie Motorcycle & Road Trip Blog

The Double Futuro House of Carlisle, Ohio

By Fuzzygalore | February 3, 2023 | Comments 3 comments

While visiting Ohio in the fall of ’22, I stopped to see the double Futuro UFO House in the town of Carlisle. To the best of my knowledge, which isn’t much, this is the only instance of conjoined Futuros. Looking around the web, these two had previously appeared to be deteriorating but were clearly given a big dose of TLC.

The Futuro House was a uniquely designed prefab home, created by Finnish architect Matti Suuronen in the 1960s. It was designed to be a portable, affordable, and customizable dwelling that could be easily transported and assembled anywhere.

It’s most striking feature is clearly the distinctive saucer shape. The rounded design was not only super cool, but it was also functional. It’s curves allowed the house to withstand extreme weather conditions and heavy snow loads. It also helped to distribute the weight of the structure evenly. Plus… it looks like a UFO. So, there’s that.

Inside, the houses were designed to be spacious and open, with a minimalist aesthetic. The interior featured a central living space surrounded by a wraparound sofa, space-saving built in furniture and storage, and a small kitchen and bathroom. The Futuro House could accommodate up to eight people in its compact footprint.

The entire structure was made up of modular, interlocking pieces that could be quickly and easily assembled on site – a great choice for vacation homes, ski chalets, and temporary dwellings.

Despite its maximum fabulosity, the Futuro House never gained widespread popularity. Only something like a hundred were ever produced. Many of these unique homes were eventually dismantled and discarded, and today, only a handful remain.

This green Futuro shell can be found on Route 66 in Livingston, Illinois outside of the Pink Elephant Antique Mall along with said pink elephant, a Harley-Davidson muffler man, and a curious collection of other roadside wonders.

This Futuro calls Milton, Delaware it’s Earth home.

Bigfoot’s Bodacious Sittin’ Muscle Revealed

By Fuzzygalore | November 14, 2022 | Comments 1 comment

Well? Now you know. Bigfoot has some junk in the trunk. He got them Applebottom jeans, the boots with the furrrrrr…

To be honest, I’m not sure why wondering about the goings on of the big man’s hindquarters hadn’t plagued me sooner, but here we are. Cryptid butt cheeks reveal themselves in their own time.

The American Sign Museum – Cincinnati, Ohio

By Fuzzygalore | November 4, 2022 | Comments 4 comments

Over the last 5 or 6 years there have been several occasions when I’d been traveling and thought, “oh, well, while I’m in the neighborhood I’ll just swing by,” in reference to the American Sign Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio. Though I was closer to the city than I would have been at home, each and every time that I’d considered and even worked towards that pit stop, something derailed my loose plans. I never made it.

In the summer of 2021, I decided to drive out to the museum specifically. Unfortunately the universe decided that it wasn’t a good idea and left me stranded in a gas station waiting for a tow and I never got there.

Life is mysterious and unfolds in its own time. The fickle hand of fate gave me a shove in the fall of 2022. I finally made it to Cincinnati where I got to tour the beautiful collection at the American Sign Museum.

The signs are buzzing, clicking, ticking, chasing, blinking, spinning, humming feast for the eyes and ears. As a lover of this type of advertising, a wave of nostalgia washed over me as I took in the Americana gems. That nostalgia wasn’t necessarily directly for the objects but for a place in time or a version of myself. Maybe even a feeling that is hard to come by, like innocence, true wonder, an unburdened mind, or what can now be identified as unbridled possibility.

The Museum is a must-visit when you’re in the Cincinnati area. It is a feast for the eyes for even a casual or non-appreciator of commercial advertising. A neon wonderland!

Photos and Video from the Museum

american sign museum cincinnati ohio capter genie at entrance

american sign museum cincinnati ohio frisch's big boy fiberglass statue

american sign museum cincinnati ohio ddrugs signs dolly madison ice cream

american sign museum cincinnati ohio porcelain signs goodyear winged shoe sandal boot foot

American sign museum vintage mcdonalds neon sign

american sign museum cincinnati ohio gulf neon kona lanes

american sign museum cincinnati ohio neon signs

american sign museum cincinnati ohio rotating satellite sign sputnik

american sign museum cincinnati ohio bowling pin mural sign painter

Visit The American Sign Museum

The American Sign Museum
1330 Monmouth Ave
Cincinnati, OH 45225
website

The Coffee Pot: A Lincoln Highway Treasure – Bedford, Pennsylvania

By Fuzzygalore | October 17, 2022 | Comments 3 comments

The Coffee Pot or sometimes referred to as the Koontz Coffee Pot after it’s 1927 builder, is roadside American royalty. Calling Bedford, Pennsylvania home, the Lincoln Highway giant is a whimsical treasure. It handily earns it rightful place on many a “must-see roadside attractions” lists.

As the elder Griswold would say, “It’s a beaut, Clark.”

There was a time when I wanted to see the Coffee Pot so badly but it seemed just too far out of reach. Sitting at my computer, I’d plot out whether I could ride my motorcycle out to it and back home in a single day. The pot holds court some 330 miles away from where I live. Sure, an out-and-back ride was doable, but it would be a long highway drone for a short visit. At that time in my life, I kept coming to the conclusion that the price was just too high. And so, I never made that single-day, coffee pot-focused trip.

Fast forward a couple years, and what was once fantasy became reality. I visited the Coffee Pot for the first time in 2009.

Life is funny. At times it seems like you can manifest your wishes and whims into reality in an almost subconscious way. All of the little gremlins at the controls inside inch us ever closer towards those desires and experiences we seek.

I’ve seen the Pot quite a few times now. As a matter of fact, when I am passing Bedford, I don’t seem to be able to resist stopping to see it. In some strange cosmic twist, this mimetic architecture gem has become almost something of a touchstone for that corner of the world. Did I even pass through the area if I didn’t see the Pot?

Even I cannot say for sure why the big pot has had such an enduring hold on my interest. Except perhaps… that it’s just awesome. Can you ever have too much of that in your life? Maybe these periodic visits are just to top off my cup when it’s running low.

Here area few snaps from the big Pot stops over the years.

Coffee Pot Breaks

2022

October 2022 at The Coffee Pot. It still looks beautiful in the autumn morning light, though the signs of aging are starting to accelerate. There is significant peeling starting around the structure.