Luncheonette model: Maya
(All the luncheonette models are local, home grown and free spirited and smart as heck, and none are professional models.)
 

What kind of artist are you?

I've always been really into drawing/illustration and making movies. I currently draw in my free time and am working to pursue more filmmaking opportunities, specifically in documentary. 

Vegetarian, vegan, omnivore?

Vegetarian for 12 years, currently not practicing.

Favorite foods? 

Yellowtail Sushi, Pizza, Goat Cheese, Avocados, Eggplant, Ben and Jerry's, Mango Smoothies, Grilled Cheese, Green Curry 

Favorite drinks?

Lemonade, hot black coffee, iced coffee with milk, seltzer, Mexican beers, chocolate milkshakes, red wine, anything with a straw.

Favorite actor / actress / movie / artist / writer (any or some or all)?

My favorite movie changes all the time, but I can tell you my first favorite movie: The African Queen.  My favorite writer also changes a lot but I'm currently reading Richard Brautigan.

Favorite decades?
I like dresses from the 20's, jackets from the 40's, pants from the 70's, music from the 60's and 90's, and art from the turn of the century.

Favorite luncheonette clothing you've modeled in so far?  

I had a lot of fun in the black fur stole, it's so absurdly posh. It carried a pretty big glam rock ego. [coming to the shop soon!]

Favorite animal?

I really like dogs. I think dogs with a lot of energy are great because they're always funny but my ideal dog is very large and lazy.

Everyone at the luncheonette has a restaurant connection, so what's yours?
I worked at a cafe where the menu was designed to give people a lot of mobility (make your own sandwich, build your own quesadilla etc.) so I've taken a lot of bizarre orders like cheese-less quesadillas or bacon-cheeseburgers topped with chicken tenders and mandarin oranges.  I like working jobs like that though, as long as people are in good spirits.

Frank Kane and company

More lurid, tawdry, torrid, lustful

Frank Kane

Charlotte Armstrong

Delores (and Bert) Hitchens

Helen Reilly

Kelley Roos (a husband and wife team)

the bundle. like noir by the pound.

The backs.

More back art.

 

It's a bag, it's a pouch, it's a drawstring purse, it's mod as heck, and just a little sad

 When this came into the shop,

1960s mod red vinyl leather pouch purse in brass circle frame

 it was one of those rabbit hole moments. Which is to say a long, long moment. Googling all sorts of variations of

 red vinyl pouch purse drawstring pochette handbag revealed next to nothing. But there was enough to go on. Still, I always like to know as much as possible about an object: its provenance, its era, its popularity. So this was a bit of a mod enigma, a red vinyl mystery.

Then I got this convo from Linda K, a digital artist and etsy shopkeeper who lives on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.

Oh My Gosh!---I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this purse today! Back in the late 60's my little sister came home with this exact style purse, only it was grey leather instead of red. And just the other night I as I lay awake in bed I was remembering this purse and thinking to myself, "Boy if you ever were in a situation that you had to protect yourself, this would really hurt to whack someone with because of the metal on the outside!" Can you believe my amazement when I saw it here today?

She added that in 1970, both sisters were in a car accident and the little sister died.  And she apologized for including that fact. But to me it only adds to the story. These objects have moments in people's lives when they shine, become large and significant, and then, often, they disappear. In the odd confluence of selling vintage and the way objects last despite being discarded and changing hands, sometimes they appear again, such as in my shop. Just a random occurrence that brings up a  moment in time, and gives the bag less of a mystery, more of a face.