ALL ITEMS: 'Johnson--W-R-


 Thumbnail CreatorDateTitle / Author / Date / LocationPrice  Description
6340Atomic Tunnel, a 1950's Florida roadside attraction near Daytona BeachDetailsJohnson, W.R.1955
Plan of the Atomic Tunnel 1950's attraction near Daytona Beach
Johnson, W.R.
1955
LOC:11
$199.00Johnson--W-R-Plan-of-the-Atomic-Tunnel-1950-s-attraction-near-Daytona-BeachLithographed plan / view of the <i>"World's Most Unusual</i> Atomic Tunnel". A four-panel <strong>Florida roadside-attraction</strong> brochure from the early 1950s. An atomic age wonder! The illustrator is unknown but his interpretation of Happy the Walking Fish is a high point in mid-century illustration with Happy dressed to the nines in bow tie, top hat, and tuxedo and carrying a cane. <div class="indenttextblocksingle"> " … it was a long, white concrete building in the shape of a meandering tube, studded with 824 "port holes" (variously shaped small windows) that was designed primarily as a showcase and shop for exotic orchids. It also featured tropical birds, a monkey, and "Happy, the walking fish," a typical Southeast Asian "walking" catfish that could be prodded into flipping its way across a short dry connection from one tank to another." (1) </div> <BR /> <div id="1" align="center"> <a title="Atomic Tunnel"> <img id="TunnelPlan" src="/ZoomifyImages/SC_6340/SC_6340_Happy_400x300.jpg" alt="Atomic Tunnel" width="240" /> </a> </div> <div id="2" align="center"> <a title="Atomic Tunnel"> <img id="TunnelPlan" src="/ZoomifyImages/SC_6340/SC_6340_400x300.jpg" alt="Atomic Tunnel" width="300" /> </a> </div> <br /> <u>Verso</u> contains two reverse-profile portraits of "Happy, the Walking Fish" and also two fold-in panels showing a map and plan of the Atomic Tunnel with happy visitors strolling along walkways. The illustrator cleverly uses two different levels of scale on this work, at top a linear representation with mile boards of HWY 1 stretching from Daytona Beach, Florida through Port Orange to the Atomic Tunnel and below on the same page a plan view of the Atomic Tunnel's tunnels, rooms and walkways at a large scale. The <u>recto</u> shows detailed photographs of the rooms including the Fish room, Bird room and Cactus room.