A pressing invitation: Mid-century marvel Sparkle Cleaners of Tucson, Arizona

We've posted about a few of the swell eccentric roadside attractions along the North Stone area of Tucson, Arizona, a cornucopia of mid-century architectural wonders. Another gem is the gloriously retro Sparkle Cleaners, which was established in 1961 and is re-pleat with vintage dry cleaning greatness. It's got outside walk-up service under a brightly festooned overhang and their street sign is also a retro marvel. The best touch is the tri-toned laundry counters with blond wood and diamond pattern. This must be where Jane Jetson dropped off George's shirts while they were staying in Tucson. On the left side of the building is more 50's Googie-tecture, perhaps Sparkle's sister outfit Mendel's Wife the Tailor, where right angles are strictly optional. The nice thing about a place like this is that it just seems to be going about its business without trying to be hip, cool or vintage. They are who they are, no fuss no muss. It's nice to see a great old place like this still going strong after 49 years... I'd be mighty steamed if they were ever to fold.

Googie wonderland: Fontana, California's Butterfly Car Dealership

While we're still in this Route 66 Rialto-Fontana, California neck of the woods, I would be remiss if I didn't include another awesome eccentric road sight right nearby. I'm no authority on Googie architecture, but I do believe the above structure is called a butterfly. And a beautiful butterfly at that, with a deep neon "V" cleaving the front of the place right down the middle. If you're above a certain height, I imagine you have to tilt your head to one side if you're standing in the center of the room. How appropriate, too, that this is a car dealership as cars, California and Googie go together like butterflies, butterfly nets and something else having to do with butterflies.

Googie Wonderland: Palm Springs, California's Visitor Center

They've got lots of cool architecture books inside.

I would have loved to have gotten a fill-up here, back in the day.

You'd be hard-pressed to find a better location to view fabulous Mid-Century Modern architecture than Palm Springs, California. When stars like Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley made Palm Springs their desert retreat, they hired big-named architects to build them wild and wonderful futuristic showpieces. The town was so architecture-conscious that even something as ordinary as a gas station was given the full Googie treatment. This is the case with the former Enco gas station on Highway 111, which is the current location of the Palm Springs Visitors Center. Designed by architects Albert Frey and Robson Chambers and built in 1965, it is a magnificent mid-century marvel, with a hyperbolic paraboloid roof that would be the envy of George Jetson. It sits at the entrance to Palm Springs and lets you know this town is a ring-a-ding-ding clambake. Out of business by the early 1990s, its fate seemed destined for the wrecking ball until it was rescued, first by investors who turned it into an art gallery, and then by the town who treated it to a $500,000 restoration. What a beautiful place this is and how great Palm Springs was to recognize it before it was too late. It's a gasser, man, a real gasser.