Little Brown Church Souvenir on TV News

It’s funny where you might catch a glimpse of a souvenir building. Today, I was watching a local NBC news affiliate story about Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa.  My eyes zeroed in on what was unmistakably a replica of the Little Brown Church over his left shoulder as he sat in this office on Capital Hill. Seems to makes sense as the Senator and Church are both from Iowa - Nashua and Butler County,  respectively. And both places are close to each other. During some research, I also discovered you can now buy on The Little Brown Church in the Vale cast aluminum bank directly from the church’s online store. I’ve also noticed souvenir buildings on TV shows like Mad Men, Heroes, and Cold Case.  Movie sightings include the Lavender Hill Mob.

MIniature Buildings on Set of New Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon

Heeeeere's, Jimmy!  Last night was the premiere of The Tonight Show with its new host, Jimmy Fallon, new location, New York City, and new stage set. I'm sure you architecture fans noticed the new Manhattan skyline behind his desk. Thanks to Kenny A. for alerting me to this. The 3-D miniature buildings appear to be made of wood and are highlighted with spot lights. Classy set for the new host. I wonder who built them?

TV Shows for Antiques and Collecting

Antiques Road Show started it all. The popular TV show, which has been on the air since 1997, appraises various antique items brought into its traveling studio and discovers hidden gems for excited owners. I was able to attend the appraisals when the show came to Washington, D.C. in 2010. The interest in antiques and collecting has exploded in the last few years. Collectors are attracted by the acquisition of interesting items, while others are interested in the increasing value of older objects. When one TV show is successful, others are sure to follow. Antiques Road Show has spawned not just shows that are imitations, but TV shows that dramatize every strata of the business of antiques. Mike Wolf and Frank Fritz hit the road each week to unearth hidden ‘farm fresh’ antiques off the beaten path on American Pickers. They encounter unique collecting characters and ‘pop’ on an item when they manage to negotiate a good price for ‘rusty gold.’ Following in the boys’ footsteps, but in designer high heels, are the Picker sisters. This dynamic dame duo dumpster dives and digs in derelict destinations to discover pay dirt. They buy forgotten items and re-imagine them for their Los Angeles store. ABC's Collectors, went off the air in 2011, featured various collectors and their hobby. “It’s Worth What” from NBC is available online. Pawn Stars, perhaps the best play-on-words TV show title, do not strip down for the camera, but they do sometime dress down a customer to get a better price. Rick, The Old Man, Big Hoss and the chubby Chumlee make fun of each other while they negotiate with customers who bring in a surprisingly diverse selection of new and old items to pawn for cash. Hardcore Pawn is another pawn shop TV show. Sometimes networks produce very similar shows to compete for viewers. Auction Hunters and Storage Wars follow people who buy self-storage containers and sell the contents. The cast of Hollywood Treasure tracks down and then auctions off movie memorabilia, film props and tinsel-town trinkets the realize top prices. Utilizing research and metal detectors, the American Digger team literally digs for their antiques. When they find something its, “BOOM, Baby!” The more scholarly viewer can follow the History Detectives on PBS as they investigate the provenance of historically significant items. My Crazy Obsession is a light-hearted look at collectors, while Hoarders on A&E and TLC's Hoarding: Buried Alive record what happens when collecting goes bad. On these shows, it goes very bad and out of control as people acquire too much and can’t give anything up. 

Very Tiny Versions Of Very Large Things

Like a building collector, Erika Nelson travels and collects miniatures. The difference is, she creates the miniature replicas of the roadside vernacular architecture and unusual tourist attractions she visits. Some of the mini reproductions she makes are of buildings and monuments such as L.A.’s Randy’s Donuts shop and a catsup-shaped water tower. Nelson describes her mission as, “I want to make a small version of the World's Largest Collection of the World's Smallest Versions of the World's Smallest Things Traveling Roadside Attraction Museum and open my OWN museum with just that and watch people's heads explode.” Since 2002, she has been writing a blog about her travels and growing collection. Here’s a video about her traveling museum van. Check out Erika’s appearance on Conan O’Brian below.

Miniature Monuments on Mad Men

Are you a mad man or mad woman? Do you dig the dapper Don, perky Peggy and fabulous furniture? Watchers with keen eyes during the AMC TV show, Mad Men, might have noticed the souvenir buildings. During this past Sunday's episode (Season 4, episode 8: The Summer Man), Joan walks into Lane's office. On his desk sits an Empire State Building souvenir and behind him is a Statue of Liberty replica. Lane, a British character, seems to be taking a shine to his new New York home and wants to be surrounded by souvenirs. He might also just look out of his Madison Avenue window to see the real thing, but who's asking. Have you seen souvenir replicas on TV shows or Movies lately? In the past, I've written about sightings on Heros, Cold Case and the B&W movie The Lavender Hill Mob.

Souvenir Buildings in Movies

Oscar has spoken and been spoken for. The awards for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards have been given out and are now proudly displayed on the winners' shelves. The very first Oscar statuette itself was manufactured in the 1920's by A.C. Rehberger, a name well known to souvenir building collectors. A rare souvenir replica of the Washington Monument with a flying saucer crashed into it sold on eBay a while ago for $159. It was made as a 'wrap' gift for cast and crew of the film "Men in White.' The National Lampoon parody of Sci-fi films of the past and spoof of the movie Men in Black. The 1998 film centers around two garbage men who stumble on a plot by aliens who intend to invade the Earth. The piece stands about 5 3/4" tall and cast in Pewter. The round base reads: MEN IN WHITE Cast and Crew 1998. There were only about 40 of these ever made so the piece is quite scarce. Microcosms made a limited run of highly detailed replicas of the Glass Tower from the now classic film "The Towering Inferno". Microcosms also produced a replica the Bates house on a hill from the movie Psycho. There is also an unusual miniature building of Remulak, the home planet of the Conesheads from the movie of the same name. Made of wood and metal with resin pieces, It's 8 inches wide by 5 inches deep and 5 inches tall. A while ago, I also wrote about a movie prop (Empire State Building) from the movie Die Hard. The movie Milk had a building-shaped cake in a birthday scene. Do you know of other souvenir building movie props or replicas of movie monuments?

Souvenir Building on Heroes

We didn't watch the NBC TV show Heroes when it first aired a few years ago, but we have been catching up on past episodes via Netflix. The show is about a group of people who have special powers and use them for good or evil. We just saw Season 3, episode 4 named "I am Become Death." During one scene, newly-appointed N.Y. Senator Nathan Petrelli is sitting in his office and a prominently-displayed Chrysler Building souvenir is sitting on his desk. Other souvenir buildings have been sighted in movies like The Lavender Hill Mob and TV shows like CBS's Cold Case, which featured an Eiffel Tower.