Terry Zwigoff
Terry Zwigoff did most all of that when I sat down with him in the kitchen of his Bernal Heights home in San Francisco in July of 1994. Zwigoff is well informed and holds strong opinions. He’s also funny. A film-maker and musician, he is also an inveterate collector, as a visit to his house makes apparent.
In the kitchen is an old GE monitor-top refrigerator (beautifully restored), a cabinet of obsolete soda pop bottles, and a cloth sack that once held Jug Band Flour, now framed and hanging over the kichen table. In the living room is an over-stuffed couch with matching armchairs, a vintage Mickey Mouse radio, and a stage-prop palm tree that reaches to the ceiling. Hanging nearby is an original oil painting by Enoch Bolles, one of the prime pin-up artists of the 1930s. The walls are decorated with ornate floral wallpaper from the 1920s, unchanged since the house was built. A central hallway is lined with old photos of obscure jazz bands, banjo players, and blues singers. A small office holds an antique display cabinet containing the world’s foremost collection of Valmor products- a line of novelties and cosmetics aimed at black consumers of the 1930s. The music room is dominated by a custom-built shelf containing row after row of 78 rpm records in green or tan sleeves. Vintage musical artifacts are everywhere- rare instruments, photographs, posters, figurines, catalogs and record sleeves. Terry’s girlfriend, Missy Axelrod, lives with him in this house where virtually everything predates World War II.
In the kitchen is an old GE monitor-top refrigerator (beautifully restored), a cabinet of obsolete soda pop bottles, and a cloth sack that once held Jug Band Flour, now framed and hanging over the kichen table. In the living room is an over-stuffed couch with matching armchairs, a vintage Mickey Mouse radio, and a stage-prop palm tree that reaches to the ceiling. Hanging nearby is an original oil painting by Enoch Bolles, one of the prime pin-up artists of the 1930s. The walls are decorated with ornate floral wallpaper from the 1920s, unchanged since the house was built. A central hallway is lined with old photos of obscure jazz bands, banjo players, and blues singers. A small office holds an antique display cabinet containing the world’s foremost collection of Valmor products- a line of novelties and cosmetics aimed at black consumers of the 1930s. The music room is dominated by a custom-built shelf containing row after row of 78 rpm records in green or tan sleeves. Vintage musical artifacts are everywhere- rare instruments, photographs, posters, figurines, catalogs and record sleeves. Terry’s girlfriend, Missy Axelrod, lives with him in this house where virtually everything predates World War II.
posted by deux at
2:14 PM
