Robert Cumming

Black and white print of a boat-shaped but street-legal vehicle owned by John Sullivan in Inglewood, California with handwritten text and Lure of the Sea stamped on back, along with a taped note including two paragraphs of typed text describing how Sullivan came to own the vehicle. Transcription: "John Sullivan bought The China Seas liner/vehicle a couple years ago from a gas station in Huntington Beach. The gas station got it in a trade for the installation of a new transmission in a '63 Pontiac with the owner's daughter. Her Father was the one to christen it the China Seas after his Chinese Restaurant in Pomona. When he died, the daughter inherited it and eventually made the trade for the '63 Pontiac transmission. Before all that, it belonged to a man in Venice who ran it in parades occasionally. He got it from the builder, of whom little is known, except that he built it on a truck chassis be- tween 1935 and 1947. When John Sullivan got it from the gas station, he had to get extensive brake work done on it to qualify for California registration. It has better brakes now, the original 1935 engine, and is a registered motor vehicle. The inside is padded with couches and rugs, is fitted out with the nautical accessories, much like a camper. John said that he once drove it up to San Francisco and back. When the photo was taken, John was selling it for $800. "Lure of the Sea", Inglewood, Calif., October 29, 1972."

Black and white print of a boat-shaped but street-legal vehicle owned by John Sullivan in Inglewood, California with handwritten text and Lure of the Sea stamped on back, along with a taped handwritten note and two paragraphs of typed text describing how Sullivan came to own the vehicle. Transcription: "-FLASH- 11/1/72. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE; JUST GOT A NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS GRANT WORTH 4,500 CLAMS! IT HAP- PENED YESTERDAY! ITS A GRANT IN + FOR STLL PHOTOS. AMAZING! Cumming IF YOU OR ANYONE IN VANC. WANTS THE LINER + CAN SWING $800, HE'S; JOHN SULLIVAN, 1404 N. OVERHILL DR. INGLEWOOD, CALIF. 90302"

A typewritten textual document providing information on the U.S. Navy Recruiter's U.S.S. Los Angeles float, including how the model came under ownership of the U.S. Navy Recruiters and its current use in parades. Transcription: "The U.S.S. Los Angeles belongs to the Navy Recruiters in Seal Beach, Calif., and although its radar antennae sweep convincingly and its gun turrets fire thunderous blank charges, it sees considerably less action in parades than it once did in combat as a Japanese cruiser in Otto Preminger’s movie “In Harm’s Way”. 20th Century Fox con PARAMOUNT tracted a Pasadena builder to construct the armada of some 30 such vessels for the battle sequences where were filmed in the Pacific off the coast of Mexico. The Jap cruiser was blown-apart down to the hull for the movie cameras, sold to the Navy, and was rebuilt in the guise of the U.S.S. Los Angeles for the float. Although it fires off a good $800 in blanks yearly in parades, the Seal Beach installa- tion built all the ship’s upper parts out of scrap alumi- num and spare plywood. January 8, 1972"

Typwritten description of the 'Lure of The Sea' aesthetic by Robert Cumming. Transcription, page 1: "Lure of the Sea. Noticeable and best in on-shore nautical architecture are some of the structures built in the thirties and early forties. That time endured the sometimes flamboyant Art Deco style. The ocean liner that flourished commercially then was streamlined (plan view resembled a backwards teardrop), sleek, punctuated by the circle and semi-circle motif (the height of Apt Deco fashion) in its sweeping lines, portholes, curvilinear railings, funnels, and suggestion of the Aztec step temple in the piling of rectil- inear solids one on top of another in the upper decks, It embod- ied all the elements that were repeated so many times in teaket- tles, toasters, radios, and other articles ef daily home use and even in cars and buildings. Many say it originated in aero-dy- namic design that reduced drag in bodies passing through fluids (like air) at great speeds. The heyday of the liner was during that time; late twenties through early forties. After W.W.2, the style diminished. Travel abroad in style was conducted on the oceanic liner, for air travel was not economically feasible or safe for the masses, then. The public wasn't embarrassed by traveling in the height of opulent style and the liner was a social and cultural phenomenon where people were wined and dined on their way to and from exotic ports. Movies of the period exploited the device of shipboard life, enter tainment and romance; high-life instead of a vehicle of transport. During prohibition, floating palaces sat outside the continental limit catering to the sinful dance, drink, and gambling desires of a nation under tight puritanical law. High-powered speed boats taxied the public out and back. Outside the popular ports the floating casinos represented nothing resembling a form of trans- portation. On the sporting inland lakes like the Great Lakes, the lakes of upper-state New York, Lake Tahee, and others, concerts, ferries and aquatic ploys like ferries, rowboats, pedal-boats, and canoes catered to weekend and vacationing crowds. Before motor boating and water skiing (and certainly skin diving), the forms flourished. Lure of the Sea shore-bound buildings were built in emulation of that which the liner style represented, if only as visual, non- functional ploy to draw a conditioned clientel. The era ended after the Second World War and a few ef the original structures survived the economic re-orientation, fires, and decay; Now, thirty years later, in an era of air travel, entertainment else- where, and space travel, they are survivors of an out-aesthetic. Luré of the Sea persists, though, in different forms. Nautical nostalgia of the seventies relates back much further to the age of the sailing ship. The phenomenon has re-oriented itself. Pop- ular Disneyland rides are the stern-wheeler, galleon, keel boat and sailing vessel that go back a century more in formal emulation. All over the nation are cocktail lounges and restaurants fitted out with planked wooden bars and floors, block and tackle and rope ladders (ratlines) harpoons and details of whaling commerce, etc. Land-bound boats are made in the form of the square-rigger instead of the liner. With affluence we've shied away from the opulence and luxury of the liner and fallen for the chinked wood, rope and canvas of a down-to-earth mercantile and privateering basic aesthetic." Transcription, page 2: "The ocean liner is the Busby Berkeley glitter and wealth and good life in asperation while the galleon and square-rigger is the Herman Melville/Joseph Cenrad return to basics of a people who, having attained a basic wealth, wish to deny it in a full circle endorsement of Nature and deeper nostalgia. Light houses The architectural tower has endured Freudian interpret- ation for decades; a fault of its roundness, being a tall, erect cylinder of menumental proportions, It is also an easily adapt— able structure for commercial eye-appeal. It can be seen over lower structures, and is relatively inexpensive. Land-borne (rather, inland) lighthouses are usually all show, empty inside, with no light atop. A few have undergone stylistic changes as the business they adorned changed hands from lighthouse to min- aret, to Leaning Tower of Pisa. It is an empty drum with acess within to the upper revolving light which is its raison D'etre. the light is removing all but the outer husk, which is what has been done in most inland cases to reduce the electric bill. Gift store wares; ships of plaster, china, mermaids, deep-sea divers for aquariums, sunken ships & seashell embellishments for fish tanks, seashell landscapes, antiqued charts, steering wheels, nautical paintings, and seascapes with waves crashing en reck-bound coasts, or just suspended over beach sand in the moonlight, desert island humor cards, plastic belaying pins, swordfish swizzle sticks, lobster pets & cork floats with fish net, nautically inscribed ashtrays, costume jewelry & keychains, fishy mobiles, little treasure chests,with glitter dubloons, Jolly Roger flags, cutlass stick-pins, island T-shirts, brass and chrome-plate ship barometers and thermometers, innumerable import objects with wave-motif, and nautical jig-saw puzzles. Anchor monuments; salvaged from scrap yards or found near wrecks used as markers. Tattoo parlor penchant for sailor & nautical images. Hoemosex- ual pornography with copulating sailors and sailor pick-ups. Public aquariums, Marineland, Sea World, San Diego...performing seals, whales, penguins, dolphins, etc. Periodic reinstatement of the sailer's uniform into high fashion; its constant popularity in children's clothing. Bell-bottom pants, white & blue, pinafore, hat & trim."

Black and white print of a residence with nautical themed fence and decor in Balboa, California with handwritten text on the back. On verso: "R. CUMMING 7/72. LURE OF THE SEA BALBOA, CALIF."

Black and white print of an old building housing an antiques stores and a real estate office in Huntington Beach, California with handwritten text on the back. On verso: "R. CUMMING 8/10/72. "LURE OF THE SEA" HUNTINGTON BEACH, CALIF. L.O.S inscribed in the layer of dirt on the car window is. Lure of the Sea. "TORPEDOES LOS!"

Black and white print of a residence with nautical themed fence and decor in Balboa, California with handwritten text on the back. On verso: "R. CUMMING 7/72. LURE OF THE SEA BALBOA, CALIF."

Black and white print of the back of a singles-story building apparently constructed partially out of a boat and with a neon sea food sign in the background in Huntington Beach, California with handwritten text on the back. On verso: "R. CUMMING 8/10/72 "LURE OF THE SEA" HUNTINGTON BEACH, CALIF."

Black and white print of the bow of the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California.

Black and white print of a roadside restaurant in Hollywood, California with handwritten text on the back. On verso: "HOLLYWOOD, CALIF. 10/72 FRESHWATER LURE OF THE SEA. R. CUMMING"

Black and white print of a two-story building with a sign on the front which reads "Haven of Rest Radio Studio" in Los Angeles, California with handwritten text on the back. On verso: "R. CUMMING 3/4/73. "LURE OF THE SEA" LOS ANGELES, CALIF."

Black and white print of a boat-shpaed vehicle parked in a lot with the Queen Mary in the background in Long Beach, California and with handwritten text on the back. On verso: "SULLIVAN'S "S.S. CHINA SEAS" AT THE "QUEEN MARY" LONG BEACH, CALIF. MAYBE WE SHOULD HAVE PUT THE BAR ON WHEELS"

Black and white print of an motel with an elevator made out of a pilot house in Oceanside, California with handwritten text on the back. On verso: "R. CUMMING 12/72. LURE OF THE SEA OCEANSIDE, CALIF. -PILOT HOUSE ELEVATOR IN MOTEL- "

Black and white print of a shopping centre with ships as sculptural installations in the center, with handwritten text and Lure of the Sea stamped on back. On verso: "R. CUMMING 12/72 Lure Of The Sea Irvine, California"

Black and white print of apartments partially constructed from old boats in Encinitas, California with handwritten text on back. On verso: "R. CUMMING "LURE OF THE SEA" -SHIP APARTMENTS- ENCINITAS, CALIF. 1972."

Black and white print of people and old automobiles on a street in Moscow, USSR, with a purple stamp on the back. On verso: "FOTONLRONIKA TASS Moscow, USSR"

Post card from the 'Queen Mary Observation Lounge' in Long Beach, California, with stamps, handwritten text, and a drawing of an anchor on the back. On verso: "LURE OF THE SEA LONG BEACH, CALIF. Cumming 9/9/72. QUEEN MARY OBSERVATION LOUNGE, forward part of the Promenade Deck. A favorite gathering place for the transatlantic voyagers. The brilliant composite caricature, "Jubilee Night", stretches over the bar. B2178 OFFICIAL QUEEN MARY SOUVENIR Mike Roberts Berkeley 94710 8c Eisenhower·USA the Continental card IMAGE BANK MORRIS/TARASOFF GEN. DELIVERY ROBERTS CREEK, B.C. CANADA"

Postcard from the 'Sampan in Lagoon Ports of Call Restaurant' in San Pedro, California., with an illustration of a boat, handwriting and stamps on the back. On verso: "SAMPAN IN LAGOON PORTS OF CALL RESTAURANT San Pedro, California Located in Ports of CAll Village at Booth 76, Port of los Angeles, this atmospheric restaurant affords diners all excellent view of great ships from foreign lands passing within hailing idstance along the harbour's main channel. LURE OF THE SEA, SAN PEDRO CUMMING 9/9/72 IMAGE BANK MORRIS/TRASOV GEN DELIVERY ROBERTS CREEK, B.C. CANADA GW-467 MADE BY H.S. CROCKER CO., INC., SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF. 94103 SceniKrome FROM Golden West, 700 W. WILLOW ST., LONG BEACH, CALIF. 90806"

Postcard from 'The Bayou Belle Sternwheeler Restaurant' in St. Louis, Missori with 'Lure of the Sea' stamped on the back. On verso: "THE BAYOU BELLE STERNWHEELER RESTAURANT Renowned for superb Creole specialties and excellent steaks...this posh riverboat, native of New Orleans, is drydocked in a moat surrounded setting in St. Louis County...Banjo, Bass, an finest bourbon make inhabitants of the Captain's Bar the happiest crew. Open Tuesday through Saturday from 5 p.m. 12341 St. Charles Rd. PE 9-1226 St. Louis, Missouri Lure Of The Sea PLACE STAMP HERE Post card Dukane Press Hollywood, FLA #6818"

Black and white print of a Christmas street installation in Newport Beach, California with handwritten text and Lure of the Sea stamped on back. The artwork depicts Santa Claus with a sack of presents on the back of a whale being pulled by a team of seahorses. On verso: "R. CUMMING 12/72. Lure Of The Sea NEWPORT BEACH, CALIF. "

Black and white print of a U.S. Navy Recruiting Command parade float modeling the USS Los Angeles in Seal Beach, California with handwritten text and Lure of the Sea stamped on back. On verso: R. CUMMING Lure Of The Sea SEAL BEACH, CALIF. -THANKS AGAIN ON THE RETURN IMAGE OF THE OTTO PREMINGER ACTION SHOTS. "

Black and white print of the front view of a United States Navy Recruiting Command parade float with Seapower for Peace detail on body in Seal Beach, California, with handwritten text on back. On verso: "R. CUMMING 1/73 "LURE OF THE SEA" OR "1984." SEAL BEACH, CALIF."

Black and white print of the side view of a United States Navy Recruiting Command parade float with Seapower for Peace detail on body in Seal Beach, California, with handwritten text on back. On verso: "R. CUMMING 1/73 LURE OF THE SEA SEAL BEACH, CALIF. "

Black and white print of a closed key shop in Westminster, California with handwritten text on back. On verso: "R. CUMMING 2/73 "LURE OF THE SEA" -CLOSED KEY SHOP- WESTMINSTER, CALIF."

Black and white print of a crab sculpture under streetlights in Galveston Texas with handwritten text and Lure of the Sea stamped on back. On verso: "R. CUMMING 4/73. Lure of the Sea GALVESTON, TEXAS."