The 2016 Souvenir Building Collectors Society Convention weekend coincides with the monthly BIG-ONE, The Pasadena Rose Bowl Flea Market! Join fellow Souvenir Building enthusiasts as they scour the stalls for the smallest, oldest, rarest, biggest, most interesting souvenir building, monument, statue, landmark. Who knows, maybe you’ll find one of these replicas of the Rose Bowl.
Special SBCS Convention Hotel Rates at the EMBASSY SUITES LAX North are available until May 19. The special hotel rates are extendable for 2 nights before and after the Convention. Such a deal! Click here for the full information on the available rates.
CONVENTION SCHEDULE:
June 10, Friday:
Early Bird Optional: Hollyhock House Tour (afternoon)
Meet & Greet / Show & Tell (evening)
June 11, Saturday:
Business Meeting and Swap Meet (morning)
Optional Tour to L.A. Downtown Art Deco District (afternoon)
Dinner / Raffle / Auction (evening)
June 12, Sunday:
Rose Bowl Flea Market followed by a visit to a local collector.
All past issues of the Journal of the Souvenir Building Collectors Society are now available in the Members Only section of this website. All you need is a clicky finger and a password. Click here to reach the list of newsletters from Vol. 1, No 1 through Vol. 22, No. 3. Future issues will be added as they are published.
Having the newletters available makes it easier to put up short, informational posts that remind us of and/or extend the stories encompassed within the newletters themselves.
Vincenzo Vizzari and his welcoming display of David Savanyu’s pre-ordered buildings.
For instance, in Vol. 22, No. 2, David Savanyu detailed his discovery of the shop and then the friendship with Italian architect and artisan, Vincenzo Vizzari, in Palermo. Now you can view David’s short videos here and refresh your memory of the article without leaving the website. In this instance, the 3 videos of Vincenzo Vizzari’s City of Clay are available to whom-so-ever visits this website. In the future, other media like the newsletters may be only available to SBCS members.
Southern California portion of Home Federal Savings and Loan Assoc. Map poster. Copyright 1973
The SBCS Convention 2016 will be held in Los Angeles. Here is your chance to share your passion for miniature buildings, monuments, statues and landmarks with others who are just as nutty as you are about these little gems. The event organizers are looking for local Southern California members, past members, or future members who are anxious to share their collections with Souvenir Building Collectors Society convention attendees.
As one convention organizer put it, “ Though I had been a member of SBCS for many years, I had never been involved until the last local Convention which was held in Pasadena in 2009. I was hooked, and have attended every annual Convention since.”
This year’s event will be held on June 9 -10 -11, 2016. Our base of operation will be the Embassy Suites hotel near LAX. One of the main draws for many attendees is the opportunity to see other SBCS Members’ collections. We are looking for Members who would be interested in showcasing their collection by being part of a Progressive Collection Tour around the Los Angeles area.
If you are not centrally located in the Los Angeles area, but would be interested in showcasing highlights from your collection, other arrangements such as displays at the Convention hotel or at other Members homes might be arranged. We have done this successfully in the past.
If you have interest in showcasing your collection please send the organizer an email letting us know of your interest.
Russell and Ingrid Keune in 2011 at the SBCS Washington DC convention.
Russell V. Keune, F.A.I.A., of Arlington, Virginia died at home on December third at age 77. He is survived by Ingrid Christina Keune to whom he was married for 47 years, their son Eric who lives in Chicago, Illinois with wife Kubinne Kim and their son Alexander. A graduate of the University of Illinois with both Bachelor and Master’s Degrees in Architecture, he worked for the National Park Service, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the U.S. Committee on Monuments and Sites for the U.N., and the American Institute of Architects as the Director of International Affairs. His work led him to pursue a lifelong love of collecting miniature buildings, amassing a collection of more than 800; along with two antique Packard automobiles which were an ongoing source of engagement.
Family and Friends will gather to celebrate his life at a later date. In lieu of flowers contributions should be made to the National Building Museum in the name of Russell V. Keune memorial fund.
Above are just a few of the souvenir buildings included John Beasley’s collection. Check out the collection being offered as a whole by John Beasley in the Sales/Classifieds by clicking here.
This SBCSociety website is a forum for selling or exchanging whole collections or individual buildings among collectors of miniature buildings. It is a good way to upgrade your collection or give others the opportunity to build their collections.
Joe Kopitz has issued an invitation to all those interested in miniature buildings and monuments, “Please try to join me at the closing reception for this wonderful exhibit this Sunday, September 13th from 3 – 6 PM at the City Reliquary Museum, 370 Metropolitan, Brooklyn, NY.”
A small portion of the miniature buildings to be see.
If you cannot make it this Sunday for the reception – the exhibit will still be on display for the next 2 weeks (till the end of September). The museum is open Thursday – Sunday, 12 – 6 PM.
This closing reception is shared with the opening reception for: Ascenzi Square, The Sons of Williamsburg, A Photographic History.
Reception Sunday, Sept. 13, 2015, at City Reliquary Museum, Brooklyn, NY
Here’s your chance! That one special building or many sought-after pieces from noted SBCS member Howie Gelbtuch’s collection and other consignors! All you have to do is have a winning bid!
Following the SBCS Convention tour of the Florida Southern College Architectural District, a collection of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings, it was observed that a miniature of the Annie Pfeiffer Chapel had been created as a building fundraiser some time in the 1930s. Steven and Ethan C have a one in their collection. It was purchased about 2010 from a collector in Atlanta who would only part with one of a pair of bookends.
Community Collections: A Sampling fo Souvenir Buildings. Photo courtesy of Anna GrantCommunity Collections: A Sampling of Souvenir Buildings. View at the City Reliquary Museum. Exhibit closes in September 2015. Photo courtesy of Anna Grant.
The City Reliquary Museum in Brooklyn, NY is showcasing in their Community Collections exhibit: “A Sampling of Souvenir Buildings” from the collection of SBCS President Joe Kopitz. They can be viewed in person at the Museum, on the City Reliquary Museum Facebook page and on the Souvenir Building Collectors Society Facebook page.
FACE BOOK Friend Days:
Of late, the Souvenir Building Collectors Society Facebook page has been hosting some lively discussions and a spate of interesting souvenir building photo postings requesting and receiving identifications. Carolyn C. kicked off these discussions on a Wednesday some weeks ago with a “Where Is It Wednesday?”.This has morphed into “Who Has It Wednesday?”, “and “What Is It Wednesday?” with resulting ID’s and pictures of the actual buildings.
Where Is It Wednesday? Identified as Dormition Church, Kondopoga.
Friday Finds: Resin Replica of Maine-Montparnasse Tower, Paris.
Added to this ‘Day of the Week’ conversation is “Throwback Thursday” and “Test Tarun Thursday” (Tarun V. having shown an unbelievable rapidity in identifying previously unidentified souvenirs). And Tarun has contributed another category, “Friday Finds.”
ARCO Center, Los Angeles, Grey Metal on Marble, circa 1980
The first contribution toward building a checklist of souvenir buildings / monuments / statues located in Los Angeles or Orange Counties has arrived. Chris S. sent in this photo of the ARCO Center, ARCO Products Company Headquarters. He wrote, “This Arco Tower was a spec building built in the late 1980s prior to the office building bust in the 1990s. This was the ‘lesser’ ARCO building, not the more famous ARCO Tower that housed the oil company headquarters. This building housed the ARCO Products Division, the AM/PM Mini Marts. ARCO has ended their lease and taken the signage off of the building.” He speculates that this miniature was made as a souvenir for the initial occupancy or as a sales reward. Chris found it at the Mart Collective in Venice, CA in the fall of 2014.
SBCS 