Inside The Cuckoo’s Nest
As promised, the follow up to my most popular blog ever- The Cuckoo’s Nest: Portland’s Original Bohemian Boutique. These shots were taken in the early 70s and feature different spaces inside the shop as well as some more of the folks involved.
Oh, and awesome news! Julie’s friend James Kiehle is now working on a book about The Cuckoo’s Nest :-)
The famous men’s Western shirts handmade by Georgia Drummond.
I’ll take that one and that one and that one and that one…
Susie Carlson pretties up the racks.
The entrance.
The home of Bill & Sam (named after the Naito brothers- see original post).
John Stockert arranging flowers.
Four of the shop’s seamstresses.
Georgia Drummond, head seamstress.
Jody Sterne, Marilyn Thompson, and Susie Carlton have fun with Raggedy Ann.
Jody behind the register.
Ric Young sketching a design. He is now, as Julie says, “designing costumes and directing Storefront Theatre productions for angels”.
Ric and Jody being fabulous.
Robin Chilstrom, personal seamstress to Ric.
Leather craftsman Rik Ehmann.
The Native American jewelry booth.
The shop stocked a large inventory of jewelry made by the Hopi, Zuni, and Navajo tribes.
All the rest of the jewelry was handcrafted by local artists, one of whom was Dyke Vandenburgh who now owns a beautiful jewelry store in Lake Oswego, Oregon.
Handmade pottery by the late Joel Cotett of Portland and Michael Zametkin of Astoria.
The natural foods cafe, managed by Susie Carlton. As with the other hand carved signs, this one (missing the “i” in juice!) was made by Roger McKay.
The menu. Julie recalls that the most expensive item was an avocado, sharp cheddar cheese, tomato and sprout sandwich on wholegrain bread for 85 cents.
There were private dining booths which were wallpapered in antique sheet music. Julie says that customers would spend hours inside.
The natural cosmetic and body bar where customers would bring their own containers and buy in bulk (Julie was so ahead of her time!).
Nooks and crannies in the natural body care section.
Okay and I still have one more Cuckoo’s Nest blog to post, all about the musician associated with the shop and some of the AMAZING posters and marketing images they created!
wow,love,amazing. Thanks for sharing, I am inspired!
OMG! More incredible=ness. What a great piece of history here and truly ahead of its time. Thanks so much for posting this, and thanks to Julie for sharing this treasure trove of info to you, and to us!
Bella Q´s last blog ..Taking Liberties
I get lost in each and every one of these pictures! I am so glad there is going to be a book. Thanks so much for sharing this piece of history with the world!!!! (-:
Sasha´s last blog ..BILA For Bohemians-
Wow. I’ve never heard of this place! Is it still there? All I know is that Portland blows my mind with its vintage shops everytime I go there…..
Thanks for a great post!
I’m kind of embarrassed to say that this is my first visit to Violet Folklore (the blog)….ahem….but not my last!
I love it!
Heidi
so awesome! i don’t think i would mind working if it was in that fabulous shop :D can’t wait for more!!!
Whoa! This place was sooo much more than I would have ever imagined, a true bohemian wonderland!!! Mind blowing really. Thanks so much for sharing :)
Looking forward to the next installment, and now the book too!
Missa´s last blog ..Sound the Trumpets
oh amber!!! i keep coming back to look at these. i haven’t even been able to comment because it blows me away so much i am left speechless and breathless, not kidding. every single photo, i examine each detail. the goldfish, the seamstresses, the menu, the signs, the dresses, the navajo jewelry, the booths, the beads… sweet jesus i am dying over here! what a dream life. how much this needs to take root again, here, now, forever and forever, this incredible spirit needs to continue and thrive! nothing is quite like this now and i know it can happen, at least some beautiful dream version of it…it needs to. this kind of thing is like wilderness, knowing it exists makes everything worth it. thank you for brightening the world with your correspondence with julie and this fascinating history. i can’t wait to read all about it in the book.
Oh my Goddess! This is had to be the most magical place ever in the history of clothing stores! I love how they had their own seamstresses and leather workers and a juice bar! I want to work in the juice bar as soon as I finish my time machine! Thank you thank you thank you! All exclamation marks!!!!
What an amazing collection of photos from that store, those woulda been the days *sigh*