Tag: Bruce Wiener Microcar Museum (Madison GA)

My Netcast and Obituary

My love of roadside attractions now has me netcasting (no iPod required). Hosted on the Georgia Podcast Network, the premire episode of “Road Scholar” is titled…

“Georgia on My Mind: Kangaroos, Museums about Micro-Cars Telephones & Granite, Plus A Monument to the New World Order in Elberton

Myself (Rob – Neon Poisoning) and Amber from the Georgia Podcast Network talk about out mutual appreciation for odd roadside attractions, starting with a small collection of places in our state Georgia. From visionary artists to millionaires to animal conservancies, all have created destinations in the “Peach State.” Any of the attractions mentioned that have online resources and/or sites are included below.
Official Sites:

The Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum Madison, Georgia
Welcome to the Fantastic World of Joni Mabe! (Everything Elvis) Cornelia, Georgia
The Official Homepage Of Howard Finster
Kangaroo Conservation Center
The United Nuwaubian Nation Of Moors<

Roadside America Articles:

Georgia Rural Telephone Museum, Leslie, Georgia
Georgia Tourist Attractions

Wikipedia Entries:

Georgia Guidestones
Howard Finster
Nuwaubianism (Nuwaubian Nation of Moors)

Additional Resources and Unofficial Sites:

Public Broadcasting Atlanta: “Atlanta Road Trip – A Day Away”
Howard Finster’s Paradise Gardens
The Outsider Pages – Howard Finster’s Paradise Garden“

Double Bubble Bubble Cars! Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum


Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum Panorama
Originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

After all this time of thinking about tiny-car goodness in nearby Madison, GA, all 6 rechargable batteries that I took on my roadtrip were pretty much dead. So when we got to the Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum that meant fewer pictures than hoped for.

But it also meant I actually looked at all the candy-colored motorized treats. Bruce Weiner, former owner of Double Bubble Bubblegum (seriously!), is spending much money on a larger and still growing collection of microcars. Much in the same way that a puppy is cuter than a grown dog, these miniaturized-but-roadworthy cars are seriously charming. Retro fantastic and beautifully restored, this museum is a worthwhile and cheap roadtrip from Atlanta.

Weird Georgia On My Mind: Google Earth and Flickr Maps

Little did I know when we moved to Atlanta that we would be moving to a state chock full of strange museums, roadside attractions and other cultural eccentricities.  Just my kind of state!

Spending many hours (ask my wife) I have accumulated hundreds of places on Google Earth that meet the criteria to make them worth a future visit.

Some we hit during our Summer Roadtrip (pictures), like the RV/MH Heritage Foundation with its huge collection of historic travel trailers, Carhenge, and the historic Blue Swallow Motel on Rt. 66, amongst other places.  If it weren’t for Google Earth and my compulsive collecting, I don’t think we would have known about or thought of visiting these places.

While amassing the growing collection of Google Earth sites, I was pleased to see a large collection of places in Georgia or in nearby states.  

Already we made the trek to the Georgia Guidestones in Elberton, GA.  This week, it may be a trip to The Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum in Madison, GA.  Eventually, we hope to go to the Georgia Rural Telephone Museum, Leslie, GA.

Just unveiled this evening on FlickrBlog is a newly added geotagged photos on a map feature.  I found it while editing some pictures, and it is great!  I like the intuitive interface — it is very easy to add my pictures to the map.  I don’t like the map itself; it’s modeled on Google Map but just not as slick and the imagery doesn’t have the resolution that Google has.  So, I now have started adding roadtrip pictures to my map. I am curious to see if Google Earth/Google Map has a project that is similar, because I’d love that.

And in a triumph, I have even converted my wife to the pursuit of weirdness.  I came home to have her tell me that she recorded a local PBS show about Joni Mabe and Everything Elvis.  Now if I can get her to break into abandoned buildings and let me fly this thing…

… I don’t know what else I could ask for.

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Anyone who wants my collection of Google Earth sites (in .kml format), just leave a comment.

Atlanta of Old: Panoramic Maps 1871, 1892, and 1919

I’ve loved the American Memory site from the Library of Congress for years , and NO!… that’s not sad!

The following images of Atlanta come from the Panoramic Maps Collection. The collection includes cities from all over the country and the maps combine landmarks, streets and geography in a slanted perspective. As you will see the images go from broad overviews to highly magnified details of specific areas. The specialized .SID file type used by the Library of Congress allows to zoom in and out, and the maps are captured beautifully. For those inclined, links to Windows and OS X .SID viewers can be found here

Birds eye view of the city of Atlanta, the capitol of Georgia 1871. Drawn & published by A. Ruger.


Note the two railroad round houses (top left lower right) they will be pictured in another map below.

Bird’s eye view of Atlanta, Fulton Co., State capital, Georgia. Drawn by Aug. Koch. Hughes Litho. Co. c1892


Here the area’s around the roundhouses (top left lower right) have been developed, with the addition of the capital building.


My neighborhood, a little changed.


Oakland Cemetery

Foote and Davies Company (Atlanta, Ga.) c1919

Road Trip Saturday: Social Circle, Madison, Athens, GA

Since our arrival in Atlanta, we hadn’t been any further than Stone Mountain Village. With a lull in work, the wife and I planned a trip to Madison and Athens, GA. The main attraction in Madison was the tiny cars of the Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum. While the website taunts with a collection of great pictures of tiny cars, Bruce doesn’t spend much time with his cars… Tuesdays, Thursdays, and on Saturdays by appointment only. So with no appointment made, we weren’t going to be seeing any small cars today. But we decided to head off anyways to Madison and Athens.

On our way, we passed a sign for “Historic Social Circle,” Social Circle being a small community north of the 20. When visiting a “Historic” district, one is betting that the ratio of cheesiness to genuine historic worth is balanced. Meaning that the place you are visiting, usually a Main St., has a nice collection of restored and nicely painted buildings and only a few of the tenants have names like “Karl’s Krap” and “Julie’s Jeweled Junk.” Social Circle has a perfectly fine historic district. Nuff said.

Back on the road, we go to Madison. Lots of cute houses, including this one…

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House 1 – Madison, GA, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

… love the windows on it. Madison also has a decent village square and a good candy store. 1/4 lb of maple fudge and 1/4 lb of chocolate walnut were bought at Antique Sweets. And on to Athens we went.

We had never been to Athens and their brochures we got at the Madison Chamber of Commerce were no help. So in looking for a restaurant, we hit one of the health food grocery stores and asked for advice on finding a place to eat. One of the suggestions was The Last Resort, which is where we ended up eating. And what a great choice! Seriously good food, mine was penne with beef tenderloin and carrots and green beans. It tasted so great and it felt nice and healthy. Highly recommended.

Lastly we went back to our car to find it blocked by a bus…

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Girls Gone Wild – Athens, GA, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

… until they tired of being wild in Athens. In the picture is my favorite wild girl, my wife.

Shrunken! Tiny!! Automobiles!!! Reducto Would Approve

A favorite Adult Swim villain with a penchant for shrinking things would love The Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum. I am so there! I discovered this place about 20 minutes ago on Jalopnik. After finding Madison, GA via Google Maps, and visiting Bruce’s website, I am awaiting the day I can go. An unusually full work schedule has me putting off this trip, but my wife has been promised/warned that I must go here.

Some examples of the cars on display. . .

1956 Avolette Tourisme (de Luxe)
1964 Zeta Sports
1958 Zundapp Janus

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The upcoming show at the Museum of Design is coming along quite nicely. A showcase of the designer Raymond Loewy, the museum will be exhibiting a collection of his works. A seriously nice collection of pieces. Good works makes it almost impossible to screw up the exhibition.

Raymond Loewy Exhibition Fully Booked for Three Year US Tour