Web Site Aids The Search For Pop Culture’s Lost Treasures The Lost Landmarks section of HamptonLandmarks.com briefs visitors on pertinent background information and provides photos of the missing (NAPSA)—Have you seen the dress that Marilyn Monroe wore in the movie “The Seven Year Itch”? How about the Brady Bunch’s tiki statue or Elvis Presley’s first guitar? Over the past items. Then, functioning conve- few decades, a number of revered relics of American pop culture seem to have vanished into thin air. Marilyn Monroe’s dress, which billowed up over a New York subway grate and defined the phrase “Ooo-la-la,” was lost while on display at Debbie Reynolds’ museum. Perhaps one of the most wellknown props in TV history, the infamous tiki brought serious bad luck to the Brady family on their Hawaiian vacation. After the episodes called a wrap, the tiki reportedly changed hands several times, and its current whereabouts are unknown. Perhaps the most surprising of all is the guitar that launched Elvis Presley’s career. Purchased by his mother, Gladys Love Smith, from a local hardware store in Tupelo, Miss., the “King”’s first guitar was last seen in 2005 after going up for auction in Tampa, Fla. SS A Web site has been created where people can search for missing treasures of pop culture—such as theserubyslippers. These and other baffling disappearances have intrigued many over the years. So many, in fact, that Hampton Hotels has created “Lost Landmarks,” an online trea- sure hunt on HamptonLandmarks. com, specifically aimed at uncovering the mysteries of these cultural losses. This unique site was created with the assistance of Chris Epting, pop culture historian and author of “The Ruby Slippers, Madonna’s Bra, and Einstein’s Brain” and “James Dean Died Here: The Locations of America’s Pop Culture Landmarks.” niently as an online forum, it enables curious visitors to submit newfound clues or leads of where to look next. “No other country embraces, celebrates or studies pop culture quite like America,” says Epting. “The Internet can unlock so many secrets, but this is the first time an online destination has been created where people can work together globally to uncover secrets of some of the most mysterious disappearances in entertainmenthistory.” Were these items stolen and sold on the black market, or were they misplaced simply as a result of miscommunication? Are they in a private collection or are they just in a studio back lot somewherein Hollywood? If these mysteries seem intriguing, you are invited to visit the newly redesigned www.Hampton Landmarks.com and post clues of newfound information or leads of whereto look next.
