Mid-Century Mod Meets Pop Culture in Jake Rudh’s Pins

Photo credit: Nate Ryan / MPR

All it took was $50 and a case of beer for Minneapolis DJ Jake Rudh to buy his first mid-century modern piece: a 1972 Weltron 8-Track player that was originally in his uncle’s cabin.

Rudh's Weltron 8-Track player

“I’d always seen it because they’d have their jar of Twizzlers right next to it on top of the T.V.,” said Rudh. “When I was a kid, I’d go up for a Twizzler and I’d be seeing that beautiful thing next to the jar.”

Fifteen years later, the futuristic-looking space helmet radio is perched on a shelf in Rudh’s office (or what he refers to as his “man cave”). His entire collection — from the space age electronics and furniture in his office, to the modern Danish furniture in the rest of his 1964 flat-roof home — has grown around that first piece.

“I’ve always loved history going back before the 1900s, but there was something about the squeaky clean, futuristic vibe the 1950s atomic age brought on that really caught my eye,” Rudh said.

But his love for mid-century modern really goes back to music. The 39-year-old has over two decades of DJing experience under his belt. In 2012, City Pages named him the “Best Club DJ” for the tenth straight year. (that on top of consistent mentions from the Star Tribune, MN Monthly and Vita.mn).  Basically, this guy’s got some serious musical clout and a taste for good beats (his popular “Transmission” dance night at Club Jäger grew into a 10-year anniversary party at First Avenue and a weekly radio slot on The Current).

“It always has to start with music for me,” Rudh said. “Then from there I spread out. What was life like? What was going on in the news? What was the culture like during these times when these performers were traveling the world?”

His love of all things mid-century modern might have started with a 1970s radio from his uncle, but that’s certainly not where it ended. A few years ago the 39-year-old started a popular Facebook group (Twin Cities Mid-Century Modern, or TC MCM) for like-minded individuals to talk about the one passion that unites them all. Since then, the group has grown to more than 2,000 members.

This week Rudh pins a few of his favorite examples (some even from this own collection) of mid-century modern design in popular culture. Check back each day this week to find out what made this award-winning DJ's list.

Pin #1: Rudh grew up watching John Hughes movies, dreaming of being a character in one, so it’s no surprise he picked Cameron’s home from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” as his first pin.

“It’s just absolutely breathtakingly gorgeous, having the flat-roof home on the edge of the woods like that,” Rudh said. “If you’re a fan of mid-century modernism, it really makes you fantasize what it would be like to live there.”

Pin #2, Clockwork Orange (movie): Rudh’s house is full of 50s and 60s Danish modern pieces. Everything that is, except for his man cave (aka office).

“It’s like walking into a set of a Clockwork Orange or 2001 Space Odyssey,” he said. “It’s definitely space age, and that’s another division within mid-century modernism that I really groove on personally.”

Fashion designers and furniture makers “really got crazy in the best of ways with their designs,” Rudh said. Think plastics, acrylics and smoked glass.

Pin #3: The Jetsons hit T.V. screens in the 60s, during a decade when people were fascinated by space travel and sending a man to the moon.

“If you look at some of the interiors within their space-aged home, it’s not too far from a lot of the furniture that was designed in the late 60s and early 70s,” Rudh said. “Watching as a young child, it was always one of my favorites because it just brought you into this fantasyland. Sure, there’s the pre-historic greatness of the Flintstones, but there’s a little something extra special about the Jetsons.”

 Pin #4: “Everyone loves Peanuts,” Rudh said. His wife sent him this particular comic strip because it included a Charles Eames chair.

Pin #5: Mad Men helped ignite the current mid-century modern craze, so it’s a given for Rudh to include. While he’s no longer the only guy sporting a skinny tie, he’s happy shows like this have brought former great fashion trends to the forefront again.

“I’ve always sported a skinny tie. I’ve always loved that retro look,” Rudh said. “It’s great how styles of the past get brought up in today.”

Pin #6: “I’m a vinyl addict. I collect records. Some of the best album art, at least in my eyes, are [these ones]. They’re just gorgeous. They’re called Command Record Series,” Rudh said.

Bonus Pin!: “Music is my life,”said Rudh, who’s collected other pieces of album art from the same era as the Command Record Series. His collection hangs on a wall in his office.

“The ones that I own are very pop art.”

Pin #7: “[Julius Shulman has] caught the attention of the public because he understood what modern architecture was. He worked closely with modern architects back in the day to really capture what [they] were trying to say through his pictures,” said Rudh, who owns this three-volume series.

Bonus Pin!: "[This] Panasonic ad has been my guideline for collecting the goods for my 'man cave,'" Rudh said.