BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT:

Jack Flynn displays some of the most novel sights in Orange County at the back of his tiny bar on Baker Street.

Provided, that is, that you can find them.

Flynn, who owns three businesses in Costa Mesa, founded the Kitsch Bar six years ago in a small strip mall. The 21-and-older bar features a glass display case in back where residents can show off their possessions from home: skateboards, old Playboy magazines, vintage toys and album covers.

Don’t expect a marquee outside, though. About a year after the Kitsch Bar opened, Flynn said, a delivery truck backed into the sign in front of the bar, and rather than replace it, the owner decided to toss it out completely. The bar, which sports its name only in small letters on the front door, almost disappears between State Farm Insurance and Costa Mesa Dentistry — and that’s fine with Flynn, who aims to bring in a discerning crowd.

“I think I took out the smallest ad you could in the OC Weekly right after we opened,” he said. “As soon as we had the crowd of people we wanted, we pretty much shut down in terms of advertising.”

The Kitsch Bar opens from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. every night. Flynn, despite running two other businesses on the side, is there Wednesday through Saturday. During the day, the entrepreneur works at the J Flynn Gallery on Randolph Avenue and occasionally stops at the nearby Rooster Cafe, which he runs with a partner.

The interior of the Kitsch Bar is mostly dark, with candles on the round tables and a screen behind the bar that often plays James Bond thrillers and other Hollywood classics with the sound off. With most of the room dim, there are only a few visual spots of interest — not the least of which is the glass case in the back, which features a new display every few weeks.

Dave Silva, a Huntington Beach resident, provided the latest installation, which consists of resin casts of Bob’s Big Boy banks transformed into movie characters, superheroes, rock stars and more. Silva, whose sister is a friend of Flynn, said his family often dined at Bob’s when he was a child, and the cherub-faced mascot had appealed to him ever since.

“I’m a big fan of Americana, which is what he is,” Silva said.

Among the former Big Boys on view at the Kitsch Bar are figures of Elvis, the members of KISS and a number of science fiction and Marvel comics characters. Perhaps the oddest one is a Teletubby-style figure with a cigarette, rather than an antenna, protruding from its head.

“That’s Stinky-Winky,” Silva said, twisting the name of Tinky-Winky from the British children’s program. “He’s the one who didn’t make it onto the show.”

OWNER: Jack Flynn

SPECIALTY: Lounge-style bar with art display case

LOCATION: 891 Baker St., Suite A10, Costa Mesa

HOURS: 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. nightly

CONTACT: (714) 546-8580

MICHAEL MILLER may be reached at (714) 966-4617 or at michael.miller@latimes.com.