OK — time for some of Sunday’s photos.  Although Sparkle’s been running flawlessly lately, tonight as I was a mile from home she started sputtering with the check engine light flashing.  The mechanic thinks it’s a misfire thing.  Maybe a spark plug wire or some such.  So the dogs and I are crammed into a rental car til whatever-it-is is fixed.  Could’ve happened on this trip.  Could’ve happened on my way home last night in the middle of nowhere. Or worst of all, on the three-day trip coming up.  So I guess it’s good timing.  Trying to find the silver lining in throwing a few hundred more bucks at my box on wheels.

From Rialto — I’m assuming a pretty modern sign:

 

From San Bernardino — A lot of U-Haul places around the country have those modern U-Haul trucks on the roof or revolving on poles.  I’ve never seen one with an antique moving truck before.  I think this one is too old to have been a U-Haul truck originally though.  U-Haul was established in 1945 (with trailers not trucks) and this looks older than that.

 

Also San Bernardino — a storybook house which I stumbled upon.  Challenging sun right behind it so the colors are washed out.  I especially love all the shutters:

xx

 

From West Covina.  An updated sign but still pretty much 1950s/1960s in style.  Most car dealerships are arm-twisted into hideous & imposing modern signs by the car manufacturers these days.  I guess this one has slipped through the cracks:

 

Also in West Covina.  A party store there now — but this sign is still hanging in:

 

Another from West Covina.  There should be a law that all businesses are required to have mascot characters:

 

The Terraza Jamay in Montebello.  Busted for selling drugs a few years ago.  I’m not sure if it’s reopened.  Interesting and recent paint scheme.  It was previously just two-toned:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/beckgirl/2723292231/

 

A fun one from Pico Rivera:

and its Polynesian-influenced building:

 

From either Covina or West Covina.  A tiki hut former Fotomat!  Thatched roof, straw mats exterior embellishments.  What it all has to do with cell phones — beats me!  But i just want to park my lawn chair there and have a pina colada.

 

From Whittier.  This is all that’s left of Jack’s Salad Bowl — a late 1950s coffee shop designed by Martin Stern, Jr.

 

But at the same time, the surviving and thriving Friendly Hills Bowl in Whittier:

 

 

OK then — more to come next Saturday night as the dogs and I will be heading north for a change.  A big three-day Labor Day weekend planned — the gods and Sparkle’s mechanics providing!  We mostly be hugging the coast on up to about Santa Cruz.  Thanks for tagging along.

 

I got an early start in Santa Monica this morning — no “marine layer” (fog) for a change.  I fooled around with email a bit too long and didn’t get the dogs to the beach at 6:30 (illegal but usually fine).  But I stumbled upon a pristine park on Pico — no signs saying “no dogs”.  Let them run around chasing balls & frisbees for about 15 mins and just as I was leaving — busted!  The cop was nice — but not nice enough.  She only cited me for two dogs instead of four — $35 per dog “plus court fees” (whatever that is).  I’m figuring $100 total?  As for no signs — she said it’s common sense.  And evidently, there’s only one dog park in Santa Monica — but we’re not welcome there because we’re not residents.  Wow.

Anyhow — let’s get rolling.  Callahan’s looking as wonderful as ever:

I had to throw them some support.  Although I barely eat sugar at all these days, I know my blog fans insist that I break the rules on roadtrips.  So…   Not very Viennese-y — but it looked too much like one of my fave pastries back in NYC at my beloved Connecticut Muffin.  There, you had an option of apple or cream cheese.  I confess, I usually got the cream cheese filling.  This one from Callahan’s was apple.  And with a thicker crust.  I’d say like eating a mini apple pie.

 

On to L.A.  This from that little section between Beverly Hills and Hollywood with lots of Jewish businesses like these.  Glad to see that Charlie’s is still open and this sign is still there.  Unfortunately, the sign’s buddy “Beverly Wood” here in this 2008 photo, has been whitewashed (painted over with white paint):
http://www.agilitynut.com/08/4/bevwood.jpg

 

Just down the block and soon to be no more.  Big “available sign” in the window.  And I’m sure nobody will feel as sentimental as we do when a new biz moves in.  Plastic signs rarely get any respect:

 

Maybe West Hollywood at this point.  A whimsical sign that makes you pause.  I have practically nothing and am just fine with it.  If you want to know more about “Free Humanity”, I dug up this link:
http://dailytrojan.com/2012/04/16/free-humanity-pushes-artistic-limits/

 

On to Hollywood.  I don’t know if Purple Man (yes, his skin was incredibly purple) is a fixture on Hollywood Blvd — but nobody was paying any attention to him.  So I just had to take his photo & make him happy.  I wondered what was in his shopping cart but didn’t stick around long enough to see if he had an “act”:

 

Before I moved to NYC, this is what I thought newsstands were.  But now back in California, these seem so wild.  In NYC, they are little six foot by four foot booths crammed with soda, cigs, candy, condoms, aspirin, stamps, and probably kiddie porn if you ask for it.  There used to be so many more of these things in Hollywood.  I guess that high glitz tourist junk is driving them out with higher rents and “beautification”.  Unless I’ve just been missing them.

 

We toughed out the heat until 11:30 when the temperature broke 80 degrees.  I think it got to mid-90s today.  Ridiculous hot for us anyway.  I indulged in A/C which works decent enough and makes everybody sleepy.   A blurry, over-the-shoulder at-a-light shot — but I’ll throw it into the mix.  Fixie was up front with me laying in the sunny passenger seat, panting like mad even though the A/C was blowing right on her.  Yes, that’s canned dog food under the seat — a couple weeks’ worth.  I rarely feed these guys at home.  Meals are usually served in the van after they run around.

 

At the Lankershim Car Wash in North Hollywood:

 

One of the hundreds of “reshoots” on my list for this weekend was the steel “thing” at U Pick Parts in Sun Valley.  The “thing” is what’s left of the Laurel Canyon Car Wash sign which was designed by Armet & Davis.  Here’s a vintage photo of it at its original location in North Hollywood:
http://foter.com/f/photo/4180760036/8e690baca6/

I’ve shot it before from outside the fence but wanted to do it right this time and go inside.  It was sort of a hassle because I mistakenly asked if I could go take a picture of it.  I’d have to talk to the owner blah blah blah.  I had to swear the photo was just for me, non-commercial, etc. and pay the $2 admission.  Whatever!  I got some photos of it and it was worth the time and money invested.  

 

Some other things of note — this car looms over the entrance.  It’s W-A-Y up in the air:

 

And amidst all the neatly organized junkers, there’s this thing next to the train and plane.  Giant walnut?  Acorn squash?

 

But my favorite was this thing.  One of the guys said it’s been here for at least 25 years.  I assume it was an ice cream truck of sorts at an amusement park.  Or maybe used in parades?  Was this built on a Citroen chassis?  Looks like Citroen headlights and a roundie hood.  But then I guess there were lots of bulging headlights in the 1960s.  Bug-eyed Sprites…  You car people out there probably know this one instantly.

 

And while I’m asking questions.  Time for the botany question of the trip.  These plants that look like giant grass from Mars.  Anybody know what this is called?

 

Not enough liquor store signs for you?  From the El Sereno area:

 

And lastly from tonight’s final destination — Glendora.    9pm and this donut shop was rocking.  Maybe there’s something to this place?  Maybe I should get something here in the morning?

 

And a closeup of the sign — wonderful for backlit plastic, eh?

 

Midnight here.  Tomorrow’s going to be a little shorter on the shooting.  An evening activity (Charles Phoenix’s L.A. Architecture presentation) and a drive home after that and straight to bed.  So you’ll have to wait for Sunday’s photo batch until probably Tuesday.

Until then, don’t forget about the other stuff over at Flickr/Ipernity…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/

zzzz

Starting this weekend off with a whirlwind neon tour.  Off to the Valley, bumper to bumper traffic for most of it.  It was fun but exhausting and now it’s after 1 am already.  Oh well.  Several disappointments — a couple come to mind.  The Corbin Bowl in Tarzana was only half-lit — a real stunner, such a shame.  But what’s worse — the Leonardo’s Nightclub in L.A. has been crappily adapted for the Candela Taco Bar — painted over & neon removed.  Let’s all mourn:

Here’s what I had been hoping to see tonight:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7623944@N03/3879887813/

 

But let’s not linger on what was  — let’s rejoice in what still is!

Carlson’s Liquors in Woodland Hills, for instance.  By day —

and by night:

 

Lots more liquor tonight.  Here’s Al’s Liquor in Reseda:

 

More liquor in Reseda:

 

A darling of a sign in Van Nuys.  Too bad the sun was so low that the building shadow-ed the bottom of the sign.  But had it been morning, it would have been impossible to shoot around that Del Taco sign on the left:

 

At the Valley Beverage Company in Sherman Oaks:

 

Also in Sherman Oaks — Antonio’s Pizzeria & Italian Restaurant.   Some of the “boot” neon border is out on both sides.  I would have shot the other side so the boot would be facing the right way — but there was a tree challenge on that side:

 

And lastly — I think this might be a modern sign.  Or maybe it was just re-lettered for  Champ’s Sports Bar in Burbank.  The arrow looks vintage:

 

OK — that’s enough for now.  Lots more goodies tomorrow night.  I thought I’d be doing some Orange County this weekend but that seems very unlikely.  The list of L.A. reshoots kept growing as I looked at my website photos from 2008.  So OC will have to wait.  Although there is one Must-See (I’ll keep you in suspense) this weekend in Newport Beach.  So maybe we’ll dilly-dally down there a bit to get out of this L.A. heat.  It was 95 in the Valley tonight at 6 pm.  The dogs and I are definitely not used to this after living near the beach where it never gets above 70.

Lots of killer neon signs from tonight over at Flickr & Ipernity (I’m killing myself uploading to both now).  So click on your preferred format:
http://www.ipernity.com/doc/roadsidearchitecture/home/photo
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/

 

Night-night.

Sorry, my pesky day-job has really gotten in the way of my final post!  Gotta earn that gas money.  It’s hovering around $4 here in SoCal — and Sparkle is a bit of a guzzler.  But I’ll make the wait worth it I hope with a double dose of photos.  No photos of the dogs on this trip.  It was just way too hot to be fooling with them much.  I saw some  photo-ops but the pavement was way too hot to torture them.  I ran them in the early morning and end of the day.  It’s so nice to be home at the foggy beach!

If it’s rusty crusty signs that you like, I’ve got plenty of them.  Let’s start with a couple from La Verne.  This is now Fairplex Liquor but the sign still hovers in the background:

 

The La Verne entrance to the Pomona fairgrounds:

 

Back to Pomona — a still-operating trailer park.  Although the neon’s gone, the sign still has a lot of class:

 

The Mr. Milkbottle sign in Pomona is still there — missing some letters and neon:

 

From Upland.  The text panel’s a bore — but, oh, that arrow!

 

I was happy to FINALLY check this place out in Rancho Cucamonga.   It’s been on my list for years.  Around 2005, Victoria Gardens, a modern kinda upscale shopping center, was built.  To create a sense of “layered history”, they installed a dozen or so vintage signs here and there.  I have no idea who collected the signs or where they came from.  They’re installed high enough so as not to confuse customers about what is sold in what store.  But being up-high presented photo-taking challenges because of trees and the angle of the sun.  I’ll give you a few here and then the rest of the collection at my website in a month or so.

x

 

Onward to Riverside,  I’d love to know what was in those circles.  And some of the holes at the top of the sign don’t match the tubing for George’s — so probably another name originally:

George’s has a BIG canopy:

 

More Riverside.  Looks like the Square Dance Center adapted this CowTown USA sign.

 

Tio’s Tacos.  Known for not only its Mexican food — but for the incredible sculpture garden.  Fun stuff!!  This is just a tiny sampling.  For more about the place, check out this link:
http://www.kcet.org/arts/artbound/counties/riverside/tios-tacos-riversides-folk-art-wonderland.html

There are two structures at Tio’s Tacos built out of bottles.  This is the chapel:

A detail of the bottle butts from the exterior:

and an interior shot showing the bottle necks & other stuff:

If you like bottle houses, I’ve got a bunch over at my website here:
http://www.agilitynut.com/h/bh.html

 

Still in Riverside.  A crusty but wonderful Shakey’s sign.  The red has faded to pink.  Sssshhh — don’t let “corporate” know about it!  Notice the neon that spells out “Shakey’s” on the side of the sign.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before.  This photo link shows that the sign was lit in 2009 — so it might still be now:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11705373@N03/3218847691/

 

The weekend’s most adorable discovery — still Riverside.  A barn-shaped sign…

 

…with barn-shaped units.  Looks like probably apartments (or less) now.  A forbidding gate around the property:

 

I’ve seen a few of these giant old Stater Bros. supermarket signs in SoCal.   But most of the stores have updated them with modern boring signs.  This one in Riverside had TWO of these older neon signs:

 

On to Rialto.  A nice, long-legged fella.  When a canopy gets this big, is it a roof?  A Canoof?

 

And now we’re in San Bernardino for the duration of this post.  This one’s got lots of nuances — so give it more than a glance.  Note the way the sign post splits from the top.  The irregular shape of the “San Bernardino” part, the angle of the roof, etc.

 

Dib’s has been around since 1926!  I don’t know how old the sign is.

 

This is a fancy “used car” lot — with all restored classic cars.  Appropriately, a fenced lot — and the place was closed on a late Sunday which made this the only angle I could shoot this sign at:

 

A fun building — no idea of the original use:

 

and the next door neighbor:

 

Previously (and probably originally) the Sharene Motel (the tubing holes seem to match):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/caveman_92223/4154699348/

But I think I like this wild paint job better:

 

And finally, this nice complex design ends our tour:

 

 

I hope you enjoyed tagging along.  The dogs and I will be back on the road for another weekend in a couple of weeks.  Probably more Orange County stuff.  Til then — enjoy what’s left of summer!

Oh, and don’t forget to check out some other photos from this trip over at Ipernity:
http://www.ipernity.com/doc/roadsidearchitecture

Today was a very long day of driving and shooting.  High volume of photos despite a stressful “glitch” here in Pomona.  I have a nice big batch of photos for you to tide you over til probably Tuesday when I catch-up with life, go back to work & am able to get Sunday’s sampling of photos uploaded here.

The glitch & then we’ll get going with the photos.  I pulled over in Pomona next to a nice big park around 5pm when it was cool enough to let the dogs get some running in.  We came back to the van (aka “Sparkle”) & I turned the key — nothing.  Not even that clickety click you normally get when something dies.   Called AAA and the big truck came within 10 mins.  That’s a record!  Especially since Sparkle needs a flatbed with her All-Wheel-Drive.  Off to Pep Boys we went.  Miracle #2 — there was no waiting.  Three mechanics got right on it.  Sure enough, a dead battery.  Honestly, I think Sparkle has had the same battery since I got her in 2006.  $150 and we were on our way.   I think the whole breakdown & repair took only an hour and a half.

On with the photos.  Starting with Hollywood.  This sign has been standing here near Griffith Park for years.  I’m not sure where it came from or what the plans are.  If any.  The “Hotel” part of the “Californian Hotel” is tumbled over in the background.  By the way, for those of you that are new to my blog — I should mention that all my photos are “clickable” (larger size by clicking — particularly useful for horizontally-oriented photos).

 

From Glendale.  A quirky assortment of statues at “Oil Paintings Warehouse” which sells you-name-it.

From San Gabriel.  The Goody’s Coffee Shop sign has been repurposed for Jeff’s Sporting Goods:
http://www.ipernity.com/doc/roadsidearchitecture/21657757

I swung by today to see if they had opened.  Yup, on Monday.  Here’s the counter which was saved from the restaurant.  Actually, the counter is new — but the terrazzo foot rest and the hardware and stools were saved.  It appears only the butt-touching parts of the seats were reupholstered.  The counter will be used for order-taking & such.  Here’s a shot of the counter/stools from when it was Goody’s:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/92136363@N00/459685635/

One of the booth benches was saved and is now installed in a fitting room:

 

From Pasadena — an entry terrazzo floor — no longer Karl’s there:

 

Also Pasadena — a nifty sign — the bar still there.  These metal cylinders with holes would have had bulbs inside (maybe they still do?):

 

A couple more signs from Pasadena.  A homemade wooden sign at this lumber place.  Love the funky font, no?

 

And “R Place”.  Maybe repurposed — maybe not:

 

This Howard Johnson Motor Lodge (now Regency Inn) was given a makeover for the Mad Men TV show.  More about that here:
http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2012/04/mad-men-makes-a-howard-johnson-motor-lodge-pit-stop.html

It doesn’t look like they had to do that much — here’s a 2008 photo:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/94896382@N00/2193445439/

The Lamplighter & steeple were already there:

 

The not-so-lucky former Howard Johnson restaurant next door:

 

Can we take a nature break?  Not that kind.  How can you not be happy looking at palm trees and clouds?

 

And today’s mystery tree.  It seems to be infinite spring here in SoCal.  Heads-up you flora experts — what is this pink flowering wonder?  I’m seeing them every day right now:

 

On to Pomona.  Land of the lightning fast tow truck drivers and mechanics.  Too bad the sun was not in my favor for this one:

 

An unusual Alta Dena drive-thru with a Polynesian look rather than the barn style look:

 

It was brutally hot at this point so I made a pit-stop there for my first sugar fix in months.  Back in NYC, we had FrozFruit ice cream bars — which were pretty awesome.  This company appears to do the same sort of packaging & flavors.  But I’ve never seen Walnut before.  It was a good choice.  Think maple walnut but without the maple.  Creamy with little flecks of walnuts.

 

This sign is similar to the “Auto Park” sign I gave you last night.  Note that the tin border details are now just painted on:

 

Formerly Kirby’s Shoes — now an antiques store:

 

An unusual YMCA sign:

 

A terracotta detail from the YMCA Building:

 

Uh-oh.  Apparently, this flower store has bit the dust.   I’m fearful for the sign and building:

 

Here’s exactly where we had our little breakdown tonight:

 

But luckily, we were back on the road in no time and I got another batch of good neon signs.  Still in Pomona:

 

I left the cropping wide to give you some sunset flavor:

 

From Claremont:

 

From Upland.  One of The Hat’s newer locations — but how could I resist:

 

 

1am here — time to join those snoozing pooches.  I’ll get you tomorrow’s batch soon.

Hi there!  The dogs and I are taking a break — off to the L.A. area for a couple days.  The plan is for stuff from Hollywood to San Bernardino-ish.  I made an ambitious list for after work Friday to shoot some neon.  It was a killer bit of haul-ass driving and kept me busy until 11:30 pm.  So, I’m starting the trip already exhausted.  But now I’m sitting here at 9:30am waiting for the clouds to go away, I’ll get in a mini post now.  And maybe take a nap after that.  It’s supposed to clear but I don’t see the sun making any effort.

From Culver City — the Medical Office Building from 1964.  I’ve always loved the glass on this one:

A closeup so you can see the stairs — and desks and maybe filing cabinets if you stare long enough:

 

On to Santa Monica — the still-open Sears:

 

Sort of have to include the pier sign.  It was really hopping last night:

 

From South L.A.  It’s really “King’s” but I like it better partially lit as “Ing’s”:

 

Downtown L.A. – a modern sign, but lovely.  And huge.  For context, by day:
http://www.agilitynut.com/12/11/bwaybar.jpg

 

Also downtown — an oldie — probably from the 1920s or 1930s.  That’s when they made those cool rope-y borders from tin (you chose the design you wanted).  And the letters were installed on top of the sign panels and then neon on top of that.  Possibly ripple tin (textured panel surface) — hard to say since it’s probably been painted over a few hundred times.  These signs may be just text — but they are so rare and wonderful.  And seldom still lit.

 

From L.A. near the Fairfax District.  A skeleton (window) sign at Roberto’s Shoe Repair.  Simple and amazingly wonderful in my opinion:

 

Still L.A.  I was really looking forward to finally seeing the Stephan’s Plumbing signs at night.  I’ve read that the signs were still lit — and with animated “dripping” and “pouring”  But alas, the only thing lit were a few letters of the “pouring sign”.  No animation.  Everything else completely dark.  Major bummer.  Here’s a photo I took in 2008 of the sign by day:

 

On to North Hollywood for the Circus Liquors sign — another semi-disappointment.  The other side was pretty much the same amount of unlit-ness.  A daytime shot I took in November for context of what’s missing:
http://www.ipernity.com/doc/roadsidearchitecture/16308223

 

Ah well.  I did get some other nice neon shots — some of which are over at Ipernity if you care to have a peek:
http://www.ipernity.com/doc/roadsidearchitecture

More tonight… no signs of sun yet.

Wrapping up our quickie weekend trip.  I got the kids a good run first thing at Huntington Beach.  And then the fog lifted around 10 am as we moved inland a bit.

Lots of signs for you today.  These two from Garden Grove.  I haven’t seen night photos of either one so I assume they’re not lit:

 

At Chappy’s Liquor — it was prettier in pink:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/41757488@N00/381524369/

 

On to Orange.  Selman Chevrolet has been around since 1952.  I don’t know if the top panel on this sign was originally neon or when this towering sign was built.   Probably 1950s or 1960s — when people were just goofier:
http://annualmobiles.blogspot.com/2012/07/selman-chevrolet_14.html

 

Still in Orange — another one of these rustic, cottage-y Alta Dena Dairy drive-thrus:

 

On to Anaheim:

 

Also Anaheim.  This is one of the oldest El Tacos that I know of.  Probably 1960s.  Complete with embossed plastic sign (most of the surviving locations have flat plastic signs):

The building design included room for tables under the canopy on the right — and two drive-thru windows on left and far right.  I assume one window for placing orders and one for receiving them.  The canopies next to those windows are too small for today’s massive SUVs and such so I don’t think they’re used any more.  I can’t find any vintage photos to show if there were more signs or what-not on the roof in those arches:

 

A repurposed Pioneer Chicken sign.  For reference, here’s an intact one:
http://www.ipernity.com/doc/roadsidearchitecture/16311735

 

Too many signs for you?  How about some 1960s era bowling alley buildings.  This one from 1960 when the La Habra 300 Bowl opened.    I don’t know what the “300” refers to.  Not the number of lanes:  there are only 32.  The address is actually 370 E. Whittier (La Habra) — but close enough I guess.  From left to right:  the coffee shop, the bar, and the bowling alley itself.

 

From Whittier:  a detail from the AMF Friendly Hills Lanes.  I can’t pinpoint a date.

 

The playground sculptures at Whittier Narrows Recreation Area have been on my list for a while.  The six sculptures are pretty far spaced apart so I took the dogs along to shoot them.  It was hot — felt like 80s — and I managed to find a quiet spot to get them in one of the lakes for some swimming and wading.  This sculpture has stairs inside the mouth (behind my dogs) to climb up and slide down the fish’s back.  Too bad this one was in the shade:

 

So, that’s it for now.  I’ll take another little weekender in July sometime.  Back to work on my website — working on Wyoming stuff right now.  I still have lots of Orange County (the more southerly part) to shoot.   Don’t forget, the Ipernity photos from this weekend are here:
http://www.ipernity.com/doc/roadsidearchitecture/