Philosophy

THE SELF-IMPORTANT PHILOSOPHY BEHIND "LOS ANGELES TIME MACHINES"

I’ve never lived in Los Angeles. However, I can definitely trace the time I fell in love with Los Angeles (and more precisely pre-70s Los Angeles) to reading the book "Out with the Stars" by Jim Heimann. This is a truly wonderful book, outlining, with very rare pictures, all of the nightlife (and interiors of nightclubs, restaurants and bars) of Hollywood from the 20s to the 50s. If you can find a copy of this out of print collector’s item – grab it! Depending on the condition, used copies of the book on Amazon.com range between $70 to $750. Well worth the price if you can afford it. When I read this book, I decided that on weekends I would explore what was left of these incredible times and places. While I found virtually all the places in Jim's book were gone, I did find a wealth of other old places (a bit less elegant than the nightclubs in the book). I became sort of a Los Angeles/Hollywood archeologist and very amateur historian (as an example of archeology in Hollywood, check out the "Seven Seas" sign remaining behind Hollywood Boulevard in the El Capitan parking lot - whoops! I just checked again and someone has torn it down!)

A closed mini movie palace in El Monte.

I have no idea why I was so attracted to the history and "golden days" of Los Angeles - perhaps it was a past-life? Obviously not. More rationally it’s probably just my love of more innocent times. But in any event, it’s time you reap the benefits of my research over the last twenty-nine years of Los Angeles’ true time machines. In case you are wondering, I have no financial connections to any of the places mentioned above (other than being a customer on occasion). No one has paid me for any recommendation (not that I have the slightest clout or reputation in any event). I’m just trying to spread the word so these places will stop disappearing and we can preserve our history!

Eddie Brandstatter's former Montmartre Cafe

Why just pre-70s (and mostly pre-sixties) Los Angeles? I suppose it’s somewhat arbitrary, since there are tons of wonderful places built after that time (like the explosion of ethnic restaurants that no book could cover in their entirety). To me it goes back to the myth of innocence in American pop culture. I long for those days when I could walk to the neighborhood drug store and get a milkshake and burger and not have to worry about terrorism or whether the food caused cancer or heart disease. It’s hard to relax in the modern world!

I conveniently trace America’s loss of innocence to the day President Kennedy was assassinated. It was sort of downhill from there. The hippie movement, the "Disco era", explicit lyrics in music,…it seems now that innocence ends at an awfully young age. But of course the innocence of earlier days is sort of a myth in itself. Blacks probably did not find life in the South (or anywhere else) terribly innocent in the Fifties. But for the lucky minority that was not affected by the ills of the past, the "good old days" were a special time indeed.

Neglected Terrazzo on Broadway

Here are some tell tale signs of great time machines – at least the bars and restaurants: Semicircular leather booths (usually red), a well worn wooden bar, free appetizers already on the table before you sit down, waiters with uniforms, old analog cash registers and no TVs to be found (my biggest pet peeve - why must every place have a TV blaring), coin machines in the bathroom, lots of wood in the interior, a dark ambiance, indirect lighting, an old jukebox, tropical drinks, thick and heavy coffee cups, an original neon sign out front, fresh baked rolls or sourdough bread, and so on. You know the kind of place I’m talking about.

Ahhh, Los Angeles - the city of infinite possibilities. Sure wish I could live there!

When an old restaurant or bar closes, it's not just a building that's gone, but entire worlds disappear. The child who proudly remembers his father bringing him to the restaurant and treating him like one of the guys; the woman whose husband chose this spot to "pop the question"; the quiet old man whose only recognition in life was to be a regular and have his own stool at the bar, the joyous family reunion that marks the last time grandma was together with everyone, the idea for a classic movie that was written out on a napkin and the place where you and your brother downed a few and discussed the great truths of life. All of these obscure little worlds and micro-histories disappear when an old bar or restaurant is torn down. And they can never be brought back.

This has got to be the best neon sign in Los Angeles.

And it is so nice to have one place in your life completely unaffected by time - where nothing changes. In my life, my grandparents homes are gone, my high school is remodeled and the forest behind it is now a superhighway, and even my parents home is remodeled. I can barely find my way around the town I grew up in with all the new highways and developments. So, I've made a point in my life to take everyone I care about - friends and family - at least once to Musso and Frank's. The moment I walk in there, all these great memories return. The laughter with mom and dad, the late night hours with an old high school buddy, and the tuna fish sandwich with olives and a pickle placed so it looks like a face (that they used to make for my son). And in the twenty-nine years I've been going there, nothing has changed. Time has stood still. My life's most historic place.

Light inside the Grauman's Chinese Theater.

Remember to check with and support the Los Angeles Conservancy, an organization that fights bravely to save these the history of these places (including the Modern Committee). They also conduct incredible tours of various places in Los Angeles, such as Union Station, Art Deco buildings, etc. Their tour of Broadway movie palaces is one of the only ways to see the interiors of these places (book well in advance – this tour is very popular). Absolutely sensational is their yearly "last remaining seats" programs, where several movie palaces are opened to the public and old films are shown, usually together with a live orchestra and/or actors from the films giving a talk. These usually sell out, so purchase early! It would be sad if we have to take our grand children someday on a tour of parking lots and mini malls to tell them about the great history that took place there.

Shakers - a nice Googie restaurant in Pasadena

As far as I know, while building exteriors can be protected, I don't believe there is any way to protect building interiors. While exteriors are extremely important, you can only stare at an exterior so long. It's the old interiors that surround you and allow you to travel back in time. In addition, it's the interior where all social activities take place. You interact with an interior. It would be nice if someone more motivated than I would start a movement to protect historic interiors as well. This might help stop "atrocities" like the sad shell of the Brown Derby on the third floor of a mini mall on Wilshire. Let's save our living history.

Enjoy!

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