Vintage LA

We've been on a bit of a sabbatical here at Eccentric Roadside, but wanted to share a blast from the way, way past from the awesome site Vintage Everyday of some kookily-shaped buildings in Los Angeles. One of them, Tail-O-The-Pup, we actually got to see, and another, Angelfood Donuts, is very similar to Randy's Donuts in Inglewood, which we also saw. Click here to check them all out.

Hooray for Olliewood: The Laurel and Hardy steps of Los Angeles, California

This photo comes from the swell blog Dear Old Hollywood. Check it out!

It was movie studio head Hal Roach's idea to team up a skinny dimwitted guy with a heavy pompous dope in the 1920s. Little did he know they would become the world's most famous comedy duo, Laurel and Hardy. Probably their most famous movie, a short actually, is "The Music Box", better known as the one with the piano and all the steps. It won the first Oscar given for Live Action Short Film, back in 1932. In it, Stan and Ollie are two nincompoops commissioned to deliver a piano to an address at the top of a very, very, very long outdoor staircase. About a half an hour of slapstick hilarity ensues, with the boys leaving everything in shambles, and I still laugh every time I see it. Laurel and Hardy used a real outdoor location at 923-935 Vendome Street near  Del Monte Street in the Silverlake district of Los Angeles and the steps are still there today and open to the public. It's a lot different today --with houses, trees, shrubs -- compared to the barren look it had back in the thirties. There's a marker and a plaque, and a park nearby named in Stan and Ollie's honor. The steps get visited often, most notably by the Sons of the Desert Laurel and Hardy fan club, but I'm not sure anyone has attempted to carry a piano up to the top. That would be another fine mess, wouldn't it?

(We also visited Harlem, Georgia,Oliver Hardy's birthplace. Check it out here).

A hole-y holiday: Happy National Donut Day

We love a "holiday" devoted to something eccentric and we made it through half the day before we realized it was National Donut Day. This brings back fond memories of our 2004 trip to Los Angeles which included an excursion to the world-famous Randy's Donuts. Here's a rerun of what we had to say about it in a previous post:


Time for one of the eccentric roadside all-time greats. Randy's Donuts is not far from the LAX airport in Inglewood, California, and started out as part of the Big Donut chain of 10 donut drive-ins in 1953 (four of the buildings remain today under different names). "It's a classic example of mid-century programmic architecture, where the shape of the building represents the product sold within," says the Los Angeles Conservancy, and they ought to know. It's been featured in the movies "Mars Attacks" and "Earthgirls are Easy" as well as Randy Newman's "I Love L.A." video (at 3:13 in the video to be precise). The Simpsons have also paid loving homage to Randy's. There's something about an eatery with a 32-foot steel and gunnite orange deep-fried pastry on top of it that makes you feel like like is worth living: Your eyes glaze over. Things that were frosting you before somehow donut seem to matter. You realize this tower of powder is a horse of a different cruller sprinkled with love. And that's the hole truth, I eclair, so help me carb.

You had me at jello: LA's Clifton's Cafeteria will be getting a makeover. Hooray!

Many times we hear of a beloved old eccentric roadside attraction being neglected or, even worse, torn down, so it came as happy news to us when the always amazing Charles Phoenix recently shared a link about how downtown Los Angeles' retro-tastic Clifton's Cafeteria will be getting some renovations. The blogdowntown article states that among the finds of the renovation was an amazing piece of archeology: a neon light that has been glowing, unbeknown to its owners, for over 70 years behind a wall, making it the "oldest existing, continuing operating neon in the world," according to neon experts. We're hoping the big renovation plans (multi-levels! restored secret grottoes! bars, restaurants and a bakery!) don't change the  wonderful gritty character of the place we witnessed in 2008. Here's what we posted back then:

My brother-in-law's brother, "Uncle" Stephen, always shows a great time when we visit him in L.A. A fellow eccentric traveler, he knows just the kind of places that will float our boat. On our last visit he took us to Clifton's Brookdale Cafeteria on South Broadway in downtown, and the place does not disappoint. Like many other great downtown metro areas around the USA, this once-great neighborhood is a little rough around the edges, but the Clifton Cafeteria remains steadfast, serving up poached haddock, potato leek soup, pickled beets, jello with stuff in it, and enough pie and donuts to choke a horse, to its loyal denizens who have been patronizing the place since 1935. The decor is to die for. Original owner Clifford Clifton wanted the place to resemble a redwoods lodge. A 20-ft. waterfall cascades into a quiet stream that meanders through the dining room. The interior has a "lived-in" look, to put it kindly, as do the customers, making it all the more homey. They have elaborate terrazzo inlaid sidewalks depicting scenes important to California history that you won't find at Applebee's or TGIFridays, and tiled exterior walls feature display cases bragging of salad samplers, children's plates and quality desserts. I miss cafeterias like this. They remind me of fun childhood visits to my see my grandparents in Florida and I hope Clifton's never goes away. Check their website: http://www.cliftonscafeteria.com/pages/brookdale_home.html.

This is the city: Los Angeles, California

Century Boulevard We love it!
Victory Boulevard We love it!
Santa Monica Boulevard We love it!
Sixth Street We love it! We love it!
I love L.A.

Your witness: Los Angeles' Perry Mason court building

L.A.'s Hall of Justice, where Perry could always get a parking space on the street right in front.

Raymond Burr in the role he was born to play.

Barbara Hale as Della Street, the best gal Friday in the business. And dig that crazy office decor!

William Hopper as Paul Drake, Perry's on-call rakish PI.

The great William Talman as Hamilton Burger, TV's losingest DA, but a man with great integrity deep down.

Ray Collins as Lt. Tragg, who's always convinced he's got Perry cold this time.

And Connie Cezon as Gertie. "Mista Mason!"

Los Angeles is the main location of the great 1957-66 TV series "Perry Mason." The old L.A. Hall of Justice is an establishing shot in most of the episodes and that building still stands in L.A. and looks just as it did in the TV show, only without the 1950s cars driving past it. It's had some notorious "guests" in its day including Charles Manson and Sirhan Sirhan but it's been unused since an earthquake damaged it in 1994. A restoration effort has been underway for many years.

"Perry Mason" turned 52 this year and it's, without a doubt, the best show in the history of television. Here's why:

Perry is cool. He's never nervous, always knows what to do and is neatly groomed. Ordinary people are always asking him, "Aren't you Perry Mason, the famous lawyer?" He works night and day for his clients, sometimes for free. And he's never wrong.

Della Street is smart. And attractive. And good at pretending to be someone else sometimes. She stays at the office just as late as Perry and never complains. You never really know if she and Perry are an item, and I've never known anyone whose last name is a synonym for pavement.

Paul Drake is REALLY cool. A big, barrel-chested P.I. with prematurely silver hair in a checkered sportcoat smoking a Winston and driving a T-Bird. He's got his own private back entrance to Perry's office, always sits on the edge of Perry's desk and greets Della with an ever so suave "Hiya, beautiful" (she usually just rolls her eyes back at him).

Hamilton Burger. William Talman is brilliant as the eternally crabby D.A. who always loses but isn't really a bad guy. His best bit: Slowly shaking his head "no" in disbelief while rising from his table in court and bellowing out a long, scratchy, irritable, "Your Honor!"

Lieutenant Tragg. Another grouch who's always positive he's got Perry beat this time. He usually shows up behind a door or from a closet one minute after the stiff is found, charging Perry's client with Murder One, very full of himself.

Gertie. She's Perry's receptionist, usually on the other end of Perry's or Della's phone ("Yes, Gertie"). She actually shows up on camera once or twice and is a real lollapalooza.

Nice clean murder. No rape, incest or other unpleasantries. Blackmail's most often the motive and the victim is usually very mean and unpleasant and had it coming to him or her anyway.

Everyone is nasty. Rich or poor, young or old, they all act like their shoes are on too tight.

Terrific character actors. If you watch this show a lot, you'll see the same fabulous repertory company of character actors over and over again. And I don't know the names of any of them.

TV's best theme song. The pounding piano. The fat trumpet. The big crescendo. Drama with a capital D.

Newspapers with giant headlines. "HEIRESS MURDERS BOYFRIEND," printed so big it looks like World War III just broke out.

It holds up in reruns. It's like listening to opera or your favorite Beatles records - you sing along with the best parts. And even if I've seen the show before, I can never remember who the murderer is, anyway.

They never break from the formula. Perry's client never takes the stand, the real murderer confesses, Perry's client is innocent. You can set your watch by it.

It's a period piece. Fabulous cars, great clothes, cool furniture. Will "The Practice" look this cool fifty years from now?

I rest my case.

The whole kitsch and caboodle: The Allee Willis Museum of Kitsch to open September 14th

Everything but the kitsch-en sink: artifacts from Allee Willis' kitsch collection (photos from alleewillis.com)

The great Allee Willis at the Ghettogloss gallery in L.A. (photo from Ghettogloss)

We received word that there is a kitsch museum opening and it looks to be a real doozy. Allee Willis has written songs that have sold over 50 million copies, including "September" and "Boogie Wonderland" by Earth Wind and Fire, "Neutron Dance" by the Pointer Sisters and the theme from the TV show "Friends." She also collaborated on the score for the musical "The Color Purple". She's been a cyber pioneer and is also a talented multi-media fine artist and has rubbed shoulders with all kinds of showbiz luminaries. This is all well and good but what really impresses us is the fact that she has what's billed as the world's biggest collection of kitsch memorabilia. She blogs about it in her Kitsch O' The Day column at alleewillis.com and is preparing to open the Allee Willis Museum of Kitsch on September 14, with an exhibit at Los Angeles' Ghettogloss art gallery on Melrose in Los Angeles. Allee will be displaying hundreds of amazing artifacts from her rarely-seen-in-person kitsch collection and will frequently be on hand greeting visitors and discussing the Allee Willis Museum of Kitsch. We at Eccentric Roadside could not be more thrilled. The world needs more kitsch and patrons like Ms Willis. If you're in the area, you must check it out (we wish we could). Not to do so would be in very bad taste.