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.

All it's quacked up to be: The Big Duck of Flanders, New York

The "D.A."

Volunteer Janice fills us in on the history of The Duck

Lots of duckabilia inside...

Kia and Pouran Eshghi generously donated The Duck to Suffolk County, New York back in 1987.

They've got some ducky souvenirs...

...and original artwork, too.

These buildings, part of the original duck farm, are also on the property.

  

As an eccentric roadside attraction, The Big Duck really fits the bill.

One of the all-time great eccentric roadside attractions resides on Route 24 in the town of Flanders in Suffolk County on Long Island in New York State. There you'll find a 15-foot wide, 30-foot long and 20-foot tall white concrete duck that dates back to 1931. It's such a beloved figure that it is on the National Register of Historic Places, and rightly so, for it is a marvel to behold. Eight-one years ago, Martin and Jeule Maurer were raising Peking ducks and wanted to bring attention to their Riverhead, New York duck farm and business. Inspired by a building shaped like a giant coffee pot they had visited out west, they decided to put up a duck-shaped dwelling to get the attention of West Main Street motorists. The Maurers collaborated with a carpenter and two stage show designers to create a giant wooden duck frame that was covered in wire mesh and then cement. The structure was painted a pleasing bright white, with orange for the bill and Model-T taillights for the eyes. The building was so striking, the Maurers renamed their shop and business The Big Duck Ranch. They relocated their business and the Duck to the nearby town of Flanders in 1936 where it roosted until 1987. No longer using the structure, the Duck's then-owners, Kia and Pouran Eshghi, donated the lame Duck to Suffolk County, who moved it to another location on Route 24, and then back to its original Flanders spot in 2007 where it sits today as a gift shop and good will ambassaduck. The Duck is such a perfect example of a building in the shape of the product sold within that the term "duck" is now used by roadside architecture buffs to describe just such a structure. Buildings that functioned as colossal 3D representational advertisements were once common along pre-Interstate highways but are rare commodities today, so the Big Duck is a big treat, indeed. Let's hope they protect and cherish it for another 81 years...I'd be down with that.

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.