Take a ride along the streets of Downtown Los Angeles in 1946 and catch a glimpse of the Golden Gopher, Clifton’s Cafeteria, and Coffee Dan’s. #ToLiveandDineLA
A Project of The Library Foundation of Los Angeles Based on the Menu Collection of the Los Angeles Public Library
Take a ride along the streets of Downtown Los Angeles in 1946 and catch a glimpse of the Golden Gopher, Clifton’s Cafeteria, and Coffee Dan’s. #ToLiveandDineLA
This November 1956 advertisement for Scrivner’s invited Torrance Press readers to the grand opening of its eleventh location at 174th Street and Western Avenue. One of Los Angeles’ celebrated drive-in restaurants of the 1950s, Scrivner’s was also home to pioneering rock-radio DJ Art Laboe’s daily K-POP show, which aired live from its Hollywood location. #ToLiveAndDineLA
Sneak peek! The To Live and Dine in L.A. exhibition opens tomorrow in the Getty Gallery of the Los Angeles Public Library. For more information, visit http://live-and-dine.lfla.org/ #ToLiveandDineLA
In a February 1927 issue of the USC Daily Trojan, both Frank Sebastian’s Cotton Club Cafe and Paulais took out advertisements in the paper’s “Dine and Dance” section. “Join the Merry Whirl,” Frank Sebastian’s invited, for the chance to win the silver trophy in the Sunday night dance contests. Or, “convince Her that you have ‘IT’” Paulais’ ad exclaimed, by treating her to Paulais candy at one of the confectioner’s three L.A. locations.
In February 1946, The SaMoJaC, Santa Monica City College’s then-campus newspaper, started a new society column, Tillie Termite. In the very first issue, author Naomi Genser recapped her Friday and Saturday night adventures, which included back-to-back nights dancing at the Hollywood Palladium and a stop at Club Zarape for root beer.
One of the earliest menus featured in the To Live and Dine in L.A. book and upcoming exhibition is from an 1895 banquet organized by the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce in celebration of its seventh anniversary. Following dinner, toastmaster Judge J. S. Slauson emceed the evening’s proceedings, which included a series of toasts: “Determining Elements in Our Destiny,” “A Hoosier’s Impression of Southern California,” “The Glorious Climate,” and “Southern California and its relation to the General Government.” The program also featured this poem, “The Transplanting,” which was read by Charles F. Lummis.
Some radio time travel back to the morning show, Breakfast in Hollywood, recorded live at Breneman’s Restaurant on Vine and Sunset. It was sponsored by Ivory Flakes, Kellogg’s Pep, and Kellogg’s Shredded Wheat.
“They fed/ Families with change and wiped/ Their Kitchens clean./ Then another century came./ People like me forgot their names.”
Jericho Brown, “N’em”
One of the chefs who remixes a vintage menu from the Library’s collection in our forthcoming book is Cynthia Hawkins, owner and chef at Hawkins of House of Burgers in Watts. In our related exhibition, opening June 13 at the Central Library, she will also be featured in a short film (directed by Michael Bodie) about her family’s history in Watts, how burgers helped heal her neighborhood after the ‘92 uprisings, how the 105 freeway shut down a local farm, and the role of food in sustaining community when all else seems to fail. As a taste, here are a few snaps from this morning’s shoot.