[QUOTE="fyrffytr1, post: 15676515, member: View attachment 6496743 Katherine Ross[/QUOTE] Mrs Sam Elliott
Hello, That particular spot on East 1st Street just East of the Los Angeles City Hall brings back a lot of memories. When our mom and dad took us to Los Angeles to shop and visit friends, we always stopped on this street and spent a long time walking East and West. Our parents knew a lot of shop owners and the greetings took a lot of time. So, my brother and I could walk down to this large multistory building on the ground floor entrance/hallway. There along the hallway to the elevators and other shops, was a tiny three stool hot dog stand. A pop-out window allowed the whole “behind the counter” activity to be seen if one was sitting on those stools. Our dad had taken us there in 1948 or 49 and introduced us to the owner. Luckily we were usually earlier than the lunch hour and so we were able to sit on the stools and leisurely eat our famous chili hot dogs. The owner used her homemade chili and folks from all of the local shops knew where to go if they wanted the “best” chili dogs in Los Angeles. As we grew up and visited our dad in Los Angeles with or without our mom, we always visited the hot dog stand. So, the owner knew who we were. Jnaki It was an “institution” in small great tasting food outlets back in those days. One year we were just arriving down the long hall to get to those stools and three huge policemen were just getting up and paying the tab. They also had three bags full of, what we presumed were wrapped up chili dogs, to take back to the station which was just a couple of blocks away. My brother and I literally grew up in that area as we visited with our dad, or our parents took us there for a nice lunch or dinner + shop for goodies. Back then, we could walk around by ourselves. The place was friendly and most shop owners knew who we were as a family. So, they, in essence, looked out for us as my brother and I visited various shops and food places. But, today, the street still exists with less security for little kids or families walking around like we used to do. YRMV My wife and I have always like one special restaurant called the Far East Café which is located just across the street from the posted 1950 photo location. It is not what most would call a 5 star restaurant. There was sawdust on the floor, the booths were room dividers separating the diners and party guests. The bathrooms in the back led to the roof with a flock of pigeons always looking for some food. (When we were little, we always ordered the barbequed Squab. A fancy name for pigeon. But when we went upstairs to the bathroom, there were a ton of pigeons walking around on the roof top. We always wondered if those pigeons were our table mates… ha!) But the food was the best food anywhere that tasted so good it was outrageous. We always took some extras home as we knew we would not be coming up here weekly. It was so delicious and the atmosphere just added to the mystique of an old Los Angeles Restaurant from the 40s-50s. Note : Back in 2022, one of the HAMB members group toured the whole area in their hot rods and roadsters. @wheeltramp brian cruising on First Street with friends, heading East toward the Freeway.
The Jalopy Journal
