Every time I see a Hard Rock T Shirt or hear about how trendy they are I remember the Hard Rock Cafe at 5th and Wall on Skidrow downtown L.A. Thats about the hardest hard drinking place on the Nickle or was. Makes me laugh.
Musso and Frank Grill Hollywood Blvd Established 1919 Still open. From Chaplin and Valentino to Orson Welles and The Stones. Go there while you and the Grill are still around.
1934, Chinatown...this cafe was also the location for the last scene of the movie, "Chinatown" with Jack Nicholson...anyone want to build an altered?
Until the late 1960's almost all restaurants were closed on Mondays...same with beauty salons and barber shops. In 1969, I remember my friends and I skateboarded on sundays in the parking lot of a major department store, May Co. Why? No department store was open on a sunday...
Ed, that was the real deal...it's been fully rebuilt Here it is in 1981 in our town. It was on a huge truck ch***is and used in parades for several years. It was in our 4th of July Parade..on it's tires. here it is on it's tires...and, yes, that white "Sierra Madre" sign is mine. Its hanging in the garage and it was on loan for this parade. I found it behind an antique store and got it for $60 in the 1970's
i think the ride is free or a buck. i cant remember? i like hanging around san pedro, it still hold some of its old town flavor. then it gets pack, and i split!
One of the guys in our club (Slim Gauge Guild), Dave Garcia, was hip deep in that restoration. It's not fully original (the motors are much newer for instance) but as nearly so as they could make it. It sure looks beautiful under way.
If you go to Google Earth and click the Street View picture there it's a gold building with the Green Apple market in that spot. Lots of ne'er do wells hanging out in the area too.
Ry told me that although it's a running / driving lowrider truck, he can't run the motor for very long, nor take it in the sun too long, as it's painted with oil paint and will start to bubble if it get's too hot. So it's pretty much an informative work of art. But very cool in my book.