Avenue to the Sky - Lake Avenue, Pasadena

The Marcell Inn, from the book: CURIOUS CALIFORNIA CUSTOMS, 1935

noreply@blogger.com (Thal Armathura) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 20:00:00 +0000

Just recently I received notice that signs from the Marcell Inn in Altadena have been found in an old Altadena barn. I'm still waiting to see pictures from that marvelous find and hope these artifacts of Altadena history will be preserved. More on the Marcell Inn here: http://avenuetotheskylakeavenuepasadena.blogspot.com/2011/02/marcell-inn-altadenas-famous-speakeasy.html

Going through all my historical materials recently, I came across this article I wanted to share with you:
From the book: CURIOUS CALIFORNIA CUSTOMS, By Elisabeth Webb Herrick, Pacific Carbon and Printing Company, Los Angeles, California 1935

Marcell Inn, Los Angeles, California

This historic and popular old dining room is one of the high spots of our culinary tour, Lucullus himself would have been delighted to make it his permanent hangout. Situated at 2900 Lincoln Avenue, Altadena, in an old garden, it is a monument to the epicurean tastes of those enlightened souls who have discovered it and kept it up.

All during those dark days of prohibition, it struggled along, goodness knows how because any good cook will tell you that it is utterly impossible to turn out anything fit to eat without wine to flavor the sauces, and any epicure will tell you how much alcoholic stimulants have to do with the enjoyment of the delicate nuances in viands. But they're happy now at the Inn and they'll be glad to promote you to a state of exhilaration also, if you'll just give them the opportunity.

Their $2.50 dinner is something to conjure with! If you are dieting, call up the masseuse and make a date for early next morning, but don't we beg of you, pass up any of their courses! It would be an insult to the chef and a slight to the house which no amount of explanation could overcome.

The cherubic George Rector and Henri Charpentier used to do this sort of thing with air, but they couldn't possibly surpass the sweet breads saute sec. Diamond Jim Brady, five stomachs and all, would have hailed their chicken with the reverence he felt for such artistic triumphs, and would have heralded their salads from the housetops.

There is an orchestra and dancing - talk about gilding the lily! Inasmuch as your true gourmet never under any circumstances takes a sweet after dining, it is a very gracious gesture on the part of the management to feature such tantalizing delicacies for dessert as their special pudding, real Italian spumoni ice cream and petit fours. By the time this course is reached, you are shrugging off the possibility of extra poundage anyhow, so you might as well go ahead and partake. After one of these dinners, served with all the elegance of the Nineties, it is very easy to understand the fashionable figures of the day. No wonder Lillian Russell had nothing left but her famous chiseled profile when we got around to see her! Just be grateful that you were lucky enough to find out about this place, and remember there are no luncheons but the doors are open about 6:00 p.m., Sundays earlier.

I truly miss Michael's with its miniature golf and the Marcell Inn with its beautiful gardens. I will continue to advocate for dining establishments with ambiance in Altadena and Pasadena along and adjacent to Lake Avenue. Just recently I was taken to Julienne's in San Marino for lunch. The spirit of the Marcell Inn lives on not too far from our North Pasadena abode. What a pleasant suprise!
http://www.juliennetogo.com/index.php The ghost of Marcell sat with me for lunch. This place is magical! Don't fail to try it: Julienne Restaurant, 2649 Mission Street, San Marino, California. (And thank you to my muse, who took me to this gem, and didn't let me pine only for all things lost, but let me rejoice in things found....)

Market Basket, a Pasadena institution since 1930, two locations on North Lake Avenue

noreply@blogger.com (Thal Armathura) — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 00:41:00 +0000

Once upon a time there was a local Pasadena supermarket chain called Market Basket.....

Market Basket News, Volume 1, Number 3, March 1949

Store Number 1, Old Number 1, was located at Colorado and Meredith in 1930

New Store Number 1, located at the middle of the block of Colorado between Bonnie and Meridith on Colorado, was opened the evening of February 17, 1934, just a few doors away from Old Number 1. Now the 99 Cents Only Store occupies the space at 1720 E. Colorado.

Here a closer view of Old Number 1 located on the SE corner of Colorado and Meridith, just a little to the east of the New Number 1.

Here a picture of the interior of Old Number 1 in April, 1930

Why the customers love their local Market Basket!

Market Basket was a local Pasadena chain of markets which existed up into at least the 1980's, as the Food 4 Less located in Lake Washington Village was originally named Market Basket, after the Kroger Company acquired the rights to the name and built what was called at first in 1986 the North Lake Market Basket Center. A year or two later, Kroger renamed the Market Basket store and the center the Food 4 Less supermarket and center and changed the marketing concept. It's been rather downhill since then.....

Across the street at 1260 North Lake, where Big Lots is now located, was our historic Market Basket, going out of business in the late 1970's, with the building becoming Continental Catering until it became Pic 'n' Save in the 1980's, later with a name change to Big Lots in 2002.

Here is a picture of the 1260 North Lake Market Basket in the early 1950's, when the Space Patrol rocket showed up during a promotion for Rice Chex breakfast cereal.

Here is some more information about the Market Basket chain and part of our lost heritage of a local business which disappeared: http://pleasantfamilyshopping.blogspot.com/2007/08/market-basket-mayhem.html

http://www.flickr.com/photos/toomuchfire/4786163527/

http://www.groceteria.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=698

As of 1959, these Market Basket locations are listed in the Pasadena area:
2270 N. Lake Avenue, Altadena
2502 N. Fair Oaks, Altadena
1160 N. Fair Oaks, Pasadena
40 N. Santa Anita, Pasadena
1859 E. Washington, Pasadena
1280 N. Lake Avenue, Pasadena

We've come a long way....... Our other local institution, Pronto Market aka Trader Joe's is not bad, though! http://avenuetotheskylakeavenuepasadena.blogspot.com/2010/03/return-of-trader-joes-market-formerly.html

THE GENESIS OF LAKE AVENUE!

noreply@blogger.com (Thal Armathura) — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 21:15:00 +0000

LAKE AVENUE BEGAN IN THE MISTS OF TIME
Lake Avenue began in the mists of time as a footpath connecting the flat lands of the San Gabriel Valley at one end with the Sierra Madre mountains on the other end. The Tongva people guided the Padres to the forested mountains to cut timbers for the San Gabriel Mission in 1776.

In 1838, the Mexican government gave an Indian woman Victoria Reid, the wife of settler Scotsman Hugo Reid, a portion of the vast San Gabriel Mission estate for her past service to the mission. In 1854, Reid's Indian widow sold her rancho, the 128-acre La Huerte del Cuati, to Benjamin Wilson, a trapper, trader and early area businessman, which Wilson renamed Lake Vineyard. It consisted of a ranch with a 40 acre shallow pond fed by streams of Old Mill "El Molino Viejo" Canyon and Wilson Canyon (Wilson Creek / Woodbury Creek of Washington Park). The property included Alhambra, San Marino, South Pasadena, and Pasadena--and Wilson's Lake / Kewen Lake (now San Marino's Lacey Park, the lake has been filled in) which became a swimming hole for the residents of the valley.

George Ellery Hale - Pasadena Visionary

noreply@blogger.com (Thal Armathura) — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 22:29:00 +0000

George Ellery Hale, the Solar Priest of Mount Wilson Observatory, managed to convince Pasadena's civic and educational leaders and Andrew Carnegie to follow his enlightened vision for a Pasadena of the future, forming the foundation for the evolving scientific, educational and artistic center of the West that Pasadena would become.

He was a driven individual, and in Pasadena he founded the Mount Wilson Observatory and directed Edwin Hubble to make his astounding discoveries of the expanding universe. Also, Hale was instrumental in convincing Amos Throop to turn Throop University into the California Institute of Technology and helped develop Caltech into the premier research and scientific university in the West.

Hale seemed delusional at times, claiming that a little green man sat on his window ledge in the middle of the night and advised him about how to proceed with discovering the wonders of the universe and also how to go about implementing the City Beautiful movement in Pasadena. Hale built his own Solar temple, observatory and laboratory where he lived after his retirement as director of the Mount Wilson Observatory, where he continued his conversations with the little green man from the sky.

The City of Pasadena owes much to how it looks today, with one of the most beautiful civic centers of a town its size, to Hale's vision to apply the City Beautiful aesthetic to the planning of Pasadena's civic center. Hale saw himself as a Solar Priest during his time as the director of the Mount Wilson Observatory, holding elaborate torch lit ceremonies late at night with his astronomers in the Monastery on the observatory grounds. Now his sculpted bust looks out eternally from the Caltech campus towards his beloved Acropolis of the West, on the high peak of Mount Wilson, where he put his dreams into reality in the discovery of the nature of Sun and the ever expanding universe.

San Gabriel Mountain Throughway

noreply@blogger.com (Thal Armathura) — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 17:44:00 +0000

There has been a lot of talk about the extension of the 710 into Pasadena lately. The idea of connecting the San Gabriel Valley with the Antelope Valley in a direct route has been thought about since at least the 1920's.

Various proposals have been floated, one of which was to build a tunnel under the San Gabriels and extend Los Angeles Freeways to the north, opening up the Antelope Valley to urban sprawl just as happened in the San Fernando and San Gabriel Valley.

We are lucky in Pasadena and Altadena that the San Gabriel Mountains form such an impenetrable barrier. If it was more practical, Lake, Fair Oaks and/or Lincoln Avenues would have become multi-lane highways into the new Los Angeles suburb of Antelope Valley.

Fortunately, for the moment at least, our neighborhoods are spared the problems of being the feeder system through Pasadena and Altadena to another sprawling suburban valley. Thank goodness for the San Gabriel Mountains and the dead ends at the top of Lake, Fair Oaks and Lincoln Avenues!!!

This rendering was found recently at a local fleamarket and shows what was being proposed back in the early 1950's when the expansion of suburbia was on the mind of Los Angeles.....

Altadena Golf Gardens, 2556 North Lake Avenue, Altadena, California

noreply@blogger.com (Thal Armathura) — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 18:51:00 +0000

Miniature Golf De Luxe, You are cordially invited to OUR OPENING, Wednesday Evening, Aug. 27 (1930), Of Altadena's first Fine Miniature Golf Course at North Lake Avenue and Foothill Boulevard,
Altadena Golf Gardens
An orchestra will furnish music which will be broadcast to all parts of the grounds through Michael's public address system, FREE PARKING, For patrons of the course at all times.

Michael's was the road house directly below the entrance to the miniature golf course and after the golf course closed down about 1932, Michael's, and later the Venetian Dining Room and Gardens used the previous golf course area as an outdoor dining area, filling in the depressed nine hole fairways with ornamental scored red colored concrete. All exists in fine condition today, with night lighting still in position and all the lava rock and other ornamental features such as a small California mission ball trap still extant.

A reopened miniature golf course along with a rejuvenated road house serving Michael's fine steaks is just what we need to reactivate the top of Lake! Perhaps the community would be interested in helping the present property owner, a church, turn the property into a thriving, money making local business which could be a community gathering place, as Michael's and the Venetian Gardens were back in the day. From old reports we know that the many Altadena civic groups gathered for the meetings and luncheons at Michael's, later at the Venetian Dining Room and Gardens. My mouth is watering for a fine steak and my palms are itching for a good round of local minature golf, right in my own backyard! And there is plenty of onsite parking to satisfy any county requirements, parking that goes unused most of the week....................

YouTube "Avenue to the Sky", A Journey from the Bottom of Lake Avenue to the Top!

noreply@blogger.com (Thal Armathura) — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 18:29:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YZHKvmi69U

Courtesy of Monty Park.... Thank you, nice job!

John Weidner Building/Harvest House/1925 Five Bay Lombardic Revival Style Commercial Building”, 1376/1380/1386 North Lake Avenue, Landmark Designation From June 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Thal Armathura) — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 19:41:00 +0000

Photo from circa 1978

Photo from 2008
Sid Gally's recent comments about Larry's Ice Cream bring up John Weidner, Pasadena's "Oskar Schindler" WWII hero, and owner of the "Harvest House" health food store at 1380 North Lake Avenue, and one time employer of Sirhan Sirhan, a Howard Street resident. The following is more information on the Pasadena local landmark "Weidner Building" and its namesake John Weidner who was an underground Dutch agent during WWII and rescued more than 800 Jews and more than 100 Allied Airmen:

World War II hero John Weidner had his health food business located in this structure and he also employed local Pasadena resident Sirhan Sirhan at this location (The Sirhan family still lives in a neat bungalow on Howard Street not far from the Weidner Building).

Businesses have prospered in this structure and it has also been the subject of television and film locations, as in the 1988 Dobie Gillis Reunion Movie, in which John Weidner’s Harvest House Health Foods was used as the neighborhood grocery store owned and operated by the grown and married Dobie Gillis, as he had become a neighborhood grocery store owner just as his television show father had been in the “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis” several decades before.

From the LA Times, June 23, 1957

Refugees

June 23, 1957

Pasadena

John, 42, runs a health food store on North Lake Street in Pasadena and lives at 861 Elizabeth St., The Times says in a feature story. Born in Holland, he is like many Europeans who came to America after World War II. "I love it here," he says. "You have a spirit of freedom and liberty which is lost in Europe."

But the man behind the counter at the health food store is different from most Americans in several ways: He's a Seventh-day Adventist. He's a member of the Order of the British Empire. He holds the French Croix de Guerre, the U.S. Medal of Freedom and the Dutch Order of Orange-Nassau.

His name is John Henry Weidner and for his heroism in saving more than 1,000 people from the Nazis, he will eventually be honored by Israel as one of the Righteous Among Nations. John's life makes for quite a story. His father, a Dutch Reformed minister, and sister died in concentration camps and John was tortured by the Gestapo, escaping from the Nazis five times.

But what interests us about him now is something other than his actions during the war.

Let's jump ahead 10 years. One of his regular customers, a woman named Mary, will ask John to hire her son as a stocker and delivery boy. He's a troubled young man and like John, a refugee--an Arab Christian from Jerusalem who is having a hard time fitting into American society. He's had a few odd jobs, but nothing has worked out. Since he's a small man, he even tried being a jockey at Santa Anita, but ended up filing a disability claim because he suffered a head injury when he was thrown by a horse.

Mary, a member of the Greek Orthodox Church, had taken her son to St. Nicholas, the Syrian Orthodox Cathedral, in Los Angeles; First Nazarene of Pasadena; and finally First Baptist Church of Pasadena, where she enrolled her son in Sunday school and a group for teenagers. The Baptists sponsored Mary's older sons for entry into the U.S. But the young man didn't like the Pasadena Baptist church, saying that the other teenagers were too frivolous in a place intended for reading the Bible and praying.

John will hire the young man and discover that he is bright, pleasant and witty, eager to please and so honest that John will trust him to handle some of the store's banking. The only problem is that the young man is extremely sensitive to anything that seems like criticism.

"He had a lot of pride, a lot of arrogance," John's wife, Naomi, will say. "We were always careful how we gave him an order. If you gave him an order he didn't like he became very resentful."

Still, John will reach out to the young man whenever he has a spare moment at the store. But the young man will be a test. "I would like to be like you but I cannot," he will tell John. "There is no God. You see in Israel what happens to the Arab. There is no God. How can you have a God?"

The young man and John will also argue over the Six-Day War, comparing Israel's victory to the actions of the Nazis. "You think Jews can't be cruel too?" he will ask John.

Eventually, there will be a dispute. John will insist that there was a misunderstanding and try to make amends, but the young man will be adamant and quit his job.

Shortly after that, on a night in June that's the first anniversary of the Six-Day War, the young man will go to the Ambassador Hotel, where Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy is celebrating his victory in California primary.

Sirhan Sirhan, who once earned $2 an hour as a stock boy at John Weidner's Pasadena health food store, will be waiting in the pantry of the Ambassador Hotel's kitchen--with a .22-caliber, eight-shot Iver Johnson revolver.

"I think he was a man of revolt," John will say of Sirhan. "He was a kind of anarchist against society, against law and order, against those who possess. Against those who have more than he has and are more successful in life."

"In America, freedom does not exist," Sirhan told John. "I agree with the violence."

Postscript in 2007: John H. Weidner died in 1994. He once said: "During my father's lifetime he taught me, my family, his parishioners and the community that the most important quality in a human being was to love, respect and treat our fellow man as we wished to be loved, respected and treated.

"I was a witness to the barbaric treatment of the Jews by the Nazis. I personally observed the crushing of the skull of a Jewish infant who was torn out of the arms of its mother. I was determined to heed the teachings and example of my father and I did everything that I could to save as many lives as possible."

Channeling George Ellery Hale: Stefanos Polyzoides speaks June 14th, 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Thal Armathura) — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 16:39:00 +0000

Next Thursday evening at 6:30 p.m., June 14th, renowned international and Pasadena architect, Stefanos Polyzoides will give a talk about creating a "Liveable Pasadena."

Pasadena has been called the "Athens of the West" in the past, and deservedly so, for its superlatives in the arts, tourism, culture and science. Mt. Wilson Observatory is our Acropolis and we look up to it everyday, in my case for inspiration.

Interestingly, George Ellery Hale, who some think of as the "Father of Pasadena", considered himself the "Solar Priest" (his home, the "Hale Solar Laboratory" at 740 Holladay Drive near Caltech is a National Historic Landmark) and his astronomers as members of the "priestly society." The living quarters for the astronomers on Mt. Wilson is known as the "Monastery" and Dr. Hale held ceremonies there. Stefanos and his wife live in the very same George Ellery Hale home and I've often joked that he is channeling George to help make Pasadena the best it can be, and since Stefanos is Greek, the phrase "Pasadena is the Athens of the West" takes on a new meaning.

So in a very real sense Pasadena is a spiritual place, not only in the traditional sense of being home to so many churches, but also being home to the many scientific institutions.

Elegant architecture and planning contributes to Pasadena's arts, tourism, culture and science and make Pasadena live up to its reputation. Come out Thursday evening and hear Stefanos; he is a very inspirational speaker, just as George Ellery Hale was in convincing Pasadena's benefactors including one tough Scotsman Andrew Carnegie, and you will find the future an uplifting place.

When and Where

•Thursday, June 14th at 6:30PM

•Pasadena Presbyterian Church – Gamble Lounge (off the courtyard)

•585 East Colorado Boulevard, between Madison and Oakland

Please RSVP to confirm a place for you at this exciting event! E-mail DPNAlist@gmail.com or call 626.539.3762.

More information here:
http://downtownpasadena.wordpress.com/2012/06/03/stefanos-polyzoides-on-form-based-codes/

Larry's Ice Cream, NE Corner of Lake and Washington, 1920's to 1960's?

noreply@blogger.com (Thal Armathura) — Wed, 30 May 2012 17:51:00 +0000

Here is a photo from the fond remembered Larry's Ice Cream Store, from the Pasadena Museum of History, which shows the northeast corner of Lake and Washington about 1949. Notice the corner entrance, distinctive architecture, diagonal parking on North Lake Avenue and tasteful signage. Also, note the attractive light standards and the festive string of light bulbs strung over the intersection. I don't know what the occasion was for the festive lighting, but back in those days the Lake Washington Village Business Association was very active celebrating special sales and holiday festivities.
Mode-a-Day and Frances Scott dress shops are just up the way on North Lake with one other retail bay before reaching the Crown Restaurant and Hotel Supply building which still exists today as the Fred Astaire Dance Studio. There must have been more than one Larry's Ice Cream Store, as the signs both say Larry's Ice Cream Stores rather than just Store.

Many old neighborhood residents talk of having an ice cream sundae or soda at Larry's soda fountain. Such a shame we don't have something like this now during the hot summer months. The closest thing we have is Connal's on East Washington Boulevard, a few blocks to the east which has great ice cream.

Here is what we have now on the same corner. All the buildings were demolished up to the Crown Restaurant and Hotel Supply and to the east to the alley. What a shame when this happened in the late 1960's, and something we've had to live with now for a long time. Perhaps someday the gas station will go the way of old Larry's and something more like Larry's will come back. We can hope... The historic crown sign of the old Crown Restaurant and Hotel Supply got saved and reused...

Penthouse Theatre, N. Lake at Mt. Curve, Black Cat Inn, Venetian Dining Room, The Barn...Altadena, a hopping place!

noreply@blogger.com (Thal Armathura) — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 00:53:00 +0000

This theatre program, not dated, but probably from the late 1930's, shows Altadena was a busy place for entertainment, dining and drinking back in the day. I like the Black Cat Inn located at 2367 North Lake Avenue, the Venetian Dining Room at 2556 North Lake Avenue (Cocktails and All Legal Beverages), and " Drop in at The Barn after the show for sandwiches or a dinner - Coffee Shop - Dining Room - Fountain - Car Service - Patio , 2727 East New York, Altadena", and the " Anita Christine Air Conditioned Super-Fountain " located at 2406 North Lake Avenue!

Mildred Pierce (by the way, great classic noir movie with Mildred Pierce living in Pasadena) would have loved having a restaurant branch in such an engaging, entertaining, free-spending and free-drinking community..... The Barn was located on the westside of Eaton Canyon Wash where New York Drive ended back then. Any memories by anyone of these establishments or the Penthouse Theatre, which must have been a forerunner of Theatre Americana?

MINIT-MAN Automatic Car Wash, 140 N. Lake Avenue (Next to Farmers Market), SYcamore 6-2747

noreply@blogger.com (Thal Armathura) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 20:00:00 +0000

The beautiful Beaux-Arts style Columbia School was discontinued at the end of the school year 1930-31 and the property on the North East corner of North Lake Avenue and Walnut Street was sold.

The school building was demolished and the Farmer's Market complex was built on the site and today Ralphs market is located here, the only remnant of an early shopping center complex, comparable to the still existing Farmer's Market Shopping Center located at Fairfax and 3rd in Hollywood. There were many individual shops located at the Pasadena complex, including Japanese owned and operated fresh fruit and vegetable grocers and florists who used to be a fixture of the Pasadena landscape. We sadly miss most of those businesses, but a few survive in the city such as Johnny's Sport Shop located at 1402 N. Lincoln, a walk back in time, and the Bellefontaine Nursery located at 838 S. Fair Oaks. The Japanese community has always been an important part of Pasadena history.

Recently found at a local estate, an advertising pencil for the MINIT-MAN Automatic Car Wash which was located just south of the Pasadena Farmer's Market Shopping Center.

Does anyone remember the Farmer's Market Shopping Center and/or the MINIT-MAN Automatic Car Wash? I would love to see some photographs.....

Port O'Call Gifts and Antiques, 388 South Lake Avenue, Historic "Oak Knoll" South Lake Shopping District

noreply@blogger.com (Thal Armathura) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 16:41:00 +0000

In 1957, Mary Elizabeth Colby co-founded with her husband Port O'Call Gifts and Antiques in a tiny gray bungalow on Granite Drive in Pasadena, also soon including a larger bungalow located at 388 South Lake Avenue. The shop complex offered contemporary California gifts and crafts and European gifts and antiques, and later clothing. It was a remarkable institution which lasted from 1957 through 200?, when the property was sold and the bungalow at 388 South Lake was demolished and replaced with a modern non-descript stucco box which now houses a realtor.

I remember the buyer coming to American Express on South Lake Avenue and purchasing British Pound denominated Travelers Cheques to go on annual buying trips. The Port O'Call shop complex always had unusual treasures, both contemporary and antique, from the entire world. Such an unusual and upscale shopping experience is sorely missed on South Lake, just as Gump's Luggage, I. Magnin, Hall's Jewelers and Bullocks are missing from the once high end exclusive "Oak Knoll" South Lake Shopping District.

There are remains of Port O'Call behind the businesses on Granite and South Lake, Ghost signs showing the way to the dearly departed destination. I found a gift box from Port O'Call recently, with the tasteful Tarot Card design covering, just as with their gift bags, and containing a piece of Meissen German porcelain, a beautiful pheasant. What a nice gift!

Here is an article from the Los Angeles Times in January 19, 2008, about Mary Elizabeth Colby, co-founder of the Port O'Call chain of gift stores: http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jan/19/local/me-colby19

What will become of bricks and mortar shopping? Will the exclusive "Oak Knoll" South Lake Shopping District ever come back? Please share your memories of shopping on Lake Avenue in Pasadena....

Presenting in Pictures - PASADENA DEPARTMENT STORES - Each Distinct in Their Chosen Architectural Loveliness

noreply@blogger.com (Thal Armathura) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 02:26:00 +0000

This is a page from the Pasadena Independent, Wednesday, January 1, 1947, celebrating all things Pasadena. Department Stores were destinations here at that time, a place to go to shop, dine, experience.

Unfortunately, all we have left in Pasadena Department Stores are two Macy's, one in the old Bullocks Pasadena on South Lake and one in the Broadway Bunker in the Paseo, two Targets on East Colorado, and one almost dead Sears in Hastings Ranch. Small locally owned retail is certainly almost dead in Pasadena save for Berg and Crown Hardware and Vroman's, otherwise we have a ghost town on North and South Lake with retail vacancies at more than 50%! Reminds me of Jerome, Arizona, the old mining ghost town on the hill where they put cardboard ghosts in the empty shop windows. Charming.......

I do see that on North Mentor and sometimes on Colorado and sometimes on South Lake there are art installations in the vacant storefronts. Until the City of Pasadena and the diverse shopping districts figure out a way to allow Live/Work space for artisans and art galleries in these vacant retail spaces, empty space is what we will have to live with.

Small locally owned retail is unlikely to come back even in better economic times; that business model is probably headed for extinction. The restaurants like Hamburger Hamlet and Bob's Big Boy on South Lake seem to be doing o.k., also Burger Continental and bars like Magnolia. So hopefully the City of Pasadena and our business community will figure out a new model to fill up all that "haunted" space and make the urban streetscape more interesting. Hope springs eternal!

Do you remember when Mather's was on the NW corner of Marengo and Colorado, Nash's was on the NE corner of Arroyo Parkway and Colorado, Broadway was on the NW corner of Los Robles and Colorado and Sears was on the SW corner of Madison and Colorado, just west of the ornate I. Magnin which was torn down to make room for a parking lot for Sears in the late 1940's!! and then built a new building just south of the new Oak Knoll Shopping District's Bullocks?

I like that previous classy name for South Lake " The Oak Knoll Shopping District !" Now that label sounds like a million bucks! Pasadena Chamber of Commerce and the South Lake Shopping District, are you listening? Try a rebranding and then a rezoning for an Arts District, how about " The Oak Knoll Arts, Entertainment, and Shopping District?" Watch out "Playhouse District!"

Washington Blvd. Road Widening - Perhaps Now Needs to be Reversed - How About a Road Diet?

noreply@blogger.com (Thal Armathura) — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 19:13:00 +0000

Here you have the before and after of the 1958 Washington Blvd. street widening. looking west from the intersection of Washington Blvd. and North Los Robles Ave., which was protested against by neighbors, unsuccessfully. As you can see, part of the front yards on the south side and north side were taken, along with the street trees (ever wondered why there are no stately palms along this stretch, like there are east of Lake Avenue?) The City did go to a lot of trouble to rebuild the stone retaining walls on the north side of Washington Blvd., we have to give them credit for that.

Here you have the before and after of the 1957 Washington Blvd. street widening, which appears to be taken looking west somewhere east? of the intersection of Washington Blvd. and Navarro Ave., with the absence of retaining walls and the slope downward. Let me know if you can find the location exactly. (Update: the row of palms on either side in the distance appears to be West Washington Street west of North Lincoln Avenue, so this picture in the foreground is likely a portion of Washington Blvd. looking west from about just east of Mentone Avenue, an area erased by the building of the Foothill Freeway through this stretch.)

Since the City of Pasadena has put Cordova Street on a "Road Diet", it seems like Washington Blvd. could use also the same "Road Diet" from El Molino Ave. west to Lincoln Ave. Let's give back the front yards and parkways and make this stretch of Washington Blvd. back into Washington Street and give more room for pedestrians, bicyclists and street trees. It really would improve the feel and look of the neighborhood and slow down traffic.

There were plans by the City, at one time, to widen North Los Robles Ave., North Fair Oaks Ave., North Marengo Ave., North Fair Oaks Ave., North El Molino Ave., etc. in the interest of improving "traffic circulation." Just recently, North Lake Ave. was widened just south of Walnut Ave. to facilitate a right turn lane! Notice how North El Molino widens just north of the freeway bridge, and how North Fair Oaks widens just north of the freeway.

Our friends in Altadena would like to see North Marengo narrowed north of Woodbury, a street that receives little traffic anyway (at least from the living....the Columbarium excepted) and the street could be narrowed and the resulting land on either side given back to the property owners for reconstituted front garden traffic buffering beauty zones.

What is possible? We probably should forget about widening freeways and streets, like the money wasting San Diego Freeway/Sepulveda Pass project starting this weekend, and go back to alternative ways of getting around. Let's try to get the City of Pasadena and L.A. County in Altadena to start putting many of our local streets on a "Road Diet" to fight street obesity! See you out on our widened tree shaded sidewalks.......

1958 Demonstration Against Washington Blvd. Street Widening - 292 E. Washington Blvd.

noreply@blogger.com (Thal Armathura) — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 21:04:00 +0000

When the City of Pasadena wanted to widen Washington Blvd. west from Los Robles Ave. in 1958 to facilitate traffic flow, making the picturesque two lane country road into a four lane expressway, the residents protested having their front yards being obliterated, their street trees being pulled out and cars racing along a wide Washington Blvd.

The residents took it to the Board of Directors (City Council) at City Hall and also demonstrated on the street. This picture was taken by the Pasadena Star News of the housewives demonstrating against the street widening in front of the house located at 292 E. Washington Blvd., which would end up losing most of its front yard.

These housewife protestors look like they're having fund in the midst of a serious citizen uprising, their husbands, however, put on a stern face at City Hall. I'll have to find the additional photos I have of this neighborhood tempest and add them later.

So we haven't changed all that much and with the pending General Plan Survey I hope you'll join me in voting for less density and less congestion. I think we could all do with less roads and cars, and much more open/green space and trees. Maybe we need another good neighborhood protest. Let's hear it for more picturesque and less asphalt!

Acacia Inn of Pasadena, 811 East Washington Blvd.

noreply@blogger.com (Thal Armathura) — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 16:53:00 +0000

Acacia Inn of Pasadena - An Exclusive Residence for the Retired, 811 East Washington Blvd., SYcamore 4-1131, All Private Rooms with Baths and Patios, Delicious Meals, Daily Maid Service, Nurse for Emergencies, Monthly Rates - BROCHURE ON REQUEST

This postcard is from about 1958, notice the brilliant blue sky, and the note on the back "Where I live, Oats." The Acacia Inn is now the Arbor Vista and they unfortunately destroyed their historic neon sign recently, although they did use the original frame for their new sign.

Lake Washington Village looked almost like a resort town in the old photographs. I like the copy "An Exclusive Residence for the Retired", and it's true that a movie theater, drug store, soda fountain, dime store, bank, beauty parlor, restaurant, park with tennnis courts and other amenities were only 5 minutes or less by foot away.

Hopefully, in our old age we will have things so nice and easy.

By the way, take a look at Cafe Pasadena's Pasadena History posts. Then and now, they're great: http://cafepasadena.wordpress.com/2011/06/10/pasadena-history-corner/

White House Country Store, 188 S. Lake Avenue, Pasadena, Oak Knoll Shopping District

noreply@blogger.com (Thal Armathura) — Tue, 17 May 2011 16:26:00 +0000

This postcard is probably from the late 1930's, when Lake Avenue south of Colorado was known as the Oak Knoll Shopping District and was served by the Pacific Electric Streetcars.

As you probably know, Lake Avenue turns into Oak Knoll Avenue south of California Boulevard, with a few shops still south of California, such as the very old French Laundry and the former Jurgensens Market, now Fresh and Easy. The stretch north of California to about Green Street was made up of residential dwellings, many converted by the 1930's into retail establishments, similar to what is seen on North Lake north of the freeway today going up into Altadena.

South Lake remained nearly only residential structures, with restaurants and retail in some, until 1947 when the fashionable Bullocks Department Store was built just south of Del Mar. With the opening of Bullocks, more and more purpose built retail came to South Lake, such as I. Magnin moving from their beautiful Beaux Arts Style Colorado and Madison shop location to a new Streamline Moderne Style building just south of Bullocks, this in 1949.

Still, South Lake had many old homes hosting retail and dining up until the 1960's, when the Union Bank project between Cordova and Del Mar was built, spelling the demise of the charming Oak Knoll Shopping District and ushering in the upscale South Lake Shopping District.

A Japanese Florist managed to survive in a Victorian Style home just south of Wells Fargo Bank up until the 1990's, when it was demolished and replaced with a modern building. The Magnolia Lounge Speakeasy Bar just south of the Mobil Station, 492 South Lake, is located in a bungalow which has survived, well worth a visit. Another large home survives in the middle of the block on the east side at 142 South Lake, the present home of the Williams-Sonoma store.

The White House Country Store looks so inviting with its old wagons in front and promise of antiques. What antiques may have been available in 1939? Perhaps a Wells Fargo strongbox or an 1849 gold panning dish? One can only imagine.

John R. MacDonald, President, Lake Washington Association, 1958

noreply@blogger.com (Thal Armathura) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 18:44:00 +0000

Once upon a time, Lake Washington Village was a happening place. The time period from the 1920's through the 1960's found the area with a very active and engaged business association, which organized many events. The trouble brewing in Europe from the 1930's and its aftermath post 1945 brought many European immigrants to the area, particularly from Germany, as was also the case in Montrose and La Crescenta.

Many German immigrants were learned craftsman and left their mark on the homes in the area. Also, many were involved with the Hollywood film studios in one capacity or another. The previous owner of my home was an accountant for Pathe Studios in Hollywood.

Many events were put on by the Lake Washington Business Association during these years, such as " Moonlight Madness " sales, cooking classes at the Washington Theatre, and evening street dance and music festivals featuring German Oompah-pah music and polka dancing.

This 1950's desk lamp was found at a local antique mall, with an engraved brass plaque dedicated to " John R. MacDonald, President, Lake Washington Association, 1958 ." Remember when they used to meet at the restaurant on Washington Blvd. just east of Lake?

Pasadena Streetcar Plan - From the January 22, 2011 Regional Transportation Forum

noreply@blogger.com (Thal Armathura) — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 16:46:00 +0000

Here is the map of the tentative first stage route of the proposed Pasadena Streetcar System, presented by the Pasadena Department of Transportation at the January 22, 2011 Regional Transportation Forum held in Pasadena.

Trolleys on tracks would run east on Green Street from Pasadena Avenue in Old Pasadena to Lake Avenue, eventually continuing in the next phase to Hill Street and Pasadena City College, and then turn north to Union Street and run west back to Pasadena Avenue completing the loop. There would also be a spur serving South Lake Avenue to California Boulevard, eventually in the next phase linking to CalTech.

This is no doubt the future, with an increased emphasis on public transportation and a deemphasis on cars and busses. Hopefully, when this recession is over, we can find a way to pay for this and a greater regional trolley systen which would also link up Altadena and boost tourism to our mountains from the Altadena/North Pasadena Portal.

I wrote about this previously on Avenue to the Sky on August 5, 2009.

The Marcell Inn - Altadena's Famous Speakeasy Club, 2900 Lincoln Avenue

noreply@blogger.com (Thal Armathura) — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 01:47:00 +0000

The Marcell Inn opened in 1922 on Lincoln Avenue and was very popular with the Hollywood crowd, bootleg alcohol being served along with fine French food, and all that was necessary to find the out-of-the-way location was to look for the searchlight beacon mounted on a tower on the roof of the Inn. Altadena Drive back then was called North Foothill Boulevard, and was used as a major east-west thoroughfare, so most folks could see the beacon coming from either direction without too much trouble.

The story was, during Prohibition, that if you needed to find the Altadena Sheriff, just look for his car in the parking lot of the Marcell Inn first, as usually he hung out there as his unofficial office. Apparently, he was good pals with the owner, Joe Marcell Annechini. However, the local cops weren't able to help Joe on November 12, 1923, when the Feds busted him and nine others, after showing up unexpectedly and a full house of 300 headed for the hills. The L.A. Times story doesn't say if the Altadena Sheriff got hauled in, too, but back in those days law enforcement usually gave other law enforcement a free pass. Joe posted $2000 bond and could go home.

The Marcell Inn was written up at the time in the 1930's as a great place to go and get excellent cuisine. It was also popular with the Santa Anita horse racing set when California allowed horse racing again in 1933 at the same time Prohibition was ended.

However, the Marcell Inn was just too out of the way as the Depression dragged on and it was out of business and sold in 1937. For a number of years the Mt. Lowe Military Academy used the buildings and grounds for their school, and now the grounds, the buildings being long since demolished, are the location of a community garden, with only the front gate stone columns and ornamental ironwork still surviving to be seen on West Palm Street just east of Lincoln Avenue.

Lake Pasadena Adjacent - The View from Linda Vista Avenue in the 1920's

noreply@blogger.com (Thal Armathura) — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 18:16:00 +0000

The View from Linda Vista Avenue, Circa 1929, attributed to Orrin A. White, Oil on Board, Courtesy of the Armitrading Foundation

As promised, here is another oil painting in the collection, looking north on Linda Vista Avenue towards Lake Pasadena and the San Gabriels with what I believe is Orrin White's house, located now at 1860 Linda Vista Avenue.

The above oil painting featuring the Flintridge Biltmore Hotel Hill and the San Gabriel Mountain peaks was possibly painted by Orrin A. White, a local Arroyo painter who lived just below the hotel at what was then 1205 Linda Vista Road in a Spanish Hacienda designed by noted local architect Garret Van Pelt. The artist's signature may be hidden by the frame, which I have not yet removed from the painting, but the style seems to be similar to White's and the structure featured seems to he his house, at least this is the oldest remaining house in the area, built in 1921. http://www.zillow.com/homes/1860-linda-vista-avenue,-pasadena,-ca_rb/

Over the years, as an area is built up, addresses change to reflect the growing number of individual lots. In 1921, this area was relatively sparsely populated, and White's house was on a curve on the western edge of the Arroyo, giving him a commanding view north to the mountains and south of the Arroyo.

At one time, Linda Vista Avenue was proposed to be part of a major north south boulevard, the "Proposed Boulevard from the Mountains to the Sea" (Plan of the Los Angeles Park Commission, 1912). More on that in the future.

Lake Pasadena to Return - Devil's Gate Dam Will Replenish the Aquifer in the Hahamongna Basin as Originally Intended

noreply@blogger.com (Thal Armathura) — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 18:44:00 +0000

Lake Pasadena and the Flintridge Biltmore Hotel from Linda Vista Peak, by Orrin A. White, Courtesy of the Armitrading FoundationLake Pasadena to Return - Devil's Gate Dam Will Replenish the Aquifer in the Hahamongna Basin as Originally Intended!

I'm looking at the Hahamongna Watershed Park Master Plan on the City's Website:http://ww2.cityofpasadena.net/publicworks/PNR/ArroyoSeco/pdfFiles/Hahamongna%20Watershed%20Park%20Master%20Plan/Hahamongna%20FULL%20DOC.pdfand I see in 1978, "the Division of Safe Operation of Dams (DSOD) imposed an operational restriction on Devil's Gate Dam and officially declared the dam seismically unsafe. These actions were taken in part due to the 1971 Sylmar earthquake."and in Jan. 1996, "the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works (LACDPW) began the seismic strengthening and spillway modification to Devil's Gate Dam. This project was completed in the winter of 1998."So it seems we need to ask our public officials to look into retaining more Arroyo Seco stream runoff to keep water behind the dam, which it is designed and rehabilitated to do, in order to increase the replenishment of the Raymond aquifer. I have contacted Brad Bowman, Engineering Manager at Pasadena Water and Power to ask for his help in looking into this matter.

Apparently our wish has been granted and we can get Lake Pasadena back for a major portion of the year and it can function as originally intended!

This from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works:

Devil's Gate Dam and Reservoir Post Fire Sediment Removal Project

The 2009 Station Fire was the 10th largest fire in California since 1933 and burned over 160,000 acres before containment. The fire burned nearly 100% of the undeveloped watershed tributary to Devil's Gate Dam and Reservoir, leaving vast areas of the San Gabriel Mountains denuded and sediment deposition inevitable. The 2009-2010 Storm Season brought in approximately 936,000 cubic yards of postfire debris and more is expected in the upcoming years. Los Angeles County Department of Public Works is planning a major sediment removal project for Devil's Gate Reservoir to remove the accumulated sediment and make room for future sedimentation that will undoubtedly occur. Construction is expected to begin as early as September 2011 and final details of this project are still under consideration.

The following presentation was presented to the City of Pasadena Hahamongna Watershed Park Advisory Committee on November 30,2010.

HWPAC Presentation

Click here For the PDF version of the presentation.

The above oil painting featuring Lake Pasadena, the Flintridge Biltmore Hotel and the San Gabriel Mountain peaks was painted by Orrin A. White, a local Arroyo painter who lived just below the hotel at 1205 Linda Vista Road in a Spanish Hacienda designed by noted local architect Garret Van Pelt. In an upcoming post I will feature a painting of White's home with the San Gabriels as a backdrop.

For more on the Myron Hunt designed Flintridge Biltmore, which still exists, please go to this link: http://www.fsha.org/podium/default.aspx?t=118031 It's a beautiful site to visit and also has a bridge similar to the Picture Bridge at the Huntington Hotel in the Oak Knoll District of Pasadena. There are many hiking and equestrian trails surrounding the Flintridge Biltmore, connecting it with the natural landscape in many directions. This is not to be missed and is as nice as any Santa Barbara or Ojai resort! Such outstanding vistas!

So the restoration of Lake Pasadena will help us solve our water woes in the area and make us less dependent on imported water supplies. This is a very good thing! I'm looking forward to the historic restored vista shown to us by Orrin White's painting of Lake Pasadena!

After the tremendous rainfall of the last week, the possibilities of recharging our local aquifer below Hahamongna look promising! Happy New Year to All!

Christmas Tree Lane's Mansions - G.G. Green's Mansion, Gartz' "The Cloister", McNally's Mansion, Theosophical Society's Mansion

noreply@blogger.com (Thal Armathura) — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 19:21:00 +0000

All that's left of Colonel G.G. Green's mansion, Colonel Green the "Patent Medicine King" and namesake of Pasadena's Hotel Green and Green Street, is just Green's carriage house, which is just south of the present Altadena Library, located at Maripose and Santa Rosa. In 1961, the Altadena Library Board of Trustees bought Colonel Green's southeast corner mansion located at Santa Rosa and Mariposa and the northerly estate grounds, minus the grounds of the carriage house, to build a new library. Architect Boyd Georgi was hired in 1964 to design the modernistic library which was completed in 1967.

Also, on the northwest corner of Santa Rosa and Mariposa, stood the imposing mansion of Altadena/Pasadena social activist Kate Crane Gartz, "The Cloister", where she held a Sunday salon from the 1920's through the 1940's attended by socialist and left-wing political activists, authors, and actors such as Charlie Chaplin, Upton Sinclair, Mary Sinclair, Gaylord Wilshire, Mary Wilshire, George Bernard Shaw, H.G. Wells and other well known personalities of the day.

Gartz mansion is also gone, demolished after her death to be replaced by a Girl Scout campground.

On the southeast corner of Santa Rosa and Mariposa, we have the still extant Andrew McNally estate, showplace home of the map printing magnate from Chicago who built a maginificent edifice replete with a wing housing the interior smoking room of the "Turkish Pavilion" from the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. The mansion was surrounded by beautifully landscaped gardens now subdivided for newer homes.

On the northeast corner of Santa Rosa and Mariposa, we have the imposing estate and gardens of the "International Headquarter of the Theosophical Society" which was formerly located on Point Loma in San Diego, a Utopian campus created by famed founder Madame Blavatsky.

http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/ts/tshist.htm

The Christmas Tree Lane Lighting Ceremony will be this year on December 11. Here are the details, be sure not to miss it:

http://www.altadenablog.com/2010/11/christmas-tree-lane-lighting-ceremony-dec-11.html

I like to tell everybody that I live near Christmas Tree Lane and in the shadow of Mt. Lowe, which I can see from my living room and bedroom window. Aren't we very lucky to live here?

Henries Toys, 1328 North Lake Avenue, Lake Washington Village, 1947 to ?

noreply@blogger.com (Thal Armathura) — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 18:39:00 +0000

Here is what appears to be Henries Toys in circa 1978, what is now the Billard Parlor. The added on arches are not attractive. Were these false facades added due to earthquake damage from the Sylmar quake of 1971? No wonder I overlooked this dreary looking place back in the late 1970's, as the wonderful Cornet 5 & 10 was directly across the street and inviting!

Here the March 1st, 1967 Pasadena Star News page showing the Lake Washington Village Dollar Days advertising with Henries Toys having a big sale. Looks inviting!

Here a list of Marklin train dealers from about 1967. Marklin of Germany is the oldest toy company still in business in the world, since 1859, and has always been a high quality maker of high end expensive toy and model trains. Suprising to find Henries as an outlet....

Here the section showing Henries as an outlet for Marklin trains, but a discrepancy with the address. This will require more research. Even Model Grocery on Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena was a dealer of Marklin trains, and it appears that Model Grocery was a purveyor of fine things besides high quality groceries.

Here a Marklin catalog from the mid 1960's

We've discussed Henries Toys on North Lake in the Lake Washington Village previously, but I thought I would provide what I believe to be a photo of the last iteration of Henries as a discount toy outlet. Not a pretty picture.

We know Henries Toys survived more than 20 years, as they were celebrating their 20th anniversary in 1967 according to their advertisements in the local papers of the day. Does anyone have any memory of buying cherished childhood toys and hobbies at Henries? I'm a vintage toy and train collector and had many Shuco wind up toys in the 1950's, later Marklin trains, really nice quality toys from old Germany. Don't remember buying any at Henries though.

Please let me know what you remember about Henries Toys. We are trying to get the "Original Whistle Stop" train shop http://www.thewhistlestop.com/ and their wonderful animated projecting neon sign http://www.thewhistlestop.com/images/22.jpg to relocate to Lake Washington Village, so please keep your fingers crossed! What kind of shops would you like see return or locate to the Lake Washington Village?