A barrel of fun
Los Angeles’s population began exploding in the 1840s, growing from 2,000 to 16,000 by the 1870s. Unleashed in the middle of that boom was the Mexican-American War, which concluded in 1848 with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, in Mexico City. The United States was ceded much of Mexico’s northern territory, including California. By 1850, California had gained acceptance into the union, officially acquiring statehood.
Giant marketing campaigns, beckoning people to come west for opportunity, worked. Culturally, the nascent metropolis convulsed as it morphed from being a violent and lawless town to at least having some modicum of order. Then, in the 1920s, automobiles were introduced to the streets of LA, and the public got hooked on motoring. The city sprawled. To attract the attention of suburban drivers, businesses invested in thematic architecture – buildings that appeared to be the very thing the business was selling. A few whimsical examples are the Donut Hole in La Puente and the Tamale in Los Angeles.
Info
Address 4824 Vineland Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 91601, +1 818.980.5604, www.idlehourbar.com, becca@1933group.com | Getting there Metered and unmetered street parking | Hours Tue–Sun 11am–2am, Mon 5pm–2am| Tip Leave your car and walk five minutes to see a play at the award-winning Crown City Theatre (11031 Camarillo Street, North Hollywood, CA 91602). An intimate space, Crown City is known for staging excellent musicals with quality talent.
Idle Hour Cafè was built in 1941 in the shape of a whiskey barrel. It was used as a taproom through the 1960s, became a Flamenco dinner theater, and then fell into disrepair in the 1980s. Under threat of demolition, it was saved by the fervent efforts of LA magazine columnist Chris Nichols and designated a Historic-Cultural Monument. Recently purchased and restored by Bobby Green to its original splendor, it’s a welcoming place to grab a cocktail and a bite of American comfort food. Old-timey photos capturing the construction of the building line the walls, and the former ceiling planks now serve as flooring.
On the back patio, relocated from Washington Boulevard, is the original Bulldog Café, another example of thematic architecture. Angelenos can still admire the pipe-smoking pooch and even rent him out for small parties.
Back
To the online map