Macabre merch
Face it, it’s a grim business at the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner. God forbid, you or anyone you know ends up there on official business or with a tag around your cold big toe. Much more lighthearted is a visit to the coroner gift shop, known as Skeletons in the Closet.
Both the coroner’s office and the gift shop are housed in an old brick building that originally served as the Los Angeles County Hospital’s Administration Building.
Info
Address 1104 N Mission Road, Los Angeles, CA 90033, +1 323.343.0760, www.lacoroner.com, giftshop@coroner.lacounty.gov | Getting there Limited free on-site parking spaces; four metered spots on N Mission Road, north side of the street past Sichel Street; paid lot east of the coroner’s office | Hours Mon–Fri 8:30am–4pm| Tip Barbara’s at the Brewery (620 Moulton Avenue #110, Los Angeles, CA 90031), in the renowned Brewery Art Colony, offers a wide variety of craft beers on tap.
The stately lobby with black-and-white hexagonal tiles looks like it came straight from central casting. A receptionist sits behind glass in a dark wood booth to the left of the main entrance. Straight ahead is a somberly beautiful staircase with wooden banisters the same hue as the receptionist booth. The dim lighting and dearth of natural light accentuates the solemnity. The overall effect feels like something out of a Raymond Chandler novel, as if Detective Philip Marlowe might step forward any minute and put his hat on as he exits the building.
To the right of the lobby is a wooden framed door with an oversized clouded glass window that has the words gift shop written on it in capital letters. The macabre mood lifts somewhat inside the store, which has been in business since 1993, selling official coroner merchandise, like beanies and scrubs, mixed with such droll items as towels with a body chalk line, golf umbrellas, miniature skeletons, garment “body” bags, and even plush toy replicas of Indy, the coroner’s German shepherd work dog. Indy is slated to retire in 2016 and the tribute doll was made in honor of her years of service. When asked specifically what Indy does, the response from the sales attendant was “Digs up bones.” All right then, this is the coroner’s office, after all.
Even with the grave reality of the subject at hand, the dark humor of Skeletons in the Closet is something to be enjoyed.
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