Inside the Pantages Theatre: Hollywood’s Art Deco Fever Dream Movie Palace

Over the weekend Patrick and I finally had the pleasure of seeing Hamilton, which also meant we got to go to the iconic Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. The Pantages Theatre welcomed Los Angeles citizens on June 4, 1930, becoming the last movie palace built in Hollywood. Designed by B. Marcus Priteca and owned by Alexander…

Ghost of Consumerism Past: Almost 100 Year Old Abandoned Art Deco Sears of Boyle Heights

“Boyle #1008 1995 Store of the Year Los Angeles District” reads the plaque on a trophy topped with a curvaceous angel. But this trophy doesn’t rest inside a display case, or on the shelf in an executive office. Instead it sits on a dust covered desk along a loading dock of the empty husk of…

Neon Sheep! A Giant Shoe! And More! Exploring Bakersfield’s Americana Gems

As mentioned in my last post, Bakersfield has a lot of vintage neon still out in the wild, plus a few pretty amazing backlit plastic signs, which was one of the reasons we wanted to visit. And boy did we find some great signs, plus we stumbled upon some abandoned locations as well. “John’s” 14441…

Paul Revere Was Here

Earlier I wrote about the LA Conservancy’s campaign on African-American architect Paul Revere Williams, Paul Revere Was Here, and the variety of panels they are offering to celebrate the amazing work of Williams. One of the offerings is a virtual tour of places that were a part of Williams’ life in and around LA. The…

Discovering the Hidden Treasures of Sid Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre

Think you’re looking at an ancient Egyptian temple? Well, not quite. This isn’t Egypt, and this wasn’t built thousands of years ago. Try Hollywood, and 1922. This is Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre. Patrick and I have been meaning to take one of the tours offered at the Egyptian for years now, and with the theatre’s future…

The Fleeting Resurrection of the Iconic Aquarius, Hollywood’s Psychedelic Theatre

In my last post I mentioned that Quentin Tarantino brought many long gone 60s LA icons back to life for his film Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, just to serve in the background. One of these icons was the Aquarius Theatre, which is just down the street from the Cinerama Dome and across from another…