Gentle reader,
They say a person dies twice: when they stop breathing, and when the last living person who still remembers them dies.
But there’s a third death that befalls creative artists, and that is the dismantling of an environment that posthumously reflects their particular spirit. The survival of such places depends entirely on the stewardship of the living, something sadly lacking in Los Angeles today—not for lack of desire, but because resources are so thinly stretched.
That’s why in a few days, the pioneering Southern Californian hairdresser Jay Sebring (1933-1969) will die again, when his historic Fairfax Avenue salon, established in 1959 and operating under different owners for nearly all of the last 65 years, shuts down.
The building’s recent buyer, an anonymous consortium operating as Fairfax Avenue Holdings, LLC, has filed an unlawful detainer case to evict Goodform, a lovely salon run by lovely people. And they’re not going to fight it in court.
We got to know the Goodform crew in 2019, as a side effect of the Mansonland bus tour we were giving with guest host Brad Schreiber. We shot a Spectrum 1 News featurette inside.
And while we don’t host bus tours anymore, co-owner Michelle Guzman remembered how much we loved the time capsule space and invited us down to say goodbye. We seem to always be saying goodbye to Los Angeles places and people we care about.
The stylists will be fine—they’re moving to chairs elsewhere in the neighborhood. The owners will be, too. But the city will be a little dimmer with the loss of the successor to Jay Sebring’s salon, not just as a treasured legacy business and a too rare third place, but as a living symbol of what used to be possible here.
We love Angelenos like Jay Sebring and are honored to tell their unique and inspiring stories on our tours and in our webinars—visionary transplants who shed their old names and identities, put down roots in the fertile, forgiving soil on the edge of the continent, tap into their imaginations and by having faith in themselves change the culture for everyone.
When Thomas John Kummer invented Jay Sebring, he opened the door for American men to enjoy personal grooming and aesthetics, to kick off their shoes and relax into the intimacy and comradeship of the salon experience, as women have done for generations.
He even managed to make natural slob Jim Morrison look like a Greek god… briefly.
We yearn for the dopes and crooks in charge of Los Angeles to clean up the dirty real estate schemes that are holding so many commercial spaces perpetually vacant and make it again possible for a Jay Sebring to live cheaply, lease a storefront, listen to the voice within himself that is great, and manifest that inner voice in the material world.
We’re all losing so much, just so a very small minority can speculate and profit. This could stop tomorrow if the city implemented a commercial vacancy tax. Our cowardly City Council refused to even hold a vote about putting a vacant housing tax motion on the 2022 ballot, so we’re not holding our breaths. Still, it’s sane public policy that would quickly fix many of the ills facing Los Angeles, and with better leadership, it’s possible.
So we bid goodbye to Goodform and Jay Sebring’s creation at 725 N. Fairfax Avenue, still intact until Tuesday, September 4, 2024. Its future is uncertain, but its past is a beautiful part of the city’s story and fabric, forever. And you can still see it for yourself for a few more days. Visitors are very welcome. Please report back in the comments below if you stop by.
And speaking of broke transplants reinventing themselves and changing the world, Saturday’s tour (repeating on 12/14) explores how Chicago born, London educated Raymond Chandler used the period of anxious unemployment after being fired from his oil company job to create the iconic private detective Philip Marlowe, and through short stories, novels and screenplays craft a noir vision of Los Angeles as a spoiled, corrupt and dangerous place that hides its evil behind a pretty, thin veneer. Join us, do!
Fun fact: The Kept Girl, Kim’s non-fiction mystery novel featuring Chandler in his oil executive days unfolds over this very week in 1929, and you can get a taste of the tale with Chapter One here.
Can’t join us for an in-person tour? We’ve got a deep dive into newly uncovered Chandler lore available on our webinar channel, and a wee Raymond Chandler map for armchair exploration.
Yours for Los Angeles,
Kim & Richard
Esotouric
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UPCOMING BUS & WALKING TOURS
• Raymond Chandler’s Noir Downtown Los Angeles (Sat. 8/31)• Alvarado Terrace & South Bonnie Brae Tract (Sat. 9/7) • Franklin Village Old Hollywood (9/15) • Highland Park Arroyo (Sat. 9/21) • The Real Black Dahlia (Sat. 9/29) • Know Your Downtown L.A.: Tunnels to Towers to the Dutch Chocolate Shop (10/5) • Broadway: Downtown Los Angeles’ Beautiful, Magical Mess (Sat. 10/12) • The Run: Gay Downtown L.A. History (Sun. 10/13) • Evergreen Cemetery, 1877 (Sun. 10/27) • Westlake Park Time Travel Trip (Sun. 11/3) • The 1910 Bombing of the Los Angeles Times Walking Tour with Detective Mike Digby (Sat. 11/9) • Hotel Horrors & Main Street Vice Downtown L.A. (Sat. 11/16) • Charles Bukowski’s Westlake (Sat. 11/23) • Angelino Heights & Carroll Avenue (Sat. 12/7) • Raymond Chandler’s Noir Downtown Los Angeles (Sat. 12/14) • Miracle Mile Marvels & Madness (Sun. 12/22) • Human Sacrifice: The Black Dahlia, Elisa Lam, Heidi Planck & Skid Row Slasher (Thurs. 12/26)
CLOSELY WATCHED TRAINS
In 2023, it was reported Wendy Hemming bought the long vacant National Register Garfield Building for hotel conversion. Heavily tagged and subject to break ins, today it flies the flag of the sovereign nation PARTY! But a permit was just pulled. It's happening! (pics: Shawn Smith)
Nathan Marsak is Checking In on the Bunk, and yanking on loose threads in faux L.A. history tales of Cooper Donuts, Chavez Ravine and Pershing Square.
669 days since his death, but the FBI is not coughing up its Mike Davis file.
Mashti Malone's—still here, still great! And no longer in danger of displacement, because Canadian developer Anthony Sharp has withdrawn his proposed development project! So when in Hollywood, stop in and enjoy the fare at this lovely legacy business.
A Second Life for the Starlite Drive-In Sign in South El Monte: the swap meet and the big screen are long gone, but KB Homes intends to restore the 1950 monument sign as the gateway to its new suburb. Will it be cool buzzing neon or lame LEDs? Stay tuned!
Something we love about the Huntington is that the gardens are always evolving, and the return of enormous Victoria water lilies for the first time in a century is a thrill. Thanks, Lotusland, for the idea and the seeds.
On the next Franklin Village walk, we'll share for the first time anywhere a bizarre Hollywood sign mystery we're actively investigating. We call it the Case of the Rusty Screw—and it sure is screwy.
As confessed racketeer councilmember Jose Huizar enjoys his last hours of freedom before serving 13 years of hard time—unless he gets another reprieve, as he did late yesterday, with a new turn in date of October 7—his CD14 successor Kevin de Leon revives the Night on Broadway concept. This time it's done with city funds, not thru an opaque nonprofit. (Investigative journalist Jerry Sullivan tried without success to track down the missing $300,000 for Huizar's cancelled 2019 event.) Save the date: Oct 12. And as long as the city is closing the street, we’ve just listed our Broadway walking tour on that day, as well.
By popular demand, we’ve created a shorter private walking tour option, Downtown Los Angeles in a Nutshell. This deep dive at a fevered pace will enhance your understanding of the historic core and its densely layered cultural history.
Goodbye to Goodform in Jay Sebring's Salon