Save The Tamale (and $18 off on your next tour with us) edition
We'll visit the Tamale on the Eastside Babylon tour.
This is a longer newsletter that some email providers will have trouble displaying. Click "View this email" at upper right for a complete reading experience.
Gentle reader...
If you seek immediate gratification, friend, then the thrilling world of historic preservation is no place for you.
Take our efforts to save the giant Tamale-shaped commercial building on Whittier Boulevard in East Los Angeles. Since April 2013, when the daffy 1920s restaurant-turned-hair-salon-and-dental-lab first appeared on the MLS at a $459,000 teardown price, we've been doggedly doing our part to raise consciousness about the importance of the site and to encourage the County Supervisors to move forward with a long-promised historic preservation ordinance for unincorporated Los Angeles County.
The protective ordinance is slowly moving into law, but as we wait, what a sweet surprise that the Los Angeles Times saw fit to feature the ongoing threat to the Tamale. You can read Brittny Mejia's story here.
And to celebrate, we're offering $18 off any upcoming Esotouric bus adventure when you use the discount code SAVETHETAMALE. Offer expires June 1 and is limited to two per person; however, just like a tamale, you can share the code with friends, and we hope you will!
But the next preservation crisis is never far away. Last Saturday, Mayor Garcetti closed numerous streets for a ticketed Downtown LA dance party in the middle of Broadway. Local business owners and folks living in the neighboring lofts rightly complained about the inconvenience and aggravation.
But amid all the chatter about the privatization of public space, lack of notice, the many more suitable locations for such an event, the violation of civic noise ordinances and the dangerous stage construction that occurred while cars hurtled past, we didn't hear anyone express concern about what several hours of 100+ decibel sound vibrations, akin to a jet engine, might be doing to the delicate century-old facades of the National Register Broadway Theater District landmarks.
Should our civic leaders be organizing events that subject historic structures to this sort of unquantifiable sonic impact? And has anyone involved in this event returned to the site to determine if any damage was done to the delicate neon tubes on the theater marquees, the rusty metalwork, the already cracked and compromised terracotta decorative elements?
Responsible stewards of historic buildings understand that noise can harm structures, and that it's best to err on the side of caution, even when it means calling off something exciting.
There are many very good reasons why Broadway should not be closed for any more private dance parties. We think that the possible negative impact of such high sound volumes on our beautiful buildings should be a part of this conversation.
We're back on the bus on Saturday with our most unhinged crime bus tour, Eastside Babylon, featuring a stop at that marvelous giant tamale and a range of grim and fascinating scenes of horror. And on Sunday, it's the free LAVA Sunday Salon with Kristin Bedford's immersive photographs of the reclusive followers of Father Divine. Join us, do!
COMING SOON
EASTSIDE BABYLON - SAT. 5/30... Go East, young ghoul. Come visit Boyle Heights, where the Night Stalker was captured and a mad dad ran amok. Roam the hallowed lawns of Evergreen, L.A.'s oldest cemetery and home of some memorable haunts and strange burials. Visit East L.A., where a deranged radio shop employee made mince meat of his boss and bride--and you can get your hair done in a building shaped like a giant tamale. Explore the ghastly streets of Commerce, where one small neighborhood's myriad crimes will shock and surprise. Visit Montebello, for scrumptious milk and cookies at Broguiere's Farm Fresh Dairy washed down with a horrifying case of child murder. That's Eastside Babylon, our most unhinged crime bus tour. (Buy tickets here.)
BLOOD & DUMPLINGS - SAT. 6/20... Forget Hollywood, babe, 'cause the quintessential L.A. town is definitely El Monte, its history packed with noirish murders, brilliant thespians, loony Nazis, James Ellroy's naked lunch and the lion farm that MGM's celebrated kitty called home. See all this and so much more, including the Man from Mars Bandit's Waterloo, when you climb aboard the daffiest crime tour in our arsenal, and the only one that includes a dumpling picnic at a landmark playground populated with fantastical giant sea creatures. Not frequently offered, you won't want to miss this ride. (Buy tickets here.)
WEIRD WEST ADAMS - SAT. 6/27... On this guided tour through the Beverly Hills of the early 20th Century, Crime Bus passengers thrill as Jazz Age bootleggers run amok, marvel at the Krazy Kafitz family's litany of murder-suicides, attempted husband slayings, Byzantine estate battles and mad bombings, visit the shortest street in Los Angeles (15' long Powers Place, with its magnificent views of the mansions of Alvarado Terrace), discover which fabulous mansion was once transformed into a functioning whiskey factory using every room in the house, and stroll the haunted paths of Rosedale Cemetery, site of notable burials (May K. Rindge, the mother of Malibu) and odd graveside crimes. Featured players include the most famous dwarf in Hollywood, mass suicide ringleader Reverend Jim Jones, wacky millionaires who can't control their automobiles, human mole bank robbers, comically inept fumigators, kids trapped in tar pits, and dozens of other unusual and fascinating denizens of early Los Angeles. (Buy tickets here.)
PASADENA CONFIDENTIAL WITH CRIMEBO THE CLOWN - SAT. 7/11... The Crown City masquerades as a calm and refined retreat, where well-bred ladies glide around their perfect bungalows and everyone knows what fork to use first. But don't be fooled by appearances. Dip into the confidential files of old Pasadena and meet assassins and oddballs, kidnappers and slashers, Satanists and all manner of maniac in a delightful little tour you WON'T find recommended by the better class of people! From celebrated cases like the RFK assassination (with a visit to Sirhan Sirhan's folks' house), Eraserhead star Jack Nance's strange end, black magician/rocket scientist Jack Parsons' death-by-misadventure and the 1926 Rose Parade grand stand collapse, to fascinating obscurities, the tour's dozens of murders, arsons, kidnappings, robberies, suicides, auto wrecks and oddball happening sites provide a alternate history of Pasadena that's as fascinating as it is creepy. Passengers will tour the old Millionaire's Row on Orange Grove, thrill to the shocking Sphinx Murder on the steps of the downtown Masonic Hall and discover why people named Judd should think twice before moving to Pasadena. (Buy tickets here.)
THE REAL BLACK DAHLIA - SAT. 7/18... Join us on this iconic, unsolved Los Angeles murder mystery tour, from the throbbing boulevards of a postwar Downtown to the quiet suburban avenue where horror came calling. After multiple revisions, this is less a true crime tour than a social history of 1940s Hollywood female culture, mass media and madness, and we welcome you to join us for the ride. This tour always sells out, so do not delay. (Buy tickets here.)
AND FINALLY, LINKS
The 1971 Elysian Park Love-In was a bad, bad trip. (One victim wrote a book about it.)
Ink will out, they hope.
Video interlude: Santa Monica's Muscle Beach acrobatics in full color, 1954.
Farewell to Victor's: a sweet place in Hollywood, fallen to gentrification.
A book and memorabilia man passes. (His store on Hollywood Boulevard recently closed due to a rent increase.)
Cole's story is a gem, too.
Only the bill of fare remains.
Disasters of well-meaning theater restoration volunteers, number one-too-many in a series.
Norms (the building, that is), is saved. Here's hoping the diner keeps cooking despite the new owner's development plans.
Art Deco Wurdeman & Becket animal hospital burns with "homeless" man inside. The developer who wants to demolish it knew he lived there.
London murder memory maps.
A sweet second life for a Jack the Ripper site.
Modernist masterwork, or pile of junk?
SUPPORT OUR WORK
If you enjoy all we do to celebrate and preserve Los Angeles history and would like to say thank you, please consider putting a little something into our digital tip jar. Your contributions are never obligatory, but always appreciated.
yrs,
Kim and Richard
Esotouric
RECOMMENDED READING
Just out from the Los Angeles Police Museum (with in-depth research provided by our own Joan Renner and crime buddy Nathan Marsak) comes this very personal take on the crimes of one pivotal year in old L.A., filtered through the manic mind of James Ellroy. Meet a joker's deck of mad dads, jealous swains, miserable sots and greedy creeps, and support the museum's activities, when you partake.
A novel set in 1929 Los Angeles, starring the young Raymond Chandler, his devoted secretary and the real-life Philip Marlowe in pursuit of a murderous cult of angel worshippers. Available on all Esotouric tours, or direct from Esotouric Ink, from Amazon and for the Kindle.
A collaboration between illustrator Paul Rogers and our own Kim Cooper, featuring 50 iconic noir locations and packed with surprising lore and gorgeous artwork inspired by the vintage Dell Mapback mysteries of the 1940s. Available from Kim or Amazon, and on our tours. (Looking for Aaron Blake's out-of-print 1985 map? Click here.)
FORENSIC SCIENCE SEMINARS
Four times a year, we gather in the teaching crime labs of Cal State Los Angeles under the direction of Professor Donald Johnson to explore the history and future of American forensic science. Your $36.50 ticket to the Serial Killer Summer Session presentation benefits graduate level Criminalistics research. Join us on Sunday, August 16. For more info, or to reserve, click here.
FROM THE VIDEO VAULT
Now on the LAVA blog, video of Nathan Marsak's LAVA Sunday Salon talk on Richardsonian Romanesque architecture in Los Angeles. Click here to see.
In the latest edition of You Can't Eat the Sunshine, we peel back the curtains to reveal a day in the life of Union Station, and learn how fast-acting Downey folk managed to save their beloved Googie diner from an illegal demolition. Click here to tune in.
Help bring an L.A. icon back from the dead. Join the campaign to restore John Parkinson's 1910 design for our greatest lost park.
The LAVA Sunday Salon is our monthly cultural clearing house of new ideas presented by LAVA Visionaries, the most fascinating folks in town. The Sunday Salon returns on May 31 with Kristin Bedford's photographic odyssey into fascinating and seldom-seen spaces. Free, reservations required.
We discovered Raymond Chandler's most delightful literary secret. Now we need your help to stage his comic operetta in Los Angeles!
Need an L.A.-centric gift in a hurry? Visit The Esotouric Emporium of L.A. Lore, our curated guide to the best in regional books, films and artifacts. How about a gift certificate for a bus adventure into the secret heart of Los Angeles, a solo 6-Pack or shareable 12-Pack? We also carry vintage photos of lost Bunker Hill as well as earlier scenes, Charles Bukowski-inspired fine art prints, Raymond Chandler maps (vintage) or (contemporary) and 76 ball antenna toppers.
TOUR CALENDAR
Eastside Babylon (5/30)
Blood & Dumplings (6/20)
Weird West Adams (6/27)
The Real Black Dahlia (7/18)
Charles Bukowski's L.A. (7/25)
South L.A. Road Trip: Hot Rods, Adobes, Googie & Early Modernism (8/2)
Boyle Heights & The San Gabriel Valley: The Hidden Histories of L.A.'s Melting Pot (8/8)
The Lowdown on Downtown (8/15)