Small pleasures, big rewards

Gentle reader...

The news these days can be, frankly, overwhelming. So how good it is to unplug and sink into the small pleasures that distract so delightfully.

This week, we found ourselves among preservation-minded friends, shining a literal light on the famously dim tiles of Ernest Batchelder's landmark Dutch Chocolate Shop installation in Downtown Los Angeles. So illuminated, the playful scenes explode with color and reveal previously obscure details, like a "B" (for Batchelder?) brand on the shoulder of the cow. The tile murals are presently getting a full photographic survey, their first, which we expect will reveal many more surprises. (You can visit this special place on our twice-yearly Lowdown on Downtown tour, when we'll point these "easter eggs" out.)

Then, today on a hike, we came upon a stand of cattail reeds just starting to send their fluffy seeds on onto the wind. Kim couldn't resist giving them a little help, and we made a short film of the weirdly hypnotic result. Betcha can't watch just once!

In such small pleasures, we find great peace and joy even in times of strife. We hope that you can say the same.

We're back on the bus on Saturday with a cultural history tour of Boyle Heights & Monterey Park. It was 75 years ago Sunday that Boyle Heights lost its Japanese community to Executive Order 9066, so this edition of the tour has a heavy resonance. Won't you ride with us, for a time travel trip that's more timely than ever?

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RECENTLY TOURED

Visaxis monument, 1926, "from your inconsolable wife." Odd Fellows, East LA.

LAVA'S FORENSIC SCIENCE SEMINAR - SUN. 4/23

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. On April 23, 2017, join us for From The Crime Lab To The Coroner's Office, an afternoon of historic murders and modern day investigation techniques. Your $36.50 ticket benefits graduate level Criminalistics research. Click here to reserve.

RECOMMENDED READING

Not released until next week but already in its second printing, Direct Action is L.A. Kauffman's fascinating secret history of American political protest from the 1970 May Day actions in Washington to today's oft-misunderstood Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter movements. Kauffman, who is both an organizer and scholar, peers under the nation's hood to reveal a multi-generational cat-and-mouse game whose final score is still being tallied. Available in ACT UP-inspired green or pink Day-Glo paperback wraps.

COMING SOON

BOYLE HEIGHTS & MONTEREY PARK: THE HIDDEN HISTORIES OF L.A.'S MELTING POTS - SAT. 2/18... Come on a century's social history tour through the transformation of neighborhoods, punctuated with immersive stops to sample the varied cultures that make our changing city so beguiling. Voter registration, citizenship classes, Chicano Moratorium, walkouts, blow-outs, anti-Semitism, adult education, racial covenants, boycotts, The City Beautiful, Exclusion Acts and Immigration Acts, property values, xenophobia, and delicious dumplings--all are themes which will be addressed on this lively excursion. This whirlwind social history tour will include: The Vladeck Center, Hollenbeck Park, Evergreen Cemetery, The Venice Room, El Encanto & Cascades Park, Divine's Furniture and Wing Hop Fung. (Buy tickets here.)

WEIRD WEST ADAMS - SAT. 2/25... 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.)

THE LAVA SUNDAY SALON & BROADWAY ON MY MIND WALKING TOUR - SUN. 2/26... Our free cultural lecture series recently relaunched on the basement level of Grand Central Market with a walk to follow. Join poet Suzanne Lummis and friends for an afternoon of Poem Noir and hardboiled fiction readings and film noir monologues . Free, reservation required.

EASTSIDE BABYLON - SAT. 3/11... Go East, young ghoul, to Boyle Heights, where the Night Stalker was captured and to Evergreen, L.A.'s oldest cemetery. To East L.A., where a deranged radio shop employee made mince meat of his boss and bride in the shadow of the world's biggest tamale. To Commerce, where one small neighborhood's myriad crimes will shock and surprise. To Montebello, scene of a horrifying case of child murder. That's Eastside Babylon, our most unhinged crime bus tour. (Buy tickets here.)

PASADENA CONFIDENTIAL - SAT. 3/18... 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, black magicians and all manner of maniac in a delightful little tour you won't find recommended by the better class of people. (Buy tickets here.)

HOTEL HORRORS & MAIN STREET VICE - SAT. 3/25... Through the 1940s, downtown was the true city center, a lively, densely populated, exciting and sometimes dangerous place. But while many of the historic buildings remain, their human context has been lost. This downtown double feature tour is meant to bring alive the old ghosts and memories that cling to the streets and structures of the historic core, and is especially recommended for downtown residents curious about their neighborhood's neglected history. (Buy tickets here.)

THE LAVA SUNDAY SALON & BROADWAY ON MY MIND WALKING TOUR - SUN. 3/26... Our free cultural lecture series recently relaunched on the basement level of Grand Central Market with a walk to follow. This month, our focus is the endangered architectural and cultural landmark Parker Center. Come explore this mid-century Welton Becker masterpiece while you still can! Free, reservation required.

ECHO PARK BOOK OF THE DEAD - SAT. 4/1... New on our calendar, a crime bus tour meant to honor the lost souls who wander the hills and byways of the "streetcar suburbs" that hug Sunset Boulevard. See seemingly ordinary houses, streets and commercial buildings revealed as the scenes of chilling crimes and mysteries, populated by some of the most fascinating people you'd never want to meet. Featuring the Hillside Strangler, the Bat Man's Love Nest and a visit to Sister Aimee Semple McPherson's exquisite Parsonage, now a museum. (Buy tickets here.)

PALOS VERDES: ANCIENT AND MODERN - SAT. 4/8... On this Special Event tour celebrating our 10th anniversary as a tour company, join us on a deep dive into coastal California lore. From the Spanish Colonial Revival romance of Malaga Cove to Paul R. Williams' jazzy 1960s SeaView tract homes, from Frank Lloyd Wright associate Aaron G. Green's organic architecture to evidence of ancient plantations, you can expect the unexpected and a delightful cast of guest speakers. Sorry, no discounts accepted on this Special Event tour. (Learn more and buy tickets here.)

FORENSIC SCIENCE SEMINAR AT CAL STATE LOS ANGELES - SUN. 4/23... Professor Donald Johnson hosts "From The Crime Lab To The Coroner's Office," featuring author Brad Schreiber's historic crime research and an introduction to crime scene investigations. Your $36.50 ticket benefits graduate level Criminalistics research. (Buy tickets here.)

Additional upcoming tours: The Real Black Dahlia (4/15), Charles Bukowski's L.A. (4/22), Raymond Chandler's L.A. (4/29), Blood & Dumplings (5/6), Hollywood! (5/13), Weird West Adams (5/20), Special Event: Crawling Down Cahuenga: Tom Waits’ L.A. (6/3), Hotel Horrors & Main Street Vice (6/10) and Special Event: Desert Visionaries: Llano del Rio, Antelope Valley Indian Museum & Aldous Huxley’s Pearblossom Ranch (6/17).

OUR HISTORIC L.A. PODCAST

Back from hiatus! In Episode #116: Miracle Mile and a Mid-Century Master, we talk with land use consultant Bill Christopher about Wilshire Boulevard and with architect-historian Alan Hess about Aaron G. Green's mid-century organic architecture. Click here to tune in. New: find stories on the map!

AND FINALLY, LINKS

A love letter to the Capitol Records tower from Alan Hess, who will be co-hosting our April 8 Palos Verdes tour.

Serial landmark wrecker Jason Illoulian is at it again. Now in the crosshairs: the Eames-designed Herman Miller Showroom. Watch out for fake “preservation” plans.

Waiting on Moose and Squirrel while WeHo pencil pushers do their thing. The statue belongs at Havenhurst and Sunset.

Where did we get the idea for deep dive Los Angeles bus tours? From Bob Winter, natch!

Preservationists and architectural historians recognize Parker Center as a major landmark. Why won’t Los Angeles City Council? (Learn more at the March Sunday Salon.)

More boardroom drama at the magnificent, neglected Adamson House in Malibu.

Secrets in the spools.

yrs,
Kim and Richard
Esotouric