Finding The Original Drugstore Cowboy : Los Angeles In 1980

Originally the Columbia Drugstore was next to Gower Gulch at Sunset and Gower, says Meredith Jacobson Marciano. In 1980, the coffee shop was closing forever.”The term “drugstore cowboy” came from here to mean a young wannabe whippersnapper who wanted to get into Westerns but didn’t know how to ride. There was a bench outside the drugstore where the cowboys would sit, whittling, spinning yarns and waiting for a job. They would occasionally use the drugstone telephone to call Central Casting to see if there were any jobs that day.”

Meredith was taking photos there in 1980 as she wandered about LA – Montrose, Long Beach, Bellflower and all over the downtown.

 

 

Above: ‘HOLLYWOOD ON THE PIKE, which was the showroom inside the amusement park, where performers would play. After The Pike closed in 1979 the building housed an arcade.

 

 

 

Above:

The Original Brown Derby restaurant on Wilshire Blvd
Picture taken 1980 – had been closed for a long time.

Never to reopen, now part of strip mall

 

 

Above:

Finneys cafeteria early 80s
There are so few photos of Finney’s, I’m so glad I got in there once before I moved back east and before it all got covered up.

I love the man on the far right, with the hat, like out of an old movie.

217 W 6th St

Los Angeles, CA 90014

“Landmarked interior designed by noted Arts and Crafts tilemaker Ernest A. Batchelder in 1914 (the building was constructed in 1898). The chocolatey, Dutch motif tiles were for a space conversion called the Chocolate Shoppe. The soda shop was later converted into a cafeteria by Samuel Finney. Today, the largest collection of tiles by Batchelder has been obscured by lighting fixtures, security doors, and shopping arcade.”:

 

Stan’s Donuts – closed forever after 55 years in business

Westwood Village, Los Angeles – my first visit there in 1977, I went to Stan’s and took this photo. The blueberry buttermilk was my favorite, it was the first donut shop that had different flavors than the usual fare at the time. I would go to Stan’s every time I went to a movie in Westwood (where all the first run films played). Sad to hear this virus has forced it to close down for good.

 

 

 

I forgot how many gas station relics peppered Los Angeles, but I’m glad I had a thing about them (still do like them when I see one, but now they’re usually repurposed into coffee shops). I didn’t realize I had so many until I went through an old box of photos.

 

 

Another old Los Angeles gas station. When I was there, ’77-84, there were still lots of remnants of the past scattered about, some repurposed, some functioning as intended, and some awaiting the wrecking ball. I tried to photograph all that I came across while driving around.