The Boys Market and the Richfield Building
It's time for some Vintage SoCal Pix!
First up is this unusual photo looking at a Boys Market in Hawthorne, California (in the South Bay part of Los Angeles) from September, 1958. I am not sure why anybody would take a photo like this, but I'm glad that they did! I remember Boys Markets, though I never went to one as far as I know. From what I can gather, all Boys Markets eventually became Ralph's Grocery Stores sometime in the mid-1990s.
How about those cars, Nanook?
Here's that same store (at 11873 Hawthorne Boulevard) today! It was fun trying to find it on Google Maps "Street View" because the little house to the left of The Boys in the first photo is actually clearly visible in a current-day view.
Next is this March 1965 shot of the Richfield Building, a beautiful Art Deco edifice adorned with black and gold-glazed terra cotta tiles. The 12-story building was completed in 1929, and had a 130-foot tower that (according to Wikipedia) had lighting made to simulate an oilwell gusher and the motif was reused at some Richfield service stations. While considered to be one of the most striking Art Deco buildings in Los Angeles, the company outgrew the building, and it was demolished in 1969, much to the dismay of Los Angeles residents and those interested in architectural preservation, to make way for the present ARCO Plaza skyscraper complex. They ruin everything!
Searching for images online I found this small photo showing some of the sculptural details on the Richfield Building. Do you think that Walt Disney ever went to the company headquarters when Richfield was a sponsor of several Disneyland attractions?
The elaborate black-and-gold elevator doors were salvaged from the building and now reside in the lobby of the new ARCO building. Here's a photo that I scrounged from online, I'm sorry that I did not write down the name of the website or photographer. Aren't these elevator doors SPECTACULAR?
17 comments:
#1: Odd name for a market. Does anybody know the story behind it?
I wonder what was 49¢ on that sign. Probably a whole side of beef.
That 2-tone blue & white car looks pretty nice!
#3: The Richfield building, beautiful, stately, elegant, unique... so of course it had to go. So sad.
#4: I can hardly bear to look at this detail image, knowing that they thought so little of all this artistry and craftsmanship that they just swept it away. Maybe they saved one or two of those angels.
#5: The elevator doors, art deco at its purest and most elegant!
Major, now I'm in a bad (and sad) mood. But I thank you for allowing us to see these striking images. A bittersweet post today.
Major-
Ahhh... the Boys Market. I too never shopped there, but I do remember their rather trite slogan: Boys Love Girls. It's probably to risqué a slogan for these times, though-!
Now, about those cars... First up is a 1951 Chevrolet, possibly in 'Thistle Gray'. Next up is another Chevrolet - this time a 1958, possibly in 'Cay Coral Iridescent'. Following is a 1955 Buick 'Roadmaster', probably in 'Cascade Blue'. Then, a 1955 Chevrolet. I'm gonna guess the next car is a 1951 Ford. The next car, with the 'fancy, exposed spare tire, with a white cover, isn't giving me enough clues; but the dark blue car just beyond it is a 1951 or 1952 Studebaker. In the next aisle over, there appears to be an 'Aquatone Blue' 1955 Ford 'Customliine'. And another 1955 Chevrolet, this one in 'Harevest Gold'.
It's truly discouraging how the "remodeled" facade of the market is so much worse than the original design. "Yeah, just add a sloping 'mansard-style roofline', then throw-up a bunch of red clay tiles, all of it surrounding a framed-out phony facade, topped-out with "crown molding". The kids will love it-!" Inarguably, the original design just screams southern California in the 1950's, but it wasn't trying to be something it wasn't, and in its own way, still has a bunch of class.
And speaking of class from the 1920's/1930's - it doesn't get much better than the Richfield Building. So much detail to please the eyes. (I wonder if that elevator heads directly to Heaven-?)
@ JB-
From an LA Times article from March 2, 1988, disclosing the potential takeover of the Boys Markets chain from a "wealthy Mexican family - the Brenner's" - also disclosed the following:
"Boys, founded in 1924, has 54 supermarkets and one drugstore in the metropolitan Los Angeles area.
The chain has built its fortune on catering to Los Angeles’ many minority communities. The Boys stores in predominantly black Watts offer a variety of pork products and black-eyed peas in bulk, while a store in Latino Huntington Park features 25-pound sacks of masa harina (a flour used to make tortillas) and piñatas (a colorful paper doll filled with candy). In all, 80% of the Boys stores are in predominantly minority neighborhoods".
Thanks, Major.
That makes sense The Boys Market was a Los Angeles regional chain as having come from San Diego , I’ve never seen nor heard of them. RALPHS Markets also began in Los Angeles in the 1870’s /1880’s.
I cannot believe that beautiful building was torn down!!!?? But as we speak California is tearing down beautiful 1960’s structures and buildings…. This is very stunning to me as “mid century” everything is quite popular …. But this isn’t helping with architectural preservation. In San Diego a few years ago developers were pulling done crap moves by “accidentally” tearing down a structure that was slated for preservation or architectural heritage designation. It was getting bad. So many significant structures were lost to this developers scam. FINALLY a judge ruled that any structure that had be marked to be saved for historical or architectural designation that a developer or any organization or person “accidentally” tears down or damaged will be responsible for completely reconstructing that location to meet all historic preservation or historic reconstruction requirements.
But at the same so much of the 60’s and 70’s architecture build by highly trained and talented architectural firms - like Disney friends Welton Becket even are being torn down very very quickly.
JB, it was that large block of cement in the parking lot, that was only .49 cents. What a deal.
I remember when I was a kid, there was a Boys Market near my grandmother's house in the city of Torrance (California). It was the only Boys Market that I was aware of. There was also a Magic Chef super market near her house, and I never saw another one of those anywhere else, either.
I love art deco architecture. I remember when I first discovered the art deco masterpiece that was the Richfield Building, and learned of it's fate. It truly was a "They Ruin Everything!" moment. And the building was only 40 years old. It's just unbelievable how quickly we toss things into the trash, here in Southern California.
Hawthorne...an interesting city for sure: childhood homes of Marilyn Monroe, Sonny Bono, The Beach Boys and Barbie! We would pass the Mattel factory (which was visible from the 405) and squeal the same as we would pass Disneyland. Maybe not as exuberantly, but squealing all the same. Later, my sister would become a "child tester" for Mattel toys as my Step Father worked in the neighborhood aerospace industry and had an "in". We all had free toys for a few years. I had to do all the questionaires afterwords to let Mattel know if the product was played with, or ignored...and why. Hawthorne I suppose has seen a renaissance of sorts with Tesla moving in. Hawthorne was also a "sundown city"- not a great moment in history. I read up on the Boys, which "the boys" did start as a produce stand in East LA, with neighbors saying "I'm going to go see the boys..." which means they were going to get produce. Los Angeles I think invented TRE. They love to TRE. They live to TRE. TRE is in their DNA. The Richfield building is only one example of thousands of buildings destroyed in the name of progress. On my last trip to LA a few months ago I was working in my old neighborhood and it was amazing what parts of historic Hollywood have been "TRE'd" There are (or perhaps were) a few buildings left like the Richfield building- with the dark ceramic and gold. Very striking. Those doors are a piece of art as was the building. I'm glad the building was at least photographed. Some things don't even get that. You can't as much demolish a thimble in my neighborhood that I live in now. If it's not protected by laws, it's protected by the neighbors. Speaking of Southern California demolition: after the eucalyptus conversation yesterday I Google mapped 500S Buena Vista to see the trees that I think were along Keystone avenue on one side of the Studio. I also saw there wasn't a backlot anymore. This must have went a long time ago, but I suppose I was asleep. I'm glad I got to walk through it before the Wells/Eisners/Igers started building offices and parking lots. I get it, but I don't have to like it. The backlot wasn't as cool as Universal or even Warner Bros, but it was a lovely small town back lot, on a lovely "college campus". The only "new" thing was the Roy Disney Building...which I see is still standing..
It’s a good thing they restrained those palm trees in front of the Boys building. There’s no telling what mischief they might have gotten up to if allowed to roam free. I’ve heard of yellow onions, green onions, and red onions, but brown onions is a new one on me.
I bet that Richfield building looked even more glorious by night.
This is the first I’ve heard of Boys Market, but I sure like the style. Ralph’s was the “LA” market for me, since we only came for brief visits. I remember they sold things we couldn’t find at home and so we would stock up on those treats before heading back.
Definitely a shame about the Richfield building, but I can see why it had to go. For a while in the 60’s & 70’s, Art Deco was reviled and hated in the architectural design community. It was seen as a “degenerate” almost primitive style and no one with any stature in design would defend it. Remember my comments about the HOTF a while back.
Same with the re-skin of the Boys, the wheel of “taste” keeps turning and mid-Century designs were deemed awful also at some point and were replaced almost wholesale by beige stucco with tile mansards which were welcomed when new. Now, everyone is wild about mid-Century design again, Disney is talking about it as if it were a “neutral” style belonging to the ages.
This cracks me up, because Capital “D” design architects pride themselves on being “original” and coming up with styles that no one else can do. Actually, there are one or two individualistic designers in a generation that everyone rushes to copy and pretend they are being original too. Just sheep, really. The worst part is that everything done by the previous generation is seen as unregenerate and awful which must be eliminated. This mindset is endemic in the modern profession and it influences style, product development, education trends, even laws. Then, after a couple of generations, everything old (that survived) is cool again and we are all off to buy Eichler or Case Study houses, Noguchi tables and Eames chairs once more that no one influential in the 80’s would touch.
It’s sad, but that’s how it is now. Architecture used to pride itself on a continuity and respect for the past, but the Modern Movement decreed an end to that and here we are.
JG
JB, you’d think I would have looked up the history of The Boys markets… but I didn’t. Arg. That 49 cent sign is for the whole store. Things were a lot cheaper back then. It is astonishing to me just how little developers care about architectural beauty or history… it’s all about making big bucks on the next ugly monstrosity, whether it fits a neighborhood or not. Sorry these bummed you out!
Nanook, I vaguely remember ads for The Boys markets, but not that slogan. For some reason I have a more vivid memory of ads for Alpha Beta markets (remember those?). Thanks for all the car IDs, they all look beautiful to me. I agree with you about the newer Ralph’s facade, but I’ve seen other Ralph’s markets that have a similar look, so I guess somebody decided that that pseudo-Spanish look was there “style” (although the Ralph’s I shop at is very modern and boxy - not beautiful, but at least it isn’t “trying to be something it wasn’t” as you say. I’m so glad that L.A. managed to save the Art Deco Eastern Columbia building, converted from a department store into condominiums. I just read on Wikipedia that Johnny Depp bought FIVE penthouses in that building. Thanks for the mini-history on The Boys markets!
Mike Cozart, I follow the “Vintage L.A.” Facebook group, and it seems as if every week I will read about yet another historic old building being razed by developers for “luxury condos”. Just what we need, more living spaces for the rich! How else will they survive? I love the idea of making a developer rebuild a historic building down to the last detail if they pull that scam of tearing a structure down and pretending it was an “oops”. Welton Becket buildings seem to be torn down at a fast clip, including the Los Angeles County Museum buildings, which could have easily been spruced up for a fraction of the price of what will replace it. I’ve always suspected that they let the buildings get rundown just so they could claim to have an excuse to raze them.
TokyoMagic!, that really IS a great deal of a cement block. Especially a vintage one that is “mint in box”. I don’t think I ever went into a Boys market or if I did I was too young. “Magic Chef”, I don’t even remember that name at all! I think anyone with a brain loves true Art Deco architecture, it’s amazing to me that buildings like that are always replaced with soulless glass boxes.
Bu, I’ve only driven through Hawthorne, I’ve had no reason to go there. I hope that they someday build a 100 foot tall statue of Sonny Bono. The Mattel building was definitely a thrill for us too! Thinking about Mattel makes my mind go to the old Sears Christmas Wish Books, the highlight of any year back in the late ‘60s and into the ‘70s. Of course we knew that we would be lucky to get one or two things that we drooled over, but it was still fun to look and look, and imagine having a giant room full of all the latest toys. I’m sure many of the Disney Studio eucalyptus trees are long gone. By the time I worked there the old backlot was gone, but I spoke to many employees who talked about strolling through on their lunch hour, or playing ping pong in another structure that had been torn down. But the avenue next to the Animation Building was still lined with a number of eucalyptus trees. That Roy Disney building with the sorcerer’s hat… playful, I guess, but I have never warmed to it.
Melissa, I’ll bet somebody got a bonus for having the idea of letting those palm trees grow through gaps in the overhang! I assume that “brown onions” is just another name for yellow onions. And I’ll bet you’re right, that Richfield Building must have been amazing at night, especially with the “gusher” lighting on the tower.
JG, Ralph’s really is the SoCal grocery store; it’s a trip to see photos of the one that was in Westwood as far back as the 1930s… when I first saw those, I had no idea that Ralph’s had been around for that long. The logo was just the same. It seems hard to believe that those polychromed tiles and gold leaf were considered “degenerate”, I sometimes wonder if words like that were thrown around just to convince people that the style had no worth. I do love that simple angular style of The Boys market, very mid-century. It does seems as if mid-century design (at least for now) has become the most beloved style to the general public. Maybe it’s due to the fact that so many people don’t want “brown antiques” (as my mom’s antiques-selling friend called them) - they are attracted to the elegant, streamlined, playful mid-century designs.
Major-
Just to keep things on the up-and-up - the original LACMA complex was designed by William Pereira...
Nanook, I think you mean Willia Bendix!
Nanook. thanks for the research and info on the market chain. Interesting how they customized their inventory to cater to different neighborhoods. I still would like to know where/why they came up with the name "Boys". (But I won't lose sleep over it.)
Tokyo!, [JB slaps his forehead] The cement block... Duh, it's so obvious!... Oh wait... maybe it's the sign itself that's 49¢? Need to do more research.
Bu, "free toys". Man, you've led a charmed life! I don't get jealous easily but I think my skin is turning just a wee bit green. ;-)
I had to google "sundown city"; never heard that term before... Now I wish I hadn't. :-(
Wow! Your research answered my curiosity about the Boys Market name. Thanks!
Melissa, brown onions are just yellow onions that have gotten old and slimy. HaHa... nevermind. Actually, I have heard of them. When I use the U-Scan checkouts at our local store, and look up a price code for some sort of produce, I've noticed brown onions listed amongst the other varieties. Not sure what's different about 'em, but I think they're relatively expensive.
JG, reading your (spot on) dissertation on modern architectural thinking and practices has put me in a bad mood again. Most of today's buildings are, objectively, uninspired and uninspiring. And it will be a good thing when they are torn down and replaced with something better.
Major, Ah, 49¢ for the whole store. Winner, winner chicken dinner!
Mattel factory. Play testing. Sounds like a dream.
The site of the first house we lived in after getting married is now a gigantic Mattel warehouse and toy store in San Bernardino. We were the last humans to live in that beautiful, well-maintained house before they closed Norton AFB housing, which by then was an annex of March AFB in Moreno Valley since Norton had been closed a year and a half previously. Four years later, the place was run-down enough to shoot an X-Files episode set on an abandoned military base. TRE...
JB, I’m sorry I spoiled your mood. I’m in a stupid business and hope to exit soon, my personal bile shows through into comments I hope to be informative. My apologies.
JG
JG, ha! No need to apologize. My mood changed back to my absurdity-loving irreverent self in no time! Life is no fun when you're in a bad mood. :-)
My grandpa worked for The Boys Market chain in their Maintenance Department following WWll. He worked for them until they sold and the new owners forced retirement to many in his shoes. He was truly sad about it and I know he had enjoyed working for The Boys. I have fond memories of his big work truck with their logo on the side. It was navy blue for a long time, then they painted it red. They used to have great prices on Thanksgiving turkey’s and my mom would drive me down to help her pick “a big one.” They also sold my favorite childhood snack, Granny Goose Potato Chips! Good memories .
Just caught this as I was looking for a photo of the Boys Market. Lived nearby, my mom worked there.
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