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Mrs. Dodge, last seen at Bob's Big Boy, now at the Pantorium, next door to Transfer of the Sierra Madre.
June 1956. "Aspects of life in Southern California, including cars at drive-in restaurant, drive-in laundromat, drive-up bank, shopping center." Kodachrome by Maurice Terrell for the Look magazine assignment "Los Angeles: The Art of Living Bumper-to-Bumper." View full size.
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I'd like to have the 1952 Olds convertible that has its front end peeking around the corner of the cleaners.
With a clearer view of Mrs. Dodge's outfit I now understand why the car hop is leaning so far into the car. He just wanted a better view.
tterrace, you beat me to that great takeoff on one of my very favorite movie lines! Well done.
The tyranny of vinyl seats is obvious in these two slides. Cotton (probably) blankets cover both front and rear seating otherwise riding with the top down would be torture for her bare legs.
She fits right in with the trim 1950s woman. And that little redhead is the frosting on the cake!
[Also the cherry on the sundae. - Dave]
What is the make of that Dodge? Judging by the pictures on the internet it's a 1956 Dodge Royal Lancer. Anybody know? Nice car!
[As noted in the title of the other post, it's a Custom Royal. - Dave]
Here is a street view of the same corner much as it looks today. It is about a 1/2 mile from where I sit typing this now. Personally, I like the looks of it much better in 1956!
count 'em. Two photos of my favourite '50's heavyweight behemoths, this was the first car I ever went 100 mph (his Dad's car) And can anyone explain "Pantorium" sounds like a swimming pool for pants.
Hope she didn't open the car door into the brick planter box.
You can clearly see the reflection of mom's thighs in that door.
While the Dodge is as snazzy as ever, I also really like that two-toned 1951/52 Buick in the background. Classic Detroit Iron.
I recognized this corner in a nanosecond. I grew up in Sierra Madre. My mom dropped off clothes at this cleaners. It is still there. Directly across the street was Roess Market (pronounced "Race") and nearby was Arnold's Hardware(still there). Roess Market had sawdust spread on the aisles, and it was always fun to escape my Mom and run and skid on the sawdust. They would wash the produce in a giant white claw-foot bathtub in the back room, and you could always count on "Red" the butcher to lean down over the counter to hand you a slice of bologna. Throughout the store you could hear the high pitched sound of the butcher's saw cutting meat.
I almost can't think of a better place for a boy to grow up than this quaint small town against the foothill mountains. My friends and I all had Schwinn StingRays and would compete to see who could leave the longest blackest "brodie skid" as we stopped at "Toy and Patio Village" for candy and to look at Revell car kits.
[What street is this? - Dave]
The Pantorium is on the corner of Lima St. and Sierra Madre Blvd.
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