As much as I love vintage black-and-white photos, it’s the vivid Kodachrome ones that really bring this bygone era back to life. This shows the J C Penney and Chandler’s Shoes stores in Westwood during the 1940s. Makes me wonder what the “French Room” was. Does anybody know? 
1937:
Jill Pfieffer, Milliner?
Chandler’s wasn’t particularly an expensive shoe store. The French Room was nothing more than a corner of the shoe store selling floor at which women’s could try on a slightly more expensive brand of shoes that were slightly more high styled. (When I was there (10 yrs old), I thought there would be French food there. Not!
BTW, I still want to fulfill my 2015 new year’s resolution (the January 1st version) and read fiction for a change. I want to purchase one of your books. Which is your favorite? Is there an order to read them?
Thanks for stopping by, Gayle. Quite a few people seem to remember Chandler’s so I guess they were popular back in the day. And I’d love to help you out with your new year’s resolution. My favorite? Oh Gayle, that’s a bit of a “Sophie’s choice” question! I like them each for different reasons and I really can’t decide. It’s probably best to read them in order:
Book 1 – “The Garden on Sunset”
Book 2 – “The Trouble with Scarlett”
Book 3 – “Citizen Hollywood”
Book 4 – “Searchlights and Shadows”
FYI, they’re all available in ebook, paperback and audiobook, however book 1 is free in all ebook formats, so that’s where I’d start if I were you. And if you like it, there’s lots more where that came from!
Here is the link to book 1 on my website: http://bit.ly/gardenonsunset
and here is the link to my author page on Amazon: http://bit.ly/martinturnbull
Chandler’s specialized in French shoes, and their house brand was the “French Room” line. You can see its logo in the ad you posted above.
Thanks for sharing that with us, David!