Rusty Werth recently sent me this scan of a souvenir photo cover she got from her mother when her father took her there on a date. The place was called the Pirates’ Den and was on La Brea Ave in Hollywood and it was quite the place! Opened by Don Dickerman on May 3, 1940, it had a long list of celebrity investors, including Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Fred MacMurray, Johnny Weissmuller, Rudy Vallee, and Errol Flynn. The waiters dressed as pirates and the manager carried a bullwhip to enforce discipline in his crew. Mock battles were staged and female patrons abducted and held in the brig until they screamed—at which point, they were released with a “scream diploma.” The bar was called the Skull and Bones Bar and Dickerman, who was a pirate fanatic, opened other dens in New York, Miami, and Washington DC. Don’t you love their motto? “The most unique rendezvous in the whole cock-eyed world”
Susan says: “This place was kind of fun. Lots of kids my age in high school went there – we had to have lots of money however, because it was really expensive. I guess we had to pay extra for all the falderol. By the time it was an in place for high school kids, it had fallen off the radar of all the celebrities who used to frequent it. Best I recall, it’s hey-day was short lived with the high profile folks, maybe 2 years from opening is what I recall. My folks went there right after it opened. Dad knew Don Dickerman from NYC, and had been tapped to help Don front the money to open Pirate’s Den, Hollywood version. Seems once War hit, lots of things like this were not ‘in’ spots anymore. The stars who used to ‘nightclub play’ here, turned elsewhere to more meaningful use of their time. That seemed to sort of mark the end of Pirate’s glory days.”
Rusty Werth’s mom:
334 North La Brea is the one-story building on the left. (December 2017)
Thanks for writing about this! My grandpa mentioned it in a WWII letter to my grandma and I wanted to know more about the place. She visited it in 1943.
My parents went there for a date during WW2, I think. It would have been 1942 or later. I have some kind of souvenir sheet from their table. It’s very funny and lists all the movie star owners. I could take a picture of it with my phone, but I would need an email or text address to send it to you.
Rusty Werth recently sent me this scan of a souvenir photo cover she got from her mother when her father took her there on a date. The place was called the Pirates’ Den and was on La Brea Ave in Hollywood and it was quite the place! Opened by Don Dickerman on May 3, 1940, it had a long list of celebrity investors, including Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Fred MacMurray, Johnny Weissmuller, Rudy Vallee, and Errol Flynn. The waiters dressed as pirates and the manager carried a bullwhip to enforce discipline in his crew. Mock battles were staged and female patrons abducted and held in the brig until they screamed—at which point, they were released with a “scream diploma.” The bar was called the Skull and Bones Bar and Dickerman, who was a pirate fanatic, opened other dens in New York, Miami, and Washington DC. Don’t you love their motto? “The most unique rendezvous in the whole cock-eyed world”
Do my eyes deceive me, or is the site of all this debauchery now a mosque?
Do you mean the building on the left. That writing is Hebrew so if anything it’s a synagogue.
Thanks for writing about this! My grandpa mentioned it in a WWII letter to my grandma and I wanted to know more about the place. She visited it in 1943.
The Souvenir cover says 335 N. La Brea. You mention 334. would this have been on the oposite side of the street?
You’re right, Roy. I mistyped it as 334, so I’ve corrected that. Thanks.
My parents went there for a date during WW2, I think. It would have been 1942 or later. I have some kind of souvenir sheet from their table. It’s very funny and lists all the movie star owners. I could take a picture of it with my phone, but I would need an email or text address to send it to you.