This modest little sign belies a much-needed service provided to servicemen passing through Los Angeles en route to the Pacific Theatre during WWII. Anne Lehr, the wife of the vice president of United Artists, saw that servicemen didn’t have anywhere to sleep while on leave, so she leased a mansion at 1284 N. Crescent Heights Blvd (near the Garden of Allah Hotel) and on May 15, 1942, opened the Hollywood Guild & Canteen, which became known as Mom Lehr’s. Securing funding from movie studios and private organizations, she turned the former home of Dustin Farnum (he starred in “The Squaw Man” which was DeMille’s directorial debut and the first feature film to be shot in Hollywood) into a huge dormitory where each night she provided 700 men with a meal and a place to sleep. That number swelled to 1200 on the weekends. When Bette Davis and John Garfield saw what a huge need there was, it inspired them to create the Hollywood Canteen, which opened on October 3, 1942. Farnum’s mansion was torn down in 1948 to make way for an apartment building.
This modest little sign belies a much-needed service provided to servicemen passing through Los Angeles en route to the Pacific Theatre during WWII. Anne Lehr, the wife of the vice president of United Artists, saw that servicemen didn’t have anywhere to sleep while on leave, so she leased a mansion at 1284 N. Crescent Heights Blvd (near the Garden of Allah Hotel) and on May 15, 1942, opened the Hollywood Guild & Canteen, which became known as Mom Lehr’s. Securing funding from movie studios and private organizations, she turned the former home of Dustin Farnum (he starred in “The Squaw Man” which was DeMille’s directorial debut and the first feature film to be shot in Hollywood) into a huge dormitory where each night she provided 700 men with a meal and a place to sleep. That number swelled to 1200 on the weekends. When Bette Davis and John Garfield saw what a huge need there was, it inspired them to create the Hollywood Canteen, which opened on October 3, 1942. Farnum’s mansion was torn down in 1948 to make way for an apartment building.
What can’t you do with a pile of 2x4s?
Well maybe YOU can do that sort of things with 2x4s, William, but I certainly can’t!