This circa 1930s photo of the Ham Tree Inn restaurant at 6139 Washington Blvd, Culver City, caught my eye for a couple of reasons. Firstly, that ornamental tower has an unusual shape that makes it quite eye-catching, which I assume was the point. And secondly, that tree out front—are there really wrapped legs of ham hanging from its branches? (Or at least fake ones.) This place specialized in baked ham dinners (an alternative take on Mildred Pierce’s chicken dinners?) so I guess it was their way of advertising to passers-by. I’ve certainly never encountered anything like that before.
This invitation to the Ham Tree’s opening in 1927 gives us an idea of their menu.
Advertisement for the Ham Tree Inn restaurant, Culver City, August 14, 1928:
That building is still around (the side street is Sherbourne Dr.) however the street must have been renumbered because its address is now 8641 Washington Blvd. This image is from January 2019.
Interestingly enough, September 24, 2022 is a Saturday. Given this datum, we learn that 1921, 1927 and 1938 fit the bill. Given the car parked out front and the architecture, I’m going to plunk for 1927.
https://www.culvercityhistoricalsociety.org/notes-from-your-city-historian-fall-2015/
In July, an inquiry came in from a woman afar looking for information about a 1920s restaurant called “The Ham Tree Inn,” at 6139 Washington Boulevard. Her grandmother worked there as a waitress when it re-opened in the late 1920s.
So, yes, 1927. ^.^
Thanks, MMM!
Cool it’s still around
Ham’n it up, are we? Okay, a bit on the creepy side..sort of Halloween Town with swine instead of tiny skeletons. I remember going through San Francheeseco’s Chinatown back in the early ’60’s riding along at night in a late ’40’s Chevy and fire engines racing all around. Glancing toward the sidewalks, there were the raw dead pigglies hanging out tied by their porky little feet. That might have been a bit much to display in 1920’s Culver City, but you could probably get rubber versions in this day and age. Babe, look out! That’ll do, pig. That’ll do.
Wow, I’ve probably driven by it dozens and dozens of times and never noticed it. Yeah, it’s nice that the building still exists.
Wonder why they took out the windows and painted it an ugly white?????????? Why can’t people take buildings back to how they looked when new??????? It makes me so angry when they mess these iconic structurejs up. Glad it is still standing anyway
It is kind of weird that they would block up all those windows, but at least the building is there AND with the windows intact, so there’s that to be thankful for.