When I think of bowling alleys, I think of bright colors, flashing lights, quirky mid-century Googie-esque architecture. I never think of geometric Art Deco towers. This beautiful combination bowling alley, billiards hall, and café (called the Recreation Grill) opened at 970 E. Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, in 1929. I don’t know what it looked like inside, but the exterior is striking.
Here is an advertisement for the Pasadena Bowling and Billiard Building, 970 E. Colorado Blvd, Pasadena:
** UPDATE ** Evidently, this bowling alley was called Mason Bowling Alley. That name was in the caption for this interior shot of it:
In case you were wondering, yes, it was too much to expect for that marvelous building to still be around today because this square brick thing that replaced it is *so* much nicer. #sarcasm
At least the street light has an interesting look.
Could the deco building have been a remodeling itself? Seems to be brick work behind that stucco overcoat. Maybe there was an earlier life to it?
I agree!
Another BLUNDER in LA!!!!
Thank you.
My Dad was born 9.9.1919 in Massachusetts and his family moved to Pasadena when Dad was three years old – that would have been between September 1922 and Sept.1923. He told me his first job was putting the pins back up in a bowling alley. They hired little boys to do that. When this bowling alley opened in 1929, Dad would have been nine or ten years old. So, if this was the first bowling alley in Pasadena, this is most probably where he worked. Dad didn’t talk much but I got the impression it was hard work and he had to be fast. Maybe that’s how he made the money to take the redline to the beach. The stock market crash was in 1929 and his father was a concert pianist. Money was tight and they weren’t used to it. Maybe that was the reason my Dad got into the restaurant business after WWII (Uncle John’s Pancake House and Biff’s Coffee Shop).
Thanks for this Martin!
That’s quite a story. Thanks for sharing it with us. I’ve never heard of Uncle John’s, but I’ve certainly heard of Biff’s!