Most Curries ice cream stores had a huge can’t-miss-‘em ice-cream cone out front to advertise their famous 10-cent “Mile High Cones.” I don’t know for sure, but this one was their probably their biggest. I’m guessing 15 feet? It would really have caught the eyes of passers-by—especially cars with kids inside. This Curries stood on the northwest corner of Firestone Blvd and La Reina Ave in Downey in the 1950s. (Apart from being home to LA’s biggest ice cream cone, Downey’s other claim to fame is that it was the home of the Carpenters musical duo.)
Jeffrey McC said: “There was one that size or bigger on the store at Huntington Dr. and Eastern Ave in El Sereno.”
David K said: “And the oldest surviving McDonald’s.”
This is roughly how that view looked in May 2024.
The Curries at Sunset and Highland comes more quicky to mind, where Lana Turner was reportedly discovered.
She was discovered at Sunset and Highland, but not at Curries. It was at a place called the Top Hat Café on the SE corner of N. McCadden Place and Sunset.
Our little Curry’s shop in the Culver Center had one of these big ice cream cones. I’m thinking it might have been as big as this one.
Of course, that could be because I was a little kid, and it just seemed that big!
Businesses sure had much more creativity back in those days. They really knew how to attract customers. So sad we have lost that in today’s world.
Almost every strip mall or free standing restaurant has been given
the “corporate bland/ grey” look… with interchangeable cheap backlit signs for a quick turnover, and higher lease payments!
No more arches, bells, buckets, cones, donuts, animals or individuality of a business!
Pathetic…
My favorite Curries was on the corner of Sunset and Highland across the street from Hollywood High School— 1950