I’ll gladly take any photo of a Brown Derby restaurant, but especially one in color. My friend who works at the Petersen Automotive Museum tells me that gorgeous blue-and-white car parked out front is a 1955 Buick, so let’s call this circa mid-1950s. By then, the Derby was quite the operation: it had the Coffee Shop, the restaurant, the Record Room, and on the far right, an entrance for guest parking. Their tenant, Maurice Inc, was smart to paint their store white—I assume to make it stand out. It was my understanding that they sold knitwear, but their awning has the word “jewels” so now I’m not so sure. Does anybody reading this remember?
Source: Vintage Kodachrome Slides
Hector A. said: “In 1956 when Capitol Records Building open, The Bamboo room Became the Record room and that paint job on the building was done in April of 1956. (I’ve got the biggest collection of The Brown Derby Memorabilia ) Last Brown Derby Restaurant location was at outside the Beverly Center mall 1996 a few feet away from the Hard Rock Cafe entrance on Beverly Blvd.”
This is roughly how that view looked in July 2024. That white building on the left looks like it’s leftover from the Brown Derby, but it’s too close to the Taft building. I read somewhere that it’s a nod to the Derby built by the apartment building behind it.
Gary H. said: “No. It was saved by the owners (the Blue family) of that little building in opposition to the W Hotel’s attempt to enact eminent domain. This is also the wrong end of the block. This northern end of the block (here) is the restored remnant of the Herman Building which was part of entire block of building complex that included the Brown Derby, designed by Carl Jules Weyl. Here is a post I made about it recently:
https://www.facebook.com/653727342/posts/10160444639382343/?mibextid=wwXIfr
This is an interesting juxtaposition. To me, if feels like the same photo, but from different eras. Meaning the architecture, though different, is serving the same purpose then as it is now.
Also, while I (and many) idolized the 55 Bel Air growing up, the Buick and even the Olds seem cooler to me today.
Nice photo, but the Buick is a 1956.
What a sporty looking two-door hardtop Buick. It adds class to the photo of the Brown Derby. I always loved the Buick’s side chrome trim that made the car look like it was racing forward, even when stopped, with the chrome trim dipping and then racing over the rear wheel as it shot toward the rear of the car. There was very little difference between the two model years but Ron is correct. The 1955 Buick had round portholes and the 1956 had enlongated ones like the ones in the photo.
Thanks Ron and Alan.
Beautiful photo, Martin. The place where Clark Gable proposed to Carole Lombard back in the day! I worked at 1645 Vine Street (the Broadway) for many years, not too long after the Derby officially closed down the street, You can bet your last dollar that small white building was saved from the wrecking ball by local preservationists. Good for them. Across the street at 1637 Vine was the old Plaza Hotel. Clara Bow reportedly opened a cafe there, for a brief time. Lots of stories along Vine Street, and it makes you wonder if any of the locals know how famous the area was back in the day. Keep the wonderful pix coming.
Clara Bow didn’t just reportedly open her It Cafe in the Plaza – she *did*
https://martinturnbull.com/2012/11/10/clara-bows-it-cafe-1637-vine-street-hollywood-1930s/
And that white structure that’s on Vine St now wasn’t part of the Derby, but is a facade built as a nod to the restaurant by the developers of the apartment building that’s on the site now.
You are right, Martin. It was an attempt to reboot her career, amid lots of tabloid scandals. The funny thing is that had Clara Bow been around today, all those scandals would have made her an even bigger star! She was a beautiful actress, married to cowboy star Rex Bell for years.
The “remnant” of the Brown Derby is as was suggested, built by the W Hotel. It’s a poured concrete “representation” or “homage” not a relic. You can see this in unpainted construction photos of the hotel.
LA tore down the Ambassador hotel AND allowed the complete defilement of the Brown Derby Hat. It’s abysmal record of historic preservation in Calif is only out done by San Francisco