Around 15 years ago, before I embarked on my writing career, I worked at a store on Melrose Ave that had to move to a new location. It was a long, gradual process, but it was interesting to note that the fewer items we had in the store window, the more people stopped to look at the display. It led me to the observation that if people were presented with too many choices, they couldn’t make any choice at all. Clearly, that was not the marketing strategy at the Mid-City Cut Rate Drug Store at 3773 S. Western Ave on the northwest corner of Exposition Blvd. Clearly, they sold everything under the sun, which was handy for locals, but all that wordage distracted from the lovely features of the building itself…including the giant Bromo-Seltzer bottle next to the door. This photo is from 1941. (Source: calisphere.org)
This is roughly how that view looked in May 2024.
Even with all the clutter on it in the 1941 picture it still looked better than it looks today!!!!
I love that outdoor penny scale. We need to bring those back, but I guess you’d have to chain it down good so it didn’t get stolen.
Thanks, Martin! I also saw that pix in the Dick Whittington collection of small stores in LA. This was like the 99 cent store of the 30s and 40s. I remember my mom used to call them the “five and dime” stores. Whats so funny is the artwork slash advertising on the store, enough to give you a headache! Notice the LARGE ad for booze! No matter what era, liquor was king of the road.