{"id":21850,"date":"2021-03-07T08:06:38","date_gmt":"2021-03-07T16:06:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/martinturnbull.com\/?p=21850"},"modified":"2021-03-08T07:44:34","modified_gmt":"2021-03-08T15:44:34","slug":"cliftons-pacific-seas-cafeteria-618-s-olive-st-downtown-los-angeles-1960-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/martinturnbull.com\/2021\/03\/07\/cliftons-pacific-seas-cafeteria-618-s-olive-st-downtown-los-angeles-1960-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Clifton\u2019s Pacific Sea’s cafeteria, 618 S. Olive St, downtown Los Angeles, 1960"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"21851\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/martinturnbull.com\/2021\/03\/07\/cliftons-pacific-seas-cafeteria-618-s-olive-st-downtown-los-angeles-1960-2\/cliftons-pacific-seas-cafeteria-618-s-olive-st-downtown-los-angeles-1960\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Cliftons-Pacific-Seas-cafeteria-618-S.-Olive-St-downtown-Los-Angeles-1960.jpg?fit=1000%2C734&ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1000,734\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1614944849","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"Clifton’s Pacific Sea’s cafeteria, 618 S. Olive St, downtown Los Angeles, 1960\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Cliftons-Pacific-Seas-cafeteria-618-S.-Olive-St-downtown-Los-Angeles-1960.jpg?fit=300%2C220&ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Cliftons-Pacific-Seas-cafeteria-618-S.-Olive-St-downtown-Los-Angeles-1960.jpg?fit=640%2C470&ssl=1\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-21851\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Cliftons-Pacific-Seas-cafeteria-618-S.-Olive-St-downtown-Los-Angeles-1960.jpg?resize=640%2C470&ssl=1\" alt=\"Clifton\u2019s Pacific Sea's cafeteria, 618 S. Olive St, downtown Los Angeles, 1960\" width=\"640\" height=\"470\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Cliftons-Pacific-Seas-cafeteria-618-S.-Olive-St-downtown-Los-Angeles-1960.jpg?w=1000&ssl=1 1000w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Cliftons-Pacific-Seas-cafeteria-618-S.-Olive-St-downtown-Los-Angeles-1960.jpg?resize=300%2C220&ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Cliftons-Pacific-Seas-cafeteria-618-S.-Olive-St-downtown-Los-Angeles-1960.jpg?resize=768%2C564&ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/>Clifton\u2019s was a mini chain of cafeterias that opened in Los Angeles in 1931 at the depth of the Depression. At first glance it might seem that opening a restaurant at a time when people could barely afford to feed themselves might sound crazy, but Clifford Clinton opened the first of his cafeterias shown here at 618 S. Olive Street (this one was called \u201cPacific Seas\u201d and had a wild fa\u00e7ade) with a \u201cpay what you wish\u201d policy, including eating for free if you had no money. Clinton realized that people may not have much, but they still had their dignity and wanted to pay their way if they could, even if it meant handing over one single penny. Many Angelenos may have starved had it not been for this generous man. This photo is dated 1960.<\/p>\n<p>Color postcard showing the exterior of Clifton’s Pacific Sea’s Cafeteria:<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"21852\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/martinturnbull.com\/2021\/03\/07\/cliftons-pacific-seas-cafeteria-618-s-olive-st-downtown-los-angeles-1960-2\/color-postcard-of-cliftons-pacific-seas-cafeteria-olive-street-los-angeles-circa-1930sjpg\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Color-postcard-of-Cliftons-Pacific-Seas-Cafeteria-Olive-Street-Los-Angeles-circa-1930sjpg.jpg?fit=496%2C347&ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"496,347\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"Color postcard of Clifton’s Pacific Sea’s Cafeteria, Olive Street, Los Angeles, circa 1930s\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Color-postcard-of-Cliftons-Pacific-Seas-Cafeteria-Olive-Street-Los-Angeles-circa-1930sjpg.jpg?fit=300%2C210&ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Color-postcard-of-Cliftons-Pacific-Seas-Cafeteria-Olive-Street-Los-Angeles-circa-1930sjpg.jpg?fit=496%2C347&ssl=1\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-21852\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Color-postcard-of-Cliftons-Pacific-Seas-Cafeteria-Olive-Street-Los-Angeles-circa-1930sjpg.jpg?resize=496%2C347&ssl=1\" alt=\"Color postcard of Clifton's Pacific Sea's Cafeteria, Olive Street, Los Angeles\" width=\"496\" height=\"347\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Color-postcard-of-Cliftons-Pacific-Seas-Cafeteria-Olive-Street-Los-Angeles-circa-1930sjpg.jpg?w=496&ssl=1 496w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Color-postcard-of-Cliftons-Pacific-Seas-Cafeteria-Olive-Street-Los-Angeles-circa-1930sjpg.jpg?resize=300%2C210&ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 496px) 100vw, 496px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>It really must have been a sight to see in person!<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"21858\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/martinturnbull.com\/2021\/03\/07\/cliftons-pacific-seas-cafeteria-618-s-olive-st-downtown-los-angeles-1960-2\/cliftons-south-seas-cafeteria-olive-street-downtown-los-angeles\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Cliftons-South-Seas-Cafeteria-Olive-Street-downtown-Los-Angeles.jpg?fit=640%2C444&ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"640,444\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"Clifton’s South Seas Cafeteria, Olive Street, downtown Los Angeles (color)\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Cliftons-South-Seas-Cafeteria-Olive-Street-downtown-Los-Angeles.jpg?fit=300%2C208&ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Cliftons-South-Seas-Cafeteria-Olive-Street-downtown-Los-Angeles.jpg?fit=640%2C444&ssl=1\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-21858\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Cliftons-South-Seas-Cafeteria-Olive-Street-downtown-Los-Angeles.jpg?resize=640%2C444&ssl=1\" alt=\"Clifton's South Seas Cafeteria, Olive Street, downtown Los Angeles (color)\" width=\"640\" height=\"444\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Cliftons-South-Seas-Cafeteria-Olive-Street-downtown-Los-Angeles.jpg?w=640&ssl=1 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Cliftons-South-Seas-Cafeteria-Olive-Street-downtown-Los-Angeles.jpg?resize=300%2C208&ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Electric palm tree inside Clifton’s Pacific Sea’s Cafeteria:<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"21853\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/martinturnbull.com\/2021\/03\/07\/cliftons-pacific-seas-cafeteria-618-s-olive-st-downtown-los-angeles-1960-2\/electric-palm-tree-inside-cliftons-pacific-seas-cafeteria-olive-street-los-angeles\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Electric-palm-tree-inside-Cliftons-Pacific-Seas-Cafeteria-Olive-Street-Los-Angeles.jpg?fit=800%2C592&ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"800,592\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"Electric palm tree inside Clifton’s Pacific Sea’s Cafeteria, Olive Street, Los Angeles\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Electric-palm-tree-inside-Cliftons-Pacific-Seas-Cafeteria-Olive-Street-Los-Angeles.jpg?fit=300%2C222&ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Electric-palm-tree-inside-Cliftons-Pacific-Seas-Cafeteria-Olive-Street-Los-Angeles.jpg?fit=640%2C474&ssl=1\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-21853\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Electric-palm-tree-inside-Cliftons-Pacific-Seas-Cafeteria-Olive-Street-Los-Angeles.jpg?resize=640%2C474&ssl=1\" alt=\"Electric palm tree inside Clifton's Pacific Sea's Cafeteria, Olive Street, Los Angeles\" width=\"640\" height=\"474\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Electric-palm-tree-inside-Cliftons-Pacific-Seas-Cafeteria-Olive-Street-Los-Angeles.jpg?w=800&ssl=1 800w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Electric-palm-tree-inside-Cliftons-Pacific-Seas-Cafeteria-Olive-Street-Los-Angeles.jpg?resize=300%2C222&ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Electric-palm-tree-inside-Cliftons-Pacific-Seas-Cafeteria-Olive-Street-Los-Angeles.jpg?resize=768%2C568&ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Postcard of Clifton’s Pacific Seas Cafeteria,<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"21854\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/martinturnbull.com\/2021\/03\/07\/cliftons-pacific-seas-cafeteria-618-s-olive-st-downtown-los-angeles-1960-2\/postcard-of-cliftons-pacific-seas-cafeteria-618-s-olive-st-los-angeles\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Postcard-of-Cliftons-Pacific-Seas-Cafeteria-618-S.-Olive-St-Los-Angeles.jpg?fit=1118%2C720&ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1118,720\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}\" data-image-title=\"Postcard of Clifton’s Pacific Seas Cafeteria, 618 S. Olive St, Los Angeles\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Postcard-of-Cliftons-Pacific-Seas-Cafeteria-618-S.-Olive-St-Los-Angeles.jpg?fit=300%2C193&ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Postcard-of-Cliftons-Pacific-Seas-Cafeteria-618-S.-Olive-St-Los-Angeles.jpg?fit=640%2C412&ssl=1\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-21854\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Postcard-of-Cliftons-Pacific-Seas-Cafeteria-618-S.-Olive-St-Los-Angeles.jpg?resize=640%2C412&ssl=1\" alt=\"Postcard of Clifton's Pacific Seas Cafeteria, 618 S. Olive St, Los Angeles\" width=\"640\" height=\"412\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Postcard-of-Cliftons-Pacific-Seas-Cafeteria-618-S.-Olive-St-Los-Angeles.jpg?resize=1024%2C659&ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Postcard-of-Cliftons-Pacific-Seas-Cafeteria-618-S.-Olive-St-Los-Angeles.jpg?resize=300%2C193&ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Postcard-of-Cliftons-Pacific-Seas-Cafeteria-618-S.-Olive-St-Los-Angeles.jpg?resize=768%2C495&ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Postcard-of-Cliftons-Pacific-Seas-Cafeteria-618-S.-Olive-St-Los-Angeles.jpg?w=1118&ssl=1 1118w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Clifton\u2019s was a mini chain of cafeterias that opened in Los Angeles in 1931 at the depth of the Depression. At first glance it might seem that opening a restaurant at a time when people could barely afford to feed … <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/martinturnbull.com\/2021\/03\/07\/cliftons-pacific-seas-cafeteria-618-s-olive-st-downtown-los-angeles-1960-2\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">→<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[9,10,12],"class_list":["post-21850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-color-photo","tag-downtown-los-angeles","tag-restaurants"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5XK3w-5Gq","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21850"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21859,"href":"https:\/\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21850\/revisions\/21859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinturnbull.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}