I found this old paint in the alley between what is now Steve's Altadena Hardware and Rituals Studio for Hair on Mariposa. I've processed the hell out of the picture to try to make the letters stand out, but all I can say for sure is that the first word is "Altadena" and the last two words are "Dept. Store." Does anyone know what the rest of it says? (The red squares indicate where earthquake reinforcement has been done. I covered them in an earlier post.)While I was there I peeked into the hardware store. It's getting fixed up! Don't freak out, they're just painting in the east end of the store. If I'm not mistaken that's where Steve's going to add his bike business, which he's moving from Lake Avenue.
I've never met Steve Salinas, but I think I like this guy. He stepped in and saved a long-standing, much-loved Altadena business in a practical way. Steve's Bike Shop gets great customer reviews. And does he also own Steve's Pets? Careful, people, soon it's going to be Steve's Altadena!
(Tomorrow is City Daily Photo Blog theme day, so we'll do Zen Monday on Tuesday.)
20 comments:
Altadena 5 min left dept store?
I was squinting hard.
I wanted the 5 (or 8) to be a 1, so it could be 1 - STOP. Not happening. Is it 5 STAR?
Funny how whenever I hear Altadena it sounds like Yiddish. Like, Old Dina. LOL
With my son's family in LA, I always get the creeps reading such things as your casual mention of "earthquake reinforcement." Oi...
I have an LA joke for you. To the question how everything is going, the Angelino replies: "Oh great! The mudslides are putting out the brush fires.
I love these old signs - shame it is fading and hard to read.
I love this. I had no idea where you would go with htis photo on the portal. You can certainly make just about anything, interesting as hell!
V
I too processed it to death. Color, saturation, filter B&W...
Nothing.
Altadena ?-?-??
???? Dept. Store
Might be:
Altadana 5-&-10
Cent Dept. Store
You know, I think Ted's got it. What do you think? "ALTADENA 5 & 10 CENT DEPT. STORE." Or "5 something Cent Dept Store..."
Although I do like Vand's "5 min left" dept store. Hurry in, Old Dina! Buy something fast before the earthquake!
I love these signs, too, Gerald. Do you have them in Hyde?
Virginia, flattery will get you everywhere.
I think Ted's right. Those have got to be hyphens in the upper-right block of text. Thought we might beware, if Michael Shermer's
right .
It was more or less an educated guess that fits the space.
5 and 10 cent (or 5 and dime) stores were the "dollar store" of yesteryear and would fit with the apparent era of this "Ghost sign"
Steve Steve Steve!
Ah, non sequiturs … what would the holidays be without them?
Fish.
I suspect the Altadena city hall would be pleased if Steve stepped up to cover their bills?
If thar wuzza city hawl
taint no sucha thing in the A-dena
Goodness, I think Miss Havisham's right. About the sign, not about why Albert Einstein didn't remain in town.
So, are we agreed? It's JPL graffiti?
Chuck, I was going to let you know but anonymous did - Altadena is an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County, and therefore doesn't have a city government or city hall. As I understand it, Altadena (just north of Pasadena) has resisted becoming incorporated into Pasadena. I don't know why it hasn't incorporated itself as Altadena, but that might make an interesting future post. I'll ask Steve. :)
That is the old nelson building, which was in fact a five and dime I think.
HAH! Confirmation from an Anonymous source …
I got confirmation of same in an email, Anonymous. It seems so, though I know Altadena Hardware's been around since the 1920's. My guess is the hardware store expanded into the east end of the building after the early 1960's. Does that seem right?
actually that expansion may have come in the early 80s. I don't remember that area being opened when I went in there as a kid in the 1970s.
That makes sense. My emailer said he when into the 5 and dime with his dad in about 1962. That doesn't mean the expansion had to happen soon after. Could have happened much later, as in 1980s, like you said. The two of you are the only people I've heard from. Tim at Altadenablog posted about it, but I was the only commenter!
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