Disneyland Marquee (2nd Generation)

Californian Trailer Grove
San Dimas, CA
Photo courtesy Adriene Biondo

Here’s the old entrance sign for Californian Trailer Grove, offering a roadside greeting along Foothill Boulevard. The name recalls the years when trailer parks and motor courts were familiar companions along Southern California’s highways, providing places to stop for a night or settle in considerably longer.

Its individual lettering and metal sign cabinet give the entrance a character of its own. Before standardized property signs became common, even a smaller residential park could have a marquee worth noticing from the road. This one supplies another reason to keep an eye on the older businesses and entrances along the foothills.

UPDATE: Californian Trailer Grove remains an active mobile-home community, listed in Pomona rather than San Dimas. Its vintage entrance sign continues to identify the park along Foothill Boulevard. 10-26

VIP Records (Gone)
Long Beach, CA
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

Check out the giant record on the marquee for VIP Records in Long Beach. This Pacific Coast Highway landmark certainly knew how to advertise what was waiting inside. And the “World Famous” lettering? Well, this is one sign that could back up the claim.

Opened in 1978 by Cletus Anderson and taken over by his brother Kelvin in 1979, the shop became an important stop in West Coast hip-hop history. Snoop Dogg, Warren G, and Nate Dogg recorded early music here as 213. Snoop later appeared on the roof beside the sign in his 1993 “Who Am I? (What’s My Name?)” video, giving viewers around the world a look at this Long Beach roadside treasure.

UPDATE: The sign was removed and saved, becoming an official Long Beach historic landmark in 2018. Plans call for its restoration and return at a new public gathering spot at Pacific Coast Highway and Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue. Design work is underway, with detailed plans scheduled through spring 2027. Hopefully, the giant record will soon be greeting passing motorists again. 10-26

Lincoln Hardware
Santa Monica
Photo courtesy Georg Balandran

Looking for a hardware store? The saw-shaped sign at Lincoln Hardware offers a pretty good clue about what’s inside. Along Lincoln Boulevard in Venice, this oversized tool gives the neighborhood shop an advertisement that’s both practical and worth a second look. A plain rectangular panel probably would have worked, but where’s the fun in that?

The store belongs to the older tradition of neighborhood hardware shopping, where customers arrive with a project, a broken part, or a question about what to try next. Sometimes the most useful thing behind the counter is someone who recognizes the piece being held up and knows which aisle has its replacement.

Outside, the saw does its part to make the place easy to remember. Its long blade gives the lettering an unusual frame, turning an ordinary hand tool into a landmark above the sidewalk. For roadside watchers, this is the sort of hardware that deserves a photograph before anyone gets around to fixing the house.

UPDATE: Lincoln Hardware continues to serve the neighborhood, with its familiar saw-shaped marquee remaining above the storefront. This roadside tool still has a job to do along Lincoln Boulevard, carrying on a bit of the individual character of the older commercial strip. 10-26

Artesia Bakery (Gone)
Artesia, CA
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

There’s an unusual fellow keeping watch outside Artesia Bakery in in this view along Pioneer Boulevard. The character marquee gave the neighborhood bakery a little personality above the sidewalk, although just what the baker is holding might call for another look. Perhaps there was time for a break while the next batch finished baking.

The Lakeman family took over the bakery in 1952, with Marius Lakeman succeeding his father in 1975. Dutch specialties, cakes, and cookies brought generations through the door, making the shop part of Artesia’s community life as well as a place to satisfy a sweet tooth.

UPDATE: The Artesia Bakery closed down sometime in early 2010. The neon sign was removed and garment store is now in its place. 09-15

UPDATE: Artesia Bakery was already reported closed in December 2006, earlier than the previously noted 2010 date. By the September 2015 update, the neon character had been removed and a clothing store occupied the former bakery. 10-26

Money Tree (Gone)
Toluca Lake, CA
Photo courtesy Georg Balandran

What does The Money Tree have to do with money? Judging by the sign, this was a place to exchange some of it for lunch, dinner, and cocktails. Even happy hour received a mention, giving passing motorists several reasons to stop and see what was happening inside. Apparently, growing money on the premises wasn’t among the advertised services.

The Toluca Lake restaurant became known for live jazz and a clientele that included people from the nearby studios. Pianist Page Cavanaugh was among the performers associated with the room, where dinner and drinks came with something more interesting than background music.

There’s a Three Stooges connection, too. Larry Fine’s grandson recalled that the Stooges owned the business at one point. His memories included a busy, cozy room where familiar character actors might be sitting nearby, even if their names didn’t immediately come to mind. Other recollections describe evenings that brought Hollywood personalities and neighborhood regulars together beneath the same roof.

UPDATE: The Money Tree and its old marquee are gone. The Riverside Drive location later became Lucy’s 51 and then Forman’s Whiskey Tavern, which opened in 2015. The drinks continued, but the old jazz-club name became another part of Toluca Lake’s show-business memories. 10-26

Coates Bicycles (Closed)
Pomona, CA
Photo courtesy Adriene Biondo

A bicycle shop with a towering roadside sign seems ready for customers arriving on either two wheels or four. Coates Bicycles in Pomona stood along historic Route 66, where its familiar marquee advertised a business established in 1934. Even motorists who hadn’t ridden a bicycle in years had something worth looking up at.

Generations came through for bicycles, repairs, parts, and advice. The shop became an Inland Valley institution, serving everyone from young riders choosing a first bike to experienced cyclists preparing for another long ride. The distinctive sign dated to the shop building’s construction in 1963, according to reporting at the time of the closure.

UPDATE: Coates Cyclery closed in 2017 after more than eighty years in business. The roadside sign was subsequently adapted for PSS Pet Hotel, giving the old structure another use while ending its familiar bicycle-shop appearance. Another longtime Route 66 business passed into history, although part of its roadside framework carried on. 10-26

Weber's Bread (Closed)
Los Angeles, CA
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

Thinking of Linus and Lucy? Well, this Weber’s Bread sign belongs to a different familiar name from childhood. The enormous rooftop display rises above the Los Angeles bakery property, with a colorful checkered pattern wrapped around the logo. This was bread advertising on a scale that could be appreciated from blocks away.

The sign carried the same recognizable identity shoppers once found on bread wrappers, enlarged enough to become part of the industrial skyline. Among the warehouses and working buildings along Slauson Avenue, it gave an everyday grocery staple a rather grand announcement.

UPDATE: The former bakery’s huge rooftop sign survives above the property, outlasting its earlier bread-production role. The familiar checks and lettering remain a reminder of the manufacturing businesses that once advertised their names across the South Los Angeles skyline. 10-26

Whittier Lumber (Demolished)
Whittier, CA
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

Before the pharmacy building took over the corner, Whittier Lumber supplied a different set of household necessities. This independent lumber and hardware business near Uptown served the practical side of the neighborhood, where a repair or building project could begin with a trip to the yard.

Places like this offered more than stacks of lumber. Hardware, supplies, and someone familiar with the merchandise could help get a job underway, whether the customer was a contractor or a homeowner trying to finish something before the weekend ended. The old sign gave that working business a roadside identity of its own.

UPDATE: Whittier Lumber was demolished, and the property was redeveloped for a Rite Aid pharmacy. The lumberyard and its signage are gone, leaving photographs to recall the earlier neighborhood business. 10-26