Oh Say Can You See’s A New Cultural-Historic Monument

Altadena archivist Charlene Nichols and her husband, friend of Franklin Avenue/Los Angeles mag staffer/preservationist Chris Nichols, have their sights on saving a new landmark: The birthplace of See’s Candies.

Charlene, an archivist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, nominated the original home of See’s as a Los Angeles Cultural-Historic Monument. The City’s Cultural Heritage Commission will decide whether to grant that status this Thursday, Feb. 5, at City Hall, room 1010. (Info here.)

Details, from Charlene and Chris:

Eighty-eight years ago this fall, Canadian immigrant Charles A. See and his mother Mary See opened their very first candy shop and kitchen in a charming Renaissance Revival building at 135 N. Western Avenue in what is now Koreatown. See’s current Los Angeles candy factory opened on La Cienega Blvd. in 1946.

The building now sits empty and plans call for the destruction of it’s classical façade for a new mini-mall shopping center. The City Office of Historic Preservation gave a staff report supporting the nomination and the city has received support letters from neighborhood associations as well as the Vice President of See’s Candies who wrote “See’s has survived some of the most dramatic decades in American history and we are extremely proud of its heritage. See’s has maintained the classic look of the 1920s and Mary See’s image will always be the symbol on See’s Candy boxes…We hope the Commission will honor Charles See and the history of See’s with a Historic-Cultural Monument designation of store No. 1.”

Charlene once “took a summer job wearing the famous white dress and giving out samples in the hopes that she could tour the famous See’s candy factory.”

Los Angeles Forgets Its Own Birthday

Every year around the anniversary of Los Angeles’ Sept. 4, 1781, founding, a group of die-hard Angelenos and descendants of the city’s original residents reenact the nine-mile hike that L.A.’s 44 pobladores (settlers) took from the San Gabriel Mission to El Rio de Nuestra Señora La Reina de Los Angeles de Porciúncula.

Here we were, all set to finally take part in the Los Pobladores Walk this year. But it was too late to register by mail, so I took the advice of the flyer and checked out L.A.’s 227th anniversary birthday page at www.lacity.org/227. Nothing.

No one bothered to upload the page, despite the city referencing it in its brochure. Strangely, the city’s 226th birthday website — www.lacity.org/226 — is still up there.

I hope they get their act together by 2009… or at least I get my act together and mail in a form.

POSTSCRIPT: I can’t be too laudatory about last year’s 226th birthday site. Check out how the city spells its own name:

Yep, “City of Angles.” Go L.A.!

What Could Have Been: L.A. Civic Center, Circa 1933

Imagine, had this 1933 proposal for the Civic Center been implemented, what a difference the area would be today.

A Civic Center with tons of green space, a gathering circle, and a lot more. It’s just one of several L.A. plans that never made it past the development stage. Pic found inside the Los Angeles Public Library collection.

Happy Birthday to Us: Franklin Avenue Turns 4

Can’t believe we missed our Blogiversary on Sunday, but Franklin Avenue has just turned 4!

Coincidentally, we launched on March 4, 2003, the same day Angelenos went to the polls to choose their City Council. I wrote a simple blurb (remember when everyone’s blog posts were only a sentence long?):

There’s an election today in Los Angeles. Does anyone care? Los Angeles’ city council sure can get away with just about anything, with little scrutiny from the car chase-obsessed local media.

It’s once again election day, as voters in L.A. and a few neighboring towns vote to fill empty City Council chairs and choose LAUSD Board of Education members, among other things.

LA Observed notes that in L.A., Mayor Villaraigosa “has relaxed parking enforcement within one block of polling places. No meters, street cleaning days or preferential parking zones will be in effect while the polls are open.”

Also according to LA Observed, Studio City Hand Car Wash is giving away free washes to anyone holding a voting stub. See? Sometimes democracy does pay off.

SAG Awards: Good Night for the Underdogs; and After-Partyin’ with L.A. Politicos

It was the Screen Actors Guild’s turn Sunday night to hand out trophies, as the winter awards season marches on. I was there at the Shrine Auditorium, clapping hard at several well-deserved wins (“Ugly Betty’s” America Ferrara; the ensemble cast of “The Office”) and wondering whether “Grey’s Anatomy” star Ellen Pompeo should have rehearsed her speech (the answer: yeah, she should have) when the show won.

It was a good night for thesps who didn’t represent the stereotypical Hollywood ideal. In her surprise win, “Grey’s Anatomy” star Chandra Wilson touched on it: “Just to be able to take this thing home to my girls, in particular, and hold it in front of them and say, ‘Look, with this skin and this nose, and this height, and these arms,’ you know, ‘I’m here!’”

It was a good night for the Brits too — something Eddie Murphy alluded to, kicking off his acceptance speech with a British accent. (“It’s just when the British people come and get the awards, it’s so smooth with their stuff,” he said. “And I feel goofy up here ‘cause I don’t be winning stuff.”)

The SAG show is pretty no-frills: No host, no entertainment, no montages (other than the obits), and few memorable moments. A ballyhooed “Mary Tyler Moore Show” reunion lasted all of three minutes, as cast members did little more than present the award for this year’s best comedic ensemble.

At the after party, saw “The Office” exec producer Greg Daniels, and proceeded to gush about certain episodes.

Also spotted: Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (hovering by the dessert table), City Council chair Eric Garcetti and council president pro tempore Wendy Greuel.

Garcetti told me it was his first-ever SAG awards as well; he earlier ran into “The Closer” star Kyra Sedgwick, who works with Garcetti’s ex-D.A. dad Gil (who’s a consulting producer on the show).

I also asked the very personable Garcetti about his stint in the Navy reserve. He still has at least another year of training, but after that could easily be called into active duty — much of his unit has already been sent overseas. Originally, he would have been termed out of the City Council in 2009 — but with the passage of Prop R, Garcetti can now run for a third term.

Garcetti was a firm supporter of Prop R — so it would be ironic if he couldn’t take advantage of the relaxation of term limits himself; being called up for active duty would complicate things, obviously. (But that’s still at least a year down the road.) Nice to finally meet Garcetti in person — his CD-13 blog has linked to Franklin Avenue in the past, and we emailed last year over L.A.’s plans (or, ultimately, lack of plans) for its 225th birthday.