I knew the address since the article in Roth's Choppers magazine gave it at 1168 E. Florence in Los Angeles. A lot has changed in the last 40 years, but I figured, Google Map it with "satellite view" and see what comes up.
The letter "A" marks the spot, but it didn't look good. It sort of looks like a parking lot. I hoped (as sometimes), Google's addresses are off by a little bit. The place to it's left looked promising, so why not take look with the "Street View" option?
Boy was I surprised when this came up! What I thought was an empty parking lot turned out to be the roof. The place next door has the much lighter roof when seen from above. Ben's old shop's roof is darker but is reflecting the sun at this angle.
This place needs to be declared a National Historical Monument... of the MotorCycle kind.
For kicks, I tweaked it in Photoshop for a side by side comparison.
Afterwards, I looked up another Famous Monument. I erased the street name so as not to give it away too easily. Any guesses? I.R., I'm sure you'll know, and Moldy, If you read this, don't tell.
It's too bad places like these can't somehow be preserved for what they once were.
I wonder, do today's occupants realize their significance?
6 comments:
Yeah, I think this is cool when somebody does this. With Google, you can find these places from the comfort of your own den, if you have an address. You don't even have to actually drive to the locations anymore.
I was stoked when Jahluv took some photos of Dick Allen's old shop in Gardena, on the way to Sugar Bear's shop one time, and sent them to me. I put those up on my blog, too. Every time I'm out in L.A., I try and find some of these old locations. Sometimes all you get is a vacent lot, or a parking lot.
I know what that that white building is, and where it is, but I won't give it away, either.....
you know what's a trip,Chris?I kinda figured that was the building when I saw it on another blog.as a kid,I used to walk by that place on a somewhat regular basis.early to mid 70's.my grandmother lived a few blocks east of there,close to the corner of Florence and Compton.we would walk to the bank on the corner,which used to be a Crocker bank at that time.she would let me stop and peek inside.then we'd hop on the bus and have a good time downtown.always lunch at Clifton's.good memories!I think the building was turquoise.if only I had known what I was looking at,then!
the old Barris shop was not far away on Compton ave.south of Florence.my Dad remembers riding his bike there when he was a kid.
as far as the other building you posted,I'm sure some "Crazy Painter" used call that home for a while.
Cool find! Some kind of historical landmark needs to be put in place. Yeah after all these years and changed hands, I doubt the current owners know what they have
That's a great shot of Ben Hardy's old shop. I never went to look it up because I thought it had been knocked down for the new postal distribution building over there. Thanks for posting it!
That is so neat Chris . . . go by Tom Kelly's sometime and take a photo - I just got to get out there.
On the same not you can use it freak people out that order crap from you
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