The Last Bookstore

Dear Readers, 

It was with a sense of despair that I headed out to see The Last Bookstore with my own eyes.  While I hoped that the name was just a tongue-in-cheek take on the state of brick and mortar retail establishments, it would not surprise me at all if the actual last bookstore in the world closes its doors in my lifetime.  As bleak as that thought may be, I’ve already given in to the notion that it will happen. While there are some who would say that no one reads anymore, I feel like convenience is the rocket fuel hastening the end of an era.  Thanks to Amazon and its lightning quick delivery, a physical copy of a book is only a click away.  It’s even faster if a person is using an e-reader. When that dark day comes, there will be good reason why The Last Bookstore will be the final retailer to soap its windows and thank its customers for their years of loyal patronage.

The Last Bookstore also employs the last sign painter.

Some folks think heaven may look like this place.

It has everything to do with the design the proprietors have taken with The Last Bookstore. Housed in a former bank building in downtown Los Angeles, they have integrated several features of its former self.  Laying eyes on the soaring columns and repurposed vault are reason enough to come and gander.  However, that was not what brought me in this Saturday morning.  Like most everyone else here, I had been drawn in by the book sculptures and the images I had seen online.  Flying books, a book tunnel, as well as a portal made out of books have all helped establish the store’s eternal presence on Instagram.  Without spending a dime of their marketing budget, The Last Bookstore is able to get endless advertising by people like myself taking and sharing photos.

You’ve seen the pictures before. Just not with my kids.

Book tunnel with my kids . . .

And of course, the book portal. With my kids . . .

Opportunities for selfies aside, I would consider this a first-rate bookstore.   The Last Bookstore offers up both new and used books housed in over twenty-two thousand square feet.  According to its website, that makes it the largest in California.  The inventory is spread out over two stories and into an annex next door.  Understanding that finding a proper book is a leisurely affair, interspersed throughout the store are places to sit comfortably so customers can thumb through a selection before making a purchase.  Their formula worked in my case.   After putting eyes on the book portal deep in the twists and turns of the second floor, I was left to wander through the store at my own pace.  As any mildly literate person can attest to, it’s impossible to move through stacks of books without picking up and skimming through a couple.  And with that, I was able to get the photos I was looking for and ended up leaving with a copy of Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon. 

Plenty of space to browse and diddle on phones.

Never judge a book by its cover. Unless you’re an interior designer. In that case, The Last Bookstore has you covered.

I am happy to report that I was not the only person who fell under the spell of The Last Bookstore.  Early on a Saturday morning, the place was full of the curious and those who came to browse.  The business was brisk as people chose to be here instead of lining up for brunch.  To my relief, it appears that the end of bookstores has been averted, at least for now.  

I get a little bit of nostalgia when I see people waiting on line to make a purchase.

The Last Bookstore

435 South Spring Street

Los Angeles, California 90013

213 488-0599

What does one do with an old vault?

Looking for some other unique experiences that Los Angeles has to offer? How about a ride on a funicular at Angel’s Flight? Or, what about a puppet show with The Bob Baker Marionette Theater?

This post is based on a visit made on June 4, 2022

Angel's Flight

Los Angeles is a city that holds claim too far too many “used tos”.  It used to have the finest public transportation system in the world.  It used to be an agricultural center responsible for the nation’s fresh produce.  It used to be a place where middle and working class people could afford a home. In service to that population, it used to be a place where funiculars like Angel’s Flight dotted the landscape.  However, in the interest of misguided progress and greed disguised as urban development, the city sold its electric rail system, plowed under its local farms, and ripped down its affordable housing.  So many of its used tos are gone, save for one. Connecting Hill and Olive Streets in downtown Los Angeles, Angel’s Flight, the world’s smallest railway continues to serve passengers as it did when it opened at the turn of the century. 

Angel’s Flight was constructed to solve a very real problem, not just to inject a bit of colorful novelty into the urban landscape.  In 1901, the business district of Los Angeles ran along Hill Street. The wealthy lived nearby in Victorian mansions along the top of Bunker Hill.  Despite their close proximity, a hill with a thirty-three degree incline divided the two districts. Considering that the early 1900’s were not an era of flip-flops ands breathable cotton, a waltz from the business district to the top of Bunker Hills would have left Los Angelinos reduced to a sweaty mess of wool.  And so, Colonel J. W. Eddy’s approached the city council with a plan to help connect the city. With that, the mechanical wonder known as Angel’s Flight became the solution that people needed.

As the city grew and outlying regions were developed into new neighborhoods, the once tony enclave of Bunker Hill lost its cachet as the wealthy moved far from downtown.  The Victorian mansions of Bunker Hill were subdivided into apartments and boarding homes for the city’s working poor and were perceived as a blight. Finding fair and equitable solutions for people from low income backgrounds has never been a strength of the city council.  Armed with the power of the Federal Housing Act of 1949, the city’s leadership razed the neighborhood, replaced affordable housing with high rises, and displaced tens of thousands of people for points elsewhere. More fortunate than its neighbors, Angel’s Flight narrowly missed their fate and was put into storage for almost a quarter of a century before being reopened in the 1990’s.  Under the watchful care of preservationists, Angel’s Flight continues its mission well into the twenty-first century.  

There is something so compelling about watching the little funicular work.  Maybe it’s the way the vermillion cars and gates stand in open defiance to the chrome and glass buildings at the top of Bunker Hill.  Maybe it’s because the craftsmanship of the people who constructed it over a hundred years ago is reflected stained wood and polished brass.  Maybe it’s the way the riders all smile and talk with each other as the little car climbs up the hill, a simple kindness that is rarely present in Los Angeles.  Maybe it’s because Angel’s Flight is an embodiment of the goodness and persistence of the people who have fought for its preservation the face of tone deaf leadership.  Its continued existence says something about the soul of Los Angeles. There is still some good here, hidden within the unforgiving concrete landscape.

Thanks to Los Angeles Conservancy and Nathan Masters over at KCET for background information used in writing this entry.  

This post is based on a visit to Angel’s Flight on September 15, 2018

Angel’s Flight

350 S Grand Ave.

Los Angeles, CA 90071

213 626-1901

Interested in seeing some more of Los Angeles’ history? Take a look at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery and The Bob Baker Marionette Theater.

Hollywood Forever Cemetery

Taking kids to a cemetery for an outing may seem like an odd parenting choice.  As an odd parent, I’d like to take a few moments and explain my logic in doing so. As someone who hangs my hat in Southern California, I am well aware that we have a wealth of kid-friendly options.  I could have dropped a few hundred dollars on a trip to Disneyland. We could have gone bouncing around in an indoor playground if avoiding the sun had been our objective.  Jacque may be a little young, but I’m sure that one of our nice, upwardly mobile neighbors could have recommended an SAT prep class. However, aside from being an odd parent, I’m also an old one.  I’m fortunate that my kids joined me in the second half of my life. Truth be told, it was because of my experiences during the first half that a visit to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery seemed like the perfect place to spend a warm September morning.

As I see it, there is a disturbing trend where parents make decisions for their kids based off of the notion that if we start early enough, and plan carefully enough, and make sure that we monitor each step along the prescribed pathway precisely, their lives will be a success.  As long we as keep them in our line of sight, there will be nothing but sunny days and light offshore breezes ahead. For our efforts, we’ll get bright children who are respectful and get into the best schools. They’ll spend their weekends at Coachella where they can rebel in ways that parents approve of.  They’ll grow up to be little marvels with great jobs and big houses. They’ll be little jewels whose dazzling light will make mommy and dad shine that much brighter. The problem is that this parenting style leaves the kids only equipped for fair weather. We owe them more than just making them a playing piece in a game Keeping Up with the Jones.

Aside from that, the problem is that the squeeze we’ve put on kids is rushing them through the most important parts of life, like the self-discovery that comes with becoming an educated person.  Schools are a place where we worry more about molding them into good workers than allowing them to become interesting people. We’re gauging success based off of quantifiable data.  If wisdom about how to be a fulfilled person can’t be reported on a spreadsheet, it isn’t worth much. We’ve seemed to have forgotten that an education in the Arts is about understanding the things that make life matter.

As much as I want nothing but happiness for my kids, I have learned that there is going to be a moment in every person’s life when the world hands you your ass. If there is an algorithm for working through heartbreak, I am fairly certain that a career on the fast track is not part of it.  Despite all the plotting and planning, regardless of the scramble and the climb, we cannot escape that one day, we will all have an opportunity to get shellacked by the universe. It doesn’t matter if you’re an optometrist or a dentist, the fair weather your parents filled your sails with can’t last forever.  It’s in those quiet lonely moments when there is just the memory of failure that salvation will be found. And it will be the Arts that pave the pathway out of gloom and into meaning and understanding.

And that’s what brought us here.  We stopped by the Hollywood Forever Cemetery so I could pay my respects to a few gentlemen who kept me company during my own moments of despair.  I can see what my fellow parents are attempting to do. However, in my own case, I think that it’s better for me to equip my kids with some resources for when the great machine turns over.  Part of those resources will be grounded in an appreciation of the Arts. It does not matter how far they drop or how dark it seems to be, some human being has been there before.

This post is based on a visit to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery on September 15, 2018

Hollywood Forever Cemetery

6000 Santa Monica Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90038

323 469-1181

Interested in visiting some of Los Angeles’ history? Take a look at Angel’s Flight or the USS Iowa. Interested in taking your kids somewhere unusual? Take a look at Tio’s Tacos or the Huy Fong Foods Factory Tour.

The Bob Baker Marionette Theater

Los Angeles is a deeply conflicted city.  Bukowski recognized it. So did Wambaugh. X’s Los Angeles is hardly a love song to the city of Angels.  Even Miley Cyrus took time to reflect on how vapid and unfriendly a place it can be. It’s a place that manufactures images of perfection and sells them to the world, but stumbles over its ability to improve itself.  For all of its sunshine and warmth, it’s an inhospitable place full of strangers. It wants to be palm tree lined streets and clean lines, an ideal attempting to emulate a Nagel print. However, what lies beneath is a decaying metropolis, almost completely absent of joy.  

Here comes the hype man.

Be ready to sit on the floor.

And yet, while it is a city of brooding unhappiness, it is also home to The Bob Baker Marionette Theater.  For fifty-five years, the theater company has offered up a place where families can come in and shake off the weight of the city.  What happens in that little concrete building sitting in a fold between the high rises of downtown and Echo Park is pure magic. It’s a place where puppeteers transport a room full of children on an afternoon of wonder with little more than their collected imaginations.  It is one of those very special places where even the worst in life can be corrected with nothing more than some laughter and a little bit of ice cream.

In late July, the editorial staff of Animated Meat headed out with children in tow in order to experience the Bob Baker Marionette Theater at their 1st Street location.  What we found was absolutely amazing. A performance by the Bob Baker Marionette Theater is remarkable because they are able to produce so much from a few simple ingredients. There is nothing more to be found than a capable crew of puppeteers, a pre-recorded soundtrack, and a room full of kids.  That’s it. And yet, when the lights dim and the first puppet steps out front and center, something special goes on in that space. It’s a kind of magic where the outside world and all of its troubles cease to be.

All of this joy is about to be released onto the streets of Los Angeles.

With an ever changing parade of puppets over the course of the show, it is evident that the late Mr. Baker understood a child’s attention and knew how to feed the sense of awe, with princesses, robots, dancers, and monsters, all twirling and moving to songs recorded in a bygone era.  Every weekend, the theater company welcomed another group of children and entertained them without the slightest shred of irony or cynicism. There is no cool here. Brownie points are not awarded for being clever or cutting. Unlike companies like Disney who have figured out how to maximize profits, the Bob Baker Marionette theater only charged fifteen dollars for a show.  The only thing for sale is a five dollar marionette. The constant push to maximize the profit margin does not exist within these four walls. It is an art produced for one reason, to delight children and provide them some shelter from a harsh city that has provided very few safe harbors.

Rules we should all be able to abide by.

Over the course of his life, Bob Baker made several thousand puppets. These ones were stored in one of the hallways.

These puppets are set to perform at the Halloween Spooktacular.

Currently, the company is in a state of flux, opting to shut their doors and become a puppet show in residency for the time being.  For the next few months, people can catch a show at the Southern California Children’s Museum in Pasadena. However, they just announced a new, permanent home on York Avenue in Highland Park.  The proposed theater will be created from unrealized designs drawn out by Bob Baker himself. While the news sounds optimistic, I can’t help but think that the potential loss of this theater says so much about the value this era and this city puts on children.  It’s jarring to consider that something so special and necessary to the common good of a conflicted place like Los Angeles has such an uncertain future. Los Angeles would be a sadder, grimmer place without it.

Jacque giving his two cents on the staging of this photo.

Jacque was telling me about the composition of this sign and how the color played off the black background. Kids say the darndest things.

Interest in seeing a show?  Follow this link. Aside from being a spectacular place to let a kid’s imagination run wild, it is also a 501 C3 non-profit organization. Interesting in making a donation?  Follow this link.

Portrait of the artist preparing to fly away.

Bob Baker Marionette Theater

4949 York Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90042
213 250-9995

Looking for some unique places to take kids? When in Hollywood, pay a visit to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. In Nevada, make sure to stop at Valley of Fire State Park.