Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles between Western Ave and 1rst has always been a quirky living outdoor gallery of odd hand-painted signs. This stretch of Beverly was a center of Los Angeles nightlife during the thirties (so an old guy once told me), but the riots of the early 1990’s weren’t kind to the neighborhood. It’s been more than rough around the edges for as long as I’ve been passing through. Between 2000 and 2004 I had a second-floor walk-up studio above a store front-church and bodega that sold magic potions to ward off hexes, Virgin de Guadalupe statuettes, and international phone cards. Here’s a record of one early Sunday morning walk ten years ago. Most of these signs are gone now, but painted over with newer versions of the old themes.
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I received this comment on last year’s post on the Tony Nik’s sign in San Francisco
I have the answers to all your questions (at least the ones posed above).
Tony Nik was actually Antonio Nicco, my grandfather. When prohibition was repealed in 1933, he and my grandmother opened Tony Nicco’s Cafe. Previously, that was the site for Madame Nicco’s French Laundry.
The sign you see is the original sign. My grandfather ran the bar until 1950, when he sold it to longtime friend and fellow bartender Charles “Butch” Lavagnino. Butch changed the name to Tony Nik’s – hence the painting over the original “Nicco’s” (you can almost see it on close inpection) to change it to Nik’s.
Well, that’s it for Tony Nik’s for beginners. If you have other questions, please contact me. Thank you for your interest.
Mark Nicco.
The name Monkey Pete comes from an underground puppet theater that I ran from 1998 until about 2004. Monkey Pete’s Puppet Theater sowed anarchy at clubs, bars, and galleries in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Part of the Monkey Pete experience included a carnival atmosphere, and half the fun of producing the shows was painting carnival side-show banners and signs to enhance the audience experience. Click to read an article about Monkey Pete that appeared in the Los Angeles Time Sunday Magazine way back in 1999.
Just rambling through Chinatown, North Beach, The Tenderloin…
Monkeypete.com is the work of Eric Junker, creative director and founding partner at WJ Agency in Los Angeles, California. My passion for hand-made signs causes me to frequently pull the car over in bad neighborhoods and remote towns to take photos. My wife is very patient
Here’s an excellent example of existential questions asked in hand-painted signage. Confusion Hill is located on Highway 101 in Piercy-Leggett, California nestled amongst the Humbolt Redwoods.
It’s an incredible, thrilling, twisty lonely 250 mile motorcycle ride on old Highway 3 from Ferndale on the Humbolt Coast to Yreka in Siskiyou County. Halfway between Weaverville and Yreka is the dying lumber, mining and ranching town of Callahan. Don’t blink or you’ll miss it. It’s not a ghost town yet because the little general store is still opened sometimes. Farrington’s Store (since 1860) was open, so I stopped for a soda and chatted with an old-timer who told some good stories. The Callahan Ranch Hotel was opened in 1854. He said it has been abandoned pretty much forever, although every once in a while somebody passing through says they want to buy it and fix it up, but “why the hell would anybody want to come and stay in a hotel in Callahan?” The dimensional lettering on the facade is remarkably well preserved considering the condition of the rest of the building. The dimensional lettering is really unusual: it’s painted with an above-looking-down perspective although the viewer sees the sign from below looking up. It’s a bit disorienting… kind of like the town itself.
Monkeypete wishes he were on vacation in tropical Sayulita, Mexico. Instead he is working in Los Angeles on a gray day and feeling a bit gloomy. This morning I was feeding my escapist daydreams with photos from last year’s trip, and I came across these pics of some lovely hand painted signs. Sayulita has an exceptional sign painter, who’s lively and skillful work evokes the spirit of the great carnival sideshow banner painter Snap Wyatt. Next time I’m there I’ll track him down and do an interview. If you find yourself in Sayulita, be sure and have dinner at the Sayulita Cafe : the service is great, the margaritas are strong, and the molcajete is exceptional.