Pago Pago Bar Next to Disney Studios - General Tiki

B bigbrotiki Tiki Socialite Tiki Island, above the Silverlake Joined: Mar 25, 2002 Posts: 11621	B bigbrotiki Posted posted on Tue, Nov 7, 2006 9:33 PM I put my resident Burbank researcher, my girlfriend Naomi Alper, (owner of the swank 8-Ball store now on Magnolia Blvd) on this, who has done some local Tiki research for me before, here is what she found so far: Pago Pago WAS a real bar; it did exist. In fact, many of the people who assisted me in my search remembered it, yet no one seemed to be able to recall what it looked like, inside or out, and I haven't come up with any photos or ads yet. So name aside, we still don't know yet if it was actually a Tiki bar. But this is what I know so far: According to a 1952 Burbank City Directory, the Pago Pago Club was located at 2413 W. Alameda Ave. and owned by a Mrs. RT Swartz (a woman!). If you try to get a satellite photo of this address through Google, it will land you in the middle of the street and not on a building, but I have a feeling that it was located where a Disney building now stands (someone called it a travel center in this thread, but I'd always heard it was a day care center). Even if this isn't the exact location, chances are that the original building has been torn down; the only period building that remains on that block is California Kitchens (2305 W. Alameda), a beautiful mid-century gem with gorgeous signage. One of the librarians who assisted me in the search recalled hearing that a Disney animator liberated the Pago Pago sign when the bar closed. This story was corroborated by this blurb that I found in the LA Times archives from an article dated 1/23/1994: "A sign in the back yard reading "Pago Pago" offers a clue to the party's origins. "It used to hang outside this bar across from the Disney studios, in Burbank, where the old-time animators met and drank," says Dave Spafford, a Disney vet himself before forming Spaff Animation with [Debbie Spafford] in 1989. Among their credits: "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and Woody Woodpecker's Oscar presentation for Best Animated Short Film of 1990." (Unfortunately, you have to pay to read the rest of the article, and the scripts on the LA Times page kept freezing up my computer, so I didn't want to risk it.) Another librarian gave me the name of a gentleman who has worked at Disney since 1966, so hopefully he'll be able to provide more info when I call him tomorrow--and maybe provide us with some photos or ephemera? We can only hope! ---Reporting from Burbank, Naomi "Legs" Alper

I put my resident Burbank researcher, my girlfriend Naomi Alper, (owner of the swank 8-Ball store now on Magnolia Blvd) on this, who has done some local Tiki research for me before, here is what she found so far:

Pago Pago WAS a real bar; it did exist. In fact, many of the people who assisted me in my search remembered it, yet no one seemed to be able to recall what it looked like, inside or out, and I haven't come up with any photos or ads yet. So name aside, we still don't know yet if it was actually a Tiki bar.

But this is what I know so far:

According to a 1952 Burbank City Directory, the Pago Pago Club was located at 2413 W. Alameda Ave. and owned by a Mrs. RT Swartz (a woman!). If you try to get a satellite photo of this address through Google, it will land you in the middle of the street and not on a building, but I have a feeling that it was located where a Disney building now stands (someone called it a travel center in this thread, but I'd always heard it was a day care center). Even if this isn't the exact location, chances are that the original building has been torn down; the only period building that remains on that block is California Kitchens (2305 W. Alameda), a beautiful mid-century gem with gorgeous signage.

One of the librarians who assisted me in the search recalled hearing that a Disney animator liberated the Pago Pago sign when the bar closed. This story was corroborated by this blurb that I found in the LA Times archives from an article dated 1/23/1994:

"A sign in the back yard reading "Pago Pago" offers a clue to the party's origins. "It used to hang outside this bar across from the Disney studios, in Burbank, where the old-time animators met and drank," says Dave Spafford, a Disney vet himself before forming Spaff Animation with [Debbie Spafford] in 1989. Among their credits: "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and Woody Woodpecker's Oscar presentation for Best Animated Short Film of 1990."

(Unfortunately, you have to pay to read the rest of the article, and the scripts on the LA Times page kept freezing up my computer, so I didn't want to risk it.)

Another librarian gave me the name of a gentleman who has worked at Disney since 1966, so hopefully he'll be able to provide more info when I call him tomorrow--and maybe provide us with some photos or ephemera? We can only hope!

---Reporting from Burbank, Naomi "Legs" Alper

Post #265157 by bigbrotiki on Tue, Nov 7, 2006 9:33 PM