Post #485725 by JOHN-O on Tue, Sep 29, 2009 5:38 PM

On 2009-09-28 22:28, bigbrotiki wrote:

Very nice post, John. I had heard about the Embers, but have not been. So far. Now I will for sure. It seems fairly likely that you have identified the muralist of the Leilani Hut and Zamboanga's here:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=32715&forum=2&8

I see what you mean about the similarities. Frank Bowers covered quite a range of subject matter - 1930's square johns, tropical wahines, and horned devil girls.

Other than the Embers Lounge and the South Gate City Hall (8650 California Ave), it looks like his work also exists at the The Buccaneer Lounge in Sierra Madre (70 W Sierra Madre) and the Foc'sle Bar in Wilmington (400 N. Avalon Blvd). I'll have to check it out and post pictures. (Thank you http://www.latimemachines.com !!)

Some other comments I've seen suggest he did the Embers work in exchange for a bar tab. While "Bukowskian" last days seem like a romantic way to add to a legend, I can't find anything to actually substantiate this.

This was the only type of biography I was able to find...

http://www.edanhughes.com/biography.cfm?ArtistID=1060

Just Added - More nekkid ladies from Frank Bowers and it looks like they're for sale - http://www.1stdibs.com/furniture_item_detail.php?id=54198

[ Edited by: JOHN-O 2009-09-29 18:18 ]