OT: Old Donut shops/ Donut Signage and buildings

I'm looking for reference art for old Donut signs, Donut shop storefronts, Donut Mascots. 50s and 60s designs. Also, Donut Menus (Is there such a thing?) and other print material. I'm looking for either:

• Photos on the web
• Photos you took and can email me
• Places near San Jose or San Francisco
• Books with pics in them.

As always, if you can help me out, feel free to mail me privately at or just post it here.

I'm need it for, uh, a weather experiment.

Thanks!

~Hanford

[ Edited by: hanford_lemoore on 2003-01-26 02:11 ]

I'll keep my eye out for you around here and do you want any photos around here of some of our old donut shops? If so I'll go shoot some for you.

Hanford,
Are you looking for SF area only? Here in So Cal there's several unique donut shops with their own personality.

Some Examples:

Randy's Donuts - Inglewood, CA
Established in 1953. Randy's Donuts is a classic example of mid 20th Century Los Angeles architecture where the building is shaped like the product sold within. It is located at Manchester Avenue in Inglewood, about a mile from the L.A. airport. A recent paint job has turned the giant donut into the plain cake variety. However, it is often coated with white icing, compliments of the many pigeons who use it as a choice rendezvous for avian amour.

The Donut Hole - La Puente, CA
The Donut Hole was built in 1968 and has a drive-thru tunnel between two 26' fiberglass donuts. It was designed by local architect E. Forestal and is the surviving member of a five-unit chain in Southern California. It is open, 24 hours a day

Roadside Peek has a page dedicated to these two Donut themed landmarks here:

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/set/donut.html

*** * * The Polynesian Popster * * ***

[ Edited by: PolynesianPop on 2003-01-26 10:59 ]

Hanford,

No old photos, but I think I can be a source of expert commentary for any type of work you may have in progress.

I don't like to brag..., but I did spent '75 to '77 making donuts here in Orange County. My main specialty was cake donuts, but hey, I know a little something about 'raised' also.

Let me know if you need any donut insight. My prices are as cheap as a dozen of day-olds!

In 1995, members of the Finks had a band called the "Go-Nuts" who I saw at Garage Shock, in Bellingham, WA, 1995. They arrived in an old custom painted panel van with a big donut logo on each side. The show was hilarious and included numerous songs about snacks and snacking. At one point snacks of some kind, I think they were donut holes, were catapulted (literally shot from a small catapult) into the audience. It was amazing how much energy had gone into developing this concept. At the time, I heard a rumor that the band was in negotiations with a TV network to develop an animated kids show featuring the band. Obviously that never happened, and would definitely not fly today, with all the concerns about youth obesity.
Back on the subject of old donut shops, there's a nice old (1960s) Krispy Kreme in Gainesville Florida (on 441) that has a really good, big, neon sign. TikiCutie could take a photo of this, I believe.
And speaking of Gainesville, I always intended to take pictures of Traders South, an old strip joint in Gainesville that has a tiki exterior...
[email protected]
http://www.tikigardens.com

Hanford, my aunt worked the donut counter at the Menu Tree in Mountain View 30 years ago. I'll ask if she has any paraphernalia from the old job.

hey hanford,
have you been to Lou's Living Donut Museum in San Jose?

elicia

Wow, thanks for all the great information everybody.

divychic: No need to go out of your way to do that for me! I don't want to put anyone out. Thanks for the offer though!

PolyPop: Thanks for those fotos. Yeah, I'm looking for donut shops (or shoppes) that I can drive to and back from in a day :D

Tiki Bong: Thanks for the offer! Perhaps I will email you. I don't know, though, it's mostly photos I need. :)

TraderFranks: Cool news on the Go-Nuts. I have one of their CDs right here. Apparently they played a show last year that Mig was able to make it to. It sounds like they've scaled up the amount of snack food they dump into the audience becuase Mig said they took a huge back of powdered sugar and they dumped it onto a leaf-blower aimed at the crowd. Mig... care to post anymore about this?

Bamzeno: Cool! If you're able to score anything like that, for sure let me know!

Dogbytes: No, I was not aware there was a donut museum in San Jose, although now that I think about it, I might have seen something about it on Bay Area Backroads! I'll have to look that up; I'm sure they have a bunch of cool old photos!

Thanks everyone!!! Tiki Central members are the BEST!

~Hanford

On 2003-01-26 20:34, traderfranks wrote:
In 1995, members of the Finks had a band called the "Go-Nuts" who I saw at Garage Shock, in Bellingham, WA, 1995.

Being that The Maikai Gents has a couple former Finks in it, I asked them about this. Lord Hunt responds: "That's about the Go-Nuts. Dave Klein and Jake (former Finks) did end up joining the band at one point though. It was Deke Dickerson from Deke Dickerson fame and Mel from the Phantom Surfers. The shows were totally insane. The best one was up in San Francisco. They not only catapulted the audience with snacks, but shot a rapid-firing bazooka full of donut meal. They used to shovel corn chips down Jake's throat up, then had a contraption that made him blimp out into an overweight sloth. They were Snackers dressed up like superheroes. The car was the Nut Wagon, a Dodge A100."

Yup, "Nuts" about sums it up!
---Iuka Grogg
http://www.mkgents.com

Around 1982 I wrote a tune called "I like Donuts (Winchells Donuts)" for a band that we put together for the Marine World Africa USA (Redwood City, CA) employee talent show.
The band was called "Bounce and Luster tne singing Twins". I was Bounce.

I am also looking for memorablilia from a donut chain called Spudnuts. Email me at . thanks

About the Go-Nuts side-topic, check out these fotos. They used to be semi-surfy garage, but more recently they played mock-metal. Ray Dennis Steckler plus Doug Clark spells Go-Nuts fun!

Donut Prince, Korn Dog, Donut Hole, Kaptain Kornut

Nutwaggon!

-Randy

[ Edited by: aquarj on 2003-01-28 00:06 ]

Hey Randy, how long have you had that donut shop? Them commutes must be hell. Yes I'm just kidding.

Hanford,
There's a donut shop here in H.B. on the corner of Adams and Magnloia where every weekend hundreds of "Hot Rodders " or "Donut Derlicks"(sp)(that's the name of the club) hang out. I'm sure Bong and SugarCaddy know the name and more about it than I.

p.s.. you say ot (off topic?) is this not why you made this area? sorry, a little Bax in me this a.m.. Must be the fog!

On 2003-01-26 02:05, hanford_lemoore wrote:
I'm looking for reference art for old Donut signs,

Well rats! I never saw this old post
'til now. We have a "John's Space Age Donuts" here that's been around since the 50's. I'll scan & post the box lid just for kicks.

I worked at Dunkin' donuts for two weeks in high school. When the jelly injectors got clogged we were instructed to stick our arms into the jelly vats and squeeze out the lumps with our hands. Yum! Your game should bring back some fond memories.

I just bought a dozen of John's Space Age Donuts. They are delicious by the way.

But the art (a donut baker, wearing a chef's hat, astride a rocket shooting thru the hole of a giant donut) is no longer on the top of the box, which they say they can no longer afford to have printed.

I saw a stack of business cards with the artwork and asked for one. I told the manager I like old advertising art and would like to show it to some other people who might like to see it. He gave me one but commented, "I hope they're not going to steal our logo".

So, in good faith, I won't post it. Now I've heard Coca-Cola & other huge companies pay good money to have their image appear on movie & video screens, but what does Coca-Cola know about publicity?

Did somebody say donuts?
I spent from 1978 to 2001 eating donuts in Orange, Riverside, L.A., and Sacramento Counties.
Now I can be found dunking my donuts in mai-tais.

RIP Verne Winchell :drink:

http://www.scri.fsu.edu/~gillman/misterdon.html

Mister donut had the best logo - the tall donut maker dude - it's not here, but I remember seeing this place when I was in Tokyo!

Here is one, Hanford;
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3634&item=2260845670

Good afternoon,Hanford! I saw this thread,and although it's a bit dated,it made me look through my cookbook collection,and I pulled out "The Donut Book" by Sally Levitt Steinberg.The cover is shaped like a donut and the donut hole states "The origins,history,taste,etiquette,traditions,techniques,varieties,mathematics(!),mythologt,commerce,philosphy,cuisine,and the glory of the donut-whew!!!It's by Knopf,copywright 1987.Fun fun book-including of course,one of the famous donut situations ever,Homer Price.

Yes,I've been browing through the book,and there are donut photos,rememberances,donut comics,and donut songs-hooda thunk?

Can't believe you haven't been to Lou's in San Jose! You gotta go. Call me anytime you're headed down and I'll meet you. It's worth a trip. Lou's isn't so much a museum of donut history, but there's a lot of great WWII stuff. Their donuts are out of this world. Go early, because they only make one batch a day and they sell out fast. After they punch out the hole, they stick it to the side so you get a "fair deal". All the donuts look like they have a growth on the side.

Lou's rules!

(Although the bacon maple bar at VooDoo Donuts in Portland blew my mind)

If you're ever in Memphis, enjoy this one at 760 Mt Moriah Rd. The donuts on the top row chase, then flash together. The sign on the post rotates.

these delicious donuts were made at
Super Donut
(760) 434-8658
590 Grand Ave
Carlsbad, CA 92008

i didnt snap a pic of the outside, but the building is cute ~ big picture window and 8 low stools at the counter, with a drive through window around the back of this tiny shop. looks like it was built in the 60's ~

fantastic donuts. crispy on the outside, and not a trace of oil ... the croisant was not as cripsy/flaky, but oh wonderful cream cheese filling!

they're open daily, but only until noon!

i think the chinese owner is secretly tiki, since he was wearing an aloha shirt (and in all the pictures posted on the walls!)

elicia

PS: this is 2 doors down from Ohana Creations, a hawaiiana store..

There is a place called Stan's (Not Satan's) Donuts on the 2600 block of Homestead, in the Mariposa shopping center, Santa Clara. It had (and probly still does) a truly foul donut human painted on the window. There is another odd one on N 10th 11th or 13th between julian and taylor in San Jose. Vague I know...

(I'm sure you know Lou's with the museum)

I understand in Holland they were originally called Oilykakes. (Donuts, not seagulls)

Lou's is closing ~ have a kruller for me...

Inside Lou's Living Donut Museum in San Jose, each day 70-year-old Ralph Chavira and his two grown sons make 200 dozen doughnuts as a loyal line of customers stretches out the door.

Now that line is winding down the block, as three generations of customers learn Chavira has plans to close June 30.

For 50 years, Lou's has fought the Krispy Kreme-ization of America with patriotic zeal, insisting on cooking each doughnut by hand -- with its signature doughnut hole attached to the outside of the ring -- behind big glass windows so the customers can watch.

The doughnuts are legendary. Hospital patients have been known to sneak out in only their gowns to get them. When a former police chief banned officers from frequenting doughnut shops, some came anyway, in plain clothes and dark glasses. Former President Bill Clinton once dispatched his Secret Service agents from the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco to retrieve several dozen.

"Every time I get a jones for a doughnut, I come here," said Mike Dowell, 44, who waited on the sidewalk outside Lou's on Saturday with his 14-year-old son, Evan.

"There's a better ambiance here; it's no Dunkin' Donuts," Dowell said. "You can watch them being made, so you can see what's gonna harden your arteries."

Several forces have come together to make Chavira turn off the deep fryer. The family made a decision to close their shop so they could rally behind son Chuck, who is struggling with acute pancreatitis. Ralph Chavira also wants to be home more to care for his wife, who just had a hip operation.

Lastly, there's the infuriating parking issue. There was a time when customers could park for free outside Lou's. Now, permits are required on the residential side streets near the bakery, and the 30-minute parking zone outside the front door has been reduced to 12.

"We've sold too many $51 doughnuts," said Chavira, referring to the price of a ticket near his store.

Freeway construction across the street has taken away the spaces where school buses used to park and wait for schoolchildren to return from the Children's Discovery Museum up the block. Now those regular busloads of young customers are gone.

Customer Yolanda Molinari is so passionate about the doughnuts that she's vowing to keep the secret recipe in production for whoever buys the shop from the Chaviras. She took a job at Lou's two months ago, and has been learning to make the doughnuts ever since.

"It's a tradition San Jose can't lose," she said Saturday, as she dunked a batch with clear glaze.

World War II fighter pilot Lou Ades opened Lou's Donuts in 1955 in the Chaviras' neighborhood and hired Chavira's sons when they were high school students. Ralph Chavira bought the business in 1981.

He plays Fifties music and adorns the walls with military memorabilia. There are pictures of relatives in Army and Navy uniforms, military ships and the Chavira family posing with former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana.

The doughnut selection depends on what just came out of the kitchen. It might be peanut-crumb-coconut or, if the customer is lucky, a chocolate glaze made with such expensive cocoa that it's only available on Thursdays and Saturdays.

Often, business travelers call ahead and reserve multiple boxes to take with them on flights out of San Jose International Airport.

The Pertner family of San Jose Randy, Kim and daughter Danica saw Lou's Living Donut Museum on the news and decided to give it a try Saturday.

"It's terrible all these mom-and-pop places are closing," Kim Pertner said. "It seems like it's harder and harder to find that family atmosphere."

The Pertners took a bite, and agreed there was something different about the texture of a Lou's doughnut.

"What's in these?" Randy Pertner said.

Back in the kitchen, Chuck Chavira let the secret slip: mashed potatoes.

Every week, the Chavira clan peels, boils and mashes a small mountain of potatoes to add to a mix of organic flour, eggs and shortening.

"That's what makes them three times more dense than a regular doughnut," Chuck Chavira said.

And for more on the Go-Nuts...

For those of you who are into the current rockabilly scene, you may know the guitar player of the Go-Nuts as Deke Dickerson (of Deke Dickerson and Eccofonics and Dave and Deke combo)...

Here is more from Deke's website (www.eccofonic.com):

The Go-Nuts are yet another one of Deke's many side projects. Known as "The World’s Greatest Snak-Rock Superhero and Gorilla Entertainment Revue"™, they have been wowing audiences with their unique brand of "snak-rock"™ since 1995!

The Go-Nuts are four superheroes: Kap’n Korn-nut, the Donut Prince (who bears an uncanny resemblance to...), the Donut Hole and the Korn Dogg, who along with their go-go gorillas (Madison and Dolly) attempt to make the world "safe for snacking" through the message in their music.

The Go-Nuts' live show is legendary. Their audiences are wowed not only by their dynamic "Snak Rock-ing"™ musical style, but also by their various launch devices. The "Snak Storm"™ and "Snak Cannon"™ shoot snack foods such as pie, whipped cream, corn chips, cereal, powdered sugar, and Choco-diles into the audience.

Although this has been widely well-received by Go-Nuts fans, the band's relentless pursuit of its mission has led to the Go-Nuts being banned from most clubs in California. On one memorable occasion at the House of Blues in Hollywood, the soundman engaged in a fistfight with one of the gorillas onstage while the band was playing. The fracas ended with a cream pie in his face. The Go-Nuts now have a 50-foot restraining order placed on them by the House of Blues.

So far the Go-Nuts have released several 45 singles and two CDs. Their blockbuster new release DUNK AND COVER! is now available on Lookout Records.

The Go-Nuts have been #2 on the Rolling Stone indie charts...they have been optioned for a film production...and they have been courted by the Creative Artists Agency (the largest talent agency in the world) for a Saturday morning cartoon show! Just as the Go-Nuts themselves grow bigger from their copious intake of snacks, so does the Go-Nuts name continue to grow in fortune and reputation.