Longtime Barney’s Beanery owner dies June 19, 2013
Posted by Ron Warnick in History, People, Restaurants.add a comment
Irwin Held, 87, who owned the Route 66 landmark restaurant Barney’s Beanery in West Hollywood, Calif., for nearly 30 years, died of a kidney ailment Monday in his Los Angeles home, reported the Los Angeles Times.
To hear Held’s daughter Linda Shabot tell it, her father probably saved the restaurant from the wrecking ball when he bought it in 1970.
“It was run into the ground,” Held’s daughter Linda Shabot told The Times on Tuesday. “I was scared to walk into the place — it looked like a dungeon.”
But Held poured himself into his new business, experimenting with the menu as his wife, Sally, kept the books. [...]
Until he sold when he was 73, he worked full shifts at the Beanery [...]. He continued to drop by the original site about once a week until his health started declining.
Held also took heat for refusing to remove an offensive sign over the bar that was installed by his predecessor.
For years, a sign over the bar — “Fagots Stay Out” — drew little notice from customers. Barney’s founder, World War I veteran John “Barney” Anthony, was said to have put it up after police in the 1940s raided his restrooms for then-illegal homosexual activity.
Urged to remove the sign after acquiring Barney’s, Held dug in his heels, despite prolonged picketing and other protests.
“He was just one of those guys who didn’t like being told what to do with his business,” said David Houston, the Beanery’s current co-owner. “He was very old-school, and this was a freedom issue.”
Held removed the sign in 1985 when the city passed an anti-discrimination ordinance. Even without the ordinance, there’s no way that sign would survive at Barney’s now. West Hollywood has become one of the most gay-friendly cities in the country, including installing rainbow-colored crosswalks.
Barney’s now has six locations across the Los Angeles region. But it’s the West Hollywood site that started it all in 1927.
Barney’s is famed for being a hangout for Janis Joplin and The Doors singer Jim Morrison before their deaths.
And when I was there a couple of years ago, it struck me as a marvelously egalitarian joint, where blue-collar folks could eat their chili next to beer-drinking rock’n'roll freaks. That come-as-you-are vibe comes across with this Travel Channel segment:
(Hat tip to Kevin Hansel; photo of Barney’s Beanery’s bar by ZagatBuzz)
Route 66 edition of “What Would You Do?” airs Friday June 19, 2013
Posted by Ron Warnick in Road trips, Television.add a comment
As we reported a few weeks back, ABC-TV shot segments for its reality / behavioral science show “What Would You Do?” in the Route 66 towns of Amarillo, Texas; Springfield, Mo.; and Weatherford, Okla.
Today, ABC announced the scenarios that will be shown:
- Wanted Woman: At a Springfield, Missouri pawn shop, posters of the latest criminal to walk the streets of Missouri adorn the walls, the doors, and lay in a stack near the checkout counter. She’s young, she’s attractive, and she recently ripped off a jewelry store for $100,000 worth of diamonds. What would you do if you saw this same woman, enter the store and try to pawn off the wares she’s stolen?
- Accent Discrimination: A Springfield, Missouri restaurant patron levels disrespectful comments towards his server who has a heavy accent. The customer’s discriminatory remarks include, “you are in America, speak English!” Will anyone confront the patron about his behavior?
- Dine & Dash: While awaiting their food at a Weatherford, Oklahoma restaurant, three loud teenage boys taunt and dare each other to exit without paying. When the check arrives, the teens dash for the door. Once customers realize that the boys are up to no good, will they prevent them from “dining and dashing”?
- Route 66 Runaway: A beautiful teen girl is sitting in a Weatherford, Oklahoma rest stop restaurant looking upset, when a trucker sitting across from her asks what’s wrong. She explains that she ran away. The trucker tells her that she is so beautiful she could be an actress in California, adding that he is heading that way and would be happy to take her along. Will anyone stop her from going with the trucker and convince her to call home?
- Sweet Tea Swindler: What would you do if you bought sweet tea from a cute young boy and girl, only to have them unexpectedly charge you extra for the cup? Will the real life customers stand up to our tiny conartists in an Amarillo, Texas park?
The one-hour episode airs at 9 p.m. Eastern on Friday, June 21. Here’s the trailer for the Route 66 segment:
Man building miniature Route 66 of Legos June 19, 2013
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Toys.add a comment
A man from Ozark, Mo., will re-create the length of Route 66 at the Ozark Empire Fair next month by using nothing by Lego pieces, reported the Springfield News-Leader.
Kendall Yost owns more than 1 million Lego pieces, and has created miniature versions of swimming pools, race tracks, and skateboard parks with them.
Yost will use three, possibly four, 6-foot-long tables for his display, depending on how much space he is given. [...] He estimates the Route 66 project will be completed by day five or six, but he could have it done within a couple days because he’ll be there from morning until night. [...]
The first thing he’ll do while creating Route 66 is lay down Lego pieces that look like a highway. He’ll add buildings along the back side of the table, and as he goes along the route, he’ll build historic landmarks, like the St. Louis Arch and a bridge over the Mississippi River.
He’ll also place red and white buildings to represent hotels, and once the route ends in California, he’ll add in an ocean scene and movie cameras and crews to represent Hollywood.
Here’s a video report from KSPR in Springfield about Yost’s hobby:
How Funks Grove maple sirup is made June 19, 2013
Posted by Ron Warnick in Businesses, Food, History.1 comment so far
This video by Pounds Media about Funks Grove Pure Maple Sirup in Funks Grove, Ill., is the best about the company we’ve seen.
Funks Grove Pure Maple Sirup from Pounds Media on Vimeo.
It makes you want to jump in the car, drive to that little Route 66 hamlet, and buy a bottle.
“American Ride” June 18, 2013
Posted by Ron Warnick in Music, Road trips.3 comments
Take a road trip — or several — with Willie Nile in this new music video, where you’ll catch glimpses of Route 66 and other great American roads.
(Hat tip: Michael Wallis)
Driving across the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge June 17, 2013
Posted by Ron Warnick in Bridges, Motorcycles, Road trips.2 comments
Here’s one of the advantages of signing up for one of those guided Route 66 tours — you might be able to drive a motorcycle across the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge near St. Louis.
“Man of Steel” can be found in Carterville June 16, 2013
Posted by Ron Warnick in Movies, Museums, Restaurants.add a comment
With the blockbuster Superman film “Man of Steel” opening this weekend, KOAM-TV took a closer look at the Supertam on 66 ice cream shop and museum on Route 66 in Carterville, Mo., that pays tribute to the comic-book character.
If the video isn’t properly embedding, just click on the link below.
Here’s another video, from about a year ago:
Owner Larry Tamminen is quite an enthusiast, and is an asset for his little town:
“People right now are finding out, I’m talking about Joplin, Carthage, Webb City, that Route 66 is a place of destination for people, and it wasn’t in the early 50′s,” said Tamminen.