Join the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles for no-host cocktails in a 1941 barrel, at 1933 Group’s The Idle Hour in North Hollywood. Our event will be held on the outdoor patio at twilight on a SUNDAY!

No need to RSVP, just show up and join us for no-host cocktails and/or dinner. We thank the 1933 Group for their generosity in working with us over the years.

Cocktails in Historic Places® are no-host bar events, meet ups for members of the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles and those wishing to learn more about the organization.

Vintage attire admired, but not required.

Cocktails in Historic Places is a registered trademark of the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles.

The back patio at Idle Hour offers a view of the “Smoking Bulldog” a recreation of a 1928 roadside eatery. (photo: TimeOut)

Idle Hour was reintroduced to North Hollywood in 2015 by the 1933 Group, a food and beverage company with a passion for opening bars with impeccable vintage decor and retro-inspired themes. The building achieved landmark status as Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #977 in 2010 due to the work of historic preservationist Chris Nichols, a writer for Los Angeles magazine.

Housed in a “barrel” the building is an example of programmatic architecture, a genre that bloomed alongside the automobile in the early 1940s as California’s residents and visitors began driving down the boulevards instead of walking. Business owners, recognizing a hasty need to attract the now quickly passing motorists, opted for instantly recognizable buildings to do the duty previously filled by window signage and adverts. Idle Hour resembled a whiskey barrel to lure thirsty workers on their “idle hour,” while other quick-serve locations formed in shapes of tea kettles, doughnuts, and wildly oversized objects to represent their operations. This style of architecture survives as a relic of Hollywood’s past, an unexpected yet instantly iconic result of the city’s historic car culture.

Another example of Programmatic architecture sits on the patio of Idle Hour, a testament to 1933 Group’s devotion to crafty preservation. The pipe-smoking bulldog, known as Bulldog Café from 1928 until the mid-1960s, is actually a reproduction of the original eatery rescued from the now demolished streetscape of L.A.’s world-renowned Petersen Museum. Whether sipping brews in the barrel or under the watchful eye of the friendly pooch, patrons are poised for a whimsical rendezvous with pals and Los Angeles nostalgia.