Join the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles for no-host cocktails in a restored 1941 building shaped like a barrel, at 1933 Group’s The Idle Hour in North Hollywood. If we didn’t have you at barrel, would it help if we told you that there is a giant bulldog on the patio? We are tremendously grateful to the 1933 Group for their generosity in working with us over the years.
Cocktails in Historic Places® are no-host 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.
No need to RSVP, just show up and join us for no-host cocktails and/or dinner. Happy hour takes place from 4-6 PM. 21 and over.
Cocktails in Historic Places® (CHP) 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)
ABOUT IDLE HOUR:
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 long-time preservation advocate and 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 20th century as California’s residents and visitors began driving down boulevards instead of walking. Business owners, recognizing a hasty need to attract the quickly passing motorists, opted for instantly recognizable buildings to do the duty previously filled by window signage and advertising. Idle Hour resembled a whiskey barrel in an effort to lure thirsty workers on their “idle hour.” Other quick-service locations cropped up in shapes of tea kettles, doughnuts, a milk pail and other wildly oversized objects that represented their operations. The barrel survives as a relic of Los Angeles’ architectural 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. And have you been to 1933 Group’s latest programmatic eatery? The giant hot dog on Santa Monica Blvd. in West Hollywood?