Mystery Spot - Santa Cruz California

The Mystery Spot was first discovered by George Prather in 1939. George Prather was an electrician, mechanic, and inventor before he opened the site. The Mystery Spot was one of several roadside attractions that opened after World War II for new automobile owners and was featured on Art Baker's television show "You Asked For It".

Visitors experience demonstrations that appear to defy gravity, on the short but steep uphill walk and inside a wooden building on the site. The Mystery Spot is a popular tourist attraction, and gained recognition as a roadside "gravity box" or "tilted house". At this roadside attraction, the laws of gravity and physics seem to disappear as balls roll uphill and people lean over past their toes without tumbling over.

The Mystery Spot was nominated in July 2014 to be designated as a California Historical landmark and was officially declared as California Historical Landmark #1055 in August 2014. 

Need to know more?  

https://www.mysteryspot.com/what-is-it 

The Cleveland & Buffalo Transit Co. - The "SeeandBee"

The Cleveland & Buffalo Transit Co. (C&B), a popular steamship line and later a trucking firm, was established by Morris A. Bradley in 1885 and incorporated in 1892, with Bradley as president. Passenger and freight service was initiated between Cleveland and Buffalo on the "State of Ohio" and the "State of New York," leaving Cleveland from the foot of St. Clair Ave, and in 1896, the "City of Buffalo" was added. The "City of Erie" replaced the "State of Ohio" in 1898, providing night service from Cleveland to Toledo. In 1914 Cedar Point and Put-in-Bay were added to the C&B route. 

As passenger service became increasingly popular, the luxurious "SEEANDBEE," a costly sidewheel passenger steamer, began regular trips between Cleveland and Buffalo in 1913. At that time, the C&B and the Detroit & Cleveland (D&C) line obtained a 50-year lease from Cleveland for the property at the foot of 9th St. for $55,000. There the two companies built the E. 9th St. Pier and a new lake terminal, dedicated in 1915; in exchange, the city built a bridge over the E. 9th St. railroad tracks, paved the E. 9th St. approach, and provided a street railway to the pier.

The Los Angeles Steamship Company - "Yale" & "Harvard"

The Los Angeles Steamship Company was a passenger and freight shipping company based in Los Angeles, California. The company, formed in 1920, initially provided fast passenger service between Los Angeles and San Francisco. In 1921, LASSCO added service to Hawaii in competition with the San Francisco-based Matson Navigation Company using two former North German Lloyd ocean liners that had been in U.S. Navy service during World War I. Despite the sinking of one of the former German liners on her maiden voyage for the company, business in the booming 1920s thrived, and the company continued to add ships and services. In 1922, the City of Los Angeles, a renamed and refitted liner was one of the largest American ships sailing in Pacific waters.

More info on the Harvard and the Yale here:

https://jhgraham.com/2015/08/27/the-los-angeles-steamship-co-harvard-yale/

Sunset Bowling Center - "Home of the famous 52 Lanes in a Row"

"Situated on the Warner Brothers Sunset Lot where the first talking picture in Hollywood was made." 

Due to its role in the history of the motion picture business, the site was designated as a Historic Cultural Landmark in LAHCM 1977. The distinctive Executive Office Building, part of Warner Brothers original studio lot, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.

King’s Tropical Inn

King’s Tropical Inn stood at 5935 Washington Blvd in the 1920s and 1930s. It was known for its chicken dinners but, as you can see on this promotional postcard, they also served squab. The squab was a dish that I regularly came across when researching menus of the era so eventually, I looked it up. Ugh! No wonder we don’t see it much anymore. Squab is the meat from young domestic pigeon and is widely described as tasting like dark chicken