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Big donuts of Southern California

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Big Do-Nut Drive-in, Inglewood, California photographed by John Margolies in 1976 (LCCN2017709532)
Shuttle Endeavour in front of Randy's in Inglewood, 2012

The big donuts of Southern California in the United States are frequently photographed examples of 20th-century vernacular roadside novelty architecture. They are landmark oversize donuts designed to attract the attention of potential customers on nearby roadways. In their heyday, according to one critic, the giant donuts were "one of many signs in Los Angeles that bordered on pop art, celebrating the effusiveness of life in the years after World War II. To many Americans, Southern California acquired the image of an orange juice stand shaped like an orange, or a hot dog stand shaped like a hot dog."[1]

History

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Randy's Donuts along the 405 freeway near LAX is the most famous of four surviving big donuts constructed by businessman Russell C. Wendell, who started the Big Do-Nut Drive-In chain in the 1940s.[2][3] (A fifth donut has been converted into a bagel.)[3] At one time there were 10 Do-Nut Drive-Ins with 22-foot (6.7 m)-diameter giant donuts.[3][2] Wendell sold out in the 1970s.[3] Mrs. Chapman's Angel Food Donuts was another chain of about 20 stores that constructed slightly smaller big donuts to advertise their stores.[2][4]

Russell C. Wendell (far left) at the 1959 opening of the Van Nuys location at the corner of Sherman Way and Kester Ave. (Los Angeles Public Library 00085568, Valley Times Photo Collection)

The Donut Hole in La Puente, jokingly described as a "distant cousin" to the rooftop big donuts,[2] is a drive-thru bakery; the gimmick being that drivers enter and exit through the holes in a pair of giant donuts to order and pick up their food.[5] All of these shops and their associated giant donuts are considered representative of Southern California's mid-century "car-culture-induced optimism and ambition, reflected in polychromatic, star-spangled coffee shops, gas stations, car washes, and other structures that once lured the gaze of passing motorists."[6]

Giant donuts and similar oversize object-shaped signs and buildings are generally now prohibited under contemporary municipal construction codes.[3]

List of Southern California big donuts

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An assortment of giant doughnuts in Greater Los Angeles
Store Image Address Notes
Bellflower Bagels & Java[7][8] 17025 Bellflower Blvd., Bellflower[8] Wendell Big Donut location;[8] now a bagel[2]
Dale's Donuts[8] 15904 S. Atlantic Ave., Compton[1] Atlantic & Alondra
The Donut Hole 15300 E. Amar Rd., La Puente [5]
Donut King II[8] 15032 S. Western Ave., Gardena[8][9]
Dunkin' Donuts 5560 E. 7th St., Long Beach Originally an Angel Food Donuts, then the Daily Grind coffee shop for decades; preservationists convinced Dunkin' to save the old giant donut[4]
Mrs. Chapman's Angel Food Donuts 3657 Santa Fe Ave., Long Beach Only location still using the Mrs. Chapman's Angel Food donuts name[10]
Kindle's Donuts[2] 10003 S. Normandie Ave., L.A.[8] Wendell's first location; Century & Normandie[2]
Randy's Donuts 805 W. Manchester Blvd., Inglewood[8] Now a chain, Downey and Costa Mesa locations of Randy's each have a newly built giant donut;[11][12] Inglewood location predates the 405 freeway[2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Einstein, David (June 30, 1983). "3-D Signs Still Hanging On". The Los Angeles Times. p. 276. Retrieved 2024-01-20. & "Signs: Fading Relics of the Past (part 2 of 2)". The Los Angeles Times. June 30, 1983. p. 285. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Hole truth: Giant doughnuts still around". The Los Angeles Times. August 30, 2009. p. 36. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Presenting...Randy's Donuts!". The Los Angeles Times. February 6, 2022. pp. M49. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  4. ^ a b Mai-Duc, Christine (February 7, 2014). "Dunkin' Donuts hands fans of giant doughnut sign a sweet victory". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  5. ^ a b "Sampling LA's offbeat eateries". The San Francisco Examiner. May 6, 1990. p. 184. Retrieved 2024-01-20. & "Checklist: L.A. Eateries". The San Francisco Examiner. May 6, 1990. p. 185. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  6. ^ admin (March 18, 2021). "Book Talk - Gas and Glamour: Roadside Architecture in Los Angeles - Calendar - AIA New York / Center for Architecture". Calendar - AIA New York | Center for Architecture. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
  7. ^ "Bellflower Bagels & Java - Bellflower, CA". Yelp. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Cotner, David (October 4, 2006). "The Giant Doughnuts of Los Angeles - LA Weekly". www.laweekly.com. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  9. ^ "Landmark Sign Is Threatened". The Los Angeles Times. January 11, 1990. p. 419. Retrieved 2024-01-20. & "DOUGHNUT: Famous Sign Threatened". The Los Angeles Times. January 11, 1990. p. 420. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  10. ^ Maio, Pat (February 4, 2014). "Sweet memories of Long Beach donut chain coming to an end". Orange County Register. Retrieved 2024-09-18.
  11. ^ @mustangmario (January 25, 2024). "Long Beach still has a few of the giant donuts Carson and I think on PCH. BF close to me and modern version of the @RandysDonutsLA donut in Downey on Firestone near Lakewood" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  12. ^ Fassbender, Tom (January 22, 2022). "The Giant Donuts of Los Angeles". Los Angeles Explorers Guild. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
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