What Used to be Where The Daily Grill is Now?

            One of the early pictures that challenged me was this image of Blatherwick's.  It popped up indexed to Studio City.  How hard would this be to track down? I saw the Coca Cola sign, figured I could date the picture with the logo, and pat myself on the back for a job well done.  Not so fast.  The Coca Cola logo has changed over the years but I had no luck narrowing it down.

            So I looked again.  I noticed the street address a few doors to the right.  I put this store on the south side of the street, near the intersections of Laurel Canyon (possibly dated early enough so that it was still Pacoima Avenue) and Ventura Boulevard.  I've got several pictures of Studio City taken from the Sugarloaf of that intersection dated 1928.  There's no trace of a strip of stores.

            Al Shelton, who until recently had a storefront on Ventura Boulevard was always ready to gab.  Al, always a cowboy at heart,  taught himself to be a Western Artist. He hand-crafted leather saddles and accessories, and worked in metal and brass.  I wrote a profile of him in my book, Studio City - A Mile of Style, What’s History, What’s Gossip.  He opened his shop in Studio City in 1957.  He did knew all the other western gear folks in the area, so I expected he’d have an answer for me.  Nope.  Hmm, another dead end. But that's never stopped me.

            Back to staring at the photo.  I saw what looked like little cabins   (right side of the photo).  I’d heard that Du-par’s restaurant used to have cabins for rent.  I confirmed the existence of the cabins in an old photo of the 76 gas station and car wash at the southeast corner of Laurel Canyon Ventura .  Shirley Kaufman, whose family owned Du-par’s until Tiny Naylor bought her out, said she too had heard the story about the cabins in the back of the restaurant, but didn’t have any pictures to share.

            This stuff keeps me up at night.  I thought I might dig something up with a genealogy search.  I can hardly believe what I found out !  The Studio City Blatherwicks hailed from Byran, Texas. Raymond Blatherwick (circa 1888) and his sister Mary were born to itinerant bookmakers who traveled in California and Texas. They became rodeo stars, who made their way to Studio City and worked in the movie industry as stunt doubles. They appeared in Wolf’s Tracks (1923) starring Jack (Hart) Hoxie. I’ve met other stunt doubles from the Republic Pictures cowboy days who confirmed that stunt double work was done by hard riding skilled rodeo stars.  I know - we like to think that our matinee idols were skillful horsemen - not always the case.  The Batherwicks traveled with the Ken Murray’s Blackouts of 1948 (a vaudeville show). I’ve been told that these blackout shows were inside the old broadway-style theaters on Sunset Boulevard during World War II.  The theaters’ storm lobbies were “dark”, but the show went on inside.

            So there you have the story of the Blatherwick Cowboy Boots - Repair store at 12056 (possibly) Ventura Boulevard, Studio City, in business circa 1930.  The Blatherwick clan is still going strong in Texas.  They were almost as excited as I was when this story came together.

            These stories have a way of weaving themselves together over time, giving Studio City a rich and diverse history.

Joann Deutch, Author

Studio City -  A Mile of Style, What’s History, What’s Gossip

Available on Amazon.com  Paperback & ebook  (in full color)

Author@StudioCityMileofStyle.com