How did Los Angeles become the modern city the world watches? We know some of the answers all too well. Sunshine. Railroads. Hollywood. Freeways. But there’s another often overlooked but especially delicious and revealing factor: food.
Think veggie tacos and designer pizzas, hot dogs on sticks and burgers from golden arches, Cobb Salads and chocolate-topped ice cream sundaes, not to mention the healthiest dishes on the planet. Ask anyone who has eaten in L.A.–the city shapes the tastes that predict how America eats. And it always has.
In its fourth book collaboration with the Los Angeles Public Library and the Library Foundation of Los Angeles, Angel City Press releases To Live and Dine in L.A.: Menus and the Making of the Modern City by Josh Kun.With more than 200 menus–some dating back to the nineteenth century–culled from thousands in the Menu Collection of the Los Angeles Public Library, To Live and Dine in L.A. is a visual feast of a book.
But it’s more. Much more.
In his detailed history, author Josh Kun riffs on what the food of a foodie city says about place and time; how some people eat big while others go hungry, and what that says about the past and now. Kun turns to chefs and cultural observers for their take on modern: Chef Roy Choi sits down long enough to say why he writes “some weird-ass menus.” Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Jonathan Gold looks at food as theater, and museum curator Staci Steinberger considers the design of classic menus like Lawry’s. Restaurateur Bricia Lopez follows a Oaxacan menu into the heart of Koreatown.
The city’s leading chefs remix vintage menus with a 21st-century spin: Joachim Splichal, Nancy Silverton, Susan Feniger, Ricardo Diaz, Jazz Singsanong, Cynthia Hawkins, Micah Wexler, Ramiro Arvizu and Jaime Martin del Campo cook up the past with new flavors. And, of course, the menus delight: Tick Tock Tea Room, Brown Derby, Trumps, Slapsy Maxie’s, Don the Beachcomber, and scores more.
Kun tackles the timely and critically important topic of food justice, and shows how vintage menus teach us about more than just what’s tasty, and serve as guides to the politics, economics, and sociology of eating.
America is a dining-out nation, and our research indicates that L.A. has long been one of its top dining-out towns. The Library’s collection is a living repository of meals past, an archive of urban eating that tells us about the changing historical role of food in the city, which is to say it tells us about just about everything that food touches: economics, culture, taste, race, politics, architecture, class, design, industry, gender, to name just some of the themes that recur on menu pages.
Kun challenged contributors to tackle subjects that readers may have never contemplated. As the renowned L.A. chef Roy Choi points out in his Foreword to To Live and Dine in L.A.:
The more I looked at the menus, the more they told me about the city and how neighborhoods developed. But it was the menus that I couldn’t find that forced me to ask questions about how life really was. I started to think about how the city is now and if those missing menus were a reflection of life just as it is now. Were these menus of the affluent and middle-class? Were the working classes even eating with menus, or were they mostly eating at stands and carts? Were there disparities and access problems just like today? To Live and Dine in L.A. is the first book of its kind–the definitive way to read a menu for more than just what to order. It’s about how to live. And how to dine. In L.A.
The story of a race – A race in history
This book is part of a new collection of books that unveils « freeze-frames » from the great movie of motor racing history. Its purpose is to explore a particular weekend, the choice of which depends above all on the authors’ ability to gather the most original and complete documentation possible: photos, plans, programs, drawings, period reports and testimonies.
All the historical disciplines are likely to be approached: F1, F2, F3, FJ, FF, sport-prototypes, GT, touring, cups of mark, rally, etc. If the program includes other events of a different nature (motorcycling, cycling…), they are reported with the same concern for precision.
The considerable preparatory work required to produce such works means that each author has had to rely on other contributors to benefit from the pooling of personal networks and rare documentary resources. It is thanks to their remarkable collaborative spirit that this project was possible.
An exceptional iconography at the service of the most prestigious F1 Grand Prix of the season, three Formula Junior races finally revealed thanks to unpublished documents, the presence of Clark, Brabham, Gurney, McLaren, G. Hill, P. Hill, Surtees, Bandini, Siffert and Trintignant at the wheel of the mythical Ferraris, Coopers, Lotuses, Porsches, BRMs and Lolas; the participation of the iconic Lotus 25 with monocoque chassis; these are just some of the ingredients of the spicy menu that we are proposing you to enjoy.
Text in English and French
Touring Car Racing, a feast of nostalgia, celebrates the 60-year heritage of the British Touring Car Championship. From the era of Mini Coopers and Lotus Cortinas to the Vauxhall Astras and Honda Civics of recent years, all the highlights of Britain’s ever-spectacular touring car scene are captured in a year-by-year visual extravaganza with over 600 photos and expert commentary. Compiled by long-time touring car journalist Matt James, the book has a chapter for each year featuring a summary of the season, 10 photos showing all the top cars and drivers in action, key statistics and a profile of the champion driver. Anyone who has ever enjoyed touring car racing as a participant, spectator or television viewer will treasure this book.
- The 1950s. The British Saloon Car Championship was inaugurated in 1958 and from the start it was super-competitive, ending in a tie that was resolved by a shoot-out in favour of Jack Sears.
- The 1960s. There were three Mini champions but mainly this was a Ford era, epitomised by Lotus Cortinas (with Jim Clark ever spectacular) and big Falcons, Galaxies and Mustangs from America.
- The 1970s. Smaller classes came to the fore in this decade, with three drivers sharing seven titles — Bill McGovern took three in Sunbeam Imps while two apiece went to Bernard Unett (Chrysler Avenger GT) and Richard Longman (Mini 1275GT).
- The 1980s. Three drivers also bestrode this decade but in a wider range of cars, including Mazda RX-7, Alfa Romeo GTV, Rover Vitesse and Ford Sierra XR4i; Win Percy and Andy Rouse each took three titles, Chris Hodgetts two.
- The 1990s. Overseas drivers arrived in force to mix it with home-grown stars during the highly competitive Super Touring years, the decade’s champions including Joachim Winkelhock (BMW
- 318is), Frank Biela (Audi A4 quattro), Alain Menu (Renault Laguna), Rickard Rydell (Volvo S40) and Laurent Aïello (Nissan Primera).
- The 2000s. Vauxhalls were the star cars, taking six titles, while the decade brought three double champions in the form of James Thompson (Vauxhall Astra), Matt Neal (Honda Integra) and Fabrizio Giovanardi (Vauxhall Vectra VXR).
- The 2010s. Yet more variety and brilliant racing has characterised the current decade, with Gordon Shedden becoming the winningest driver with three titles in Honda Civics.
America’s most talked-about train, the California Zephyr was inaugurated March 20, 1949, book-ended by the world-class skylines of Chicago and San Francisco. Operated in partnership over three railroads; Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, Denver & Rio Grande, and Western Pacific, the train was designed in Art Deco style and built of Shotwelded stainless-steel by the Budd Company. The California Zephyr incorporated the best of the Zephyr fleet including Vista-Dome coaches and Vista-Dome observation cars. Powered by General Motors diesel locomotives the western themed “land-cruise” train traveled 2,532 miles on its journey from Chicago traversing the spectacular Colorado Rockies via the 6.2-mile Moffat Tunnel and California’s magnificent Feather River Canyon – by daylight in both directions. Vintage equipment diagrams include California Zephyr baggage car, Vista-Dome coach, Vista-Dome buffet-dormitory car, dining car, bedroom-cabin car and Vista-Dome bedroom-buffet-lounge-observation car. Other highlights feature original trip reports by “Zephyrette” hostesses, travel brochures, timetables, dining car menus and full-color photo gallery of the stunning California Zephyr.
Chaparral 2D and 2E at the monterey 100 mile race 1965 and 1966
Full menu on this DVD start with the Monterey 100 mile race see the Chaparral 2D with drivers Jim hall and hap sharp very rare footage of this car at one point there is a terrific crash with Jim Hall he is out of the race so you can guess who wins!
Next race Monterey 100 mile race 1966 Jim Hall and Phil Hill take the wheel of the famous chaparral 2E this is fantastic footage of the car that started modern day aerodynamics you can see the break flipper working into the corner.
USRRC 1966 Elkhart lake
Drivers Richie Ginther, Dr. Dick Thompson, Charlie Hayes, Chuck Parsons, and many others. This is a very rare film showing this race! Did you know that Haus from bonanza was a car owner in this era?
Phil Hill shares his memories in 1995
This video shot in 1995 is one of many talks Phil has done over the years sharing memories of his career, in this presentation he shows his personal collection of slides starting in the early 50’s. From Italy- driving for Ferrari to telling the tale of how Fangio was kidnapped in Cuba during a F-1 race this 90 min piece covers it all, very rare slides never seen anywhere else! This evening was a very informal group of guys that made for a very relaxed evening of incredible stories, this video is sure to become a future icon of the automotive world.
The Pan American clipper ships of the 1930s and 1940s were technological marvels of their time. The years before World War II found the United States faced with international challenges of an economic as well as a military nature. Aided by government regulations and contracts, the Pan Am clippers were, for a time, the only international craft to carry the U.S. flag. Commercially, they rivaled the comfort and popularity of passenger trains and luxurious cruise ships. Militarily, they were unmatched by anything the Germans, Russians, Italians or French could produce. The only long-range aircraft capable of carrying transoceanic payloads, clippers became instantly valuable with the onset of the war. Marketed as the ultimate in commercial–or military–airfare, these flying boats became as much an American icon as the Pan Am logo itself. From the movie screen to the bookshelf, this volume examines the multitude of ways in which the values inherent in Pan American Airways’ clipper ships played out in popular culture. The book discusses the strategies Pan Am used to represent the clipper as a paragon of U.S. interests, values and beliefs. Mirroring the moods of the times, the clipper became a consistent American icon, being associated with the Statue of Liberty and the American eagle. The main focus of the work is the variety of ways in which this iconographic status manifested itself through toys, movies, pulp fiction, comic books and music. Clipper influence is also examined in other unlikely places such as the name of an available car color, car models, restaurant menus and lounge names. An appendix explains different models of the clipper flying boats.
