Friday, December 21, 2007

Corona del Mar, Taco de Carlos & William Wendt

Here's another example of old municipal holiday decor -- This time from Corona del Mar in 1946. I'm including both the whole image and a larger cropped view of the Santa Claus portion. I also posted another 1946 O.C. Christmas photo over at Greetings from Downtown Huntington Beach.
At OCThen, Steve remembers the short-lived Taco de Carlos -- an early attempt by Carl Karcher Enterprises to enter the Mexican fast food market. I only remember visiting the one in Fountain Valley, and I honestly don't remember much beyond the logo featuring "Happy Star" in a sombrero.

The Santa Ana Historical Preservation Society is creating a "Santa Ana Room" (presumably at the Howe-Waffle House), where they'll display items from Santa Ana's past. They are looking for anything old that has Santa Ana on it, including "advertising items, old photos, products made in SA (with the city name on it), etc." If you would like to donate any items, contact them via email or leave a message at (714) 547-9645.

 
The Bowers' blog recently featured an entry on Southern California artist William Wendt and one of his paintings, Trees They Are My Friends (1935). Is it just me, or does that title sound vaguely like LOLCat syntax?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Does anyone remember an artist in Anaheim named Armin Heying? He painted and gave lessons in oil from a studio in the back of his garage. He also gave a very large painting of Jesus in the Garden to a local Anaheim church.

ItsNotAPlace said...

The lighting on that santa display is so interesting in black and white... at first glance it almost looks like a negative image.

FV Tom said...

Thanks for reminding me about a summer job I had at Taco de Carlos in FV.

And the other site reminded me of Pup 'N Taco at Talbert and Bushard (now Taco Bell).

Anonymous said...

LOL at the William Wendt comment.

Anonymous said...

anonymous:I own a painting of Jesus and two angels by Armin Heying painted in 1945.

Jesse Bluma at Pointe Viven said...

Taco de Carlos was a fast-food Mexican restaurant chain that spun off from Carl's Jr. In 1972 Carl Karcher Enterprises decided to get in on the Mexican fast-food business because it was a new phenomenon that was proving successful with Taco Bell going public just a few years earlier. Taco de Carlos offered menu items not found on Taco Bell, like the California Burrito.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Taco-de-Carlos-Official-Fan-Page/370758452355