The Pup, the Bulldog, and the Maddox Family

NOTE: For the most up-to-date research about the Pup Cafe, check out this page on my new website Virtual Boulevard.

I intended for this to be a pretty simple post reviewing the history of Culver City's "Pup Cafe," a dog-shaped building that used to exist in the Los Angeles area and is sometimes confused with the Bulldog Inn on Valley Boulevard. However, I ended up learning some surprising facts that reshaped my understanding of the Pup, its history, and its relationship to the Bulldog.

It turned out that the Pup was not originally located in Culver City, but was in fact moved there from the West Adams district of Los Angeles in 1933 or 1934. Some of the better-known photographs of the Pup are actually from this earlier location.

I also confirmed the identity of the Pup's creator: Joseph Andrew Maddox. And to my great surprise, Joseph Maddox's son Everett Floyd Maddox was the creator of the Bulldog. These two dog-shaped restaurants in Los Angeles didn't just happen to look similar — they were built by two members of the same family!

As a result, this post will not only present information about the Pup Cafe, but will also attempt to provide a unified timeline of the Pup's history, the Bulldog's history, and the movement of both buildings through the Los Angeles area.

The Pup (left) and the Bulldog (right).

Beginnings

I first learned about the Pup Cafe while researching the Bulldog Inn. The Pup's location didn't seem anywhere near as mysterious as the Bulldog's, for several reasons. For one thing, it existed up until between 1969 and 1971, meaning that plenty of people still alive today remember it from their childhoods and have described its location in detail online. The Bulldog, probably destroyed sometime around 1948 or 1949, was gone too soon. Additionally, the Pup is clearly visible in high-quality aerial photos of Culver City from 1934; no photos of similar quality exist for any of the Bulldog's locations.

All this is to say that I thought the Pup's history was pretty straightforward. One thing that did nag at me was that a few photos of the Pup showed a "5406" address over its door, when its address in Culver City was known to be on the 12700 block of West Washington Boulevard. I chalked this up to a renumbering of West Washington Boulevard in Culver City at some point, and moved on.

Below are the two pictures I know of where the "5406" is visible. 

Photo 1

Source. Photograph dated February 5, 1930.

Photo 1 has appeared in print as far back as 1933, in Los Angeles by Morrow Mayo. In 2018 it was reproduced in slightly greater detail for California Crazy: American Pop Architecture by Jim Heimann. In addition to making the "5406" more visible, this version cropped out less of the house on the right. The power and telephone lines were edited out, however.

Photo 1, version 2

Source

Photo 2

Source. If you look closely, you can see a "For Sale" sign to the left of the restaurant.

This picture also gives us a good look at "Ben's Garage."

5406 West Adams Boulevard

One day, I came across the following classified ad from 1933 in Newspapers.com's archives.

Source: Los Angeles Illustrated Daily News, April 20, 1933.

The name "Bull Dog Cafe" almost led me to think that the advertisement referred to the pipe-smoking bulldog from Valley Boulevard, but then I remembered the "5406" from the Pup photos. After checking old city directories to confirm that the "5406 West Adams St." of 1933 was the same geographical location as the 5406 West Adams Boulevard of today, I began investigating the address more closely. Luckily, the path forward ended up being very simple.

If Photo 1 were indeed taken at 5406 West Adams Boulevard, then the street running through the background would be South Burnside Avenue. The house in the right-hand background of Photo 1 would then have been on South Burnside, just south of its intersection with an alley behind West Adams.

Here's 2614-2616 South Burnside Avenue, the house at that location today, together with the house from Photo 1.

2614-2616 South Burnside Avenue, Google Street View, 2019.

Photo 1 (detail)

Some changes have been made to the house, but the roofline and shingled overhang are unmistakably similar. According to Los Angeles building records, this house was built in 1924, early enough to have appeared in the photo.

I moved on to the house visible in the background of Photo 2. This house is also visible in another photo of the Pup:

Photo 3

Source: California Crazy & Beyond, Jim Heimann, 2001. Credited to The 

Williams Partnership. The house in question is behind the Pup, to the right.

Here's the house from those photos side-by-side with 2618-2620 South Burnside Avenue, the house at that location today (one door down from 2614-2616).

2618-2620 South Burnside Avenue, Google Street View, 2019.

Photo 2 (detail)

Photo 3 (detail)

The house was an obvious match, and city records showed that it was built in 1923. The combination of the classified ad and matching houses led me to the conclusion that the Pup Cafe was located at 5406 West Adams Boulevard, Los Angeles until at least 1933. Since the earliest aerial photo showing it in Culver City was from 1934, this fit with the established timeline.

The classified ad also established that the Pup Cafe was known as the "Bull Dog Cafe" at one point. However, to avoid confusion with the Bulldog Inn, I'll continue to call it the Pup Cafe in most cases.

Here's what 5406 West Adams Boulevard looks like today. It's the red building near the center. I tried to capture this image from a similar angle to Photo 1.

Source: Google Street View, February 2020.

The First Movement

I looked up the address "5406 West Adams Boulevard" in the Los Angeles building permit archive and found the following document, issued July 16, 1929.

Source

It's a permit to move a building from some unspecified location in Los Angeles County (presumably not within LA city limits) to 5406 West Adams Boulevard. Another section specifies that the building will be moved "by Ridgeley Dr." The permit states that the building is already being used as a restaurant and will continue to be used for that purpose after the move. It also mentions that the lot at 5406 West Adams will be shared with a garage (presumably "Ben's Garage"). The building owner is given as J. A. Maddox of 5354 Westhaven St.

I'll have more to say about J.A. Maddox shortly, but I want to focus on the fact that this permit seems to document when the Pup first came to 5406 West Adams. It apparently started out in some other location that wasn't even within the city limits, and for at least part of its journey traveled along Ridgeley Drive. Ridgeley Drive intersects with West Adams Boulevard right near the 5406 address, so this makes sense.

However, the permit doesn't mention exactly where the Pup might have existed before being moved, and there's very little information to go on. J.A. Maddox may have even purchased a nondescript food stand, which he modified into the shape of a dog after moving it. In that case, there wouldn't even be any photographs of the Pup at a previous location.

Joseph A. Maddox

Searching old city directories for "5406 West Adams Boulevard" quickly turned up the name "Joseph A. Maddox." Here's his listing from the 1931 Los Angeles city directory (the ditto marks mean "Maddox"):

Source

Joseph Maddox died in 1949 at the age of 84, still living at 5354 Westhaven Street.

Source: Los Angeles Times, January 21, 1949.

But there was something more interesting about the obituary: it said that Joseph Maddox had a son named Everett Maddox. I recognized that name immediately as the man associated with the Bulldog Inn's address in the 1931 Rosemead city directory. Could it just be a coincidence?

At this point, my access to Ancestry.com through the Los Angeles Public Library came in extremely handy. Thanks to the massive set of searchable records it provided, I was able to verify pretty quickly that the Joseph A. Maddox who'd owned a restaurant at 5406 West Adams Boulevard, Los Angeles was indeed the father of the Everett Maddox who'd owned a restaurant at 1153 East Valley Boulevard, Rosemead. I also confirmed that Joseph's middle name was Andrew and Everett's middle name was Floyd. I won't bore you with the exact details, but things like census records, draft cards, and names of siblings and spouses left very little room for ambiguity.

I now had a personal theory that the Pup Cafe and the Bulldog Inn were built around the same time by two members of the same family. I wasn't sure if I'd ever find definitive proof of this fact, but then the answer basically dropped into my lap.

Joseph and Everett

Ancestry.com users can create entries about their ancestors, tying them to certain records and including extra material. It turns out that someone had already gone in and created entries for Joseph Andrew Maddox, Everett Floyd Maddox, and the rest of their family. They'd even included some photographs:

Joseph Andrew Maddox (left) and Everett Floyd Maddox (right).

Both photographs dated November 1925. Source (1, 2).

But even more important was a note attached to Joseph Maddox's entry, attributed to his granddaughter Lorna Elizabeth Maddox Williams and labeled "Joseph Andrew Maddox in LEMW's Words":

He was a carpenter and a building contractor. At one time he owned a second-hand store in Kansas and was a part-time sheriff's deputy.

With his three sons, he built his house at 5354 Westhaven St. in Los Angeles and lived there from 1924 until 1949 when he died there.

At one time he owned a small lunch stand built in the shape of a large bulldog, built by Joseph and his sons in the 1930s on W. Washington Blvd. in Los Angeles. Later on, his son Everett built one like it in San Gabriel. After the parents' death, Irene and Edwin lived in the same house until their deaths, when the property was sold.

So my theory was no longer just a guess — it was what had actually happened. The Pup Cafe in Los Angeles belonged to Joseph Maddox, and the Bulldog Inn in Rosemead belonged to his son Everett Maddox. (The Bulldog was just yards over the border between San Gabriel and Rosemead, so placing it in San Gabriel was entirely reasonable). Also note that 5354 Westhaven Street is just a few blocks away from 5406 West Adams Boulevard.

Of course, a few questions remained. Lorna Williams described the Pup Cafe as being built on West Washington Boulevard, but it seems pretty clear that it started out on West Adams Boulevard and was moved to West Washington Boulevard a few years later. It was probably moved to West Adams from some earlier location, but that location was outside the Los Angeles city limits, not on West Washington Boulevard. I think the best explanation is just that Mrs. Williams simplified the story when retelling it years later. In fact, she spent some time living in Culver City in the 1940s and so may have seen the Pup there after it was moved.

I'd like to think that Mrs. Williams's memory that Joseph Maddox and his sons built the Pup together is accurate. That's why I think the building moved to 5406 West Adams Boulevard in 1929 may have just been a generic cafe that was modified into the shape of a dog.

According to censuses and city directories, Joseph and Everett Maddox worked as contractors for most of their lives. Neither man seemed to own his restaurant for more than five years. Perhaps they built them as a kind of advertisement for their construction abilities.

The Pup in Culver City

The Pup Cafe was moved from Los Angeles to Culver City sometime between April 1933, when the classified ad was placed, and June 1934, when the Pup was photographed from the air. Different editions of California Crazy by Jim Heimann give either of the two addresses 12728 and 12732 West Washington Boulevard as its new location. However, I learned from old newspapers that the Pup Cafe's new address was actually 12718 West Washington Boulevard, Culver City. (Both incorrect addresses, as well as the correct one, point to approximately the same spot: the south side of West Washington Boulevard, between Rosabell Street and Wade Street.)

Here's the June 1934 aerial photo that I keep alluding to:

Source [direct link to TIFF file]

The Pup is clearly visible near the center — you can even make out the shadow cast by its head. West Washington Boulevard is the wide street curving across the top of the photo. Rosabell Street is the bent street on the left, and Wade Street is on the right.

Here's the earliest mention in print that I've seen of the Pup Cafe in Culver City, from November 1934:

Source: Venice Evening Vanguard, November 8, 1934.

Along with providing the 12718 West Washington Boulevard address, this advertisement also confirms that the name "Pup Cafe" wasn't just invented by history—it was really a contemporary name for this restaurant.

Here are a few photos of the Pup Cafe in Culver City. More signage accumulated on and around the building.

Photo 4

Source. Looks to have been found at a flea market.

Described as being from 1939 — maybe the year was written on the back?

This next photo was taken by the famed Ansel Adams "around 1939," according to the Los Angeles Public Library. There's a good description of its provenance at the source link.

Photo 5

Source. Photograph by Ansel Adams, c. 1939. Look for the cat in front of the Coca-Cola cooler.

It seems clear that these photographs were taken in Culver City for a few reasons. First, the date associated with Photo 5 is pretty solid, placing that photo after the Pup's arrival in Culver City. Then, since Photo 4 clearly shows the Pup in the same location from a different angle (little details like the Coca-Cola cooler and front patio match), it must have been taken in Culver City as well.

In 1948, a rectangular extension was added to the Pup's left-hand side (sources: "Building Permits Receive Approval," Venice Evening Vanguard, July 15, 1948; aerial photography). At some point, the Pup ceased to function as a restaurant and became Ugly Dog Records. Below is a photograph from 1969.

Photo 6

Source: "There Was an Old Woman Who Worked in a Shoe," Lawrence Dietz,

West Magazine of the Los Angeles Times, November 30, 1969. Photograph by Mike Salisbury.

Because it was in the West Magazine Sunday supplement to the LA Times, this photograph would have originally been in color and it's a shame the only version archived online is in black-and-white. Nevertheless, it's the only photographic evidence of Ugly Dog Records that I've been able to find. It's nice to see that the Pup has been cleaned up somewhat and maybe given a new coat of paint (although the image quality likely hides many flaws).

But the Pup wouldn't be around for much longer. By 1971, it had been replaced by a parking lot and entered the realm of memory.

Here's what the Pup's Culver City location looked like in 2019. The spot once occupied by the Pup is somewhere within the footprint of the white apartment building, which has the address 12712 West Washington Boulevard. I tried to capture a similar angle to that of Photo 5.

Source: Google Street View, March 2019.

The Maddox Bulldog Timeline

Below is my attempt to construct a timeline of Joseph and Everett Maddox's Pup and Bulldog restaurants. Sources are in brackets. I've included the remaining photos of the Pup that I know of as well.

Note that the Pup Cafe seemed to have a new owner pretty much every time it appeared in the news or in a city directory.

See my post on the Bulldog for more information about that restaurant's own history.

1864

Joseph Andrew Maddox born in Illinois. [1900 US census]

1899

Everett Floyd Maddox born in Pennsylvania. [1900 US census]

1924

Joseph Maddox builds a house at 5354 Westhaven Street, Los Angeles, and moves in. ["Joseph Andrew Maddox in LEMW's Words"]

1929

In July, Joseph Maddox files a permit to move a restaurant from somewhere in LA County to 5406 West Adams Blvd. This is the restaurant he would refer to as the "Bull Dog Cafe," which we know as the "Pup Cafe." [Los Angeles building permit records]

1930

Joseph Maddox is listed as a cafe proprietor by the 1930 US census.

At some point early in the Pup's existence, the following photos are taken at 5406 West Adams Boulevard.

Photo 7

Source

Photo 8

Source

Photo 9

Source

1931

In January, Joseph Maddox is robbed of $15 by bandits at the Pup Cafe. ["Hold-Up Totals Rise Anew," Los Angeles Times, January 12, 1931]

In February, Joseph Maddox fights back against two bandits at the Pup Cafe and thwarts their robbery attempt. ["Store Owner and Bandits Battle," Los Angeles Evening Post-Record, February 21, 1931]

Everett Maddox of 934 South Palm Avenue, San Gabriel is listed for the first time as the proprietor of a restaurant at 1153 East Valley Boulevard, Rosemead. This is the pipe-smoking Bulldog Inn. [1931 Alhambra / San Gabriel Valley city directory]

1932

The Alhambra / San Gabriel Valley city directory no longer lists Everett Maddox as owning a restaurant.

The Pup appears in video footage labeled "Driving Through Hollywood (1932)." I'm not entirely certain that the date is correct, but I think that 2614-2616 South Burnside Avenue does appear in the background, which would place the footage before the move to Culver City.

Pup Cafe appears at 2:21. Source.

1933

The Pup Cafe appears in Los Angeles by Morrow Mayo.

In April, the Pup Cafe is put up for sale. [Illustrated Daily News, April 20, 1933]

The Pup Cafe is moved to West Washington Boulevard in Culver City at some point before June 1934. [UCSB aerial photo archive]

1934

In April, the Pup Cafe appears in Modern Mechanix (below). The image used is still of the West Adams location.

Photo 10

Source

In November, an advertisement appears for "Mac's Pup Cafe" in Culver City. [Venice Evening Vanguard, November 8, 1934]

Also in November, the Bulldog Inn appears in National Geographic.

Everett Maddox now lives at 5351 Homeside Avenue, Los Angeles, not far from his father. [Los Angeles voter registration archives]

The Los Angeles city directory no longer lists Joseph Maddox as owning a restaurant.

1937

The Sadler family are listed as proprietors of the Bulldog Inn in Rosemead. [1937 Alhambra / San Gabriel Valley city directory]

Dorothy Bishonden is listed as the proprietor of the Pup Cafe in Culver City. [1937 Culver City / Los Angeles city directory]

1938

Virginia Jacobson is listed as the proprietor of the Pup Cafe in Culver City. [1938 Culver City / Los Angeles city directory]

1939-1940

The Pup Cafe is photographed by Ansel Adams. [Los Angeles Public Library]

Below is a second photo of the Pup taken by Adams at the same time.

Photo 11

Source. Photograph by Ansel Adams.

1940

In June, the Bulldog is advertised for sale or rent in the Los Angeles Times:

Source: Los Angeles Times, June 16, 1940.

Note that 1153 East Valley Boulevard is given as the residence of the cafe's owners. This aligns with how the Sadler family were listed as both residents of 1153 East Valley Boulevard, and proprietors of a restaurant at the same address (see my post about the Bulldog). They must have lived right next door to the Bulldog.

1940-1944

The Bulldog is moved from Rosemead to Monterey Park. [my own research]

1945

In August, Esther Chase, the proprietor of the Pup Cafe in Culver City, throws hot coffee at three would-be robbers and stops them from robbing her restaurant. ["Coffee Treatment Scares Bandit," Venice Evening Vanguard, August 23, 1945]

1948

In July, Esther Collings receives approval to build an addition to the Pup Cafe (this time referred to as "Dog Restaurant" in contemporary coverage). ["Building Permits Receive Approval," Venice Evening Vanguard, July 15, 1948]

1948-1949

The Bulldog is either moved out of Monterey Park or demolished. [Historic Aerials]

1949

In January, Joseph Maddox dies at his home in Los Angeles. [Los Angeles Times, January 21, 1949]

1957

In August, eight teenagers are arrested for "gang activities" and violation of curfew at the Pup Cafe (this time referred to as "Dog Cafe" in contemporary coverage). ["Teenagers Nabbed in Local Drive-In Raid," Venice Evening Vanguard, August 10, 1957]

1962

In November, Everett Maddox dies in a construction accident in Los Angeles. ["Police Probe Building Fall; 1 Man Killed," Valley Times Today, November 17, 1962]

1969

The Pup Cafe, now Ugly Dog Records, appears in West Magazine of the Los Angeles Times.

1969-1971

The Pup Cafe is demolished. [UCSB aerial photo archive]

Open Questions

Some questions remain about the Pup Cafe:

• What building did Joseph Maddox move to 5406 West Adams Boulevard in 1929, and where did he move it from?

• Was it already in the shape of a dog, or did he modify it?

• Did he move an unrelated building, then demolish it and build the Pup soon after?

• When did the Pup become Ugly Dog Records?

Last Bits

There's one photo of the Pup Cafe that I couldn't even attempt to place into the rest of the chronology. It appears as part of the endpaper design of California Crazy & Beyond by Jim Heimann and is credited to the author's personal collection. For completeness's sake, I'll include it here.

Photo 12

Source: California Crazy & Beyond, Jim Heimann, 2001.

Finally, I'll close with a memory of the Pup Cafe from Culver City that someone posted on Facebook, which I thought was really nice: On Sundays my dad would walk with us here and lift us up to pet the dog's nose. 

Thanks for reading, and if you have any questions or corrections, feel free to reach out!