1946: The Premiere
Tail o' the Pup's name was a play on "Tail o' the Cock," the name of a fancier restaurant a few blocks south. Tail o' the Cock was part of La Cienega's Restaurant Row, and Tail o' the Pup was almost like an architectural punchline to the area.
Keenan Wynn takes a bite from Mary Anderson's "Piggy Pup" while Jack "The Outlaw" Buetel waits to buy a "Cheesy Pup" at the Tail o' the Pup, which opened last night at 311 N. La Cienega Blvd. with searchlights, plush carpets and liveried doormen. The enterprise is run by two ex-GI's, Harry Engel and Ed Striker. The weenie emporium building is shaped like a big hot dog with roll and pickle in the middle.
A dream that had its origin in a foxhole came true for two ex-GIs, Harry Engel and Ed Striker. They had a Hollywood premiere, with arc lights, red plush carpet, liveried doorman, movie stars, autograph seekers—for their hot dog stand at Beverly and La Cienega. Shaped like a wiener on a bun, the place, which normally accommodates half a dozen persons at a time, standing, was surrounded by nearly 400 and the police had to be called to restore order. Their "twin super pup," incidentally, costs 35 cents.
The film colony is getting back to normal. We received an invitation to attend the Hollywood premiere of the Tail of the Pup, world's most unusual hot dog stand. The invitation read: "There will be stars, red plush carpet, uniformed doorman, bright lights, photographers, and autograph hunters."What! No Lassie?
The Hot Dog Goes Hollywood
The lowly hotdog has gone Hollywood.Hotdog stands, like supermarkets and mortuaries, have blossomed into supercolossal projects in the cinema city.Nobody hears of a wiener-and-bun, with mustard on the side. Here man bites dog that's guzzied up with everything from pineapple to peanut butter.Premiere, No LessThe ultimate in hotdogtoriums is the Hot Dog Show, nestled among swanky restaurants on La Cienega Blvd., or Restaurant Row. This place, the size of a large postage stamp, had a premiere decorated by six searchlights, a radio broadcast and movie stars in orchids and limousines. …Recipes SecretThe manager of this glamorous establishment is Al Melchior, who used to be Ann Sothern's agent. He still is business manager for a pack of celebrities. Mr. Melchior says he loves to cook and spent years blending his hotdog sauces, recipes secret.Stars like Ginger Rogers, Van Johnson, Rosalind Russell, Marilyn Maxwell, and Mickey Rooney drop around, and the stand's parking lot usually is filled with limousines.Another hotdog stand is the Tail o' the Pup, perched near the swanky Tail o' the Cock restaurant. Its piece de resistance is the twin-super: two hotdogs bathed in mustard, relish, onion, cheese sauce, chopped nuts and wrapped in bacon (50 cents). This doggerie is built in the shape of a hotdog, and draws crowds of tourists who've heard things look like that out here.
"Well, Medium and RARE." Paul V. Coates, The Mirror, September 23, 1950.
The successful social climb of the frankfurter will never cease to amaze me. Not since Baron Leone has anything come up so fast.It all started when F.D.R. served them on a bun, with a pickle in the middle, for the King and Queen of England. Hot dogs have been getting out of hand ever since. And this can be messy.
I dimly recall the days when a weenie was the working-man's appetizer.
It's Gone Elite
For a nickel, you were served a limp sausage on an unenthusiastic bun. And, you could wash away the aftertaste with a horrible dye of razzberry ice water for another two cents.
The hot dog has gone elite since then. Now, we erect stucco shrines to this peculiar conglomeration of minced meats.
It is a matter of public record that I barely winced when somebody opened a plush stand called Tail o' the Pup. "To each his own," I remember saying with a brave little shrug.
Then came the Hot Dog Show, an ornate palace on La Cienega Blvd. And still later, the Hot Dog Follies opened further up the street. Here, the frankfurter is produced with all the flourish of Flo Ziegfeld. …
A Second Pup?
This is actually the most interesting thing that I learned about while doing this research. There wasn't always just one Tail o' the Pup — at some point, there were at least two, with this one in Venice having been built less than a year after what was presumably the original on La Cienega. This fact doesn't usually make it into overviews of Tail o' the Pup's history, although it is mentioned in one secondary source that I've found: this 2017 blog post by Chris Nichols.
The Venice Pup would eventually be repainted and become a restaurant called Pinocchio's. Here are the only photos I've found of it:
Pinocchio's became the Great Western Steak and Hoagie Company, a Philly cheesesteak stand, in 1973 (according to the Hoagie Company's Facebook page). That restaurant is still around today.
1949–1972: The Quiet Years
This ridiculous business of frost in Southern California has got to stop. It is more serious than I realized. The chill has already damaged our citrus crop. Now it is cutting into our major industry—hot dog stands! Customers are staying away in droves from these sidewalk cafes.The other morning I stopped by to discuss this with John Dally, who owns the Tail o' the Pup on La Cienega. I had only the best intentions, but Dally and I didn't hit it off too well.Maybe it was the hour. I got there at 8:30 in the a.m. which is bad time for me to get anywhere. A small cup of coffee would have made me reasonably coherent. But Dally wasn't serving.When I got there he was busily hosing down his brief lawn and I had to conduct an interview by following in his damp wake. It got my feet very wet and I am sensitive to wet feet at this unchic hour.He Wasn't TalkingAt any rate, our conversation got nowhere important. Dally's little spot is nationally famous for imaginative hot dogs. The Tail o' the Pup serves almost a dozen variations of the red hot. All at modest prices and with very fancy names.As a starter, there is the Old Fashioned. This is a simple little dish of hot dog, smothered in relish, chopped onions and mustard. It costs 20 cents.The ultimate in Tail o' the Pup dining is the Twin-Super, which is two dogs bathed in mustard, relish, onion, cheese sauce, chopped nuts and wrapped in a bacon strip. This elaborate delicacy is .50.Dally wouldn't give me any information on the sauces he blends. He had a strong suspicion that I might be a rival hot dog man looking for tips.
The level of news coverage received by Tail o' the Pup entered a lull after the 1940s, at least when it comes to articles that have been preserved digitally. I've found very few accounts from the 1950s and 1960s.
At some point during this time period, probably the early 1970s, Veloz and Yolanda took over Tail o' the Pup. They were a ballroom-dancing duo famous during the 1930s and 1940s, even featured on the cover of LIFE Magazine (October 30, 1939).
If you stop at the Tail o' the Pup on La Cienega and the woman who serves your hot dog looks familiar, she should.A generation ago she was half of the world's most famous dance team, Veloz and Yolanda.
"On the Town by Charles McHarry." New York Daily News, January 10, 1973.
Jose Greco said at Inn of the Clock that his longtime friends, Veloz and Yolanda, the famous ballroom team, are now comfortably semiretired. They own a successful hot dog stand, Tail of the Pup, in Hollywood.
"Dorothy Manners' Hollywood." The Scranton Tribune, December 23, 1973.
Wonder how many of the Los Angeles locals know that the once famous dance team of Veloz and Yolanda, long the star attraction at top night clubs, own the hot dog stand, Tail of the Pup, at the corner of La Cienega and Beverly Blvd. And what's more, Yolanda shows up now and then and does some serving herself.
Veloz and Yolanda's involvement with Tail o' the Pup was the hardest part of this blog post to verify from contemporary sources. These three syndicated gossip columns are the only mentions of it that I've found from before the 1980s, when their ownership was already being referred to in the past tense.
Sometime in the early- to mid-1970s, a man named Eddie Blake took over Tail o' the Pup.1972–1986: Enter Eddie Blake
"Cutting the Mustard as Historic Site." Los Angeles Times, June 30, 1980.
Unfortunately, some of the events predicted in this article would not come to pass. Tail o' the Pup would not be granted historic-cultural status by the city council, although the attempt seems to have generated enough publicity that several articles since then have incorrectly described the stand as having been declared a landmark. Tail o' the Pup would also indeed be displaced by the hotel built at La Cienega and Beverly.One of the more venerable pop art structures is the Tail o' the Pup, a hot dog stand at 311 N. La Cienega Blvd., shaped, naturally, as a huge hot dog in a roll coated with, of course, mustard.In the 'Funk' StyleIn recognition of its contribution to the Los Angeles landscape, the stand has been recommended by the city's Cultural Heritage Board for historic-cultural status, The designation now goes to the City Council for action.The board cited the 20 x 20-foot stucco stand just north of Beverly Boulevard as "one of the last remaining examples (in Los Angeles) of programmatic architecture" and "a remarkable piece of pop architecture." The style also is known as "funk."Whatever it is called, the stand's survival as a living landmark appears to be based less on the huge stucco hot dog and roll sculpted on a chickenwire frame and more on the Hoffman NC7 (natural casing, 7-inch long), all beef boiled and imaginatively dressed hot dogs served alfresco.About 400 of the hot dogs, along with 200 hamburgers and indeterminate amounts of french fries, tuna salad, soda, orange drink, coffee and pickles, are served over the counter daily from 5:30 in the morning to midnight, to a faithful clientele."Aside from the architecture, this place is a part of the history of L.A. It is a people place, a fun place, and for that reason alone it should be saved," exclaims Bernard Zimmerman as he munches on a No. 5 (the baseball special: a hot dog coated with mustard, relish and onions for 90 cents).An architect and planner with an office a few blocks away at 8322 Beverly Blvd., Zimmerman and an associate, Phillip Hawkins, helped draft and submit the application on behalf of the stand to the cultural heritage board. "We enthusiastically received it," says Ileana Welch, coordinator for the board.The application was prompted by rumors that the stand might be swallowed up for a hotel and parking garage complex proposed for the northwest corner of La Cienega and Beverly boulevards. The rumors were partially true, but thanks to Zimmerman and the site's understanding owners and developers, the tentative plans for the complex now save the stand."This place can't go. I signed a petition to save it. I love it," says Beth Kudlicki while eating a No. 8 (the red eye: a hot dog with mustard, relish, onions and tomato for $1.05) and sharing a cup of chili with Don Umemoto, a friend. The two estimate they are there at least three times a week for lunch, eating at one of eight tables at the side and rear of the stand. …The customer of longest standing is claimed by Betty Tracy, who lives two blocks away and has been coming to the stand since it opened in 1946. "It really is pretty much the same as then," she says. "The people are friendly. There's lots of talk and the hot dogs, I love them."
"Most of my customers are regulars," says Eddie Blake, the stand's owner, as he takes orders over a counter cut into the stucco hot dog and roll, He writes the orders down in shorthand on a paper plate ("to eat here") or on a brown paper bag ("to go") and hands them to his son, Dennis, who works the grill. …
"Tail o' Pup Vendor Recalls Pony Ride." Los Angeles Times, February 4, 1982.
Note that this article mentions in passing that Tail o' the Pup was "designed by architect Milton Black." I'll have more to say about that in a postscript (spoiler alert: it's an example of a mistake that's persisted for the last forty years). Also, for more information about the "amusement park and pony ride" that the Beverly Center shopping mall replaced, I recommend the YouTube video "Defunctland: The History of Beverly Park Kiddieland" as well as the book Beverly Park: LA's Kiddieland, 1943–74 by Jay Jennings.In the lengthening shadow of the Beverly Center shopping mall, Eddie Blake sells hot dogs, schmoozes with passersby … and waits. His Tail o' the Pup hot dog counter—a West Los Angeles landmark since 1946—may soon give way to a 10-story hotel, and Blake has no idea where or when he will move the frankfurter-shape stand. "Who knows with these big-time developers?" he said, pouring coffee for an early morning customer. "It could be next year. I don't know … I have no control over these things."When Blake does move, it will be the end of an era. His takeout counter is the last reminder of a colorful intersection at Beverly and La Cienega boulevards that once entertained families with an amusement park and pony ride.Parks and Ponies Long GoneThe park and ponies vanished years ago, casualties of the new, $100-million shopping center, which has begun to inflate land values—and rents—on nearby streets.The Pup, as it is called, has flourished in the same location for 36 years under a variety of owners. Designed by architect Milton Black, the food stand opened with Klieg lights and a celebrity bash in June, 1946. It has gained international recognition as an example of "funk" architecture.Blake bought the properly 10 years ago from dance celebrities Yolanda and Veloz, and has been selling hot dogs ever since. When plans for the hotel were announced, the developers promised him time to find a new location.Another place just might not be the same, Blake said ruefully. For years customers have identified the Pup with the La Cienega location, and Blake is not optimistic that he could afford another spot on the boulevard. "Look at the size of that thing," he said, gesturing toward the Beverly Center. "Do you think these little stores up and down the street are going to last long with land values shooting up? People like me, we might not have a chance."Blake, a wiry, combative fellow, said he asked developer Sheldon Gordon for permission last year to move into the posh Beverly Center, claiming that his business is a landmark which should be preserved.Gordon said he considered the idea—and a similar proposal to install the old pony ride in the center—but "logistical and economic problems" killed both plans, "I recognize the historic importance of the Tail o' the Pup," Gordon said. "We made an effort, but I think the owner knows that he'll have to move. And we'll cooperate with him, too."Pup Compared to Brown DerbyFriends of the distinctive food stand asked the city to declare it a cultural landmark last year so the structure would not be destroyed. Ileana Welch, director of the Cultural Affairs Board, said the stand "is of genuine landmark quality. … It's a classic example of the programmatic architecture in postwar Los Angeles, along with the Brown Derby and others."The City Council, which gives final approval to landmark buildings, decided last year to postpone a decision until Blake's hot dog stand is relocated.If Blake is sentimental about the past, he seems determined not to show it. The Beverly Center is "a good thing for the neighborhood," he insisted."If you're going to upgrade this area, hell, you can't have pony rides and hot dog stands. You gotta be realistic."A Reverie of Places and TimesThen a crony who stopped by for a cup of coffee recalled that he used to bring his children to the pony ride on Sundays, and suddenly Blake, too, recalled the past: "I wish that pony ride, that park were still here, you bet I do. And I remember this street when it really was Restaurant Row, with places you'd be proud to go to."Lost in a reverie of places and times not so long ago, Blake watched the traffic roar by and laughed. "There's certain things you can't improve," he said, staring patiently at the traffic … and waiting.
One 17-foot-long hot dog—to go.That was the disturbing order that Eddie Blake received the other day at his Tail o' the Pup, the 39-year-old stand shaped like a king-size hot dog (with mustard).Blake, who leases the location on La Cienega Boulevard, was told he must move his cement bun by Sept. 1 so the site can become part of a development consisting of an 11-story hotel and a second Ma Maison restaurant, which will be shaped like an expensive French restaurant.Stationed inside his steel reinforced frankfurter the other day, Blake admitted this is the biggest crisis ever faced by the Pup—bigger even than the time a woman walked head-first into the protruding dog and sued (she won an undisclosed sum).'Save the Hot Dog'"People tell me, 'Let’s save the landmark. Let's save the hot dog,'" said Blake. "I hope I can—if not here, then I hope I can move it somewhere else."If the Pup is unable to find a home, Southern California will have lost one of the last survivors of an era when merchants tried to catch the eye of motorists with buildings shaped like doughnuts, frogs (Toed Inn), igloos, farm animals (the Pig Cafe offered service through its snout), shoes, coffee cups, jails, pumpkins, dogs, cameras and zeppelins. …City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, whose district includes the Pup, said rising property values on the Westside contributed to the stand's problems."Investor confidence in West Los Angeles is both a blessing and a curse," he noted, "A curse in the sense that we sometimes see old neighborhood businesses disappear." …A few years ago, it appeared that the Pup might also relocate to the nearby Beverly Center, then under construction. However, Blake and Beverly Center developer Sheldon Gordon were unable to reach an agreement.If Blake is uprooted, he points out that it wouldn't be difficult to deliver his big frankfurter somewhere else. "The dog's not in concrete," he said. "I got a hook on top. All I'd have to do is bring in a crane and haul it away." …
1986–2005: From La Cienega to San Vicente
Hot dogs and historic preservation are being served up again with mustard and relish at the Tail o' the Pup.The enticing fast-food stand in the shape of a giant hot dog coated with mustard in a fluffy bun is steaming at a new location, on the west side of N. San Vicente Boulevard just above Beverly Boulevard.An architectural and gourmand landmark, the 17-foot-long stucco hot dog and roll sculpted on a chicken-wire frame survived as an outgoing order from its previous site a few blocks away on La Cienega Boulevard.The stand almost was gobbled up there in a real estate transaction—ironically, to make way for a rich architectural souffle consisting of a new Ma Maison restaurant crowned by a multi-storied luxury hotel. …The Tail o' the Pup has been one of the more venerable [programmatic food stands], pampered for nearly two decades by operator Eddie Blake with the help of his son, Dennis, and championed as a landmark by preservationists and customers. Its economics also have been aided by its status as a setting for TV commercials. When the stand was first threatened with extinction six years ago, local architect/activist Bernard Zimmerman led an effort to get the city's Cultural Heritage Board to designate it a historic-cultural monument. But because the stand was then existing on a month-to-month lease, the petition was turned down.The repainted and patched-up stand is now anchored to its new site by a five-year lease, along with steel reinforcing bars and the continuing love and affection of customers and preservationists.And though the kitschy stand still does not qualify for consideration by the city as an official monument, it is nonetheless a local architectural and social landmark to be cherished, preferably while consuming a hot dog.
Tail o' the Pup's new address would be 329 North San Vicente Boulevard, West Hollywood. It would remain at this location for 19 more years.
2005: The Closure
Stopped by the Tail this afternoon & I over heard Dennis Blake, the owner with his father, Eddie Blake telling a diner that he is being forced to close in 30 days. Another institution being destroyed by a developer. Evidently, the hospital( Sinai ) sold the property to Regent Development Co. who will re=do the whole corner. What next, the Apple Pan, Pink's? 55 years of serving dogs and then adios.Maybe they can find another location to move the Pup just as they did the last time. Does anybody have an idea or location for these guys? Let's save the Pup.
"New Digs for Tail o' the Pup? Internet gossip may complicate a possible relocation of the popular fast-food stand after it is forced from its spot in West Hollywood." Los Angeles Times, November 10, 2005.
Talk about the tale wagging the pup.
Quite frankly, the owner of the landmark Tail o' the Pup hadn't expected the story of the upcoming closure of his West Hollywood hot dog stand to be bandied about so soon. And with the word out, he certainly wasn't viewing his next meeting with his landlord with much relish.
That's because Dennis Blake is still negotiating with the owners of the San Vicente Boulevard site on which his distinctive, hot dog-shaped eatery sits to move it to a permanent location.
"We haven't told anybody. We haven't told anybody," Blake said, saying it twice Wednesday for emphasis. "We don't want to burn any bridges at this point. Landlords can be nasty if they want to be. But they have some other property they want us to move to."
Blake fielded a steady stream of inquiries from news outlets after an Internet message board operated by food lovers reported that the stand was "being destroyed by a developer." The thought of the loss of another Los Angeles fast-food icon was hard to digest.
It turns out that a hot dog-munching customer heard a snippet of conversation and raced to his keyboard to write:
"Stopped by the Tail this afternoon & I overheard Dennis Blake, the owner with his father, Eddie Blake, telling a diner that he is being forced to close in 30 days," wrote the anonymous "Westside Chub" on the Chowhound message board.
"Maybe they can find another location to move the Pup just as they did the last time. Does anybody have an idea or location for these guys? Let's save the Pup."
Actually, Regent Properties Inc. had already found a spot for the Pup in Westwood Village—unless someone rocks the boat before the deal goes through, said Blake, 53, of Westchester. "It's at a Broxton Avenue parking lot, near Weyburn Avenue. It could really work out well. There are a lot of things to work out though."
Blake and his 81-year-old father, who retired from the stand in July, acquired the 59-year-old stand in 1978. They oversaw its relocation in 1986 after it was moved from its original site at nearby La Cienega Boulevard and Beverly Place to make way for a luxury hotel. The pair stored the 17-foot-wide hot dog facade, constructed from stucco-covered chicken wire, at an Alhambra wrecking yard for about a year before renting space on land owned by Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
Beverly Hills-based Regent Properties bought the site about two years ago, Blake said. It plans to develop condominiums and a retirement community for gays and lesbians, he said.
Executives at Regent did not return a call seeking comment Wednesday about their hot dog relocation plans. But customers said they would follow the Pup wherever it goes. "I've been coming here maybe 25 years, and I'll keep coming," said David Arnold, a Redondo Beach police officer who lives in Santa Monica.
Fine-art photographer Jesse Diamond, son of singer Neil Diamond and a 30-year Pup patron, said the proposed move was fine with him: He lives in Westwood. "This place won't permanently disappear. There will be a new location for it," Diamond said confidently.
Blake hopes so. But he said he wished the Internet gossiper had talked to him first.
Eavesdropping over a hot dog doesn't cut the mustard.
By mid-December 2005, Tail o' the Pup was gone. Sadly, none of the aforementioned plans to quickly relocate the stand panned out. And nothing was ever actually built on the land that Tail o' the Pup was removed from. A 2010 article ("L.A. area has lots of unfulfilled potential," Los Angeles Times, April 18, 2010) explained that the initial Regent Properties project had stalled. As of 2021, the spot remains empty.
2005–2021: Resurrection?
The Tail o' the Pup facade sat in a warehouse in Torrance until 2014, when it was put on a truck headed for Las Vegas. It was to be restored there for an episode of the History Channel's American Restoration, but this plan fell through en route when "producers called to say the show was canceled".
Plans also swirled around for Eddie Blake's grandson Jay Miller and his wife Nicole to partner with Killer Shrimp restaurant owners Kevin Michaels and Brett Doherty, reopen Tail o' the Pup on La Cienega, and add a second location at The Bloc indoor mall. Usage of the original facade fell through when it wasn't able to pass health inspection, and the only thing that ended up materializing was a Tail o' the Pup food truck.
That truck opened in September 2016 in the parking lot of the Opening Ceremony clothing store at 451 North La Cienega (just a few blocks away from Tail o' the Pup's original location). I'm not sure for how long the truck operated, but by 2018 it was apparently gone and being described as "short-lived".
By 2017 the facade was in a Lake Elsinore storage yard (perhaps dropped off there instead of Las Vegas), and Michaels and Doherty were no longer involved. Nicole and Jay Miller donated the facade to the Valley Relics Museum. See this video for a look at the facade in transit to the museum.
In 2018, the Blake family sold the rights to Tail o' the Pup to the 1933 Group, which acquired the facade from the Valley Relics Museum and began working to restore it. As of now, the plan is for the group to reinstate Tail o' the Pup somewhere near its original location (hopefully with the original facade involved somehow). News about this has been slow since 2018, but I remain optimistic.
Postscript: The Milton J. Black Misconception
While researching Tail o' the Pup, I kept coming across statements that it was "built in 1938," "designed by architect Milton J. Black," or both.
Journal of the LA Institute of Contemporary Art, 1983.
"1938: Tail of the Pup opens on La Cienega Boulevard." [part of a timeline]
The Well-Built Elephant, J. J. C. Andrews, 1984.
The Tail o' the Pup, a hot dog stand, has stood on Los Angeles's La Cienega Boulevard since 1938. It was designed by architect Milton J. Black as the quintessence of Southern California pop architecture.
"Hot Dog Stand Withstands Blitz of Commercialism—With Relish." Los Angeles Times, July 2, 1992.
Tail o' the Pup was designed in 1938 by Milton J. Black, who was a master of Streamlined Moderne. He designed a number of zippy apartment buildings and factories all around the Westside. No doubt Tail o' the Pup was one of his smaller commissions, though it has garnered more fame than the rest of his work put together.
Roadside Giants, Brian and Sarah Butko, 2005.
A couple guys had been planning for [a roadside stand] back in 1938, even having an architect design the structure, but before their dream could be realized, they headed off to war. When they got back, they finally built it: a hot-dog-shaped stand with a serving window that opened into an awning or folded into the structure at night.
Tail o' the Pup opened in 1945 or 1946 (no one seems sure) at 311 North LaCienega, in Los Angeles's Westside neighborhood near North Hollywood.
Roadside Giants makes the best effort to connect the other sources' information about Milton J. Black and 1938 with the actual evidence of Tail o' the Pup's opening in 1946. However, I think the actual explanation is simpler: the entire idea that Tail o' the Pup was designed in 1938 by Milton J. Black is based on someone, at some point, confusing a building permit for 311 North La Cienega Boulevard with 311 South La Cienega Boulevard.
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