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The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 5, Issue 6 (October 1, 1930)

The Psychology of Food and Fame. — A New Zealander Tours Around Hollywood

The Psychology of Food and Fame.
A New Zealander Tours Around Hollywood
.

What's in a name? More than meets the eye! But attract the eye first, and the palate will come.

Hollywood, one might say, “knows its onions,” and believes in the drawing power of captions.

A tour around the movie colony, taking in the cafes, cafeterias, and restaurants, with their arresting titles, is a stimulus in this connection alone.

There's a sort of comradely note and get-together spirit, for instance, in such friendly signs as “Let's Eat,” “Y Not Eat,” “Pal's Lunch,” “Jimmy's Steaks,” “Jack and Billy's,” and “Grace's Happy Oven,” “Ma's Home Cookery,” “Mrs. Winter's Pie Shop,” “Lilian's Shack,” “Pop's Coffee Shop,” “Squeeze In,” “T Bone Reilly” (Reilly winning that distinction through the merit of his steaks), the “Come-On-In,” “Slim's Broiler,” “Barney's Beanery” (which speaks for itself), “The Little Grey Home,” “The Frying Pan,” “The Dinner Bell,” and so on.

And who could resist “The Bottom of the Cup,” with your fortune thrown in with your “eats”; and the “Afta Sho” cafe twinkling its lights for theatregoers?

Then there's “Dinty More's,” famed for its corned beef and cabbage (remember the “Bringing-up Father” comic strip); the “Toad-in-the-Hole,” so called because it features an enormous baked potato oozing out with butter; the “Barbecues,” where the meat or poultry is roasted whole over an open fire in public view; “The Onion,” noted for its wonderful onion soup; “The Ship Ahoy” and “Sea Food Grotto,” with marine settings and every variety of shellfish; “The Moscow Inn,” “The Spanish Kitchen,” “The Brown Derby” (ultra smart), and the popular “Pig'n and Whistle.”

If one feels a little reckless he can be incited by “The Bad Egg,” rearing its yolk defiantly; “The Purple Pup,” or “Eat-in-your-Hat,” all distinguished by their own particular designation, while “The Slaughter House” is another startling, if not inviting, title that beckons one to an epicurean dish, and if there's anything ominous in “S.O.S.” and “Ptomaine Tommy's,” well, it doesn't keep the hungry connoisseur away!

“The Black Cat” is, of course, a favourite, and the “Hot Dog” stand can always command a following, while the “Kwik Lunch” is as faithful as it is phonetic, and the “O.K.” and “Lightning Speed” are not to be disregarded.

“Canary Cottage,” nestling in a grove of palms and aviaries lures the sentimental, and “Log Cabin” and “The Bull Pen” have their special atmosphere, while “The Ding Bat” is a call to the unconventional!

Don't forget “Henry's”! Surely unique in the world, meeting place of stars, and mainly owing its successful establishment through the personal interest of Charles Chaplin. A shy, serious, dignified man, this comedian that all countries know, and one gets extra zest out of a meal if Charlie should be dining there. Plenty of other big artists drop in to meal at “Henry's”—a quiet, unostentatious looking place, by the way, and after a midnight show one can see numerous film favourites at this individual Hollywood rendezvous.

The “Montmarte,” for smart exclusive-ness, where feminine stars exploit the latest whim in fashion, and Boulevardians wait in crowds to see them arrive in their luxurious limousines.

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And just across the road is another cafe, where the minds and purses of patrons are measured more by economy than exclusiveness—old actors of the legitimate and silver sheet, who have ostensibly seen better days; pale-faced youths ordering a mug of coffee and doughnuts—perhaps their only meal of the day; a bearded “forty-niner” who is always sure of a place in the pictures; real cowboys and westerners fortifying themselves with hamburgers and fried eggs before a strenuous day in the open spaces to make fame for films; here and there an unkempt lad determined to keep a stiff upper lip and hide his ill-luck from the folks back home; a sweet-faced girl slipping a couple of dimes into her sweetheart's hand…

A colony of contrasts.

And so life goes on in this land of light and shadows, where destiny, with men for pieces, plays….

Large Railway Goods Shed Nearing Completion. (Rly. Publicity Photo.) Two views of the new goods shed, being built on the reclaimed ground, at Thorndon, Wellington.

Large Railway Goods Shed Nearing Completion.
(Rly. Publicity Photo.)
Two views of the new goods shed, being built on the reclaimed ground, at Thorndon, Wellington.