Laurel and Hardy and the Sons of the Desert are at the heart of Bowler Dessert magazine and Bowler Dessert Online
Four murals - one mighty fine holiday
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Dave Simpson and I had a rather special three-week holiday in America at the end of September and into October. Much planning had gone into our trip, staying at Los Angeles, Austin, San Antonio, Savannah, Harlem and Atlanta. Our main goal was to take in the Laurel and Hardy locations in LA and end up at the Oliver Hardy Festival in Georgia. But we squeezed so much into our itinerary that I will fail to do it justice in this report (and I am hoping that Dave Simpson will do it justice in his report for the next Perry Winkle). During our trip we also met old and new friends, saw movies at old and new cinemas, listened to some great live music, saw a couple of shows and visited historic sites and tourist places of interest. But Laurel and Hardy were top of the bill and it was excellent to see them in some unexpected places! I have cast my eye over the eight million photos that I took and selected pictures of Four Murals that captured the spirit of Laurel and Hardy Holiday 2011. Culver
City What Bob
Satterfield doesn't know about Laurel and
Hardy locations isn't worth knowing. He
was a mega-star for us during our visit of
LA. We had a wonderful day visiting the
film locations. We went to Culver City of
course. He led us down an obscure back
alley - "Where is he taking us?" I thought
- and there on the back wall of a store
and opposite a garage was this unexpected
Mural Number One. "I'm glad it's still
here" said Bob. Hollywood
Boulevard Hollywood
Boulevard is, of course, the focal point
for most of the sprawling city's visitors.
There are the obvious things to see such
as Grauman's Chinese Theatre, the
Hollywood Walk of Fame, the famous
Hollywood sign and the homes of the stars
in Beverley. But one of the nice memories
that I have was seeing this lovely mural
on the side of a building just off the
Boulevard. I searched to see if Stan and
Ollie had been included in this
star-studded line-up in Mural Number Two.
They certainly are - below the projector
light, complete in their Babes in
Toyland costumes. San
Antonio Remember the
Alamo? When we were in the town where it
all took place in Texas, Dave produced a
cutting from an old Bowler Dessert
in which one of the famous Brodie
Brothers (was it Peter or Paul?) had
spotted a mural of the Boys on a
café called "the Jail House" many
years ago when he had been driving through
San Antonio. We held out little chance of
finding it as we had no idea where it was,
we didn't know if it was still there and
also we are as dumb as we look. But hey,
ho, we found Mural Number Three. The
café has gone and the building is
now a Bail Bond building. Unfortunately or
fortunately we couldn't give them any
business as we had been "good boys". The
mural of Stan and Ollie behind bars is now
even more appropriate at the Jail House,
given its current use. Harlem Occasionally or,
in my case, rarely you get the ideal
photograph that you intended. When we were
at the Oliver Hardy Festival enjoying the
fun of being with 15,000 people having the
time of their lives, I went to take a
photo of the mural that I knew was now on
the wall of the florist shop adjacent to
the rail track. It just so happened that a
goods train was trundling along and so the
lovely Mural Number Four of Stan and Ollie
made an ideal backdrop. |
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