Ship Cafe (Venice, California)

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Not to be confused with Ships Coffee Shop.
Ship Cafe
Ship Cafe Cabrillo
Map
Former namesCabrillo's,[1] hotel ship Cabrillo, Baron Long's Ship Cafe, Covington's Ship Cafe, Volga Boat,[2] Show-Boat Café, Ship Cafe at Venice-by-the-Sea
General information
Coordinates33°59′06″N 118°28′37″W / 33.985°N 118.477°W / 33.985; -118.477
Design and construction
Architecture firmMarsh & Russell[3]
DeveloperAbbot Kinney

The Ship Cafe was a landmark of Venice, California, United States, from 1903 to 1946. Built along the Venice Pier over the water off Windward Avenue, the restaurant and event space was known for its sumptuous food and prestigious clientele. The ship was a novelty building, set on concrete pilings, and not actually a sea-worthy vessel.

History[edit]

Constructed by Abbot Kinney beginning in 1903, the restaurant was designed to be a feature of the resort town of Venice.[4] A "first draft" of the Ship Cafe was washed away by a sea storm on March 13, 1905; Kinney hired 600 laborers to rebuild it in time for a summer opening.[5] The restaurant sat on pilings,[6] and was designed by Norman Foote Marsh and Clarence H. Russell to be an approximation of the San Salvador,[7] Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo's "Spanish galleon".[8] As a tourist guide put it, "It was his thought to moor by the sea-wall this white caravel, to fit it with anchor lamps and nautical furnishings and to place on the deck musicians in 16th-century capes and the hats of the Spanish minstrel."[9] The restaurant opened in August 1904 under the management of Carlos Marchetti.[10] According to a 1913 report, there was seating for 475 on two decks, as well as rooms for private parties.[11] The upper dining room displayed relics from the shipwreck Santa Rosa.[10] The kitchen drew upon fresh seafood, including halibut, bass, and sand dabs, held in a giant tank under the pier.[8] At one time the chef paid local kids five cents a pound to dig up cockles from the Del Rey Lagoon.[12] According to a 1916 article in Photoplay, "The Ship with its light-dotted masts towering high above the crowds on the Windward Avenue pier is one of the landmarks of California's Great White Way. Aboard the Ship the nautical illusion is made complete by the ship's bell upon which is struck the time in sea-fashion. Dancing always ceases at two bells of the mid-watch."[13] According to the Los Angeles Herald, food prices increased at the Ship Cafe after Prohibition kicked in, to compensate for lower revenue compared "olden days [when] the Ship cafe was astounding by reason of the amount of liquor dispensed across its table".[14] Apparently the building's "hotel rooms and private salons" allowed for illegal drinking during Prohibition served by "waiters dressed like 16th-century naval officers".[1]

Dining room of the Ship Cafe c. 1911

The original structure burned in the 1920 Abbot Kinney Pier fire, and was rebuilt the following year as a larger copy on the same plan,[8] at an estimated cost of $40,000.[15] The new Ship Cafe opened June 28, 1921.[16][17] The second ship had two masts, rather than the original three.[7] The ship had a "Spirit of the Seas" figurehead carved by O. S. Sarsi with contest winner Jacqueline Faust as the model.[17] The rebuilt structure was oriented north-south, whereas the original was oriented east-west.[16] In 1922 the owners were said to be $100,000 in debt and the Los Angeles Board of Trade would be taking control of the restaurant.[18] One visitor recalled that the interior of the rebuilt ship "was all lovely mahogany".[19]

When the Great Depression hit California, the Ship Cafe suffered along with the rest of the amusement and recreation business, and according to one account, "the carpeting...was worn, and no music was played on its bandstand".[20] The second version of the Ship Cafe survived until 1946 when the Venice pier complex was sold off and demolished.[8]

Clientele[edit]

Ship Cafe entrance, photographed July 23, 1928 for a Los Angeles Herald-Examiner story about the case against Albert Marco (Los Angeles Public Library photo 00106486)

Described in one history as "the glamor spot of the Los Angeles area, a stamping ground of Hollywood stars and directors when they were relaxing,"[21] the Ship Cafe was also famous as a nightclub hosting musical acts and dancing girls.[22] For instance, during the Baron Long era, "Spanish dancers Addison Fowler and Ethyle Stewart, dubbed the 'Castles of the Coast' in comparison with ballroom dancers Vernon and Irene Castle, had a 50-week run at the Ship Cafe in 1918."[7] The Ship Cafe was the site of a 1928 shootout between two Los Angeles underworld figures, Albert Marco and Dominic Conterno.[23] Movie cowboys Tom Mix and Art Acord supposedly "wrecked" the restaurant once because "they were sore at each other".[24] Disgruntled actors once threw dinner rolls at controversial director and fellow Ship Cafe patron Erich von Stroheim.[25] Other notable patrons included actors Fatty Arbuckle, Charlie Chaplin, Doug Fairbanks, and Nat Goodwin, and boxers Jack Dempsey and Jim Jeffries.[8] The Ship Cafe was said to be a second home for Buster Keaton's circle of Hollywood friends.[26]

Management[edit]

Ship Cafe with Venice Wharf and Pavilion in background, c. 1913
Display ad for Baron Long's Ship Cafe at Venice-by-the-Sea (Los Angeles Herald, March 23, 1918)

The Ship Cafe was owned and operated by series of restauranteurs and businessmen over its 40-plus year history including Marchetti, Tom McFadden and Jim Morjey, Baron Long, Tommy Jacobs, and Carleton Kinney, a son of the founder.[8]

  • Ward McFadden – 1910[27][28] to 1913[29]
  • Rudy Fishbeck – 1913 to 1914[30][31]
  • Charles Shaw, Julius Miller, and John H. Gagliardo – from 1914[31][32]
  • Baron Long, Paul Schecnk, and Julius Rosenfeld – 1917[33][34] to 1920[35][page needed][36]
  • J. M. Covington – Covington's Ship Cafe 1920 – 1922[37][38][39][40]
  • William Paine and Morris Rauch – after April 1922[41]
  • Peter Murich and George A. Baker Jr. 1928 – [22]
  • Ralph Arnold – 1929[42]
  • Note: Name changed to Show-Boat Café (c. May 1929)[43] and Volga Boat (late 1929 to fall 1930)[2]
  • Tommy Jacobs, George Collins, and Carter DeHaven – 1932[44][45] through 1938[46]
  • Thomas Cooney[47]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Saperstein (2015).
  2. ^ a b Graham (2017).
  3. ^ Gonzalez (2020).
  4. ^ Santa Fe Employes' Magazine. Santa Fe Magazine. 1909. Archived from the original on 2024-05-05. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  5. ^ Alexander (2004), p. 17.
  6. ^ Stargel & Stargel (2008), p. 123.
  7. ^ a b c Evans (2012).
  8. ^ a b c d e f L.A. Times (1946).
  9. ^ Wood (1914), pp. 48–49.
  10. ^ a b "The Famous Ship Cafe Cabrillo". Evening Vanguard. July 19, 1913. p. 10. Archived from the original on 2024-05-09. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  11. ^ Illustrated World ... American School of Correspondence at Armour Institute of Technology. 1913. Archived from the original on 2024-05-08. Retrieved 2024-05-06.
  12. ^ "Venice Story". Evening Vanguard. July 31, 1950. p. 2. Archived from the original on 2024-05-09. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
  13. ^ Cohn & Gassaway (1916), p. 44.
  14. ^ "Los Angeles Herald 19 July 1920 — California Digital Newspaper Collection". cdnc.ucr.edu. Archived from the original on 2024-05-08. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
  15. ^ Domestic Engineering and the Journal of Mechanical Contracting. 1921. Archived from the original on 2024-05-09. Retrieved 2024-05-06.
  16. ^ a b Alexander & Mercer (2009), p. 108.
  17. ^ a b "New Ship Cafe to Open Tonight". Los Angeles Herald. June 28, 1921. p. 10A. Archived from the original on 2024-05-06. Retrieved 2024-05-06 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  18. ^ "Ship Cafe Fails at Venice; Debts Total $100,000". San Francisco Call. Associated Press. March 22, 1922. Retrieved 2024-05-06 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  19. ^ Dagort, Aida Mulieri (July 13, 1999). Harps Are Not for Angels. X libris Corporation. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-4653-2562-4. Archived from the original on 2024-05-09. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  20. ^ Moran & Sewell (1979), p. 77.
  21. ^ Hynd, Alan (1960). Defenders of the Damned. A.S. Barnes. p. 61. Archived from the original on 2024-05-09. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  22. ^ a b "Famous Ship Cafe to Re-Open Tonight". Evening Vanguard. October 25, 1928. p. 3. Archived from the original on 2024-05-05. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
  23. ^ Sjoquist (1972), p. 230.
  24. ^ Westerner. Behn-Miller Publishers. 1970. p. 6. Archived from the original on 2024-05-09. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  25. ^ Brownlow, Kevin (1979). The War, the West, and the Wilderness. Knopf. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-394-48921-6. Archived from the original on 2024-05-08. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  26. ^ Curtis, James (February 15, 2022). Buster Keaton: A Filmmaker's Life. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 124. ISBN 978-0-385-35422-6. Archived from the original on 2024-05-08. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  27. ^ "Los Angeles Herald 3 September 1910 — California Digital Newspaper Collection". cdnc.ucr.edu. Archived from the original on 2024-05-08. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
  28. ^ "The Overland monthly v.32-33, Incompl. 1910". HathiTrust. Archived from the original on 2024-05-09. Retrieved 2024-05-07.
  29. ^ "Los Angeles Herald 6 May 1913 — California Digital Newspaper Collection". cdnc.ucr.edu. Archived from the original on 2024-05-08. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
  30. ^ "Los Angeles Herald 5 March 1914 — California Digital Newspaper Collection". cdnc.ucr.edu. Archived from the original on 2024-05-08. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
  31. ^ a b "Los Angeles Herald 23 June 1914 — California Digital Newspaper Collection". cdnc.ucr.edu. Archived from the original on 2024-05-08. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
  32. ^ "A New Regime in the Career of the Ship Cafe". Evening Vanguard. June 29, 1914. p. 2. Archived from the original on 2024-05-08. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
  33. ^ "Los Angeles Herald 29 September 1917 — California Digital Newspaper Collection". cdnc.ucr.edu. Archived from the original on 2024-05-08. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
  34. ^ "Los Angeles Herald 31 May 1918 — California Digital Newspaper Collection". cdnc.ucr.edu. Archived from the original on 2024-05-08. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
  35. ^ Evans 2012: "The Ship Cafe was destroyed in a fire in December 1920. It was rebuilt, this time with two masts instead of three, and lying parallel to the shore instead of pointing out to sea. Baron Long abandoned his interests in the place after the fire."
  36. ^ Personal - The Hotel World: The Hotel and Travelers Journal. September 7, 1918. p. 31. Archived from the original on 2024-05-08. Retrieved 2024-05-09. LONG—Mr. Baron Long, who for ten years past has been operating the Vernon Country Club, the Sunset Inn, the Nat Goodwin Cafe at Los Angeles, and latterly the Ship Cafe at Venice, near that city, is about to embark in the hotel business, having purchased an interest in the Van Nuys Hotel in Los Angeles and been elected vice-president and managing director of that hotel, of which Mr. E. I. Potter is the head. Messrs. Potter and Long will have a large multi-million-dollar hotel built for them by Mr. J. B. Van Nuys. Mr. Long retires from the Vernon and Venice cafes.
  37. ^ "Ship Cafe to Have Temporary Location". Caifornia Digital Newspaper Collection. Los Angeles Herald. December 24, 1920. p. 7 Volume XLVI, Number 46. Retrieved 2024-05-09. yesterday by J. M. Covington, proprietor. He has made arrangements to lease the building on the promenade, opposite the Venice bathhouse, which was formerly occupied by the Strand cafe, and will reopen his gay establishment there Saturday night.
  38. ^ "Covington's Ship Cafe". Caifornia Digital Newspaper Collection. Los Angeles Herald. January 3, 1921. p. Page A15 Advertisements Column 3. Retrieved 2024-05-09. Announcement we have decided to close our temporary headquarters in the Strand Cafe and await the grand opening of our newer and greater SHIP CAFE on the Pier at Venice in about ninety days. Our Mr. Covington has gone East to complete every detail which will make the new SHIP CAFE the finest equipped and most unique cafe and cabaret on the West Coast... opening announcement of which will be made later.
  39. ^ "Los Angeles Herald 3 January 1921 Edition 02 — California Digital Newspaper Collection". cdnc.ucr.edu. Archived from the original on 2024-05-08. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
  40. ^ "Los Angeles Herald 27 May 1921 — California Digital Newspaper Collection". cdnc.ucr.edu. Archived from the original on 2024-05-08. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
  41. ^ "Ship Cafe to Be Reopened". Evening Vanguard. April 13, 1922. p. 8. Retrieved 2024-05-18.
  42. ^ "Ship Cafe's Ralph Arnold". Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection. Los Angeles Public Library. 1929. Archived from the original on 2024-05-09. Retrieved 2024-05-08 – via Calisphere.
  43. ^ "Vital Session to be Held by Fun Chieftans". Evening Vanguard. May 13, 1929. p. 1. Archived from the original on 2024-05-09. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
  44. ^ Who's who in Los Angeles County. Who's Who in Los Angeles County Publishers. 1932. p. 87. Archived from the original on 2024-05-09. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  45. ^ "Hail Ship Cafe Opening Thursday". Evening Vanguard. April 18, 1933. p. 8. Archived from the original on 2024-05-08. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
  46. ^ "Jacob's Ship Cafe Popular in Venice". Evening Vanguard. August 11, 1938. p. 16. Archived from the original on 2024-05-08. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
  47. ^ "Thomas Cooney". The Los Angeles Times. January 2, 1953. p. 37. Archived from the original on 2024-05-08. Retrieved 2024-05-08.

Sources[edit]

External links[edit]

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