I love funky roadside attractions, I love local history, and I have a warm spot in my heart for "Mom & Pop" businesses. As such, I was very happy to hear that our lousy economy had spared Hobby City from being demolished to make way for condominiums. Bea and Jay DeArmond started this place, on the border of Anaheim and Stanton, in 1955 -- the same year Disneyland opened. In fact, they passed Walt Disney and his lawyers coming out of the Orange County Clerk-Recorder's office when they went to file their deed. (I need to write a lot more about these enterprising folks sometime later.) In any case, they ran this amalgam of interesting shops in off-beat buildings for many years, and their family continues the tradition today..
I recently stopped by to see how much of Hobby City had survived its near brush with the bulldozer. Many shops have moved out, a couple have moved in, and a number of things are missing altogether. Still, I'd say we're lucky that some of the most interesting bits are still standing and (hopefully) awaiting new tenants. Today is part one of a two-part series on the recent changes to Hobby City, comparing current photos with photos I took several years ago.
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The photo at the top of today's post shows the entrance sign. The earlier version focused on "Hobby City" while the update focuses on the "White House Event Center." For those who don't know, the White House replica at the back of the property served as both the DeArmonds' home (upstairs) and the Hobby City Doll Museum (downstairs). First, click here for a video that gives you a glimpse of part of the old doll museum. (I tried to embed the video on the blog, but Blogger is so temperamental.)
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Now, the photo below shows the new events center, which replaced the doll museum. No, I don't know what happened to all the dolls.
For obvious reasons, this series is focusing on what has changed. But there's still plenty left for the roadside connoisseur to enjoy at Hobby City, including buildings that look like a tree, an aquarium, a log cabin, a fairytale cottage, and, of course, the White House. Operating shops include a model shop, a cake shop, a magic shop, a rock and gem shop, an "Old West" gun store, and the popular Adventure City mini-amusement-park for children. .
More "before and after" stuff next time...
