Chris Nichols leans in close to the surface of the stone wall. His brow furrows slightly as he murmurs, “These are definitely neon-holes.”
He points to the tip of a steel rod embedded in the bluff stone, with just the screw-threaded end glinting in the sharp autumnal sunlight. He touches a fingertip to another and another as they form a silvery constellation in the stone. “Was it a figure? Maybe a Bahamian dancer?”
Chris Nichols is an archaeologist of sorts. Like, say, Indiana Jones, he rocks professorial eyewear and a dapper bow tie, and is a wealth of arcane historical knowledge with an emphasis on architectural design.
But we aren’t on a dusty academic dig in, say, Algeria; we’re outside Bowlero Pasadena on Foothill Boulevard. Nichols is indeed a discoverer and documenter of lost worlds, as well as a passionate conservator and guardian of mid-century American culture. His past books include a volume on Disneyland, published by Taschen.
This bowling “lounge” as it prefers to be called is one of the many such places revealed in “Bowlarama: The Architecture of Mid-Century Bowling” (published by Angel City Press, ISBN 9778-1-62640-131-0, hardcover, 208 pages) by Chris Nichols with Adriene Biondo, the fabulously glossy new book which will be discussed and signed by the authors at Vroman’s Bookstore next Thursday evening.
Nichols grew up in West Covina, and now resides in Rosemead. He and fellow aficionados bowl together the first Wednesday of every month. They investigate new lanes monthly, but often congregate at Shatto 39 Lanes on West 4th Street.
The neon-holes, he explains, indicate where a neon sign was once mounted. The walls tell a far older story. Looking closely, the exterior wall isn’t just limestone: it’s a monumental mosaic of fossils, with thousands of spiraling and fluted seashells continuing to make an impression. Literally time stopped in its tracks, the past set in stone allegedly collected in the Bahamas as part of the decor of a Boomer-bowler’s upscale paradise as envisioned by a World Series ballplayer.
Many of the classic lanes captured in this book document the frothy imagination of the New Frontier, with atomic, Googie and Tiki-pirate-fantasy motifs. The book includes “A Guide to the Remaining Mid-Century Bowling Centers,” with California dominating the list at 26.
“This place originally was Irv Noren Lanes, later called the Bahama Lanes,” says Nichols. I admit that I had to Google to learn that Irv Noren was a major league southpaw pitcher who spent the latter half of his childhood in Pasadena. The exterior’s blocks of fossil-packed limestone were just the beginning: the lounge’s theme circa 1957 was a sort of proto-Margaritaville with a Bahamian vibe, the prehistoric shell-encrusted exterior ushering guests into a tropics-themed bowler’s wonderland. As Nichols and I settle in at the bar, he notes that the center’s artificial river, long gone from beneath our feet, once housed a live alligator, according to period newspaper clips. “It wasn’t unusual for pro athletes open a bowling center after they had peaked in their sport,” he says. “This history of this structure truly captures that mid-century magic that I’m hellbent to honor and preserve.”
Nichols explains that bowling centers back in the day weren’t sweaty, smelly, back-alley beer joints. People were eating frog-legs, chateaubriand and Baked Alaska on white linen tablecloths with real silverware alongside the lanes.
Speaking of Bowlero Pasadena, he says “In prior incarnations, this place offered fine dining, cocktails, live music, even a hypnotist! The color palettes and design of custom balls, bags and shirts became quite sophisticated as leagues developed. There might have been an all-night coffee shop. In the glory days of bowling, when the suburbs were new, this would have been the place to be.”
Glitz, Glamour and Gutterballs
Nichols’ co-author, award-winning historian and conservancy advocate Adriene Biondo, chuckles “Don’t let the fossils fool you,” as we chat on the phone about the 208-page volume brilliantly designed by Amy Inouye of Future Studios. “This project will be fresh and eye-opening for many people,” she says. “Extraordinary architects who truly built modern Los Angeles, including A. Quincy Jones and Martin Stern, Jr., designed some of the most iconic bowling centers of the era. Everything was sleek, elegant, curving, shining, and ultramodern by post-war standards, and we call the design movement of those mid-century bowling centers an ‘arms race to enchantment.’”
Biondo grew up in the Tujunga area and says “My parents bowled every weekend. They’d put us kids in the nursery that was on-site, where they could watch us on closed-circuit TV, like a baby-cam.”
Stern, working with entrepreneur Kirk Kerkorian, is associated closely with the glittering elevation of architecture of Las Vegas, and is credited with originating the concept of the casino/resort hotel. His designs for the International Hotel which later became the Las Vegas Hilton, as well as the first MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, are among Stern’s most famous projects.
It’s not much of a leap to think of bowling centers in their heyday, often owned by luminaries including Dick Clark, Jack Benny, Yogi Berra, Johnny Unitas, Milton Berle, Barbara Eden, as equivalent to the early casinos of Las Vegas. Like an oasis in the desert, air-conditioning and cool drinks were and still are a powerful draw.
Nichols says, “Remember that in the 1950s, the suburbs were still remote. Unlike today, there were really no amenities. Those first suburbs were a distance from downtown anywhere. Fast food wasn’t even really established yet in most places, although again, this corner of Southern California led the way by opening the first McDonald’s in Azusa in 1954.
But a bowling center like Irv Noren’s was the local country club. Entertainers including Mel Tormé, Louis Armstrong, Diana Ross, and my favorite, Louis Prima, performed live in places like this. Political campaigns and civic group meetings were held in these deluxe centers, and this notion of popular luxury, common luxury, is what gives bowling new life today.”
We chatted with Glendora-born Summer Vukovitch, Assistant General Manager of Bowlero Pasadena. “My mom, and my grandparents are all great bowlers,” she says, showing us around the deluxe interior. “The theme here is modern man-cave,” she says, pointing out the rugged antler theme throughout the interior.
“We say our motto is to expect the unexpected.”
Picture a futuristic, electric hunting-lodge illuminated by neon. The sounds of knocking pins echos like soft thunder. Arcade games challenge the twitch-generation, and the bar here serves a $34 shot of premium tequila. Before a faux hearth, a faux-taxidermy deer head spreads its antlers over a row of pins, all signed by celebs.
Vukovitch says that group parties are a holiday mainstay, booked into the enormous banquet room. She adds, “Some of our customers remember seeing bowling really go downhill in the ’70s, which is just too sad. We’re so excited to bring bowling back as a really wonderful experience for the whole family.”
Nichols is in his element as groups and couples file into the chilled air of the lounge.
“This book is not about low-brow kitsch,” he says. “It’s high modernism, and says so much about the optimism of American life. The vintage ads for bowling lounges presented the experience as a very suave, sort of James Bond vibe. Today, all sorts of people are coming back to bowling, mostly as a way to get together, dress to impress, look good, and have some fun together.”
Biondi adds, “Bowling keeps us human!”
DEETS
- Author’s event and book-signing
- “Bowlarama: The Architecture of Mid-Century Bowling” by Chris Nichols with Adriene Biondo
- Thursday, September 26th
- 7:00 PM
- Vroman’s Bookstore
- 695 East Colorado Boulevard, Pasadena
