Friday, July 31, 2009

Royal* Jelly Donuts

Apparently the reign of Donut King I was so polular, the kingdom of Gardena, Ca. was granted a Donut King II. Perhaps things would have worked out differently for Marie Antionette had she declared, "Let them eat donuts!"

*Post was originally titled "Royal Jelly Donuts" just for its obvious and cringe-worthy pun benefit.
However, Kathy Ketter wrote in to inform me that by way of the wildest coincidence, one of the site's original 1955 co-founders (when it was known as The Big DoNut Drive-In ... a chain of some 10 Southern California locations, 5 of which remain today) was a fellow named ROYAL STEARNS!
So what do you know? I'm apparently wittier than I thought and clairvoyant to boot :-)
I'm glad these great-looking dount stands still exist. A big thanks to Kathy Ketter (Stearn's granddaughter) for the info, and thanks to Royal Stearns and partner Russell Wendell for such an enduringly iconic L.A. location!

2 comments:

  1. Another donut landmark is Randy's. I used to live right around the corner from it, in Inglewood. I always wanted to climb up and sit in it, dangle my legs, and get my picture taken in my uniform.

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  2. Does anybody know if the Randy's location is at all connected with these other "Giant Donut" locations? I'm sure someone, somewhere should be getting the credit for these iconic buildings that are becoming so scarce.

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