1032 N. Palm Canyon - former site of Doll House
"Before the 1940s, it had been located on the west side of Belardo Road, two streets south of Arenas Road"
www.peggyleediscography.com/p/Prerecording.php
XI. Hollywood (Chapter 2) And Peggy Lee's Early Singing Style (Take 1)
Following her recovery from surgery, a jobless Lee took advantage of the fact that a couple of members of the disbanded Osborne orchestra were driving back to California, and left with them. Thus Lee landed back in Hollywood. She quickly resumed work at The Jade Lounge, and this time she found a more convenient apartment nearby, on Whitley Avenue.
While performing at the Jade, Peggy Lee met lyricist Jack Brooks, of "Ole Buttermilk Sky" fame. Brooks told Lee that she would be a suitable addition to a Palm Springs establishment known as the Doll House. Soon thereafter, she was performing at this celebrity-frequented haunt which advertised itself as the oldest restaurant in Palm Springs.
(Images seen above: Two mementoes from the Doll House and a mid-1950s photo of the restaurant at its best-known location, 1032 North Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs. Before the 1940s, it had been located on the west side of Belardo Road, two streets south of Arenas Road. The first of the above-seen images flaunts the house's motto -- "for food, fun, frivolity" -- and includes the "doll face" logo that was featured in most of the restaurant's artifacts. One such artifact is the matchbox captured in the second photo. This is actually the backside of the matchbox; its front side shows the exact same design seen in the first photo.)
Most of the Doll House accounts in print start with the post-war period, when the restaurant was bought by George and Ethel Strebe (later known as Ethel Harutun), and when the likes of Frank Sinatra and Marlene Dietrich assiduously frequented the place. What's more, some of those accounts wrongly claim that the Doll House opened in 1945, thereby erasing its pre-war history.
Given the lack of extensive literature about the place's early days, the following comments from Peggy Lee's autobiography are particularly worthwhile: "The Doll House, not too surprisingly, was originally the home of some folks named Doll. They started serving dinners because Palm Springs didn't have many, if any, restaurants then. Mr. Wrigley, of the Spearmint gum fortune, loved that sunny place and the story goes that he used to say, 'Let's go to the Doll House for dinner. The name stuck and it became a very popular spot for world travelers and movie stars. I recognized Franchot Tone, Peter Lorre, James Cagney, Jack Benny, Dennis Day and many others, but only Franchot Tone and Peter Lorre talked with me." Obviously, this story about the origins of the restaurant's name was the one that Lee heard, presumably while she was employed there. It could be true, but it could just as well be apocryphal.
Another source states that the Doll house first opened in the 1930s, and that its original owners were named Al Thompson and Jane Manchester. I have also come across one indication that, at an unspecified point in time, the establishment housed a doll shop. If true, and if the shop was in place during the house's earliest years, that claim could provide another logical explanation for the establishment's name.
At the Doll House, Peggy Lee was sometimes accompanied by the house's Guadalajara Trio, who were also known as the Guadalajara Boys. Many years later, Lee would actually hire them for one of her more latinesque recording dates.
(Extended commentary about the images shown above: The first photo features character actor Peter Lorre and vaudevillian Lew Fields, playing gin rummy at one of the Doll House tables. This photo was taken in 1941, the same year in which Peggy Lee regularly performed there, and in which Lorre himself would talk to her. Since the Doll House was said to have a backroom where gambling was conducted, it may be that Lorre and Fields were in that room when this shot was taken.
The second photo is a 1943 shot of the Doll House's front, spotlighting a soldier and a lady standing by its door. Engraved above the front door is the Spanish word for canteen -- one of various details which suggest that the restaurant might have offered Hispanic food and a Mexican ambience during its early, pre-war years. Post-war, I've come across allusions to the Doll House as a Polynesian restaurant.
The Guadalajara Trio is seen in the last photo. Peggy Lee writes in her 1989 autobiography that, after more than 40 years, she could still hear them performing, in her head. She also quotes, without further clarification, what must have been either their customary greeting to audiences or, otherwise, a line from an often-performed song of theirs: "Tonight will live forever." Life forever was not granted to the Doll House itself, unfortunately: by 1966, it was no more. Its North Palm Canyon Drive premises were taken over by Sorrentino's Steak & Lobster House, which advertised itself as a favorite of Frank Sinatra, and stayed in business until 2002.
On the specific topic of the Guadalajara Trio, I must clarify that the three individuals in the photograph might not necessarily be the same ones with which Peggy Lee sang. I am inclined to believe that they are, but I have no confirmation, and online data about this group is confusing. The trio probably went through various editions or permutations. The three men who played at the Doll House appear to have been Lamberto Leyva, Jesús Castillón, and Mario Santos. It is likely that additional members joined them at the House; such additions could be the reason why they were also known as the Guadalajara Boys. The trio also appeared in various 1940s B movies, such as Abbott & Costello's 1942 flick Rio Rita and the 1945 Cisco Kid western South Of The Rio Grande. In some of those movies, all three members are seen singing and playing guitar, but at the Doll House they could have played additional instruments. Though typically wearing Mexican (mariachi) costumes for their act, the group does not seem to have come straight from Mexico. According to vague commentaries found online, all members might have actually been of Spaniard rather than Mexican heritage. Founder Leyva was born in Arizona, came to Palm Springs in 1939, and was still living there when he passed away at the age of 94, in 2010. There is also a Trío Guadalajara who recorded numerous albums and which was well known in Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries. During its heyday, all three members of that trio happened to be named José -- Boluda, Ivanco, and Vázquez. I assume that el Trío Guadalajara was either an entirely different group or otherwise a later edition of the Guadalajara Trio that played at the Doll House.)
Peggy Lee claimed to have developed her fondness for soft singing at the Doll House. On a Saturday night, the nightclub was packed and rowdier than usual, partially due to the weekend revelers who were intent on having a jolly old time, and partially on account of Jack Benny, who had come in with the staff of his radio show. "The audience was unusually boisterous," Lee told an interviewer in 1948. "To cope with the noise, I lowered my voice with each successive song. The people soon forgot their bad manners, and I found a kind of delivery I’d been seeking for a long while." Faced with her personalized brand of relaxed, subtly delivered singing, customers felt compelled to quiet down and pay closer attention. "In a moment of intense fear," Lee said to another interviewer, in 1984, "I discovered the power of softness. I was thinking people didn’t want to listen to me, so I’d just sing to myself. They immediately stopped talking."
(Images shown above: Three snapshots of the Doll House while in full operation. Though unfortunately suffering from low quality, the first image and the last one give a fair glimpse of the interior of the Doll House as it looked in the mid-1950s. In the first image, the club's large bar can be seen in the background. The foreground spotlights just a small segment of the crowded table area. In the third photo, notice how the piano seems to be smack in the middle, inside a triangular enclosure that is surrounded by tables on at least two of its three sides. As for the second photo, possibly taken in the 1940s, the festive dancing at hand should provide yet one more impression of how crowded and popular the place could be. Incidentally, two male members of the Guadalajara Boys are visible in that second photo. Also seen is an unidentified woman who, given her attire and positioning, could be a singer with the Boys.)
1032 N. Palm Canyon - former site of Doll House
"Before the 1940s, it had been located on the west side of Belardo Road, two streets south of Arenas Road"
www.peggyleediscography.com/p/Prerecording.php
XI. Hollywood (Chapter 2) And Peggy Lee's Early Singing Style (Take 1)
Following her recovery from surgery, a jobless Lee took advantage of the fact that a couple of members of the disbanded Osborne orchestra were driving back to California, and left with them. Thus Lee landed back in Hollywood. She quickly resumed work at The Jade Lounge, and this time she found a more convenient apartment nearby, on Whitley Avenue.
While performing at the Jade, Peggy Lee met lyricist Jack Brooks, of "Ole Buttermilk Sky" fame. Brooks told Lee that she would be a suitable addition to a Palm Springs establishment known as the Doll House. Soon thereafter, she was performing at this celebrity-frequented haunt which advertised itself as the oldest restaurant in Palm Springs.
(Images seen above: Two mementoes from the Doll House and a mid-1950s photo of the restaurant at its best-known location, 1032 North Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs. Before the 1940s, it had been located on the west side of Belardo Road, two streets south of Arenas Road. The first of the above-seen images flaunts the house's motto -- "for food, fun, frivolity" -- and includes the "doll face" logo that was featured in most of the restaurant's artifacts. One such artifact is the matchbox captured in the second photo. This is actually the backside of the matchbox; its front side shows the exact same design seen in the first photo.)
Most of the Doll House accounts in print start with the post-war period, when the restaurant was bought by George and Ethel Strebe (later known as Ethel Harutun), and when the likes of Frank Sinatra and Marlene Dietrich assiduously frequented the place. What's more, some of those accounts wrongly claim that the Doll House opened in 1945, thereby erasing its pre-war history.
Given the lack of extensive literature about the place's early days, the following comments from Peggy Lee's autobiography are particularly worthwhile: "The Doll House, not too surprisingly, was originally the home of some folks named Doll. They started serving dinners because Palm Springs didn't have many, if any, restaurants then. Mr. Wrigley, of the Spearmint gum fortune, loved that sunny place and the story goes that he used to say, 'Let's go to the Doll House for dinner. The name stuck and it became a very popular spot for world travelers and movie stars. I recognized Franchot Tone, Peter Lorre, James Cagney, Jack Benny, Dennis Day and many others, but only Franchot Tone and Peter Lorre talked with me." Obviously, this story about the origins of the restaurant's name was the one that Lee heard, presumably while she was employed there. It could be true, but it could just as well be apocryphal.
Another source states that the Doll house first opened in the 1930s, and that its original owners were named Al Thompson and Jane Manchester. I have also come across one indication that, at an unspecified point in time, the establishment housed a doll shop. If true, and if the shop was in place during the house's earliest years, that claim could provide another logical explanation for the establishment's name.
At the Doll House, Peggy Lee was sometimes accompanied by the house's Guadalajara Trio, who were also known as the Guadalajara Boys. Many years later, Lee would actually hire them for one of her more latinesque recording dates.
(Extended commentary about the images shown above: The first photo features character actor Peter Lorre and vaudevillian Lew Fields, playing gin rummy at one of the Doll House tables. This photo was taken in 1941, the same year in which Peggy Lee regularly performed there, and in which Lorre himself would talk to her. Since the Doll House was said to have a backroom where gambling was conducted, it may be that Lorre and Fields were in that room when this shot was taken.
The second photo is a 1943 shot of the Doll House's front, spotlighting a soldier and a lady standing by its door. Engraved above the front door is the Spanish word for canteen -- one of various details which suggest that the restaurant might have offered Hispanic food and a Mexican ambience during its early, pre-war years. Post-war, I've come across allusions to the Doll House as a Polynesian restaurant.
The Guadalajara Trio is seen in the last photo. Peggy Lee writes in her 1989 autobiography that, after more than 40 years, she could still hear them performing, in her head. She also quotes, without further clarification, what must have been either their customary greeting to audiences or, otherwise, a line from an often-performed song of theirs: "Tonight will live forever." Life forever was not granted to the Doll House itself, unfortunately: by 1966, it was no more. Its North Palm Canyon Drive premises were taken over by Sorrentino's Steak & Lobster House, which advertised itself as a favorite of Frank Sinatra, and stayed in business until 2002.
On the specific topic of the Guadalajara Trio, I must clarify that the three individuals in the photograph might not necessarily be the same ones with which Peggy Lee sang. I am inclined to believe that they are, but I have no confirmation, and online data about this group is confusing. The trio probably went through various editions or permutations. The three men who played at the Doll House appear to have been Lamberto Leyva, Jesús Castillón, and Mario Santos. It is likely that additional members joined them at the House; such additions could be the reason why they were also known as the Guadalajara Boys. The trio also appeared in various 1940s B movies, such as Abbott & Costello's 1942 flick Rio Rita and the 1945 Cisco Kid western South Of The Rio Grande. In some of those movies, all three members are seen singing and playing guitar, but at the Doll House they could have played additional instruments. Though typically wearing Mexican (mariachi) costumes for their act, the group does not seem to have come straight from Mexico. According to vague commentaries found online, all members might have actually been of Spaniard rather than Mexican heritage. Founder Leyva was born in Arizona, came to Palm Springs in 1939, and was still living there when he passed away at the age of 94, in 2010. There is also a Trío Guadalajara who recorded numerous albums and which was well known in Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries. During its heyday, all three members of that trio happened to be named José -- Boluda, Ivanco, and Vázquez. I assume that el Trío Guadalajara was either an entirely different group or otherwise a later edition of the Guadalajara Trio that played at the Doll House.)
Peggy Lee claimed to have developed her fondness for soft singing at the Doll House. On a Saturday night, the nightclub was packed and rowdier than usual, partially due to the weekend revelers who were intent on having a jolly old time, and partially on account of Jack Benny, who had come in with the staff of his radio show. "The audience was unusually boisterous," Lee told an interviewer in 1948. "To cope with the noise, I lowered my voice with each successive song. The people soon forgot their bad manners, and I found a kind of delivery I’d been seeking for a long while." Faced with her personalized brand of relaxed, subtly delivered singing, customers felt compelled to quiet down and pay closer attention. "In a moment of intense fear," Lee said to another interviewer, in 1984, "I discovered the power of softness. I was thinking people didn’t want to listen to me, so I’d just sing to myself. They immediately stopped talking."
(Images shown above: Three snapshots of the Doll House while in full operation. Though unfortunately suffering from low quality, the first image and the last one give a fair glimpse of the interior of the Doll House as it looked in the mid-1950s. In the first image, the club's large bar can be seen in the background. The foreground spotlights just a small segment of the crowded table area. In the third photo, notice how the piano seems to be smack in the middle, inside a triangular enclosure that is surrounded by tables on at least two of its three sides. As for the second photo, possibly taken in the 1940s, the festive dancing at hand should provide yet one more impression of how crowded and popular the place could be. Incidentally, two male members of the Guadalajara Boys are visible in that second photo. Also seen is an unidentified woman who, given her attire and positioning, could be a singer with the Boys.)