Title supplied by cataloger. In 1906, Horace Boos and three siblings opened one of Los Angeles' first cafeterias. Their idea of a fast food, self-service restaurant consisted of unheard-of impositions for that time: patrons would wait on themselves and return their trays and dishes to the kitchen. The brothers' downtown cafeteria was the first link, in a chain of seven that ultimately stretched from Los Angeles to San Francisco. They opened four more in the downtown area one in Santa Catalina Island, and two in San Francisco. By the 1920s, the chain of cafeterias had become widely known. When Horace Boos died in 1926, the surviving brothers sold the seven cafeterias for a record $7 million to the Childs Corp. In turn, Childs sold two of the cafeterias to Clifford E. Clinton, who launched the Clifton's chain. Eventually, Henry Boos bought back two, one on Hill Street and the other in Avalon on Catalina Island. The Boos Brothers offered inexpensive fare of a "40-cent dinner", but would call it quits in the late 1940s, before cafeterias began losing popularity due to the arrival of luncheonettes, soda fountains, and fast-food restaurants. View 8: Boos Bros. Cafeteria, located on the corner of Crescent Ave. and Metropole Ave. in Santa Catalina Island. Several people can be seen sitting on the long wooden benches, possibly waiting to enter the cafeteria, while others walk along the sidewalk. Two men riding horses and a three automobiles share the street.
Type
Image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;13 x 18 cm. on sheet 21 x 26 cm. Photographic prints
Boos Bros. Cafeteria Restaurants--California--Santa Catalina Island Cafeterias--California--Santa Catalina Island Islands--California--Santa Catalina Island Streets--California--Santa Catalina Island Santa Catalina Island (Calif.) Avalon (Calif.)
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