{"product_id":"pirates-den-los-angeles-1940s","title":"Pirate's Den, Los Angeles 1940s","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Pirates Den themed restaurant and nightclub established in Los Angeles in the 1940s was advertised as ‘the jolliest, most unique and colorful rendezvous in the whole cockeyed world.’\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eServing staff were dressed as swashbuckling pirates and the high jinks and horseplay included mock battles being staged and female guests being ‘abducted’ and put in the brig until they screamed. They were released having earned a ‘scream diploma.’\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe bar was called the Skull and Bones Bar, and the manager carried a bullwhip to enforce discipline among his crew.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCelebrity investors of this unusual spot included Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Rudy Vallee, Fred McMurray and Johnny Weismuller – they were called the Council of Pirate Chiefs.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOwner Don Dickerman was a fanatic about the swashbucklers of the high seas. Born in 1893, he dressed as a pirate, wore an eyepatch and carried a parrot on his shoulder when he was a student at art school, rooming with up-and-coming artist Norman Rockwell.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe opened several restaurants and bars and his first Pirates Den opened in Greenwich Village in the 1920s. He must have been quite a character. He was reportedly married 13 times, boasting that his marriage tally was one more than his hero Bluebeard. His granddaughter Dottie said one marriage lasted only two hours. ‘He married her and then left her at Grand Central Station,’ she revealed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDickerman declared bankruptcy during the Great Depression in the 1930s before arriving in Los Angeles.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe nightspot was a short-lived location. In 1941, according to a report in the LA Times, a woman complained to the Police Commission that her 19-year-old son and his two friends had been charged the outrageous sum of $6.50 for a round of sandwiches and Coca Colas at the N La Brea Avenue nightspot.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe renewal of the Pirates Den’s entertainment license was already under examination after a customer – who happened to be a Superior Court judge – complained that he had been charged $6 for three beers. Certainly, the food and drink was expensive for its time, presumably because of the entertainment value. The most exotic dish was rattlesnake en casserole for $2.50.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRumours swirled - unfairly as it turned out - that the Pirates Den was a clip joint where customers were tricked into paying far above market prices. But the damage was done as far as public opinion went.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMarried at the time to his fifth wife, Don Dickerson went off to play pirates elsewhere.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere was a change of ownership, but the nightspot was, as a sea-faring buccaneer would say, holed below the waterline and closed.\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGallery quality Giclée print on natural white, matte, 100% cotton rag, acid and lignin free archival paper using Epson archival inks. Custom printed with border for matting and framing.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb style=\"line-height: 1.2;\"\u003eEach order includes a print of the interior menu.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb style=\"line-height: 1.2;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eAll printed in USA.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Vintage Menu Art","offers":[{"title":"8.5x11\" Archival Print (Unframed) $25.00","offer_id":57491882770598,"sku":"rjz1790052686606","price":19.25,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"11x14 Archival Print (Unframed) $30.00","offer_id":57491882803366,"sku":"gzg1790052686607","price":21.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"13x19 Archival Print (Unframed) $40.00","offer_id":57491882836134,"sku":"aiv1790052686608","price":31.6,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"16x20 Archival Print (Unframed) $55.00","offer_id":57491882868902,"sku":"osg1790052686609","price":34.1,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"20x24 Archival Print (Unframed) $85.00","offer_id":57491882901670,"sku":"edh1790052686610","price":60.35,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"24x36 Archival Print (Unframed) $135.00","offer_id":57491882934438,"sku":"qfx1790052686611","price":83.7,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0745\/9133\/8662\/files\/pirates-den-los-angeles-1940s_1.webp?v=1790052690","url":"https:\/\/coffeetamper.shop\/products\/pirates-den-los-angeles-1940s","provider":"My Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}