{"product_id":"ships-westwood-villageculver-city-1960s","title":"Ships, Westwood Village\/Culver City 1960s","description":"\u003cp\u003eWith its iconic space age-style Googie architecture and Jetsons-like signage boasting that it Never Closes, the first Ships Coffee Shop was established in 1956 in Culver City, Los Angeles.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRestaurateur Emmett Shipman and his father Matt had a hit on their hands from day one. The restaurant was gorgeous, the food was high quality and sassy waitresses sang out orders and kept coffee cups filled.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTwo other locations followed – at Westwood (1958) and La Cienega (1963).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTrue to its word, Ships was open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year, and generations of Los Angelenos dined there, sometimes twice a day. One customer claimed he'd eaten at his local Ships every day for ten years.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLos Angeles historian Alison Martino, a lifelong fan, noted that because every table had its own Sunbeam toaster, Ships always smelled like burnt toast. Ships also had the best freshly squeezed OJ, chicken pot pie and mashed potatoes in the city, she observed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Westwood Ships, designed by revered architect Martin Sterns Jnr, who also helped transform Las Vegas from a low-rise sprawl into an extravagant high-rise desert metropolis, closed in 1984 and was demolished to make way for a 20-storey office building.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Ships at La Cienega and Olympic, designed by the famous Googie architectural firm Armet \u0026amp;Davis, closed on August 30, 1995. The building was later remodeled, losing all its charm.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Ships at Washington and Overland, also designed by Stern, was the first to open and the last to close a day later on August 31, 1995.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOwner Marilyn Shipman, widow of Emmett, said Ships had struggled to compete with increasing numbers of fast-food locations in LA and decided to close rather than compromise on quality.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Los Angeles Times sent a reporter along to cover the ‘wake’ for the last of the dearly-loved landmarks. Diners flocked to booths and counter seats to pay their respects and many people were emotional, some in tears, the article noted.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo many people wanted copies of the stylish menus as souvenirs that waitresses were forced to make photocopies. This vintage menu art print is taken from one of the surviving 1995 menus.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShips continued to live on for a few years through an official website run by the Shipman family but closed permanently in 2016, some 60 years after the first location opened.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCourtesy Steve Sann\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\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":57491759136934,"sku":"squ1790052238232","price":19.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"11x14 Archival Print (Unframed) $30.00","offer_id":57491759169702,"sku":"apv1790052238233","price":20.4,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"13x19 Archival Print (Unframed) $40.00","offer_id":57491759202470,"sku":"vmj1790052238234","price":31.2,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"16x20 Archival Print (Unframed) $55.00","offer_id":57491759235238,"sku":"wnu1790052238235","price":42.9,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"20x24 Archival Print (Unframed) $85.00","offer_id":57491759268006,"sku":"iti1790052238236","price":66.3,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"24x36 Archival Print (Unframed) $135.00","offer_id":57491759300774,"sku":"qzz1790052238237","price":81.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0745\/9133\/8662\/files\/ships-westwood-villageculver-city-1960s_1.webp?v=1790052242","url":"https:\/\/coffeetamper.shop\/products\/ships-westwood-villageculver-city-1960s","provider":"My Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}