…that is until we close for good.  Ships Coffee Shop.  Los Angeles.  Toasters on every table.  Open 24 hours.  Several locations.  Arrows of neon pointing toward space.  A place in the dreamscape of every kid who grew up in these parts of Los Angeles.  Nope, they never closed, until they closed for good back in 1995.  Whittled down to the last shop on La Cienega Blvd, then erased from the landscape.  Family opened and family gone.  The Culver City location, which was as close to Hollywood as one could get before actually hitting Hollywood Blvd., eventually became a Starbucks.  There’s irony there but we’d rather not bother with the obvious.  Google “Ships Coffee Shop” and you’ll come up with biographies and cool vintage shots.  This shot’s from the last few years they existed.   For some reason the sign was repainted just before the coffee shop closed for good.  “Go figure,” as my Dad would say.  Which means there’s no logic in the ever changing landscape of our Stripeycity.

To see a photo of Ships’ neon in full splendor against a smoggy LA sunset, visit the stripeycity shop.