Chipper's Nut Hut
LASSIE IS A PUBLICITY HOUND
WHISLER'S MOTHER WAS FRAMED
LOVE THY NEIGHBOR BUT DON'T GET CAUGHT
Back when I was a kid, the family often drove past a peculiar little business called "Chipper's Nut Hut". This tiny nut shop in LA had a huge old-fashioned theater marque type sign with various messages on it. Sometimes they were jokes, words of wisdom, and even political statements. As a kid I remember enjoying trying to figure out the ever-changing messages.
I typed "Chipper's Nut Hut" into Google, and only found one listing -- a loan from Chipper's Nut Hut, Inc. back in 1974 and another in 1977. You'd think that a landmark like that -- visible from the 5 freeway to thousands of travelers, would have some historic listing.
It used to be located at 4755 TELEGRAPH ROAD, LOS ANGELES, CA 90022 which is where the now graffiti covered "Tellez Engine" now stands.
I did some research in the LA Times archive, and found out that the owner of the Nut Hut was a Mr. Hugh S. Doddridge, who was also a frustrated writer and a radio editor of the Daily News in the 1930's. The article talks about him having a stack of 3"x5" index cards with the messages written on them -- 3,000 cards over 10 years. Since the article was written in 1974 that means that they started business around 1964.
Looking back on it I regret never having gone in and bought some nuts. Does anyone have any information on this old business?
1970
2008
WHISLER'S MOTHER WAS FRAMED
LOVE THY NEIGHBOR BUT DON'T GET CAUGHT
Back when I was a kid, the family often drove past a peculiar little business called "Chipper's Nut Hut". This tiny nut shop in LA had a huge old-fashioned theater marque type sign with various messages on it. Sometimes they were jokes, words of wisdom, and even political statements. As a kid I remember enjoying trying to figure out the ever-changing messages.
I typed "Chipper's Nut Hut" into Google, and only found one listing -- a loan from Chipper's Nut Hut, Inc. back in 1974 and another in 1977. You'd think that a landmark like that -- visible from the 5 freeway to thousands of travelers, would have some historic listing.
It used to be located at 4755 TELEGRAPH ROAD, LOS ANGELES, CA 90022 which is where the now graffiti covered "Tellez Engine" now stands.
I did some research in the LA Times archive, and found out that the owner of the Nut Hut was a Mr. Hugh S. Doddridge, who was also a frustrated writer and a radio editor of the Daily News in the 1930's. The article talks about him having a stack of 3"x5" index cards with the messages written on them -- 3,000 cards over 10 years. Since the article was written in 1974 that means that they started business around 1964.
Looking back on it I regret never having gone in and bought some nuts. Does anyone have any information on this old business?
1970
2008
posted by Sam at 10:59 PM
14 Comments:
Hi, Sam,
My cousin, Lee Vriondes, was the VP of Sales for Chipper's Nut Hut, back in the '70s. I was living in New Orleans at the time and the Dixieland band I was playing in would sub for the Duke's of Dixieland whenever they would go out of town. When they got double booked, we went out to Knott's Berry Farm for a week in 1977. I met my cousin for the first time and he brought with him many giant bags of nuts as a gift to me. I'm now living in Orlando, FL and I haven't been in touch with Lee since. But I'm looking at the business card he gave me back then. Oddly enough, he changed the spelling of his (our) last name from Vrionides to Vriondes (dropping the second "i" because it made the name easier to pronounce.
I remember selling Chippers Nut Hut Butter Toffee Peanuts to raise money in Little League.
Hi
Tom Tolbert, former NBA basketball player, radio show host on KNBR in the SF Bay Area (and I believe still does some NBA analysis work for a network) has spoken about the job he had as a teenager working at Chipper's Nut Hut in LA!!
T'm positive Chippers supplied the salted-in-the-shell peanuts, in the "two-bagger" pack resembling saddle bags, for Dodger Stadium
The business folded after the owner left the company to one of his sons.
Found an empty can of the Toffee Nuts in a cabinet (with Little League fundraiser lid.)
Remember there were similar jokes on the marquee of Hyatt House, along the same freeway a couple miles to the southeast.
Hi john lund
Listening to Tolbert now!
This is hilarious!
Traffic to this site driven by KNBR
Tolbert on a fork lift??? NO!
My grandmother has lived in the house right next door to the business for over 50 years. I remember Chippers when I was kid.
In the mid-60s my school, Nobel Jr. High in Northridge, raised money through the sale of the same thing!
I worked at a hardware store in the 70s & 80s. Chipper's Nut Hut was one of our commercial accounts & on occasion we delivered to them. On one such delivery I was given a couple of bags of peanuts right off the line. They were fresh, still warm, & the best peanuts I have ever eaten.
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