December's SPIRITS with SPIRITS!

GHOULA meets for cocktails in haunted places on the 13th of each month. “SPIRITS with SPIRITS” is a casual gathering of regional ghost hunters and those that just like ghost stories. Open to all, from the curious skeptic to the passionate phantom pursuer. Make friends, and toast a ghost! Let's put the “Boo!” back into “booze.”

All those who attend will receive a free (square) G.H.O.U.L.A. button. If you already have one, please wear it so others can find you, without asking the staff.

THE DATE: December 13th, 2011 (Tuesday)
THE PLACE: Boardner's
1652 North Cherokee Avenue (Map)
THE TIME: 8:00pm to the witching hour

THE GHOST(S):

In the beginning, yuletide activities revolved around ghosts, demons and other weird creatures that dished out punishments to the naughty as a way of co-opting the pagan winter solstices ceremonies in place before "Christmas." For this reason, some early American pilgrims felt this celebration was sacrilegious and/or satanic. However, as this "christian" holiday gained popularity, these more sinister traditions were pushed back to autumn and became the basis for today's Halloween.

So let's turn back the clock to a simpler time when darkness (and death) ruled the winter, and celebrate a local watering hole with a ghostly connection to Christmas...

Although, Boardner's opened in 1942, this address had served as a bar for at least a decade before, making it one of the last great bars of Hollywood's golden era, and as such, it is often used as a film location to evoke that era. It was used in Tim Burton's "Ed Wood" (pictured above), since Ed Wood, arguably the worst film director in film history, frequented this tavern. The movie also depicts a fictional meeting between Wood and Orson Welles, arguably Hollywood's greatest director, at the historic (haunted) Musso and Frank's Bar and Grill across the street. Although, there is no proof that this event ever happened there, it is likely it may have happened at Boardner's given that many of Hollywood's elite (such as Welles) could be found slumming it at Boardner's, including a broke, down-n-out, elderly D.W Griffith, arguably the most important film director ever, who not only transformed movies from novelties into an art form, but he also turned Hollywood, from a farming community, into the center of the motion picture industry.

However, despite all the notable people who have past through its neon-lit entrance, today, most people know of Boardner's because of its association with the infamous "Black Dahlia" murder case, where the naked body of an actress/singer/possible prostitute was found cut in half with a bloody smile carved into her face, lying "posed" in a vacant lot on Norton Avenue. While the "Black Dahlia," aka Elizabeth Short, was living in Hollywood (one block away from Boardners), she frequented this establishment. Her drink of preference was supposedly beer. Incidentally, the moniker, "The Black Dahlia" is a reference to a popular movie of that time, "The Blue Dahlia," which was written by another supposed Boardner's regular, Raymond Chandler.

The grizzly Dahlia case kicked off a media frenzy, and despite all the scrutiny and investigations, the killer was never caught. Thus, its considered one of the great unsolved mysteries of Los Angeles with many solutions, theories, and suspects that are still discussed among Angelenos (including rumors that she was killed by Orson Welles). There is even a bus tour of all the Dahlia sites by Esotouric Bus Adventures. Recently, the Black Dahlia story has even been worked into the LA-centric TV series, American Horror Story, or rather the ghost of Elizabeth Short is now part of the show and part of their fictional haunted house's mythology.

In real life, the actual ghost of Elizabeth Short is said to haunt the elevators of the Biltmore Hotel (officially the last place see was seen alive). However, there are claims that she may haunt other locations...

It is said that she visited all her old Hollywood hangouts during the "missing days" before this unknown actress became posthumously famous.

Was she at Boardner's the night she was murdered? Did she meet her killer there for a drink, or a beer? Was it perhaps the film director that she wrote home about?

Could the dark presence witnesses feel in the tiny ladies room at the far end of the building be the tragic spirit of Elizabeth Short? Does she haunt her old haunt as some believe?

Although the bar is most known for its haunted bathroom (Boardner's website even boasts about it), as well as odd electrical disturbances, there is an additional ghost that resides on the premises...

There is a room that runs parallel to the the bar on the other side of the north wall (accessed through the courtyard) known as B52 Club (a reference to the bar that occupied this address before Boardners), and home to Bar Sinister (LA's best Goth Club). Inside the large loft-like space, generally only open during special events, there is a long stairway that goes to an upstairs office. Employees, late at night, have claimed to see a ghostly man at the top of those stairs, or have heard phantom footsteps walking up those steps.

The identity of this male spirit is unknown, but just as with the Dahlia, there are some likely suspects. Obviously, Steve Boardner, the Bar's namesake, is one suspect, since he spent many hours in that room, using it both as an office and a place for him and his friends to play poker into the wee hours of the morning.

Secondly, it is said that for a period, there was a bed in that room, and the then owner allowed a homeless man to sleep there during the hours that the business was closed. According to this story, one morning, it was discovered that he had died in his sleep sometime during the night before. Interestingly, the historic (haunted) Miceli's Restaurant, a block away, has an identical story of a homeless man dying in his sleep. Incidentally, Boardner and Carmen Miceli were close friends with signs in each of their establishments pointing patrons to the other establishment. Boardner gave Miceli the money to open his restauarant, back when Miceli was a busboy at the famous (haunted) night club, Ciro's.

The leading contender for the ghost's identity, however, is that of Kurt Richter, who purchased Boardner's from Steve Boardner in 1980 (along with partner, Dave Hadley), and was co-owner of this landmark until he had a heart-attack while inside Bioardner's while sitting at the bar in 1997...

...on Christmas Eve!Merry Christmas everyone, and hope to see you there!

http://www.boardners.com/

(to read about last month's haunted location... )
(to read about the ghosts of Musso & Franks... )
(to read about the ghosts of Miceli's...
( to read about the ghosts of Ciro's... )
(to read about the ghosts of the Biltmore... )

Highlights from November's SWS

Thank you all who came out celebrate the history and ghostly folklore of this famous eatery.

In a few weeks the historic Sunset Strip Hamburger Hamlet will just be a memory, not just for GHOULA members, but for all of Los Angeles when it closes its door forever. But, we can now proudly proclaim that our humble ghostly group was part of its illustrious history.

Although, we didn't see any ghosts that night, there were many good stories and much lively conversation, which is what the Hamlet has always been about. A playful bartender even joked with our group about the ghost of Dean Martin keeping an eye on his favorite hang-out from his favorite booth.

(to read about the Hamburger Hamlet's ghosts... )

November's SPIRITS with SPIRITS

GHOULA meets for cocktails in haunted places on the 13th of each month. “SPIRITS with SPIRITS” is a casual gathering of regional ghost hunters and those that just like ghost stories. Open to all, from the curious skeptic to the passionate phantom pursuer. Make friends, and toast a ghost! Let's put the “Boo!” back into “booze.”

All those who attend will receive a free (square) G.H.O.U.L.A. button. If you already have one, please wear it so others can find you, without asking the staff.

THE DATE: November 13th, 2011 (Sunday)
THE PLACE: The Hamburger Hamlet
(at the bar in the Tap Room)
9201 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood (Map)
THE TIME: 8:00pm to the witching hour

NOTE: This historic Hollywood landmark will be closing its doors forever next month. This may be your last chance to enjoy it before it leaves us.

THE GHOST(S):

"To sleep, perchance to dream - Ay, there's the rub."
William Shakespeare (from Hamlet)

"Hamburger Hamlet" was the dream of actor, Harry Lewis (most famous for his role in the Bogart/Bacall classic Key Largo). He was out of work, when he confessed this aspiration to his future wife, Marilyn, an aspiring fashion designer (and future creator of Cardinali collection), on their first date. He wanted a little place for actors to hang out. He figured that since every actor dreams of playing Hamlet, they would appreciate a burger joint themed towards that theatrical character. The concept for the menu was to mix signature burgers with some "fancy items," to attract both sets, because even the wealthy enjoy comfort food.

Using his life savings (around $3,000), a marked-up copy the Brown Derby Cook Book, and a nose-twitch that told Marilyn where to locate this restaurant, they opened The Hamburger Hamlet at 8931 Sunset Blvd. a couple of days before Halloween in 1950 to a full house... with a stove that wouldn't turn on. They hadn't paid the gas bill. Marilyn begged the gas man to come out and turn it on (without the money), proclaiming that if he did, he could eat there for free for the rest of his life. He did, and indeed, he ate there for free for the rest of his life.

From the very beginning the tiny Hamlet was a hit. Marilyn and Harry were the only two employees (she cooked and he worked the front of house). The place got so busy, that a PA system was installed so that she could announce the orders that were ready, and the individuals could pick them up themselves. Celebrities, not wanting there name announced, would give "Smith," which led to confusion most nights when all orders were for "Smith." When, Marilyn gave birth to their first child, forcing the couple to leave the restaurant, regular customers, Sammy Davis Jr. And Tony Curtis, took over the cooking and front of house duties, while the Lewis' were in the hospital.

From this beloved hole-in-the-wall, Marilyn and Harry built an empire, and a chain of Hamburger Hamlet restaurants across the country, even spinning off a more upscale version called The Hamlet Gardens. Additionally, they opened Kate Mantilini's, which did for meatloaf, what the Hamlet did for burgers (and which is also rumored to be haunted).

By the end of the 1960's, the original restaurant moved a couple of blocks west to its current location inside the modernist high-rise enclave at the Beverly Hills border (on the other side of "The Long Hair Curtain"), where the decor was changed to match the library/reading room aesthetic established by the other Hamlets. Over the decades, this site has became a hub for Hollywood deal-making, as it seems this is the last restaurant, from the studios, one passes before entering the residential neighborhoods of Beverly Hills (where these deal-makers live).

Despite a claim made by Medium Dorothy Vellas to the L.A. Times that the conditions at the Hamlet are no good for contacting the spirits (too crowded), employees claim that there is spirit activity in the kitchen after hours. It is said that when everyone has left, and they are closing, clattering sounds come from the kitchen area as if someone is busy at work. When investigated, no one is ever there.

Could this be a former employee? A former cook? In 1974, a disgruntled ex-cook trainee, returned to the restaurant, hid inside it over night, and when the manager and a maintenance man arrived at 9am, shot them at close range with a sawed-off shotgun, killing the maintenance man instantly. Although this story has been repeated, those events happened at their other West Hollywood location. Did the ghosts of that event move here, when the other Hamlet closed?

During its first few years, the Hamlet didn't "come alive" until after midnight, when performers got off work. In these wee hours, Sammy Davis Jr. used to dance on the tabletops, after his gig at Ciro's (last month's haunted location). Does this late-night energy still rattle around at the Hamlet? Or, could it be a phantom from the restaurants that preceded the Hamlet at this address, Schwab's and Covey's. Little is known about what was at this site before this Paul R. Williams designed building went up in 1963.

Whoever haunts this hamburger place inspired by Shakespeare's most famous ghost story, may never be revealed, but at the very least we can toast this unknown ghost, and toast this local institution before it also drifts into eternity.

"Parting is such sweet sorrow..."

www.hamburgerhamlet.com

(to read about last mothh's haunted location... )

Strangest Ghost Promotion 2011

Last year, we learned that ghosts like pancakes.
This year, we learned that "ghosts turn milk green."

(to see last year's strangest ghost promotion...)