Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott Charles
Interesting, Bill - from what you've said here, I would assume that you are correct (and that aunt Barbara is incorrect) - a gas station with lodging, like the Auto Wheel Cafe, would almost certainly be on the main drag... especially back in those days, when I would assume that the area was less built-up and populated.
I'll have to ask Barbara if she ever went to the Auto Wheel Cafe - I don't know when it closed, but I know that Barbara didn't know Jack when he was a child (as he is in the Auto Wheel Cafe photograph).
As to the location of the Can Can bar... that, Barbara would know, as she actually worked there along with Jack. As previously noted, she said it was “within a few blocks” of the Palomino, on Lankershim. But the CDs only mention a Can Can on Santa Monica Blvd, and another on Colorado Blvd, and another in South Gate...
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Aunt Barbara would be correct that the location is in the City of Thousand Oaks, but the city didn't incorporate until 1964. Before then the community of Thousand Oaks was in the eastern side of the Conejo Valley and Newbury Park was in the west. Here's my thinking of where the Auto Wheel Cafe was:
ScottCharles by
BillinGlendaleCA, on Flickr
Basically your aunt is sort of correct, while the freeway itself didn't displace the cafe, the Ventu Park interchange did. So my feeling that I might have seen the cafe may be in fact real.
ETA: I spelled Stagecoach wrong(doh!). The aerial photo is from UCSB's Framefinder.