John Sage / FinchHaven Photography Archives

Wild Oats, Huntington Beach California 1973

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Wild Oats, Huntington Beach California 1973

Background (such as I remember). This is a storefront sign that my buddy Bill and I painted for a hippy arts-and-crafts co-op in Huntington Beach, California in 1973. The store was Wild Oats; Bill and I and a couple other potters from Cal State Long Beach sold pottery here. Bill and I were really into Art Deco and Aubrey Beardsley at the time; that heavily influenced the graphic design style we used. Ektachrome slides.

Wild Oats at the corner of Main and Pacific Coast Highway 101, 1973

Wild Oats at the corner of Main and Pacific Coast Highway 101, 1973

Incredibly, the Internet Wayback Machine shows the Wild Oats store front still existed in 1983, even though the panel on the south-facing wall seems to have been painted-over. In my wildest dreams I never would have thought it would have lasted that long...

z_Huntington_Beach_pier_Google_Earth_2015_001

Google Earth view, the corner of Main and Pacific Coast Highway 101, now. Wild Oats was at the arrow

z_Huntington_Beach_pier_Google_Street_View_2015_002

Google Street View, the corner of Main and Pacific Coast Highway 101, now. Wild Oats was at the arrow

Then, compare and contrast the corner of Pacific Coast Highway 101 and Main Street, right at the Huntington Beach Pier, in 1973 and now. Wild Oats was in the south side corner building with only an alley and a parking lot between it and 101. Now, not so much...