AMERICANA ROYALTY, Downey, CA, 3-12-08
Today is the first in my new ongoing series celebrating people that I consider to be Americana Royalty.
This week I introduce you to Paul J. Orloff, owner of EXOTICAL in Downey, California. I visited the master merchant of “Matching Hawaiian Clothing for the Whole Family” in his spectacular store where I took this pic of him behind the original turquoise Formica counter. He opened the store in 1964 when he was 34. He is now 79.
When you pull up to the front of EXOTICAL you are greeted by an extended family of colorful Hawaiian-clothing-clad vintage mannequins posed in several classic deep-dish display windows. You know you are in for a timeless treat. When you walk in the door you wonder what decade you are in. Most likely, Paul J. Oroff, will greet you. His grandfatherly charm, rosy cheeks, white beard and sparkly eyes remind me of a summer Santa.
Besides well stocked racks and racks of authentic “Made in Hawaii” apparel the store is filled to the brim with leis, grass skirts, hula dolls, blowfish, seashells, exotic perfumes and island arts and crafts. He even sells coconut bras – in six different cup sizes.
He artfully displays every exotic item in its perfect place. Many things are well marked with stylish signs that he renders in felt-tip marker by hand.
The Astro turf floors, thatched hut roofs and bamboo beams are a lesson to us all in classic Tiki bar décor. And the four dressing rooms, each covered in a different fun fur animal skin, are genius!
Over the course of our conversation he spoke of his upbringing in East Los Angeles where his Russian immigrant father manufactured wicker furniture, mother who died when he was five and hot-tempered stepmother who drove him out of the house at age 10 to live with his grandparents. He married, had two sons and imported bamboo before settling into the Hawaiian apparel business.
In he time and place he has dedicated to his trade he has become a legend. Therefore I am honored to say… MR. PAUL J. ORLOFF, YOU… ARE AMERICANA ROYALTY OF THE HIGHEST ORDER. You inspire my imagination and make my spirit soar!
EXOTICAL is located at 8136 E. Firestone Blvd. in Downey, California. Hours are 10AM to 5PM Monday thru Saturday. 562-869-0575. Make sure to tell him I said Aloha!
Thank you Charles for documenting theses kind of people and places, they are an important link to our past, and an endangered species for sure!
Renee,
They have a lot of great stuff in there. I teach photography at a local school and we went through there on a field trip. It was awesome! The school kids thought it was great too.
Wow…I grew up in Downey, and I drove by that store for years! I didn’t even know that place was still open! (Do they actually sell anything?)
Gabba-Gabba-Hey!
Charles,
Great stuff. Just discovered your site. My earliest memories are from California in the early 60′s (first, Cupertino, then, Canoga Park). I love the 50′s-60′s era and especially SoCal in that era. It calls me even to this day. All the best.
Wow, what timing! I have been looking for a local shop that sells Hawaiian-made clothing. I can’t wait to visit. Thanks Charles!
Wow – I have GOT to go worship in this house of royalty. I love Hawaiian shirts! I wonder if he’s got any car Hawaiian stuff?
Wow! What a great place for all your Hawaiian needs. I bought a grass skirt there for a high school dance once. I will have make another visit soon.
Charles, I think YOU are American Royalty. Everytime I view your slides, my spirit soars!
Hi Charles! Great shots, and always, of course, lots of fun to remember the ‘originals,’ the “OGs”, who actually ‘created’ Southern California, made it special, made millions of people who didn’t live here jealous of our weather, our lifestyles, surfing, Tiki Torches, our women (and men) and much, much more.
Recently viewed some of our home movies (8mm) from So Cal, circa 1961. Everything from the “Indians” doing their “War Dance” at Disneyland to me ay age 7 riding the “Flying Bumble Bees” in Lake Arrowhead’s “Santa’s Village”, which is no longer there, given way to ‘vacation cabins,’ many of them several acres in size … and the land surrounding those estate homes are several acres, too!
But how, oh HOW, could you feature Downey, CA, and NOT mention the Carpenters?!?! Karen and Richard continued to live there even AFTER they made many, many millions, so they MUST have had a very strong connection to that city and their family.
As The Car Nut, I should point-out that Richard Carpenter was one of the world’s pre-eminent collectors of Chrysler’s 300 ‘letter cars’, high-performance Hemi V8-equipped models. I wrote a few magazine feature stories on Richard and his cars — at that time, his father was the ‘curator’ of the collection. The first 300 appeared in 1955, a two-door coupe using body panels and other parts from their New Yorker, Imperial and Windsor models. Its heart was the 5.4 Liter V8 Hemi which made 300 horsepower (hence the ’30′ nomenclature).
And I say Richard “was” a pre-eminent collector because I think most of the collection has been sold-off, but I hope I am wrong about that.
These cars really “made their bones” (as Tony Soprano might say) in the early years of NASCAR, where the founder of Mercury Marine engines, Carl Kiekhaefer, owned and ran a team consisting of top drivers in racing versions of the 300s, and he had tremendous success doing so. And the ’300′ name lives on to this day, as Chrysler’s best-selling sedan model.
To many thousands of people, probably many more, long after Hawaiian shirts are gone (which I hope is never), the name “Downey, CA” will forever mean: The Carpenters.
Please forgive my taking the discussion a bit off, but I can never let a mention of ‘Downey’ slip by without telling folks about Karen, Richard, and that fabulous car collection.
Steve Parker
CAR NUT TV
http://www.SteveParker.com / http://www.CarNutTV.com
hi Charles,
I love your idea of celebrating American Royalty. My father is one of them. He is 91 and lives in Leisure Village in Camarillo. He has a garage full of stuff as he is an avid garage sale freak. He helps everyone and is always getting stuff for and from people. The problem is that he is taking in more than he is sending out! He has about 200 sets of golf clubs and a million golf balls and a huge golf book collection. But mostly it is just stuff, “good stuff” as he says. He gets books for the Friends of the Library so when someone in the Village dies my Dad goes over to pick up the books, the thing is he gets a lot more than books. He’ll offer me some 1/2 used cosmetic products and has trained me never to ask him where anything comes from. His car also is filled with stuff, including a huge gorilla in the back seat who he says is his wife’s first husband. Let me know if you’d like to meet him, I know you two would get along.
Nancy