Larry Price has handled more quarters in his career than anyone I have ever met. Owner and operator of Price Oil Company, Larry also built carwashes throughout our region. The King Kleen Carwash on East Main was famous in our family for another reason involving an ape. But for today's podcast, I asked Larry to recount the story that is pretty well known throughout L.A. as "The Monkey Had a Gun!" Larry told the story at a Dale Carnegie speakers' course and was awarded a prize for its presentation.
Old timers may recall that there were at least two monkeys in Magnolia that were pretty well known. One resided at the service station at the intersection of South Jackson and Calhoun Streets. The other was perhaps more well known as it resided at Martel Barbecue, also known as the Dairy Treat.
According to an article in the Banner-News in 2002, Frank and Ezelle Martel owned and operated Martel's Barbecue on East Main Street from 1947 to 1969. They were famous for the barbecue, potato salad, beans, fried pies and Ezelle's home-made ice cream. In the '50s and '60s it was a popular youth hangout.
In addition to the juke box, there were also big cages of parakeets and moneys as a curiosity for the customers to enjoy. But the day came when one of the Martels' monkeys needed to find a new home. Larry Price tells the story of what happened to the two monkeys, and rest assured, both monkeys eventually made it to the carnival and we assume lived happily ever after.
But why did one potential owner bring a monkey back to the Martels? And how did the monkey get ahold of a pistol from--of all people--the game warden? Larry Price tells the story in today's edition of Life in L.A.
