View from the observatory on 8/30, click for larger

It was 1904 that wealthy, Chicago-born astronomer George Ellery Hale, with nothing more than a 1900-pound, 60-inch reflecting lens—a gift from his father that had been gathering dust since 1896—and a generous grant from the Carnegie Institute, set out to build an observatory in the mountains above Los Angeles. Dr. Hale, by all accounts not only a genius but a functional schizophrenic who co-authored many of his most enduring theories with an elf, chose a location, 5,715-foot Mt. Wilson, that was as astronomically advantageous for its steady atmospheric conditions as it was a huge pain in the ass for construction. The entire observatory was hauled up the mountain piece by piece on muleback, but when completed in 1908 the Mt. Wilson Observatory was the premier astronomic research facility in the western hemisphere, a virtual clubhouse for the greatest minds in the field.

It was here that on a starry night in 1929 famed astronomer Edwin Hubble peered through the 100-inch Hooker Telescope—at the time the largest and most powerful in the world—and gazing further into the great, seething, primordial Mother-Taco than any man before him, gasped in discovery and was heard to proclaim, “Holy shit! There was a Big Bang!” It was the greatest scientific achievement of its day, unifying Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity with observable phenomena of an expanding universe while subtly implying we are not merely these rude physical beings born of woman, ploddingly propagating our generations from the odds and ends of one another, but great, luminous, aromatic creatures of smoke and fire, sparked to life by a masterful hand on the seasoned griddle of infinity, descendents of tacos all….

As we speak the Mt. Wilson Observatory is besieged by the rampaging Station fire as it sweeps through the Angeles National Forest. The press at the moment seems more concerned with the possible loss of the radio and television transmission towers that defile that mountain’s peak, but you and I, who understand the secret history of the Birthplace of the Taco Cosmogony, know what the real tragedy would be.

Photo by Kevin Dean

Santa Monica Pier ~ Santa Monica

DTLA

Copyright Tom Andrews 2009

August 29th Grand Opening ~ 4431 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, 90004

Click for big.

Food One has a Mailing List

Henry “Hank” Silva, the beloved owner of Bill’s Tacos in South LA, has moved on to the big taco stand in the sky. Many people in South LA had their first ever taco at Bill’s and remained life-long customers and fans. Bill’s Tacos could be considered one of the original Mex-Am taco spots, using seasoned hamburger meat and yellow cheese with hard shells, lettuce, tomato, and salsa. While researching Henry, who people often called Bill (he was not the original owner), I found this remarkable blog post written by his granddaughter, Jen Maiser, who is surely mourning today. An excerpt:

Every once in a while, someone who had just been released from jail would come into the Taco House because they’d been craving Taco House food in the slammer. Celebrities also came into the Taco House — sometimes limos would pull up and people like Barry White and the singers of the Fifth Dimension would come in to get their taco fix. Many people who grew up in the neighborhood and became successful — singers, boxers, politicians — would continue to return to Bill’s Taco House. “I remember when Barry White was coming in and no one knew who he was,” grandpa told me recently, “and then he kept coming back when he was famous.”
…

Grandpa was really well known in the community. It’s still a treat to run into people who went to Bill’s as kids in the sixties and seventies and talk to them about what they remember. Aside from selling popular food, he provided the land for a Head Start school next door to the Taco House that is there to this day, and gave back to the community in many other ways. When the Watts riots occurred in 1965, neighbors urged grandpa to leave as the riots were breaking out, and spray painted “brother” on the wall of the Taco House. The Taco House was saved from being burned or looted while businesses all around were destroyed.

The Taco community has lost a pioneer, an LA fast food legend, and, from all accounts, a great man.

Photo by Jen Maiser via Flickr

605 Freeway ~ Pico Rivera

Los Angeles ~ CA

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