Culture: Museums: Petersens / Spanish

The Drive-In Market

In the 1920s, creative merchants and architects in Los Angeles developed new types of commercial buildings to accommodate the car. Most of the new building types began elsewhere and reached their fullest development here. Others were local inventions, notably the drive-in market.

The idea behind the drive-in market was to allow cars easy access to and from the store. The basic plan came from the earlier evolution of the gas station -- by moving the building back from the street, cars could park in front of it.

Other features of the drive-in market followed from that step. The markets usually occupied corner lots to provide greater street access.

They followed the shape of the rear lot lines and thus took an L-shaped form. Moving the buildings back from the street made them less visible to drivers, so the markets usually had a tall sign or tower.

From the mid-1920s to about 1930, hundreds of drive-in markets were built in and around Los Angeles. The concept soon took hold throughout the rest of the nation. Merchants in Los Angeles had already begun another phase of innovation that would produce the supermarket.


ENGLISH		SPANISH

The Drive-In Market In the 1920s, creative merchants and architects in Los Angeles developed new types of commercial buildings to accommodate the car. Most of the new building types began elsewhere and reached their fullest development here. Others were local inventions, notably the drive-in market. The idea behind the drive-in market was to allow cars easy access to and from the store. The basic plan came from the earlier evolution of the gas station -- by moving the building back from the street, cars could park in front of it. Other features of the drive-in market followed from that step. The markets usually occupied corner lots to provide greater street access. They followed the shape of the rear lot lines and thus took an L-shaped form. Moving the buildings back from the street made them less visible to drivers, so the markets usually had a tall sign or tower. From the mid-1920s to about 1930, hundreds of drive-in markets were built in and around Los Angeles. The concept soon took hold throughout the rest of the nation. Merchants in Los Angeles had already begun another phase of innovation that would produce the supermarket.		Mercados con servicios desde el automóvil En el transcurso de los años 20, la visión de comerciantes y arquitectos de Los Angeles crearon nuevos estilos en los edificios comerciales adaptándolos a las necesidades del uso del automóvil. La mayoría de estas novedosas edificaciones aparecieron en diversos lugares pero alcanzaron su mayor desarrollo aquí. Otras fueron creaciones locales, en particular, el mercado de tipo "Drive-in". La idea en que se basó el mercado con servicio desde el automóvil fue el permitirle el fácil acceso para llegar y salir de la tienda. El proyecto partió de la evolución de las gasolineras, que al alejar el edificio de la orilla de la calle, les permitía a los automóviles estacionarse al frente del negocio. Otras características del mercado con servicio desde el automóvil partieron de la misma idea, estos negocios por lo general se establecían en las esquinas para proporcionar mejor acceso desde la calle. Las edificaciones seguían la línea trasera del terreno por lo que generalmente tomaban forma de 'L', pero al alejar los edificios del frente de la calle se perdían haciéndolos menos visibles al automovilista, por lo que se requería de anuncios o torres destacadas. Desde mediados de los años 20 hasta apróximadamente los años 30, se construyeron en Los Angeles y sus alrederos, cientos de locales para dar servicio en su auto. En muy poco tiempo este novedoso concepto se extendió por toda la nación. Mientras tanto los comerciantes comenzaban con otra novedosa faceta que resultaría en los supermercados.