L.A. as Subject has launched a new collaboration with Los Angeles magazine, which has invited L.A. as Subject to contribute weekly posts to its City Think blog. The posts will highlight images from member collections while examining a single place, person, or object from Los Angeles history.
The inaugural post, which looks at the L.A. origins of the Ralphs supermarket chain, is now live on the City Think blog. An excerpt:
It’s not sloppy punctuation. It might come as a disappointment to indignant Southern California grammarians, but an apostrophe has never graced the name of Ralphs supermarkets. The regional grocer takes the last name of its founder, George A. Ralphs, a master bricklayer who turned to the grocery business after losing his arm in a hunting accident. Ralphs teamed with S. A. Francis in 1873 to open the Ralphs & Francis store at Fifth and Hill in downtown Los Angeles. Two years later, Ralphs’ brother Walter bought out Francis’ share, and the business became the Ralphs Bros. Grocers.
Keep reading the full post at Los Angeles magazine's City Think blog.