Tail o' the Pup

Tail O' the Pup
A busy day at the Tail O' the Pup in 2005
General information
Architectural style	Novelty architecture
Town or city	Los Angeles, California
Country	United States
Completed	1946
Design and construction
Architect	Milton J. Black

Tail O’ the Pup is an iconic Los Angeles, California hot dog stand actually shaped like a hot dog. Built in 1946, the small, walk-up stand has been noted as a prime example of “mimetic”-type novelty architecture. It was one of the very last surviving mid-20th century buildings that were built in the shapes of the products they sold.

Designed by architect Milton Black, the stand opened at La Cienega and Beverly boulevards in June 1946 to luminary-studded, searchlight-lit fanfare. Eddie Blake purchased the Pup in the early 1970s from its celebrity owners, the dance team of Veloz and Yolanda.

Despite its appearance in countless movies, television programs and commercials, the stand faced demolition in the mid-1980s, creating an outcry that resulted in the stand being moved a couple of blocks from its original location at 311 North La Cienega Boulevard to 329 North San Vicente Boulevard.

In December 2005, the Pup was evicted and it moved into a Torrance warehouse after Regent Properties, a development company, purchased the Pup's site from landlord Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and announced plans to build 152 condominium and apartment units. As of December 2012, construction had not started and the site remained a parking lot.

Owners Dennis and Eddie Blake plan to reopen the Tail O' the Pup once a suitable location is found, possibly in West Hollywood.

The city of Los Angeles has since declared Tail O’ the Pup to be a cultural landmark.

*Columbo "Murder by the Book" (1971)

Coordinates: 34°04′38″N 118°22′47″W / 34.077354°N 118.379773°W / 34.077354; -118.379773