The Street Seen: Domestic Hand Laundry (Ocean Park Blvd)
514 Ocean Park Boulevard between 5th and 6th St
From 1913 to 1925, Domestic Hand Laundry, a commercial laundry, operates at 514 Central Ave (now 514 Ocean Park Boulevard).
Domestic Hand Laundry begins operations in Venice in 1911. From 1913 to 1925, it operates from 514 Ocean Park Boulevard.1 The alley, 5th Court, runs along the east side of the property, and Ocean Park Place along the south.
From at least 1916 to 1922, Thomas Hines (1870 – 1942)2 and his wife Laura Hines (1872 – 1934) run Domestic Hand Laundry. Clothes are hand-washed and hung out to dry in the air and sunlight. The service is Rough Dry Work - wearing apparel that is washed, starched, and dried, but not ironed.
In 1916, the City of Venice passes a Laundry Ordinance that requires laundrymen outside of Venice but delivering to Venice to pay a license fee of $120 / year. The license fee for Venice-based laundrymen is $12 / year. In 1916, Hines is arrested by the Venice police and charged with operating a laundry wagon without a license. Hines refuses to pay the $108 fine and spends the night in jail.3 In 1917, an appellate court rules that the Venice laundry ordinance is not legal.
In 1920, the City of Santa Monica claims Hines is operating a laundry that requires a $30 / year license, as 3 people are employed. Hines claims he only employs 3 people in the summer, and tenders $15 (half the fee), which the City refuses.
In 1922, Hines moves to Venice and opens Elite Hand Laundry.4
From 1921 to 1925, Fannie Gallo (1869 – 1929),5 first wife of trombone player and later Santa Monica Municipal Band director, Guiseppe Gallo (1877 - 1945), operates Domestic Hand Laundry.6
By 1925, the 514 Ocean Park Blvd facility is inadequate for the growing demand. The laundry needs more capital and more space. In 1926, Domestic Hand Laundry, under new ownership, moves to a new facility at 14th St and Broadway.
In 1931, in the midst of the Depression, Guiseppe Gallo loses 514 Ocean Park Blvd through foreclosure. In 1939, a residential triplex is built on the rear (south) of the property.
In 1969, to allow for the widening of Ocean Park Blvd, a 24 ft wide strip is cut from the front (north) of the property.
In 1917, Central Avenue, which until then only extends west from Lincoln Blvd to 4th St, is extended from 4th St through to Main St. In 1926, Central Avenue is renamed Ocean Park Boulevard.
Thomas Hines (1870 – 1942). Born in KS, Hines marries Laura Earney (1872 – 1934) in 1901 in Kansas. In 1910, Hines is a Los Angeles grocery salesman. In 1911, he operates Domestic Hand Laundry in Venice. In 1913, the Hines family lives at 514 Ocean Park Blvd running Domestic Hand Laundry. In 1922, he forms Elite Hand Laundry, Venice, and moves to 621 San Juan, Venice. In 1930, Hines is a watchman at a Palm Springs hotel (Laura works in a laundry). In 1933, he is a bookkeeper in San Francisco, where Laura dies. Hines is in San Diego during WWII, before returning to San Francisco.
Hines is released the next day on a writ of habeas corpus.
In 1922, Hines forms Elite Hand Laundry at 616 Washington Blvd in Venice. In 1923, H.C. Webb acquires Elite Hand Laundry, Venice.
Fannie Ellen Hopkins Gallo (1869 – 1929). Born in IN, by 1895 (aged 26), both her parents are deceased. In 1900, Fannie is still in Indiana. Then in 1904, in Los Angeles, she marries Santa Monica municipal band musician Guiseppe Gallo (1877 – 1945). They have a daughter, Camelia Ellen Jensen (1905 – 1990). From 1912 to 1919, the Gallo family lives at 632 Sunset Ave in Venice. In 1918, Fannie is working at the Ocean Park Steam Laundry at Main & Hill. From 1921 to 1927, the Gallo family lives at 514 Ocean Park Blvd, where Fannie manages the Domestic Hand Laundry. In 1928, the Gallo family lives at 1332 15th St – near the new Domestic Hand Laundry facility at 14th & Broadway. Fannie Gallo dies in Santa Monica after a long illness (aged 59).
Gallo’s advertising suggests that she (or Domestic Hand Laundry) has been in operation since 1905.