How Much Echo Park Cred Do You Have?

I recently completed a stuffed felt sculpture installation at Trencher (1305 Portia St., at Sunset) that depicts neighborhood characters, from signs and awnings, past and present. I open this friendly challenge to all Echo Park - Silver Lake Patch readers to see how many of them you can identify. Have you been in the neighborhood long enough to know these small businesses and the mascots that represent them? Or are you new to the neighborhood and know only gourmet coffee shops and restaurants?

Don’t get me wrong: I enjoy vegan plates and slow drip coffee as much as the next guy pushing a rugrat in his ergonomically correct stroller. I’ll take a glass of pinot noir from the swanky new wine bar, any day, over the greasy chicken that used to be sold out of that same location.

But do you remember the crazy chicken mascot that place had on its sign? I do, and I miss it because it reminds me of what drew me to Echo Park when I moved here 12 years ago. There was a creativity and hustling spirit in the institutions that held this neighborhood together. They weren’t afraid to use praying boys, wagon drivers or a goofy, dancing feet to get customers in the door.

Whether or not you take up my challenge, I hope you’ll join me in celebrating and preserving the unique history and iconography that makes Echo Park a great place to call home. If you’re up for the challenge, I‘ve put a key to which businesses these sign characters represent on my website at bkheel.com/trencher.

Take the test and let me know if you are a True Dodger Blue Old School Echo Park Head, if you’ve been around for a minute but may have missed some of the old neighborhood character, or if you are an Echo Park Newbie. Good luck!