If you haven't lived or spent time in the San Fernando Valley, you might be Clueless about Circus Liquor, and their big, neon lit, kinda creepy clown. This liquor store has been a landmark since the 1960's.
Located at the corner of Vineland and Burbank (5600 Vineland) in North Hollywood, the original Circus Liquors, with the huge neon clown sign, is a San Fernando Valley icon. I first saw this clown when I moved to the sketchiest place I've ever lived (way sketchier than the P.O.W. House, BMXers), a short bike ride up Vineland in 1991. I actually cashed two or three of my first TV industry paychecks at Circus Liquor, because my bank didn't have branches nearby. So I have a little bit of personal history with the kinda creepy clown.
Not to be confused with Hollywood or West Hollywood, North Hollywood is an actual city, and it's in the East side of the San Fernando Valley, between Burbank and Studio City. Those two cities are home to most of the actual TV and movie industry. People outside this region don't know, but there's not actually much of the showbiz industry in Hollywood itself. So Circus Liquor is in an area where the people who make movies and TV shows wander through. That's why it's been in movies, TV shows, commercials, and written up in newspapers, and now my blog. If you live in this area, you've probably bought something at Circus liquor at some point. Just yesterday I was flipping through Thrasher magazine, and saw this photo of the band Turnstile in a photo, under the Circus Liquor clown.
Doing a quick lookup for this blog post, I found that Circus Liquor has a few locations now, and they sell liquor online and ship it, if you're over age 21, of course. Here are three more clips featuring the Circus Liquor clown. If you build it, they will come (and buy booze and smokes, or shoot movies).
Debbie Harry kicks a thug's ass in Circus Liquor
Circus Liquor- Classic California Neon
One Minute Study- Circus Liquor
I shot a couple photos of the clown in early 2020, long before I had the idea for this blog. I was just going to put the pics up on Facebook. Once I started this blog, it's been on my list to blog about, as one of those iconic signs, a landmark in the San Fernando Valley. Fer shur.
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