The Headliner was an iconic chain of three restaurants that operated in the Pasadena area from 1945 till the mid-1950s.

So-called because the first was located on Colorado Blvd between the old Star-News Building and the Presbyterian Church, the red menu cover featured a newspaper boy standing on a stool, shouting out the day’s headline news and selling newspapers.

The Headliner chain was partly owned by former WW1 veteran Clarence L Fischer, who operated another restaurant in Pasadena called Fischer’s, and it offered the usual plain American fare of the era – hamburgers, chili, pies and steak.

It also offered a Dine Out At Home service for those Americans who were glued to the-then state-of-the art entertainment system called television. A rarity during the 1940s, television (in black and white) became more accessible to the ordinary American in the 1950s and its popularity exploded.

This was the era of programs such as I Love Lucy, Perry Mason, The Lone Ranger and Father Knows Best.

The Headliner pointed out that take-out was ‘the smart way to entertain drop-in guests or enjoy your favorite TV show.’

In the 1960s, one of The Headliners became a JR Coffee Shop and another on Sierra Madre Boulevard is now called The Only Place in Town. 

Courtesy Private Collection.