Everything’s Coming Up Roses

Everything about the Rose Bowl is colossal. From the number of seats (currently hovering around 91,000) to the superstars who have taken to the field. How about that oversized heroic bronze statue of Jackie Robinson or the new giant hot dog, piled high with Philly cheesesteak? The sense of history at a place where the foundational titans of football once made plays can be overwhelming. Also overwhelming: sharing a building where the entire population of Flint, Michigan could sit down and still have room for more – a lot more. And we can’t forget the annual Rose Bowl game which broadcasts bucolic images of the balmy stadium in midwinter as the East Coast shudders and dreams of warmer climes.

Iconic Americans of the last 100 years, from Billy Graham to Beyonce, have taken to the field and won converts. Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan strolled the gridiron together before the big game in 1969. The National Historic Landmark was built in 1922, and aside from its namesake tournament held every January 1, the field has hosted five Super Bowls, two Olympics (with one more around the corner), and the World Cup. The stadium was dreamed up by architect Myron Hunt, who also designed Cal Tech, the Huntington Library and laid out the Hollywood Bowl.

In 2007, Sports Illustrated named the stadium that UCLA calls home the “number one venue in college sports.” The Rose Bowl has also hosted movie premieres, equestrian shows, and even a drive-in edition of RuPaul’s Drag Race. The Brookside Golf Course surrounding the stadium is the site of outdoor music festivals ranging from the country-fried Palomino to the goth Cruel World. The spectacle of thousands of sobbing Siouxsie and the Banshees fans running from a lightning storm at last year’s fest isn’t as strange and unusual as some of the treasures that turn up at the famous Rose Bowl Flea Market every second Sunday of the month.

“I was working for Disney and we had need for a lot of props and set pieces,” says Highland Park artist Clare Graham, who has frequented the flea since 1972. “I bought this huge sort-of roadkill Dr. Pepper machine that had been left out in the desert for target practice. I found primitive art and weapons and clubs and bows and arrows. You always need new fodder for Adventureland.”

Graham’s personal art is often composed of thousands of discarded bottle caps, dominoes and Scrabble tiles. “I was there early one morning, and a truck rolled up its door and was packed solid with ten million buttons,” he says of the legendary haul he’s still using decades later. “They followed me back to the studio to deliver them.”

Maywood-based R.G. Canning Productions founded the show in 1968 and continues operations today. They’ve added perks like live music and a free appraisal service. Ivan Yosafat and his crew are there by midnight setting up a thousand cones and directing early traffic anticipating a crowd of 20,000 visitors. Mixed among them are the hardcore collectors who line up before dawn, some sporting headband lamps, or wearing T-shirts marked “I buy fishing tackle” or “looking for dice.”

Many of the aggressive treasure hunters of yore have been eclipsed by younger fashionistas. “Gen Z really loves us, and these young kids are obsessed with vintage clothing,” says Yosafat.

He started with the flea market at age 14 as part of a school program to raise funds for band trips. “I remember my parents taking me as a 7-year-old and it’s been a part of Pasadena my whole life.”

Yosafat thinks today’s vibe is more like a music festival where people hang out and drink and show off their looks. The food offerings have also changed with the times and now include sushi, vegan, BBQ and Peruvian menus. There’s even a tequila station and a yerba mate vendor. Yosafat knows that shoppers love the thrill of the bargain hunt, mentioning how he once saw two copies of the same Margaret Keane painting on the same day. One priced at $2700 and the other at $10.

“I saw a guy pick up a dress and throw it down,” says Rose Bowl dealer Tia Hollingsworth. “I immediately grabbed it. It was by Missoni and worth a thousand dollars.”

The Rose Bowl is “a fun cool place to be,” he adds. “I’m not sure where else we have such a social experience.”

Hollingsworth branched into vintage during COVID after years as a photographer and stylist.

“I love minimalism and Americana designers like Ralph Lauren, and I really dress for my customers,” he says. “They think ‘she knows what she’s doing and has great style.’ It’s a large connection of energies of creative people. I see really cool people who make L.A. what it is.”