Old school LA bar napkins from classic nightclubs are a nostalgic sip of a bygone era

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Key points

• The colorful collection, believed to date largely back to the 1950's and 1960's, was lately discovered and shared on Reddit.
• While most of the establishments represented in the collection are no longer around, the eye-catching designs struck a nerve with Angelenos missing the city's old personality.
• "Found a small box under a bed in my grandmothers house and to my surprise was full of old napkins from around California and Mexico, " the poster wrote.
• Some were so obscure that the poster couldn't find a trace of them online.
• "I could see this being under glass in a museum, " one person commented.

For context, a stash of decades-old cocktail napkins from Los Angeles restaurants and watering holes is transporting Angelenos back to a bygone era – and proves to be a souvenir worth saving.

Notably, the colorful collection, believed to date largely back to the 1950's and 1960's, was lately discovered and shared on Reddit.

"Found a small box under a bed in my grandmothers house and to my surprise was full of old napkins from around California and Mexico, " the poster wrote. The tiny paper time capsules feature the bold illustrations, playful typography and elaborate branding once applied to produce even a cocktail napkin feel glamorous.

Notably, the unearthed treasure includes relics from the historic Santa Ynez Inn in Pacific Palisades, Club Seville on the Sunset Strip, the Cocoanut Grove nightclub inside the Ambassador Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard, The Albatross hotel and restaurant in Malibu and other long-gone establishments. Some were so obscure that the poster couldn't find a trace of them online.

While most of the establishments represented in the collection are no longer around, the eye-catching designs struck a nerve with Angelenos missing the city's old personality. Sign up for the California Morning Report newsletter.

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"I could see this being under glass in a museum, " one person commented. "Real LA history. Irreplicable now."

While another observed that the collection should be preserved at a library in "some kind of city archive.", another recalled that the Golden Pagoda, once a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown, was the kind of place where as a child, they were projected to wear a tie.

For now, old school LA bar napkins from classic nightclubs are a nostalgic sip remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.