Saluting the Tried-and-True Tropes of Father's Day

Ghosts on Halloween, turkeys on Thanksgiving, and soaps-on-ropes on Father's Day. Holiday staples that return year after year, via the covers of greeting cards, wrapping paper designs, commercials, and gifts galores, charm and intrigue us. They're like the visual cues we need to jump into the next phase of the year. An old-fashioned pipe and/or golf club in the weekly circular? Father's Day straight ahead.

In honor of your pop's annual honorary shindig, we're saluting the finer things that linger at the edges of Father's Day, and suggesting ways to find those classics around town:

GOLFING: Plaid slacks, plaid shirts, plaid newsboy caps, tees, greens, and dimpled balls. If your guy likes to be out putting instead of puttering around the house, eye the golf courses over at the City of Los Angeles rec site. Choices abound.

REMOTE CONTROLS: Dad demands to be in control of the remote as he puts his feet up after a hard day doing Dadly stuff. Get your TV buff out of the recliner and get him to the Paley Center for Media, where you can both view classic television sitcoms. Dad likes "M.A.S.H." and "Seinfeld," we're betting.

SOAPS-ON-ROPES: Our own father may well have 345 soaps-on-ropes stashed in some forgotten cranny. To us, it isn't Father's Day without it. Right? Because the rope helps you keep the soap close when you need it. Kidspace in Pasadena has directions for making your own at home. Weekend project. Done.

CARS: Do you have to be a dad to like the vroom-vroom? We're Angelenos, so we all like our wheels. Go to the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum in Pomona or the Petersen Automotive Museum on Miracle Mile for various chrome-y, piston-packed delights.

TIES: Neckties, bowties, cravats, bolos. A man in a tie is something special -- thinking of "Mad Men" here, where every character practically lives in one -- and we'd go vintage for our father. The Out of the Closet thrift stores always have a large selection and the prices are pretty perfect, too. Money left over to take dad out for a burger and a beer.

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