Explore LA's Attic: Archives Bazaar

Curious about a city-centered topic? Your day has arrived.

While it might not be a unique-to-LA thing, to suddenly see a building or fountain or alley that you've never noticed before, it is an experience many locals have had, at least once.

Because our city? It's absolutely massive, on a physical scale, and millions of people have contributed to its story, the long tale that boasts seemingly countless plots, twists, and certainly memorable characters.

There's no true way to wrap one's Los Angeles-loving mind around all of this, but there might be a way to find out about that one building you just noticed, or dig, with delight, into a particular neighborhood topic that's been nagging at your craw for years. It's the the Los Angeles Archives Bazaar, and it returns to welcome Southern Californians into the region's attic.

Think of the Saturday, Oct. 15 event, which will set out the papers and photographs and documents and maps in grand display at USC Doheny Memorial Library, as akin to going through some old family boxes with a relative, the boxes that are stuffed-to-overflowing with finds.

You're going to come across old ticket stubs and wedding invitations in those family files, probably. Now ponder how that might work on a metropolis-large scale, and consider all of the histories and snapshots you'll encounter, the essential ephemera that captures our region at every moment in time.

It isn't all digging into one street or one neighborhood, though; the "day-long programming will feature workshops and demonstrations on archiving and preservation of photographs and scrapbooks," so if cataloging the past is your jam, join in and gain fresh knowledge.

And like going through your family's mementos, and finding that several relatives have contributed, the Los Angeles Archives Bazaar, while centered in one spot, will include items from several local institutions (think Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for one) as well as "private collectors whose materials fill the gaps left in the region's history."

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Do you love LA? Are you eager to explore its proverbial attic, which isn't physically the Doheny Memorial Library, of course, but rather the documents and photos that will be on display there on Oct. 15?

Be curious, and even a tad nosy, in the best neighborly sense. It's our city, and knowing its stories only fills out our local-pride affections even further.

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