CLUB REVIEW : Doll Hut Is a ‘50s Find

With ‘50s chic in vogue in the Southland, locating true samplings of Americana aren’t that easy to find.

That’s why Linda’s Doll Hut, a doll-sized rockabilly club on an unmodernized street corner in Anaheim, is such a find. Many of the patrons appear to have stepped out of a ‘50s car brochure. Clad in old-school Levi’s that complement the venue’s roadhouse feel, many of the women sport close-cropped bangs while the men favor ducktails and work shirts.

Linda Jemison, the Doll Hut’s 29-year-old owner, is the life of this 75-capacity house, a former darts and billiards bar. A social worker turned club owner, Jemison books the bands, manages the door, runs the sound board, works the bar, plays pool (which is free at the Doll Hut) and even jumps on the dance floor when a particular song moves her.

Although you can also catch Orange County punk bands such as Offspring and Social Distortion (some of its members periodically play under the name Fuel) performing at the Doll Hut, the current Monday night house band, Russell Scott and the Red Hots, is one of the club’s best attractions.

Aside from a Day-Glo Elvis poster pinned up behind the “stage,” the decor primarily consists of band stickers slapped haphazardly on the club’s wood-paneled walls. But two-thirds of the stickers are about local bands--which also dominate the jukebox.

* Linda’s Doll Hut, 107 S. Adams, Anaheim, (714) 533-1286. Cover varies from $3 to $5.