Preserving Our Cultural Heritage

L.A. is facing a cultural crisis of sorts. The Banana Museum in Altadena is for sale. The Lone Ranger Museum in Downey is gone, as is the Foot and Toe Museum of Long Beach. And there have been no sightings of the Bigfoot Museum, last glimpsed in Venice.

So, I’m happy to report that the Bunny Museum in Pasadena was recently recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the home of the most bunny collectibles: 8,437.

They’ll be open free to the public on St. Patrick’s Day (address: 1933 Jefferson Drive). The collection began eight years ago when founders Candace Frazee and Steve Lubanski (now married) began giving each other bunny presents.

The exact number of collectibles is somewhat in dispute. Negotiations with the Guinness folks weren’t all cute and cuddly.

Frazee, who says she actually has more than 12,000 items, revealed that Guinness counts “pairs as one. So bunny earrings are just one item. Salt and pepper sets are just one, even though there’s a boy and a girl. And if you have 12 bunny forks in a set they only count as one.”

Luckily they had plenty of one-of-a kind bunny items to satisfy Guinness, from a bunny toilet seat to an Elvis-shaped water pitcher with a rabbit head and a cape that says, “Elvis Parsley.”

FROM HARES TO HOUNDS: Alert readers spotted a couple of new dog breeds (see accompanying). Susan Nooger and Jeanine Grossman noticed a variety in Beverly Hills that must be heck on wheels, while Karen Clarke came across a knobby hound.

ENGLISH LESSON (CONT.): A few days ago, you may recall, I was unable to translate an English sign that said “Cats Eyes Removed.” It referred to reflectors in the road that give off light like a cat caught in the glow of a headlight. They’re somewhat akin to the Botts Dots on California freeways.

Anyway, I’ve since been hearing of other signs across the Atlantic that confirm Churchill’s dictum that England and the United States are two countries divided by a common language.

Alan Miller saw “Football Coaches Prohibited” (referring to buses with soccer fans), Mike Grundmann remembered “Turf Accountant” (a legal bookie) Brent Walker noticed “Clamping in Progress” (illegally parked vehicles subject to towing), and Andrew Seid encountered “No Naked Light” (no open flame).

Seid was also taken aback in the former British colony of Hong Kong when he boarded a bus and saw a sign near the driver that said, “No Way Out.”

He said, “Images from that Kevin Costner film immediately filled my head. Fortunately, I was able to read the Chinese translation, which instructed passengers to exit via the rear, not the front door.”

And Michael Kenney said that when he first visited England, “I went into a haberdashery and inquired into some corduroy pants and some suspenders. Imagine my embarrassment to discover I was asking for underwear and a garter belt.”

ON THE ROAD: Lorraine Wilcox of Santa Monica showed me a boarding pass that would not have boosted the confidence of nervous fliers, such as myself (see accompanying). At least it didn’t say, “No Way Out.”

miscelLAny:

OK, we know the origin of “Cats Eyes” But what of Botts Dots? They were invented in 1955 by a chemist in the California Department of Transportation, one Elbert Botts.

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Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LATIMES, Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A., 90012 and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com.