You might not think that Joe Jost’s, a longtime bar and eatery, and B&B Antique Hardware have anything in common — but you would have to think again.
Both are local historic treasures and they will each receive the coveted Merit Preservation Award at the Long Beach Heritage’s 45th anniversary dinner aboard the Queen Mary on April 9.
“The evening marks a significant milestone as the organization celebrates 45 years of leadership in preserving and protecting Long Beach’s architectural landmarks and cultural treasures,” said Chris Hogan, Heritage president. “Joe Jost’s and B&B Hardware are two of those places.”
Preservation awards also will be presented to other individuals and organizations, Hogan said, including a posthumous lifetime achievement award to honor Patty Moore, longtime chair of the Preservation Awards gala, who died last year. Her award will be accepted by her widow, Jean Shapen.
Tom Barnes (R), and his wife Sinoeun “Noon” (L), are inside their B&B Antique Hardware store located in Signal Hill. It sells a wide array of items for the many historic homes in the Long Beach area. (Photo courtesy of Rich Archbold)
A look inside the B&B Antique Hardware store in Signal Hill filled with thousands of items for the many historic homes in the Long Beach area. (Photo courtesy of Rich Archbold)
The iconic Long Beach tavern Joe Jost’s celebrated its 100th anniversary on Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (Photo by Christina Merino, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
(L-R) Ken Buck, owner of Joe Jost’s, and Dan Gooch of Long Beach Century Club, at Joe Jost’s 100th anniversary celebration on Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (Photo by Christina Merino, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Joe Jost’s preparing the food for customers at the 100th anniversary celebration of the iconic Long Beach tavern on Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (Photo by Christina Merino, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Headshot of Joe Jost (Photo courtesy of Ken Buck)
Special Joe Jost’s T-Shirts were bring sold at the 100th anniversary celebration for the iconic Long Beach tavern on Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (Photo by Christina Merino, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
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Tom Barnes (R), and his wife Sinoeun “Noon” (L), are inside their B&B Antique Hardware store located in Signal Hill. It sells a wide array of items for the many historic homes in the Long Beach area. (Photo courtesy of Rich Archbold)
Since Joe Jost’s opened at 2803 E. Anaheim St. in 1924, it has become enormously popular.
Consider these sales numbers from Ken Buck, who ran Joe Jost’s for 50 years and recently sold it to Jon Sweeney, a former employee: 14 million schooners of beer, 7 million Joe’s Special sandwiches and 10 million of their famous pickled eggs have been consumed in total by customers through the years.
In addition, 1,500 pounds of peanuts are roasted on the spot each month in a vintage roaster. It was purchased from the Marmion family, who sold roasted peanuts for decades on Pine Avenue until their store closed.
There was a real Joe Jost, who was 12 years old in 1902 and living in Istranfold, a small town in Eastern Europe, when he was given the choice of becoming a priest or getting a job. He might have become a great priest, but, fortunately for Long Beach, he opted to get a job and began an apprenticeship to be a barber.
As a teenager, he made his way to the United States and worked his way across the country. In 1920, he opened a place of his own in Newport Beach, cutting hair and selling candy, cigarettes and Eastside Near Beer.
In 1924, Jost moved to Long Beach as a combination barber shop, pool and poker emporium. Because of Prohibition, Jost didn’t sell beer until 1934, after the 18th Amendment was repealed and Prohibition ended. During this time, he invented his pickled eggs and Joe’s Special, a sandwich of Polish sausage with mustard on rye bread.
Soon after, he was told by the Barbering Commission that it was too dangerous to cut hair where alcohol was consumed, so out went the barber chairs and in went the initial-engraved booths, according to a biography written by Cathleen Buck, wife of Ken Buck.
Jost died at Community Hospital in Long Beach at 85, and his grandson, Ken Buck, took over as owner of the pub in 1975.
Over the years, Buck kept the old-fashioned look to the tavern. The walls are lined with dozens of photos of local sports teams and customers wearing Joe Jost’s shirts.
“People enjoy the warm atmosphere here, the family atmosphere,” Buck said on its 100th anniversary in 2024. “Our community involvement has been around a long time. It’s rewarding to us to give back to the community, especially to the youth of Long Beach and local sports teams. We are looking forward to another 100 years.”
Walking into B&B Antique Hardware, meanwhile, is like entering a wonderland of vintage hardware and accessories for historical homes in Long Beach dating back to the 1920s and 1930s.
“I lost a screw on my antique doorknob and thought I would never find one to fix it,” one customer said in a note to the store, “but I went to B&B and they found one and lots of other things I needed. This place is magical!”
B&B, at 2102 E. 28th St. in Signal Hill, is a major resource for the vast number of historic homes and neighborhoods in Long Beach, including Wrigley, Eliot Lane, Rose Park, Carroll Park, Cal Heights, Bluff Park, Belmont Shore and Bixby Knolls, to name a few. The inventory of hardware is for vintage home styles, such as Craftsman, Bungalow, Spanish Revival, Mission and Cottage.
It’s impossible to count the actual number of items in the store because they are so extensive. Sinoeun Barnes, wife of owner Tom Barnes, estimates there are 70,000 to 100,000 items in the store.
Sinoeun, whose nickname is Noon, took me on a tour of the store, which used to be a machine shop. Anything you need to renovate, decorate or repair seemed to be there. The store caters to restoration projects, providing a wide selection of one-of-a-kind items and custom finishes for hardware.
Items included all kinds of doorknobs, bathroom needs, window hardware, house naming plates, indoor and outdoor lighting, door hinges, decorative fences and dozens of accessories. There are also all kinds of signs — and even cookie jars and baseballs.
“Noon will find anything you need,” said Tom Barnes, who was busy putting up a new sign on the outside of the building.
Barnes is a Long Beach native, born at the Harriman-Jones Clinic at Broadway and Cherry Avenue, a local landmark that is now a drugstore. He graduated from Millikan High School and attended Long Beach City College before transferring to UC San Diego.
He was in the restaurant business for 25 years before eventually starting his own hardware business at different locations. Eventually, he settled at his current location in Signal Hill.
“Noon and I love to help people,” Barnes said. “We like to translate needs into solutions.”
Here are other awards that will be given out on April 9:
Rehabilitation Awards:
Ashley and Brian Scotto for restoring the Wayne Frederick-designed 1957 Atkinson Brick House on Country Club Drive.
The nonprofit For the Child for rehabilitating its California Avenue building.
Steph Moore and Emily Bones for restoring their 1963 Clifton Jones, Jr.-designed home on Del Mar Avenue.
Matt Leaver and Krysta Lin for preserving the Ed Killingsworth-designed 1957 Maurice Frank House on Country Club Drive.
Restoration Awards:
The Queen Mary will receive a restoration award for the art conservation of the “Unicorns in Battle” mural, which was designed by Alfred J. Oakley and Gilbert Bayes in 1936. The mural is located in the Queen’s Salon, where the gala will be held.
Rancho Los Alamitos will also be honored for restoring its original 1935 business office designed by Harvey Lochridge.
In addition to the evening’s honorees, Long Beach Heritage itself will also be recognized by community leaders for its decades of advocacy in preserving Long Beach’s legacy. The organization owns and operates the Bembridge House, a 1906 Queen Anne Victorian in the Willmore District that serves as its headquarters and a living testament to the city’s architectural heritage.
Long Beach Heritage was founded in 1980 and is dedicated to preserving, advocating for and educating people about the architectural and cultural history of Long Beach.
Chris Hogan, president of Long Beach Heritage, told me how he became involved with the organization:
“In 1999, my late husband, Layne Johnson, and I won an award from Long Beach Heritage for the restoration, in and out, of our Spanish Colonial Period house at Junipero and Appleton,” Hogan said. “I had not really heard much about Long Beach Heritage until then. But after I saw all the good work they were doing to preserve Long Beach history, I got involved. I’ve been on the board for 15 years and am now president. It is a great organization.”
For information on Long Beach Heritage and its dinner, contact lbheritage.org.