Walter P. Scharfe was the owner of The Hollywood Brown Derby restaurant. The Derby nearly closed in 1974, but instead was bought and renovated by Walter P. Scharfe and his wife Elizabeth Khittl-Scharfe. In 1980, A Hollywood Brown Derby Hotel was designed and planned. A full property site acquisition thereafter prevented the company from completing the hotel project in Hollywood. After the successful years in Hollywood the famed landmark restaurant closed with literally no warning in 1985 for earthquake safety reasons. It took bold and costly strokes, closing all operating Brown Derby's to prepare the company for a new beginning. It was imperative to create a unified marketing profile, keeping the past alive and be open-minded for the present and the future. The Derby was moved to the north-west corner of Hollywood and Vine. In addition, an agreement was made with Walt Disney Enterprises to place a Brown Derby Restaurant in Disney World in Florida where it still stands today.
Portrait photographs and paintings of our loved ones and ancestors.
Before photos we had paintings of family members - most usually these were reserved for the well off. The era of modern photography began with the daguerreotype, in 1839. Since the advent of photogr...
I'm a Founder of AncientFaces and support the community answering questions & helping members make connections to the past (thus my official title of Founder & Content and Community Support ). For me, it's been a labor of love for over 20 years. I truly believe with all of my heart that everyone should be remembered for generations to come.
I am 2nd generation San Jose and have seen a lot of changes in the area while growing up. We used to be known as the "Valley of Heart's Delight" (because the Valley was covered with orchards and there were many canneries to process the food grown here, which shipped all over the US) - now we have adopted the nickname "Capital of Silicon Valley" and Apple, Ebay, Adobe, Netflix, Facebook, and many more tech companies are within a few miles of my current home in San Jose (including AncientFaces). From a small town of 25,000, we have grown to 1 million plus. And when you add in all of the communities surrounding us (for instance, Saratoga, where I attended high school, living a block from our previous Mayor), we are truly one of the big cities in the US. I am so very proud of my hometown. For more information see Kathy - Founder & Content and Community Director My family began AncientFaces because we believe that unique photos and stories that show who people are/were should be shared with the world.