the nut tree was a popular stop off the highway between sacramento and san francisco. it started as a fruit stand and later became a restaurant. in the 1950s they added a toy shop and airport. the nut tree restaurant featured decorations from designers and artists such as marilyn neuhart and stanley bitters. you could even eat your meal with dansk silverware.
i just love the mix of playful colors & graphics with clean modern architecture as shown in this postcard image. at one point the nut tree was the exclusive authorized dealer for eames furniture in california.
(image via alamedainfo.com)
I miss the Nut Tree! I don't remember when it looked like this exactly, although I was probably there. I remember it more in the 70's through the early 80's. This is so cool! I am so happy to have found your blog. I love all this stuff!
Posted by: Krissy | November 28, 2006 at 03:00 PM
wow. so cool! i would love to see more photos of this place. maybe i'll do some internet searching...
Posted by: lena | December 04, 2006 at 11:08 AM
Wow, nice photo of Nut Tree. I saw the Stan Bitters piece in Modernism magazine and did a Google search on him and then found your site. I totally love this kind of stuff. My family went to nut tree a few times a year from about 1972 to 1982 and eat in the big dining room with the atriums... nothing beats that place for that classic California zeitgeist that doesn't seem to be around much anymore. I'd love to find more shots of Nut Tree as is existed then -- all the decorative work. Some of the stuff I remember reminds me of the illustrations of Ed Emberley but I'm sure it was just the collective influence of the time. I didn't know they were dealers of Eames stuff but I'm not surprised. But then my interest in that period wasn't really awakened until the last few years. I'm going to have to go search out more Nut Tree photos now... as well as check out the rest of your site.
Posted by: Mark | February 01, 2007 at 11:58 PM
Oh my goodness! First of all your site is AMAZING! :)
I grew up in Sacramento, and my grandparents lived in San Francisco. We would always stop at the Nut Tree on the way to visit them. This was around the mid to late '80's. I can't even count how many pictures my parents have of my brother and I on those horses! What amazing memories...thank you :)
Posted by: Raquel | May 23, 2007 at 09:32 AM
so glad to have found your blog!!! i love driving by NT when I'm in CA.
Posted by: breanne | March 31, 2009 at 07:57 AM
I LOVED the NUT TREE and everything about it. The great food, candies, THE COOKIES, the breads the neat stuff they sold! I really miss that place. A piece of my heart breaks everytime I pace that famous sign. The sign is the only thing left.
Posted by: Kathy Sullivan | November 14, 2009 at 08:49 AM
aww! we used to always stop at the Nut Tree on our way to visit my family in SF and Berkeley! thanks for this... great memories!
Posted by: julia wheeler | March 09, 2011 at 05:15 AM