The Place of Employment listed on Cyril's 1942 draft
card seems to read "Watts Radio + Washs Shop." The word
between "Radio" and "Shop" is vague, but it is
actually "Washer." There really were "Radio and Washer" shops,
though a radio has little in common with a washing machine.
The 1940 census has Cyril listed as the manager, and his wife Leona
as the bookkeeper.
Ellen Leona Peer - wife of Cyril
Osterhoudt
As for the address listed on the draft
card, a 1941 Los Angeles directory has no entry for Watts
Radio and Washer Shop. Today, the address 10311
Grandee no longer exists. The intersection at Grandee Avenue
and 103rd Street is approximately one mile
from the Osterhoudt residences at 8006 and 8019½
Crockett Blvd, listed on the draft card.
10311 Grandee Ave was the site of the "Watts
Advertiser" according to the 1928 advertisement shown above.
It was the location of Cyril's radio and washer shop in
1942. In 1964 it opened as Studio Watts, a "multiracial artist
collective." It was demolished around 1982 and the site is now part
of Alice Manor Apartments, a 60 unit low income apartment complex.
103rd street and Grandee Avenue in 2023. Entrance to
Alice Manor Apartments.
Former site of Watts Radio and Washer Shop.
NOTE: The address penciled in on the draft card, 1645
East 127th Street, cannot be located. The street ends in a
cinderblock wall at address 1625 E. 127th. On the other side of the
wall is a complex of apartment houses named "Whitfield Manor," which
faces North Compton Avenue.