Gift Guide: The IYKYK list for real ones across Southern California

For Angelenos, these gifts will be like unwrapping a secret handshake.

Even the most unimpressed old-timers will have to appreciate your P-Town baseball cap (and by P-Town, we do not mean anywhere on Cape Cod). Your diner mug from a 40-year-old Arcadia gem (where "coffee shop" still means a place for hash browns and runny eggs, not caffeinated ice cream). Your mice on toast Christmas tree ornament. Wait, your what?

If you know, you know.

So give an L.A.-flavored gift this year that will elicit gratitude, of course, and also that knowing nod. Just don’t get barbecue sauce on the Handy Market T-shirt before you wrap it.

Altadena Hardware T-shirts and hats ($30)

Altadena Hardware, which was destroyed in the Eaton Fire, s selling small batches of T-shirts and hats.

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Courtesy Altadena Hardware

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One of the underrated joys of living in Altadena was having a neighborhood hardware store that felt like a community hub.

Altadena Hardware on Mariposa Street was where you went when you needed that one random screw for an old appliance or sandpaper to rescue a yard-sale find — and ended up falling into conversation with a neighbor. No question was too dumb or out-there for the friendly staff. (I can attest!)

The store, sadly, was destroyed in the Eaton Fire, but co-owner Jimmy Orlandini, who’s from Altadena, says the plan is to come back.

In the meantime, you can help support the family-owned business by picking up Altadena Hardware T-shirts and hats. They’re being printed in small batches and sold only at two locations — in El Sereno and Santa Clarita. On the back of the sage-colored shirts is an image of the store with the San Gabriels as a backdrop — a poignant reminder of what once was and could be again.

— Josie Huang, Weekend Edition host and reporter 

Handy Market barbecue (price varies) and shirts ($16)

Come for the barbecue, leave with the barbecue and a great T-shirt.

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Fiona Ng

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LAist

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With barbecue smoke filling the air and a line that snakes along the sidewalk, Handy Market is the go-to spot for your weekend meat needs.

The 55-year old supermarket is a bit like Burbank itself —- quaint, quiet in the middle of big, busy L.A. County, staying true to its small-town feel despite the onslaught of big box stores and chain supermarkets. The place is a staple for quality meat and produce, as well as everyday grocery things.

It’s also a star in its own right as a filming location for movies and TV shows, including He's Just Not That Into You and Twin Peaks: The Return.

But it’s perhaps best known for its weekly Saturday barbecue. Pick up a Handy Market branded T-shirt for that cool cat in your life who knows what's good.

— Jenn Baughman, director of programming 

Museum of Jurassic Technology tchochkes ($25 to $29.50)

One-of-a-kind museum? Curio collection? Absorbing way to spend an afternoon? All the above.

It's exactly what it looks like, isn't it?

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Courtesy of the Museum of Jurassic Technology

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The Museum of Jurassic Technology in Culver City neither teaches you about paleontology nor computing; instead a seemingly endless series of cozy Victorian-like chambers invites you to dive into fascinating arcane collections of ephemera, like the ethereal handicraft of X-ray flower art or the ineffable beauty of Islamic geometry.

A medieval cure for bedwetting (eat two dead mice on toast) juxtaposes with a line of microscopes revealing exquisite abstract images.

The second floor opens up to a covered outside courtyard where tea is served in glasses and soothing melodies are played on obscure musical instruments. The blink-and-you’ll-miss-it location on a nondescript block of Venice Boulevard only adds to its IYKYK insider status.

Stop by the gift shop for the mice on toast Christmas tree ornament, the Courtyard Miniature Matchbox Kit, and the Deprong Mori Laser Crystal Cube.

— Suzanne Levy, Explore LA senior editor 

Chapo Hats 6 Ps cap ($20)

Chapo Hats has six-Ps caps in a variety of color combinations. They can also help you rep places like Chino, Fontana, Riverside and Anaheim.

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Dañiel Martinez

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LAist

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Los Angeles County is made up of many, many different pockets — and each screams with hyperlocal pride. For the city of Pomona, P-Town as it's affectionately called, that love is boiled down to one image: six Ps arranged in the shape of a hexagon.

Take a stroll through downtown and you’ll be sure to encounter the city’s unofficial logo. Its origins are murky, but it’s recognizable to anyone from the area, with stores all over Pomona selling merchandise with it.

The exterior of Chapo Hats on Indian Hill Boulevard.

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Dañiel Martinez

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LAist

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You can spot the six-Ps logo on street signs in Pomona, including this one for Twelfth Street.

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Dañiel Martinez

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LAist

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I’m a fan of novelty baseball caps myself, and Chapo Hats has plenty of them, including a “6 Ps” cap ($20). Perfect for your head or sitting on a mantle.

— Dañiel Martinez, LAist associate producer

Chef’s Coffee Shop mugs ($7.50) and shirts ($25)

Yes, Chef's! The mugs are just $7.50 at Chef's Coffee Shop in Arcadia, open since 1985.

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Fiona Ng

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LAist

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Old-school, no-frills diners are a dying breed — the ones that have their own merch are rarer still. So it was with absolute giddiness that I happened upon the big yellow sign of Chef’s Coffee Shop off Live Oaks Avenue in Arcadia (straddling the border with El Monte) on a drive last year.

I stopped in for food, your prototypical and welcomed diner fare — just like the vinyl upholstery, the big windows and the waitresses with that brand of no-nonsense affability.

I ended up leaving with two mugs ($7.50 each), and a T-shirt ($25) because why not. My little way of celebrating an SGV institution that has been open since 1985.

— Fiona Ng, deputy managing editor, Explore LA and Weekend