Big donuts of Southern California

The big donuts of Southern California in the United States are frequently photographed examples of 20th-century vernacular roadside novelty architecture.

They are landmark oversize donuts designed to attract the attention of potential customers on nearby roadways.

In their heyday, according to one critic, the giant donuts were "one of many signs in Los Angeles that bordered on pop art, celebrating the effusiveness of life in the years after World War II.

[5] All of these shops and their associated giant donuts are considered representative of Southern California's mid-century "car-culture-induced optimism and ambition, reflected in polychromatic, star-spangled coffee shops, gas stations, car washes, and other structures that once lured the gaze of passing motorists.

"[6] Giant donuts and similar oversize object-shaped signs and buildings are generally now prohibited under contemporary municipal construction codes.