Para-Dice Club

Evidence in the source collection

A California classified advertisement names a “PARA-DICE Club” and gives telephone ST 9-3452, apparently in the San Fernando Valley area based on adjacent Ventura, Topanga Canyon, Sylmar, and Van Nuys listings. source transcription does not preserve the club’s address, business type, newspaper, or date.

A separate place-name column summarizes Erwin G. Gudde’s revised California Place Names. It says California once had nearly fifty features called Paradise. Paradise in Butte County appeared on an 1879 Land Office map, while a 1900 railway map used “Par-a-dice.” Gudde could not determine whether that supported a story connecting the town to a “Pair o’ Dice” saloon or whether a misspelling created the story. The column also mentions nearby Helltown and Dogtown (later Magalia), Paraiso Springs in Monterey County, and Father Font’s December 16, 1775 reference to Cañada del Paraiso in what became the upper San Jacinto Valley.

A third, apparently unrelated article concerns Artesian Lake and a “Par-a-dice Ranch.” Because no demonstrated link joins these clippings to Zodiac, the shared spelling should be treated only as a search lead.