Brown Derby Autographs

Brown Derby was a chain of restaurants in Los Angeles, California. The first and best known was shaped like a derby hat, an iconic image that became synonymous with the Golden Age of Hollywood. It was opened by Wilson Mizner in 1926. The chain was started by Robert H. Cobb and Herbert K. Somborn (a former husband of film star Gloria Swanson) in the 1920s. The original Brown Derby restaurants had closed or had been converted to other uses by the 1980s, though a Disney-backed Brown Derby national franchising program revived the brand in the 21st century. It is often incorrectly thought that the Brown Derby was a single restaurant, and the Wilshire Boulevard and Hollywood branches are frequently confused.
There is a non-related chain of steakhouse restaurants founded in 1941 in Akron, Ohio, and franchised in 1962. This chain was founded by Ted and Gus Girves, and the full name of these restaurants is "Girves Brown Derby". As of 2019, five of the Girves chain are still in business.
The first restaurant was opened in February 1926 at 3427 Wilshire Boulevard in a building built in the distinctive shape of a derby hat. Programmatic architecture was then in vogue, and the restaurant was designed to catch the eye of passing motorists. The Brown Derby name originated from a Malverne, New York-based restaurant of the same name that had been a hang-out for vaudevillians in the 1920s. It was founded by Wilson Mizner as a small cafe, across the street from the Hollywood hot spot the Cocoanut Grove at the Ambassador Hotel. Wilson was the front man; Herbert K. Somborn owned the property and Jack L. Warner put up the money. Wilson Mizner sat in booth 50 almost every day. Unfortunately the original restaurant was small and suffered from acoustic problems in which sound from one end of the building bounced off the semicircular ceiling and traveled to the other side of the room.
Read more about Brown Derby on Wikipedia

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Current items with a signature of Brown Derby

These are the most current items with a signature of Brown Derby that were listed on eBay and on other online stores - click here for more items.

Picture	Item Title	Price	Store
	Hollywood Restaurant Cookbook BROWN DERBY Illustrated History SIGNED Sally Cobb	$55.95
	vTg 1950 Hollywood Brown Derby Stolpe design signed Dale Evans on back postcard	$72.90

Traded items with a signature of Brown Derby

The most expensive item with a signature of Brown Derby (Disney Mouseketeer Jimmie Dodd Autographed Caricature From the Brown Derby 1 of1) was sold in September 2017 for $1,595.00 while the cheapest item (5 VINTAGE IN PERSON HAND SIGNED AUTOGRAPHS...30S BROWN DERBY.) found a new owner for $1.04 in July 2013. The month with the most items sold (2) was March 2025 with an average selling price of $247.00 for an autographed item of Brown Derby. Sold items reached their highest average selling price in July 2025 with $525.00 and the month that saw the lowest prices with $9.99 was November 2019. In average, an autographed item from Brown Derby is worth $49.98.

Most recently, these items with a signature of Brown Derby were sold on eBay - click here for more items.

Picture	Item Title	Price	Store
	A GALLERY OF STARS : THE STORY OF THE BROWN DERBY'S WALL OF FAME ( SIGNED FIRST	$19.99
	Autographed Brown Derby Restaurant Menu Pat Buttram Arthur Godfrey Dated Receipt	$9.99
	Hollywood Restaurant Cookbook BROWN DERBY Illustrated History SIGNED Sally Cobb	$55.95
	Hollywood Restaurant Cookbook BROWN DERBY Illustrated History SIGNED Sally Cobb	$65.95
	Mae West In Come On Up Autographed Program LA Biltmore Theatre/Brown Derby PC	$29.99
	Posters Brown Derby Originals Signed, Norton, Akron 14pc Herman,Hampton,Dorsey,	$525.00
	Rare 1940s Brown Derby Restaurant & Signed by Jerome Cowen (Maltese Falcon)	$42.50
	Signed Brown Derby Restaurant by Cobb, Sally Wright (Hardcover) 1996	$44.00
	Signed Dedication The Brown Derby Restaurant : The Legend of Hollywood	$75.00
	The Brown Derby Cookbook 1949 First Edition RARE SIGNED BY ROBERT COBB, HC no DJ	$450.00
	The Brown Derby Restaurant : The Legend of Hollywood's Golden Age by Mark Signed	$15.00
	The Brown Derby Restaurant Sally Wright Cobb & Mark Willems Signed by Both	$75.00
	THE BROWN DERBY RESTAURANT SIGNED BY SALLY COBB TO PAT SCOTT 1996 HARDCOVER	$30.00
	THE BROWN DERBY RESTAURANT, Sally Wright Cobb & Mark Willems (signed HB, fine)	$80.00
	Vintage 1949 Brown Derby Cookbook, Autographed by Maître D' and staff	$200.00