noirish Los Angeles

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by Flyingwedge

This is just east of Prairie Avenue, on the south side of Century, across the street from Hollywood Park, on January 5, 1963:

It actually looks a bit scary:

Photo by me

I was thinking of checking this place out but then I read this review. [This post Mr. Wedge, is no reflection upon your good self, to whom I extend my hand in friendship.]

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...a.html#REVIEWS

“HORRIBLE MESS”

""1 of 5 stars Reviewed November 10, 2012

This motel is a night-mare... they should close it down... the health department need to come in and look how they have people living. Not all homeless people are on drugs... things happen in their life to were they just don't have any where to go.
There are drugs being dealt in the lobby(in front of or for management), transvestite prostitutes outside and inside... always looking to turn tricks. Then what is the sad the poor down and out families w/children are forced to try and live in this mess.""

I think I'll pass. The noirish Cecil Hotel downtown sounds better.

[Ninja55]

Thanks "Retired" and E_R. It's been awhile since I've posted anything and I have to get the hang of it again. A lot of my old posts were erased by accident and I will start reposting them for all the Bert Rovere and Joe Musso fans out there.

[ethereal_reality]

originally posted by sopas_ej, Tam O'Shanter Inn on los Felix Blvd., circa 1920s.

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

The Tam O'Shanter Inn was designed by none other than Harry Oliver, art director at the old Willat Studios. You might remember him from my earlier post last week on the Spadena House (or witch's house).


below: Harry Oliver designed this administration building (and dressing rooms) for Willat Studios in Culver City. Eventually the building was moved to Beverly Hills where it became know as the Spadena House.


http://photos.lapl.org/carlweb/jsp/D...wdate=&hidate=



below: A 1934 view of the Tam O'Shanter Inn with a very interesting sign. (note the archaic lightning bolt)

http://photos.lapl.org/carlweb/jsp/F...olNumber=10237






http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Tam-O-...009_.htm?RDP=1





http://themerica.org/





http://themerica.org/





http://themerica.org/

above: That fireplace looks like a caricature of Richard Nixon.

I just found a couple more images of the Tam O'Shanter.

-sepia postcard from 1938.

ebay



..and this fantastic image from the 1950s/60s that I found earlier tonight on ebay.

They were still using that stylized lightning bolt on this 1950s era sign. (compare to the 1934 sign)

__

[ethereal_reality]

Another vintage photograph that shows litter and weeds, not unlike the Bixel Street photo I posted earlier in the week.
ebay

I need some help in figuring out the location of this photo. The seller had no information other than Los Angeles.

__

[kznyc2k]

Rainbow Pier in the 1940s...



Full size can be found on its Flickr page

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Another vintage photograph that shows litter and weeds, not unlike the Bixel Street photo I posted earlier in the week.
ebay

I need some help in figuring out the location of this photo. The seller had no information other than Los Angeles.

__

I believe its the property owners responsibility to keep their property clean.

There are LA City Codes that cover this.

[Tourmaline]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Another vintage photograph that shows litter and weeds, not unlike the Bixel Street photo I posted earlier in the week.
ebay

I need some help in figuring out the location of this photo. The seller had no information other than Los Angeles.

__

But for the proximity of the hills, the scene reminds me of a northern view of Larchmont and Melrose. (See below)

However, because of the hills, I would not be surprised if the intersection was connected with either Franklin or Yucca Streets, before the Hollywood Freeway. Other possibilities include Franklin in the Los Feliz area.


http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=2046

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

originally posted by sopas_ej, Tam O'Shanter Inn on los Felix Blvd., circa 1920s.

I don't think we've seen this photo before. It shows the Tam O'Shanter during its brief time as Montogomery's Chanticleer Inn.


Ebay

I found this bit of history on the Friends of Atwater Village site:


friendsofatwatervillage.org (PDF file)

[MartinTurnbull]

Here's another shot I just came across. This is the house where Clark Gable lived with Carole Lombard at 4543 Tara Drive in Encino (although when they moved in, the official address was 4525 Petit Drive. I didn't realize house addresses were ever changed that drastically.) They bought it in 1939 just before they got married, and the tabloids quickly labeled it “The House of Two Gables” which I thought was kind of clever. I also think it looks rather homey and welcoming, especially for a pair of actors as famous as these two were at the time

[unihikid]

Originally Posted by Tourmaline

But for the proximity of the hills, the scene reminds me of a northern view of Larchmont and Melrose. (See below)

However, because of the hills, I would not be surprised if the intersection was connected with either Franklin or Yucca Streets, before the Hollywood Freeway. Other possibilities include Franklin in the Los Feliz area.


http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=2046

with the mountains so close(from what it looks like) i was thinking santa monica blvd...and with the hill slope im thinking somewhere like at spaulding or something east of fairfax.

[Lorendoc]

Originally Posted by unihikid

with the mountains so close(from what it looks like) i was thinking santa monica blvd...and with the hill slope im thinking somewhere like at spaulding or something east of fairfax.

Totally agree with you, Unihikid. Am feeling West Hollywood; large apartment building in middle distance is a clue. Another is the fact that the N-S street T-bones into the commercial boulevard. The shoe store and cleaners are on the north side of a commercial boulevard - 3rd, Beverly, Melrose, Santa Monica...Do any of the car experts have a date for the four parked cars? That could make it easier to pick the right city directory to search for shoe stores that were near cleaners.

[Earl Boebert]

Originally Posted by Lorendoc

Totally agree with you, Unihikid. Am feeling West Hollywood; large apartment building in middle distance is a clue. Another is the fact that the N-S street T-bones into the commercial boulevard. The shoe store and cleaners are on the north side of a commercial boulevard - 3rd, Beverly, Melrose, Santa Monica...Do any of the car experts have a date for the four parked cars? That could make it easier to pick the right city directory to search for shoe stores that were near cleaners.

My guess on the one on the right is a 1939 or 1940 Chevrolet Master 85 Sedan Delivery. Which would make sense for a cleaning establishment.

Cheers,

Earl

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Another vintage photograph that shows litter and weeds, not unlike the Bixel Street photo I posted earlier in the week.
ebay

I need some help in figuring out the location of this photo. The seller had no information other than Los Angeles.

I think the apartment building above the word "Ladies" is the Hacienda Arms aka. Coronet Apartments/Piazza del Sol on Sunset Boulevard. That dates the photo to after 1927.

Although the Hacienda Arms building is not visible in the picture below, the view of the mountains is very similar to the one above. It was taken on Croft Avenue looking north toward Santa Monica Boulevard in 1927.


USC Digital Library

Here's part of a 1931 aerial looking northeast over Santa Monica Boulevard. The Hacienda Arms is near the top left, and the Bekins Storage building from the picture above is just right of center. Going by the angle of the mountains in the previous picture, my guess is that the shoe store and cleaners were a little east of the Bekins building on Santa Monica Boulevard.


USC Digital Library

[FredH]

The caption says: Old retaining walls and stairs that used to lead up to the Moorcliff apartment building, 121 South Hill Street, on Bunker Hill.


http://cdm16003.contentdm.oclc.org/c...id/6281/rec/24

Have we seen the Moorcliff Apartments before? I don't recall.


Consider this: Noirish Los Angeles is up to 941 pages. I have counted the photos on a number of pages and I feel that an average of 20 photos per page is a fairly
conservative estimate. That means that we are closing in on an astounding 19,000 photos on the entire thread!

So, take it easy on me next time I post a photo we've seen before

[Krell58]

You can see the retaining walls and stairs for the Moorcliff Apartments in the first 50 seconds
of this LA Noire gameplay video I made.

• Video Link

[FredH]

Thanks Krell58 - That was fast!


Nice color photo of Angels Flight Pharmacy:


http://cdm16003.contentdm.oclc.org/c...id/6288/rec/25

ER - They have a roof sign!

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by HossC

Although the Hacienda Arms building is not visible in the picture below, the view of the mountains is very similar to the one above. It was taken on Croft Avenue looking north toward Santa Monica Boulevard in 1927.


USC Digital Library

Wow, that's a photo I've never seen before. HossC thanks for posting it. I walk by this location quite frequently.

You say the photo is from 1927. To my eye, that vacant lot space across Santa Monica Blvd. is where Barney's Beanery should be/will be.

From wikipedia: Barney's Beanery […] was originally founded in 1920 in Berkeley, California, by John "Barney" Anthony, who in 1927 moved it to U.S. Route 66, now Santa Monica Boulevard, (State Route 2) in West Hollywood.

Also, in the above photo, check the street to the left of the car on Santa Monica and you can see how steep the road is. (The street is Olive Dr.)

In the aerial below, that street and the roads leading up to Sunset don't look that steep at all. Just wondering why that is and if all aerial photos tend to do that?


USC Digital Library

SIDEBAR: At the top of Olive Dr. at Sunset is the location of the future Ciro's (1940) and presently is The Comedy Store.

[FredH]

1963 - The old Elk's Lodge, now the Royal Hotel (in blue!)


http://cdm16003.contentdm.oclc.org/c...id/6294/rec/29


http://cdm16003.contentdm.oclc.org/c...id/6294/rec/29


http://cdm16003.contentdm.oclc.org/c...id/6294/rec/29

Angels Flight - Olive Street Station


http://cdm16003.contentdm.oclc.org/c...id/6294/rec/29

[FredH]

1957 - Grand Central Hotel on Main Street ready to be torn down:


http://cdm16003.contentdm.oclc.org/c.../id/6158/rec/3



http://cdm16003.contentdm.oclc.org/c.../id/6208/rec/9

[Lorendoc]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

ebay

e_r wrote:
I need some help in figuring out the location of this photo. The seller had no information other than Los Angeles.

__

With help from Unihikid, HossC, and Earl B, car-identifier first class, I think we can be confident that the picture was taken looking north on Orlando towards Santa Monica Blvd. in West Hollywood about 1941.

First, the identification of the now Piazza del Sol up on Sunset (which is blocked by a higher structure on the south side of Sunset today) can be confirmed by looking at the following pair:



and



Since the cars look like they're from about 1940, I looked at the 1942 LA city directory in search of cleaners. There were pages and pages of them. I found Joseph Markowitz cleaning clothes at 8407 Santa Monica Boulevard.

Referring to the following Sanborn excerpt (from 10 years later - the shoe/clothing store seems to have gone out of business), we can see how Orlando dead-ends onto Santa Monica, referencing the street numbers on the north side of Santa Monica Boulevard:



The shoe/clothing store is now shown as a "furnishing" store (or "furniture" store).

One of the best things about this thread is how people with different strengths and interests collaborate to solve these little mysteries that e_r strews around.