noirish Los Angeles

[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

-very interesting GW. I've always been intrigued by Olive Thomas' early death in Paris. (poison wasn't it?)
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Do you recognize these homes? (I found this earlier today on ebay)

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That's the Lucien Brunswig house in front, 3528 West Adams Blvd--we've seen the Brunswig Drug Co buildings here a number of times before, down by the Plaza. 3528 is gone...

Next to it is the Secondo Guasti house at 3500 West Adams--later Busby Berkeley's. Still standing.

The next house to the east is 3424, built by Lycurgus Lindsay--also still standing: http://losangeleshistory.blogspot.co...tories_23.html


Here's your post on the Guasti/Berkeley house, ER: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=4079


And one of mine on the Brunswig house: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=1177


As for Olive Thomas, it was poison, but, according to Steve Vaught's excellent analysis, it was accidental rather than nefarious: http://paradiseleased.wordpress.com/...ckford-part-i/

[CityBoyDoug]

Pacific Electric Railway Company interurban streetcar 4600 in Long Beach (Los Angeles County), California. The "Hotel Juanita" and "Imperial Apartments Hotel" are in the distance.

[CityBoyDoug]

Rescue and cleanup crews work on a horrific wreck involving a truck and Pacific Electric interurban at the intersection of Lincoln Blvd. and Venice Blvd. on March 23, 1942.

According to the L.A. Times report, the train was a “westbound limited” ,which hit the army truck then derailed and struck the automobile, and all three then “jammed against a light post and a signal and burst into flames which demolished the truck.”
Ten soldiers and eight civilians were injured and/or burned, several critically, and “more than two score passengers” as well as the motorman E.M.Adams and conductor R.D. Holbrook escaped injury.


Donald Duke

[Wig-Wag]

Tourmaline, Phil's, North Hollywood is reputed to be the only remaining diner from the J.F. Phillip's Chain of Los Angeles diners. It is credited to having been designed by Charles Amend who had moved to California, having previously worked for the P.J. Tierney Sons Company of New Rochelle, New York, manufacturers of prefabricated diners from 1905 through the early 1930's.

Phils was a fixture in North Hollywood when I was a kid in the 1950's. It was favored by the crew of the Southern Pacific Van Nuys Local for "beans" as mealtime is sometimes known on the railroad.

Shown here is another Phil's at an as yet unidentified location on the Los Angeles Railway "A" Line.

LARY Type C "Sowbelly" with Phil's Diner in Background. Personal Collection



Cheers,
Jack

[HenryHuntington]

ER, LATL 3001 is at First and Chicago Sts. East First St. takes a jog to the north just outbound from the intersection, and LARy managed to squeeze a loop in there when it began using single-ended cars on the P Line.

You didn't ask, but LAMTA 1815 is operating on San Pedro St. on what appears to be a chartered fantrip: destination signs often were whimsically or "creatively" arranged on same. However, the Hollywood Blvd. line was abandoned in 1954, and LAMTA didn't take over until 1958. Also, the dual-gauge trackage (shared with the former LARy S Line) is a dead giveaway.

Thanks for posting these marvelous photos! Ditto to City Boy Doug and to Wig-Wag. Great stuff, fellas!

[Those Who Squirm!]

Originally Posted by FredH

We had several large photo murals of Los Angeles on the studio walls
where I worked at Modernage. Before we left the building, one of
the photographers took pictures of them. The original murals were sent
over to the Los Angeles Public Library, where I envision them being
stashed in a large warehouse like the Ark of the Covenant
in Raiders of the Lost Ark. The good news is that they were
photographed and scanned by professionals, the bad news is that
they are second generation photos and will never be as good
as the originals. Anyway, they are a lot better than nothing,
so here goes.

I think this one is from the early 1960's or late 1950's:

(Huge photomural removed for brevity; please see quoted post)
Earl Witscher, Modernage Photo Servive Inc.

The old Taix location was bought by the city in 1962 and presumably torn down that year, along with several other turn of the century buildings, so they could put in a parking lot for the adjacent Federal building. The parking structure suffered the same fate 20 years later and was replaced by the Metropolitan Detention Center.

[Flyingwedge]

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

Rescue and cleanup crews work on a horrific wreck involving a truck and Pacific Electric interurban at the intersection of Lincoln Blvd. and Venice Blvd. on March 23, 1942.

According to the L.A. Times report, the train was a “westbound limited” ,which hit the army truck then derailed and struck the automobile, and all three then “jammed against a light post and a signal and burst into flames which demolished the truck.”
Ten soldiers and eight civilians were injured and/or burned, several critically, and “more than two score passengers” as well as the motorman E.M.Adams and conductor R.D. Holbrook escaped injury.


Donald Duke

Yikes! Horrific is right. I wonder if that's a regular PE bus, or if it was dispatched as part of a "bus bridge" after the accident?

More-or-less the same southeast view, January 2011:

GSV

It looks like the only thing that's in both photos is that building -- now with rooms in the attic -- behind the Shell station/empty lot.

[WS1911]

Originally Posted by HenryHuntington

ER, LATL 3001 is at First and Chicago Sts. East First St. takes a jog to the north just outbound from the intersection, and LARy managed to squeeze a loop in there when it began using single-ended cars on the P Line.

I think it's been mentioned here before, but Car No. 3100 is restored and operational at the Orange Empire Railway Museum in Perris, CA. Click here.


Photo OERM

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by Flyingwedge

Yikes! Horrific is right. I wonder if that's a regular PE bus, or if it was dispatched as part of a "bus bridge" after the accident?

It looks like the only thing that's in both photos is that building -- now with rooms in the attic -- behind the Shell station/empty lot.

Interesting follow-on post Flyingwedge. When I was a kid I was so fascinated by those old Shell signs with their glowing deep yellow interior lights.

I understand that one of the injured street cars was repaired and put back in service until 1950.

[ethereal_reality]

Helms Bakery Man - Portner Street, West Covina CA 1967

sylvian at http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...8585&page=2521
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[ethereal_reality]

then

ebay



now

GSV

Why can't these places leave well enough alone? The original is a fine example of a mid-century motel....now, not so much.
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[ethereal_reality]

then

ebay




now

GSV

This one has retained much of it's original architecture, but after so many years it's looking rather seedy.
(I like that corner window in the now)



reverse/vintage postcard


Panelray heat?
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[Godzilla]

Originally Posted by unihikid

Since its the 48th anniversary of his killing and we are in the area of his house,I thought id might post the house where Sam Cooke lived,its on a very narrow street called Ames and is right down the way from JMHS.When i was living in La the owner saw me parked outside and gave me a mini tour of the grounds.They host the Sam Cooke Fan Club to tours of the interior of the house.

from jet.com


2408 Ames St findadeath.com


sam on the side of ames npr.org

Getting to the top (or bottom) of things.

http://digital-library.csun.edu/util...XT=&DMROTATE=0

[Godzilla]

22621 Ventura Blvd. "20 minutes to the Ocean" makes it almost as adjacent as Santa Monica!

http://digital-library.csun.edu/cdm/.../id/2268/rec/1

[Godzilla]

Pacific Electric Station - Glendale cross street apparently Colorado Blvd.

1909
http://digital-library.csun.edu/cdm/...id/3208/rec/42





Hungry? respectable crowd at the Jewel City Restaurant - 556 West Broadway - Glendale

1910
http://digital-library.csun.edu/cdm/...id/1166/rec/19

[Godzilla]

Glenview California. Area south of Woodland Hills nestled in Santa Monica Mountains. Mina Mohn had a restaurant there in '21.

Wonder if Mina received more requests for directions than orders to go? Affected much by prohibition?

http://digital-library.csun.edu/cdm/...id/3751/rec/44





1908 Lankershim Development Co. (Probably not the best map for finding Mina's.)

http://digital-library.csun.edu/cdm/...d/2320/rec/157

[ethereal_reality]

I was looking at this nicely scanned postcard on ebay today, and noticed the advertisement for a Radio City Motel on the back of the bench.
(the arrow in the ad points down Sunset)

Sunset & Vine

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HOLLYWOOD-CA...item565a237fd9




After a google or two I found this postcard of the Radio City tourist Motel.

http://www.radiocityhollywood.com/



It looks as if the motel survived until fairly recently.

google earth



The curbing matches the motel entrance in the vintage postcard.

GSV
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[Godzilla]

Originally Posted by BifRayRock

Looking at many of Architect Wayne McAllister's contributions to this forum. He is reputed to have designed many of the drive-in restaurants e.g., Simon's. Herbert's, Wich Stand, Melody Lane and Bob's Big Boy. The list is long.

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Herberts 1940s - located on the lot currently occupied by CBS (Southeast Corner of Beverly and Fairfax). Look closely and you can see a bit of Gilmore Stadium in background. This also means that it might have been from this same location that the photo of the Fairfax Theater was taken. Of course if you couldn't find a parking spot you could try Simons - a few blocks south on Fairfax. Notice the omission of an apostrophe. Artistic license
http://waterandpower.org

Herbert's, Carpenter's, Simon's. No mention of "Robert's"?

Built by William N. Roberts in 1940. Corner of Olive Avenue and Victory Boulevard. Later became - Van De Kamps ('68)and Biff Naylors Gristmill('79).

http://digital-library.csun.edu/cdm/...id/4174/rec/26








Please disregard if you are unable to view this enlargement.

[Moxie]

While people are posting images of motels, I've been trying to track this one down for ages. I've tried every way I can think of to search for it, so if anyone else has any leads to give me I'd love the help. Thanks!




Both screenshots from Warner Bros., 1987.

[Greg H]

Thanks ER for the picture of the Helms Bakery man in West Covina. I grew up several blocks away from that location and it's nice to see a San Gabriel Valley pic even though the focus here is on LA. My next door neighbor always got her bread from the Helms man and if I had any money I was always anxious to see him open that glass front wooden drawer to see and smell the donuts inside. Makes my mouth water still.