noirish Los Angeles

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Can anyone make out the strange name to the right of the _ _illion Bar? (circled below)


detail

GW beat me to Laundereze, so I kept looking. In the late-50s, 549 W Ocean Boulevard was a plumbing business. In 1961 it was vacant, and then in the 1962 Long Beach CD it became a tavern called the White Stallion.

[GaylordWilshire]

...and a little follow-up on the Beverly Rush case...

[ethereal_reality]

While trying to find more information on Laundereze I came across this 'old school' cleaners at 1226 S. Cochran Avenue. (Mid-Wilshire)

In business since 1950!


https://www.yelp.com/biz/splendid-cl...-los-angeles-2



https://www.yelp.com/biz/splendid-cl...-los-angeles-2


Splendid Cleaners was founded in the year 1950 by Herb and Sara Bernstein.
__




update:

In 1956, a Herb Bernstein was living at 8642 Melrose Avenue, apt #10.


lapl
lapl



here's how 8642 looks today.

gsv

Do you think there's an old building under this re-do/?

__

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

This is great! Thx unihikid


...............................................................





Agreed, it didn't really work. IRL Bogart (55) was 4 years older than John Williams, who played Hepburn's (25) dad.



.

And it mirrored the real love story between HB & Lauren Bacall, about Sabrina's age. I'm all for romance, even if the age difference is great. So maybe "creepy" is the wrong word. But in many cases such Dec.-April romances are based on money, not always.

[CaliNative]

I was just a kid when they tore it down in 1968/69 to build the ARCO towers. But that bldg. was something, with the tall "oil derrick" spire lit up at night. With the spire, the bldg. was about 380' tall. Would love to see some updated version, a multiuse (hotel/condos/office/retail) tower of 950 feet & 70-80 stories of art deco magnificence with a 300 foot spire on top--1250 feet in all. L.A.'s Empire State Bldg. How about on Pershing Square? Would be the centerpiece of the skyline. They could even put an observation deck or pod on the top of the spire, like the one at the top of the Eiffel Tower. Paging all developers! Anybody else remember fondly the Richfield Tower? Could someone post pics of the Richfield Tower? Thanks!

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by HossC

n the 1962 Long Beach CD 549 W Ocean Boulevard became a tavern called the White Stallion.

White Stallion!

another mystery solved.


Thanks for your help this afternoon GW and Hoss.

[odinthor]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Interesting discussion on the 13 button navy trousers.

I wore my dad's in a Centennial 'pageant' back when I was a freshman in high school. They were so tight I could barely fit into them.
My dad said they were like a cheap hotel....no ballroom.

Unless I missed it, no one has figured out the location of the accident pic. (we know it was somewhere in Long Beach)

[...]

__

Another smile today: "no ballroom"...

And so we find out that the accident was in front of 549 W. Ocean (which area is completely redeveloped now). I must say that I don't recognize the buildings; but, exactly because that stretch of W. and E. Ocean was teeming with bars and their patrons (sailors a-plenty), which my parents herded me away from, I never became as familiar with the area as I did with other downtown areas a block or so inland. (I was hoping that my site had something for that address; but the closest it gets is the Maryland Apts. at 537 W. Ocean.)

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

How many names do you NLA'ers recognize?
__

Quite a few. I got curious & started looking up the rest (in the most rough & ready manner...mind out for errors). If something didn't pop up right away, they got a "?". The only surprise on this list was E Manchester Goddy, the muckraker.

John P Burke, banker
WL Brent, broker, had a bit of trouble, back in the day
Charles Baad, one time manager of the Alexandria and then inaugural manager of the Biltmore
E Manchester Boddy, rather the odd man out in this crowd. Descanso Gardens was his former estate.
Dr Frank F Barham, publisher, Los Angeles Evening Herald & Express, Barham Blvd is named for him. (photo w/ Marion Davies)
Warren B Bobard (?)
Asa V Call, Chairman of Pacific Mutual. He, together w/ Hearst & LB Mayer, insured that Socialist Upton Sinclair did not secure the governorship
E.P. Clark, brother-in-law of MH Sherman, builders and owners of the Consolidated Electric Railway
Hon Joe Crail, banker, attorney & Republican Rep from CA 1927-1933
Maurice DeMond, founder of the Breakfast Club
George L Eastman, President, Chamber of Commerce
Hugh Evans, banker, founded the Music Center w/ his wife
Al G Faulkner, distributor, Harmon Autos
William May Garland, real estate, co-founder of the Jonathan Club, secured the '32 Olympics for LA
Earl Gilmor, oil man & entrepreneur
Victor Girard, real estate, founder of Woodland Hills
Sam Goldwyn, the former Sam Goldfish, movie mogul
Sid Grauman, theater owner
Secondo Guasti [Jr] Vineyard owner, vintner, Guasti, California
Dr John R Haynes, physician, philanthropist, political reformer. Director of California Hospital
WI Hollingsworth, Realtor, Hollingsworth Bldg
John Earle Jardine, Pasadena, real estate, brokerage, citrus
AN Kemp, oil
Walter H Leimert, real estate developer
James R Martin, Beverly Hills Transfer and Storage was one of his businesses
Tom May [?]
DF McGarry, real estate & fire insurance
AN Munson [?]
Albert McCoy [?]
EJ Nolan, president, Bank of America
PP O'Brien, political operative, assistant to Mayor Rose
PH O'Neil, oil, cattle
George Pepperdine, businessman, university founder
Clarence D Symes, railways, (photo w/ Marion Davies)
John Treanor, businessman, banker
Walter K Tuller, attorney, O'Melveny, Milliken & Tuller
Erwin P Werner, LA City Attorney, 1929-1933
WJ Werner [?]
GG Young, LA Examiner

[John Maddox Roberts]

Originally Posted by odinthor

I have the feeling that I'm missing something that should be obvious; but . . . why are the trousers designed like this? Is there, or was there at some time, a reason of utility or convenience for the lace-up back and the takes-a-while-to-button-or-unbutton front? Is it perhaps, for appearance purposes, the sailor is supposed to look fancy in front, but the back-lace makes it easy to go trou down rather quickly when nature calls and is rather insistent? Things like this intrigue me.

That front flap is called a "fall." Fall-front breeches used to be the standard, though with fewer buttons. Look at the breeches in 18th century paintings. In the 19th century the vertically opening "fly" front became standard, first buttoned, later zippered. The change seems to have come with the change from knee breeches to the "trowsers" of the early 19th century.

[jdcamb]

Greatest Thread ever!

[Johnland]

Originally Posted by CaliNative

I love "flappers"--this 1930 gal is about the last of them--when the stock market crashed and the depression started, grim reality upset the mood. Flappers were the 1st modern liberated women (although the "free love" 1890s-1910s had some precursors). Flappers were funloving, uninhibited, and sweet. Wish we had flappers today. In fact, much about the 1920s is swell. Babe Ruth was a swell guy. The "Charleston" was a swell dance. The "noirish" era, which really started in 1930 with the depression, was very grim and ended the flappers. Skirt lengths plunged with stocks. The thin gamin flapper look gave way to fuller figures. I would date the "noirish era" in popular culture from 1930-1960 (and exclude the bubbly 1920s). The heart of "noir" was the '30s--the grimness of the 1930s gave the "noir" era its mood. But some of the best noirish films were later--"Double Indemnity" & "The Postman Always Rings Twice" in the '40s, and "Sunset Blvd." & "The Asphalt Jungle" in the early '50s. "The Apartment" of 1960 verges on noir, but is redeemed by love and sweetness. So it ushers in the brighter 1960s. The cold war/McCarthy era was grim in some ways, if not economically grim. Of course WW2 was grim, but we all pulled together with purpose. Noir at its heart is cynical and dark. The WW2 period was dark but not cynical.

I love the 20's too. Just something about that decade. The wild parties, the economic boom times, the silent movies, the emergence of Hollywood as both a real and mythical place. It was also, I think, the start of modern life that we still see today. All the modern conveniences came into use, phone, radio, records, vacuum cleaners, washing machines, cars, etc. The movies gave us the first celebrities with Chaplin, Swanson, Pickford and Lloyd. Adjusted for inflation and taxes, they earned mind boggling incomes. Art deco came into fashion. And then it was all snuffed out by the Crash. Perhaps it is that impending doom aspect that makes the decade so alluring.

[Johnland]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

6520 S. Fig

gsv

Thanks for your sleuthing Lorendoc. That could be it!

__

update:
GW, thanks for your help too. (I just now read your post)

Ii was a bit presumptuous to automatically think the Ernie's bar was actually named' Ernie's Bar'.
I'm going to go back to ozfan22 flickr albums and see if he ever mentions Ernie's last name. (to look him up in the city directory)



Here's another look: Enlarged to see all the details in the background. (I believe there's some kind of notification near the front door)



I wonder what the cake was for.......Birthday?............Anniversary?
__



I have to admit, I just love this photograph. Every time I look at it it makes me smile.
_

The woman in the foreground is very interesting. Totally without airs, relaxed and loving a good laugh over a beer at the local bar. But also very well tailored, hair and nails done perfectly. She just looks like a lady with class.

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by mrfredmertz

The photo of the dead man and the man standing over is called "A Body In Watts" by Lawrence Schiller.



Here is the caption: "A member of the press photograph the lifeless body of a man on a sidewalk
beside a wrecked car at a gas station in the Watts neighborhood during ongoing riots, Los Angeles, mid-August. 1965."

Thanks for this information mrfredmertz.




There's a second photograph of the same tragic scene.


[/URL]
http://www.gettyimages.com/album/on-...re-id176401150

-note that an ambulance that has arrived on the scene.

[If anyone finds this image too GRAPHIC. I'll deleted it and just leave the link]
__

[Tourmaline]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

While trying to find more information on Laundereze I came across this 'old school' cleaners at 1226 S. Cochran Avenue. (Mid-Wilshire)

In business since 1950!


https://www.yelp.com/biz/splendid-cl...-los-angeles-2

__

Originally Posted by BifRayRock

I wonder if this building was later remodeled and is currently occupied by "Splendid Cleaners?" Notice Page Military sign on utility pole. Intended for street car passengers or kite fliers?



Splendid
http://www.splendiddrycleaners.com/i...exterior_1.jpg

[ethereal_reality]

tovangar2, excellent research on the forty one(gasp!) dinner committee members for the W.R. Hearst Dinner.
and thanks to Lorendoc for the information on the seven members of the invitation committee.



t2 mentioned E. Manchester Boddy (pronounced "BOH-Dee") a couple times so I thought I'd see if I could turn up some additional information.

As most of you probably know (I didn't), his original 22-room mansion still stands at Descanso Gardens in La Canada/Flintridge.


http://dnswgghyav0s3.cloudfront.net/...se-wedding.jpg

Built in 1937, it was designed by James Dolena in the recently discussed 'Hollywood Regency' style.

To be honest I find the home unattractive. (no doubt because of all the post-war 'knock offs' that sprung up in every suburb)

I'm curious, does anyone else think the four columns are too skinny.....or am I missing something?



The house is located in the far southeast corner of the property.


google_earth




Besides owning the Daily News from 1926 to 1954, Mr. Boddy also wrote a daily column.(see advertisement below)


http://www.insidesocal.com/davidalle...ng-manchester/





For the 1950 Senate race.....

Boddy offered no specific reasons why he was running for office other than to say it was a "challenge" and he would meet interesting people. (sound familiar?)


https://www.kcet.org/history-society...as-tabloid-age

Fighting for the nomination, Boddy labeled his opponent, U.S. Representative Helen Gahagan Douglas, the 'Pink Lady', implying she was aligned with Communists.
Boddy lost the nomination.

Damaged by Boddy's accusations, Ms. Douglas lost the election to Richard Nixon.
__


There's an elaborate side story about 100,000 Camellia plants & the collapse of Japanese-American nurseries. (another topic we recently discussed on NLA)

http://www.discovernikkei.org/en/jou...ens-camellias/

This story is right up your alley odinthor.
__

[odinthor]

Many thanks, CityBoyDoug and John Maddox Roberts for your interesting info on the sailor pants question! I would have been embarrassed to spot a sailor in the street, walk up to him, and say, "I'd like to talk about your pants."

On the subject of Camellias:


Camellia Forest Nursery catalog

Not my pic; but I have a ten-foot plant of this Camellia variety 'Shikibu' ("Master of Ceremonies") in a place of honor in my garden; and it's blooming right now. Camellias are true aristocrats of the plant world.

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by John Maddox Roberts

This sort of niche (nicho in Spanish) is very common in the Southwest. Usually it holds a crucifix or a saint's figure. Where the walls are adobe you can dig a new nicho out with a garden trowel to place the santo you just bought or made.

Here's one being used properly, santo in place. Our own Billy Haines lounges to the side:


clipgoo

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

tovangar2, excellent research on the forty one(gasp!) dinner committee members for the W.R. Hearst Dinner.
and thanks to Lorendoc for the information on the seven members of the invitation committee.



t2 mentioned E. Manchester Boddy (pronounced "BOH-Dee") a couple times so I thought I'd see if I could turn up some additional information.

As most of you probably know (I didn't), his original 22-room mansion still stands at Descanso Gardens in La Canada/Flintridge.


http://dnswgghyav0s3.cloudfront.net/...se-wedding.jpg

Built in 1937, it was designed by James Dolena in the recently discussed 'Hollywood Regency' style.

To be honest I find the home somewhat unattractive. (no doubt because of all the post-war 'knock offs' that sprung up in every suburb)

I'm curious, does anyone else think the four columns are too skinny.....or am I missing something?


__

ER.....that house? In a word...ugly. The columns I would call toothpicks.

[GaylordWilshire]

I got curious about Mr. Boddy--Elias Manchester Boddy--and his domestic arrangements. Born in Washington State, seems he was living during the late teens in Upper Manhattan--all the way up on West 189th Street--before moving to Los Angeles. In 1921 he was living in what seems to be a bungalow court at 6462 Sunset; soon after, he moved to 4812 11th Avenue, seen below in June 2016 undergoing renovation and expansion. By 1928, Boddy was listed as living at Alta Canyada.

[oldstuff]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

.

Enjoyed the jitterbug and swing dance photos Lorendoc and GW (Frankie Manning is 102!).


Torrence/Hollywood Photographs

CAPTION: Sally Butterfly Dancing the jitterbug with PFC A. DeFlaminis at the Hollywood Canteen, 1944.

I haven't been able to find anything out about Sally Butterfly, if indeed that's her name. (Or PFC DeFlaminis, for that matter.)

Awhile ago I was looking for examples of jitterbug dancing online. I found this great MGM short that's a humorous instructional
and historical piece about the dance. It culminates in some great dance moves.

• Video Link

The blond dancer in the Marine uniform () does a jitterbug dance with Charlotte Greenwood in the 1943 color film "The Gang's All Here."
In that film he's credited as Charles Saggau. That film also has swing dancing in Benny Goodman's number "Minnie's in the Money."

There's also a great dance number in the 1943 b&w film "The Powers Girl," where they do a jitterbug number in the pouring rain!

I find an Alfred C. DeFlaminis, born in 1919 in Massachusetts, of Italian immigrant parents, he enlisted in the US Army on July 31, 1944. His father worked in a papermill. He died in Norwood, Massachusetts in 1999. Military records show he was a Master Sergeant by the end of the war.