noirish Los Angeles

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by fhammon

...my eye is drawn to the dirt and rock first.

All the exposed earth in DTLA in the 70s made me sad, plus we were plagued with adobe dust storms. I'm actually sorry anything was ever built on Bunker Hill (how does it compare to the acreage of Central Park in NYC?). What an asset that would be. But the hills were doomed when roads were laid out too close to them and building allowed on the hill sides of those streets, let alone cutting right through them (the tunnels I don't mind so much). The hills became big, unstable cakes, rather than gentle mounds. The only solution then was to turn them into low mesas or erase them altogether.

I often wished downtown had turned toward the river (not possible, I suppose, when it was still a floodplain).

So who's a romantic now?

Originally Posted by gsjansen

Looking southwest from Poundcake Hill / La Loma de las Mariposas

[Godzilla]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

The films on the marquee are actual flms released in 1949.
South of St. Louis is a color western, not well-reviewed and
Lucky Stiff not reviewed much better. That one's a crime film,
don't know if it's noir, but it was produced by Jack Benny!

Mickey Rooney had 3 films released in 1950: He's a Cockeyed Wonder,
The Fireball and Quicksand. This one is Quicksand. A film noir, appropriately.

Synopsis from IMDB:
Motor mechanic Dan Brady lacks funds for a heavy date with new waitress Vera, the type whose life's ambition is a fur coat; so he embezzles twenty dollars from his employer. To make up the shortage, he goes in debt for a hundred. Thereafter, every means he tries to get out of trouble only gets him deeper into crime, while everyone he meets is out for what they can get.

The Santa Monica Pier is listed as a filming location.


http://www.foxarchive.com/wp-content...950-poster.jpg

Thank you Martin. I found the same info and discovered the film is available on Utoob. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLWU-Pfp9GA
The actual scene in front of the Dome appears at 28:00, but there appear to be many shots of images familiar to NLA'ers, including Mickey's apartment house @1:02.




A lot of LA's history sadly disappeared in April 2014.

[Tetsu]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

Ding-ding-ding!

You win an ice cream soda at Fagan's Fountain in the Amestoy.

And maybe I do see some rocks in that photo :-)


And, here Tetsu, far from perfect, but much better. The DLs do respond and are endlessly grateful:
http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/single...id/1040/rec/36

Wow, that's awesome!

[HossC]

Originally Posted by HossC

I think the building under construction must be the one below, although I've so far drawn a blank with its identity. Is it some kind of substation?


Google Maps

Originally Posted by tovangar2

That's an oil well.

That particular tower was built in 1968 and extracts crude from the Beverly Hills Oil Field.

Thanks, tovangar2. As soon as I knew what it was, I was able to find a 2010 article called Urban Oil Wells in Los Angeles which includes the information below:

Packard Well Site (Beverly Hills Oil Field) — W. Pico and S. Genesee Ave 90019

This station has been disguised to look like a rather plain (and windowless) office building. Back in the 60’s, visitors could enter the building to view an educational display and even observe the operations of the pumps. Now the grounds are secured from the public. In 2008, the Packard wells produced 491,000 barrels of oil and 763 million cubic feet of gas. PXP operates 51 wells on site.

[HossC]

The seller dates this streetcar slide as early 1950s.


eBay

I was keen to see if the Safeway and Reynolds Pharmacy buildings were still around - luckily there are signs for Avenue 50 visible on both sides of the street, so that narrowed down my search. It's actually the intersection of Avenue 50 and York Boulevard, and both buildings are still standing, albeit with a few modifications. What a shame that the pharmacy has lost the top of its detailing. At least the palm trees are doing well.


GSV

Here's a closer look at the old Safeway building. Even though this side is hidden in the original slide, I'm quite sure it didn't have this ugly box on the front. A quick Google says that the building is now the MorYork Gallery, although their blogspot and Facebook page don't seem to have been updated since last June. I'm guessing that the building to the left, now the Pyong Kang Church, dates back to before the slide was taken.


GSV

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by HossC

Thanks, tovangar2. As soon as I knew what it was, I was able to find a 2010 article called Urban Oil Wells in Los Angeles which includes the information below:

The urban wells were much discussed a couple of years back on the thread. Here's just one post: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=11424

LA pumps mostly heavy crude, not the light, sweet crude one hears about. It's used to make asphalt. But hey, cars run on gasoline refined from better oil have to have something to drive on, right?

I love LA's oil industry. I think I caught oil fever from the founder of Atlantic Richfield, although I've never had anything to do with the business apart from being ARCO's fine art consultant. And I obviously don't have a case of oil fever on a par with him or Doheny or California's Oil Queen, Emma Summers, but I totally understand them.

I've always loved oil. I have happy childhood memories of being driven home to Hermosa Beach through the Baldwin Hills on dirt roads. On warm, cozy evenings, I thought the combination of the smell of the adobe dust we kicked up and the crude from the pumps was absolutely heavenly.

[MartinTurnbull]

Does anyone know where this vision in neon was? Or when?
I've done some googlizing but came up empty handed.
I found it on Pinterest which gave no other info other than it was called the Fountain Grlll and was circa 1940s.

[HossC]

I haven't found a location or date, but I did find a few more details and a larger version of the image. The image is/was part of Form and Landscape, "a stupendous collection of photos documenting the electrification of Los Angeles, culled from ConEd's archives." Unfortunately, the caption on the website just says "Commercial Lighting Doug White (No date)."


pstp-edison.com

The larger image reveals that the text on the side of the building says "RECREATION CENTER", and I think the sign inside the glass doors is advertising a "Turkey Shoot".

[mdiederi]

Was this one ever posted? I couldn't find it in a search of the thread.



Carleton Watkins, The Plaza, Los Angeles, circa 1880. J. Paul Getty Museum.

[Godzilla]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

I think the details must have been scraped off during the 60's remodel when the building's base was tiled.

This google maps view shows the relationship between Parkinson's 1897 building and Harrison Albright's 1905 Annex that connected the building with Hill Street, including what's left of the roof garden between the two which was part of the premises of the LAPL when they occupied two floors of the Annex between 1906 and 1908.


google maps

The Children's Reading Room at the Laughlin Annex,
French doors to the roof garden at left:
(If this photo is identified correctly, I cannot
explain the arch-top windows)

lapl

The present Hill Street facade:

gsv

Broadway frontage with the Million Dollar Theater to the north:

gsv

Hipster-free interior:

http://www.you-are-here.com


http://www.grandcentralsquare.com


Does anyone know where, in this pair of buildings, Frank Lloyd Wright's office was while he was building his concrete-block houses here in the 1920's?

BTW, below is the first Laughlin Building, in East Liverpool, Ohio, soon after Homer Laughlin sold out to move to Los Angeles.
The Homer Laughlin China Co is still going strong and has manufactured 1/3 of all the china ever sold in the US to date, including their famous Fiesta ware.

www.hlchina.com

Homer Laughlin neon

http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/compou...id/56491/rec/8

[Godzilla]

1905 - Spring Street, between third and fourth.
http://waterandpower.org/1%20Histori...d_4th_1905.jpg

1917 - Fifth and Broadway, "When you say Bud . . ."

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/re...coll65/id/1802




With the advent of neons supposedly introduced with Mr. Earl Anthony's Packard sign, (~1923) things looked different. Not clear when this image was taken. Despite the look of cars from the teens and '20s, and the flapper style for the Eastside girl suggests roaring '20s. According to one source, Eastside "survived" prohibition by brewing near-beer. http://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/c...-beer-history/


http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/compou...id/56491/rec/8





1935
http://www.lamag.com/wp-content/uplo...-billboard.jpg


November 1916 - Remember to Vote




http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/compou...id/56491/rec/8

[Godzilla]

Originally Posted by Chuckaluck

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=3286


https://sites.google.com/site/downto...eatres/liberty


http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3088/5...99d12c0c_b.jpg
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=8779

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OiEqyY2edB...he+liberty.jpg


http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/single...d/12294/rec/50

Give me Liberties, all two of 'em! (Los Angeles with the Statue, Long Beach without.)




http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/single...id/43635/rec/6






May 25, 1917 - 127 W. Ocean Blvd, LONG BEACH - another Liberty Theater featuring Sarah Bernhardt's "Mothers of France" (Theater had several name changes eventually settling on "Roxy" in 1940.) Impressive at night.

http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/compou...id/56491/rec/8

1917 - Mothers of France
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._of_France.jpg



Liberty Theater (Long Beach) Interior
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater1/00014863.jpg

http://www.csulb.edu/colleges/cla/de...-Studio-sm.jpg


An improved view from an improved scan.

http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/ref/co...coll2/id/15602









Unattended bicycle?

[Godzilla]

Los Angeles or Tivoli Gardens? Renew my subscription!








http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/compou...id/56491/rec/8




April 16, 1915 - WOW LA Times Bldg.

[tovangar2]

Wow Godzilla. Thank you SO much for those last 4 posts. What a treat! The Laughlin buildings, Eastside beer, brewed by my fave George Zobelein, the gorgeous Liberty and the old Times building lit up like a Christmas tree. Could not be better :-)

[Godzilla]

You've done posted some fine images and text too! There's undoubtedly plenty more.


July 1, 1914 - 451 Broadway - CH Baker Hanan Shoes
Four, count 'em four conveniently located stores!

[Godzilla]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Another popular coffee in the Los Angeles area and beyond was...


ebay




V.C. Buckley circa 1937

I'm trying to figure out the location of this photo. I haven't had any luck so far.





nice neon sign







http://www.prices4antiques.com/



The Joannes Brothers Company building at 800 Traction. (built 1916)


http://www.you-are-here.com/downtown/ben_hur.html







gsv





Ben-Hur coffee stand on Wilshire.


LAPL



and on W. Washington.


LAPL




below: very similar to this stand posted earlier by FredH




If this post doesn't make you smell coffee I don't know what would.
__

Notwithstanding the fact that I've been humming the Chock Full 'O Nuts jingle for the last ten minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqHGuv_-DFA



April 12, 1915 - Ben Hur SaTisfies (although I've never tried it.)

http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/compou...id/56491/rec/8

[Godzilla]

Edison at "166(?)" Date not visible, but guess would be 1915. "The Emporium, Newell's Clothing?











http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/compou...id/56491/rec/8


Edison's Pasadena Office




Edison "General Offices"





Pay your electric bill here.




http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/compou...id/56491/rec/8

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by Godzilla

Notwithstanding the fact that I've been humming the Chock Full 'O Nuts jingle for the last ten minutes

Ben-Hur Products, a California-based company, was acquired in 1953 by McCormick.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCormick_%26_Company

[Tourmaline]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

1932, The Darkroom/Chandler's building (SE corner Wilshire and Cloverdale) is still Spanish Colonial Revival. Dyas-Carlton Cafe Building lower right corner next to a Standard Station:

1937 - Five years later, time to go shopping for some C.H.Baker shoes?
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics19/00009291.jpg

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics18/00018549.jpg


Charles H "Baker" was related to the Baker Ranch in or near Saugus. Per wiki, the Saugus race track can trace its roots to CH Baker's brother. In '32, CH evidently resided in Pasadena while Secty Treasurer of the shoe co., Roy resided at 360 N Sycamore.

The track started out as a rodeo arena called Baker Ranch Stadium in 1927. Its construction was announced in December 1926. It was owned by Roy Baker, brother of shoe businessman C. H. Bakerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saugus_Speedway

[sadykadie2]

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

You can actually ''pan for gold'' at Knott's. I searched around on the google memories machine and found these.


KBF Inc.

Is Bruce somewhere in this photo? I think so.

KBF Inc.

The Calico Log Flume Ride....wet and wild?

KBF Inc.

Here I am at Knott's... probably around 1954. How did I ever get up there? It might be Easter, as I'm wearing a suit.

files

Here's my all time favorite at Knott's. Aunt Nellie played beautiful old-time music on her Dulcimer. For just a kid...I was amazed and still am.

KBFInc.

Doug, I laughed a good long time at the photo of you on the horse. Particularly with the hat in hand. Hey do you have any pictures of that cool cabin with all the mysterious stuff inside? They've torn it down