noirish Los Angeles

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by Oviatt Building Fan

You might enjoy reading this recent Los Angeles Times interview with me about the historic James Oviatt Building in downtown L.A.

Now that is a great interview!
You look especially dapper and handsome in that vintage suit Marc.

___

[Los Angeles Past]

Interesting slide-show of 30 images of late 19th/early 20th century Los Angeles from the C.C. Pierce photo collection (Huntington Library).

http://framework.latimes.com/2012/07...hy-collection/

-Scott

[ethereal_reality]

Rare postcard found on ebay.



__

[MichaelRyerson]

Santa_Monica_3

(ca. 1893) - View of Santa Monica beach was taken north from the Hotel Arcadia. Eckert and Hopf's Restaurant for hot and cold lunches can be seen on the left, two buildings are marked John Wieland's, and on the far right a Pavilion Restaurant sign can be seen. Port Los Angeles Long Wharf upper left.
LAPL


sm_mammoth_wharg

ca. 1893) - Aerial view of the S.P. Mammoth Wharf, Port Los Angeles, Calif. The wharf was also known as the old Santa Monica Long Wharf, north of Canyon. It was the longest wharf in the world at 4700 feet long - about a mile and a half (?). A white cloud of smoke can be seen from a train travelling on the tracks to the business end, at the end of the wharf. The Long Wharf has been designated as California HIstorical Landmark No. 881. (may be some slight error in calculation of length)
LAPL


Long_Wharf

(ca. 1893) - Southern Pacific wharf, 4700 feet long, for the projected Port of Los Angeles, near Santa Monica, built in 1893. View is from the end of the wharf towards the shore. Train (white smoke) is on the wharf.
LAPL


SM_1st_Steamer

(1893) - Southern Pacific wharf, 4700 feet long, for the projected Port of Los Angeles, near Santa Monica, built in 1893. This photograph shows the arrival of the first steamer at the wharf in 1893. Note train at right.
LAPL


Wharf

(1898) - Photo shows the business end of the mammoth wharf in Santa Monica. This wharf was the longest in the world at 4,700 feet long. Also known as the Los Angeles Long Wharf the site was designated as California Historical Landmark No. 881.
DWPLAPL

[Chuckaluck]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Rare postcard found on ebay.
__

Westmore Hotel, Seventh Street and Francisco Street, Los Angeles, 1910. Surprisingly clean given what looks like unpaved street with trolley tracks.
USC Digital

[ProphetM]

This showed up in the funny pictures thread yesterday over at my usual stomping ground, the forums at Ars Technica:


Link to post, but no further info on source.

[fhammon]

Originally Posted by Oviatt Building Fan

Folks, you might enjoy reading this recent Los Angeles Times interview with me about the historic James Oviatt Building in downtown L.A. The second link has a photo gallery as well.


http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...,2357113.story

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...8.photogallery

Excellent interview OBF.
I particularly like the question that the interviewer put to you:

"You've got your Oviatt suit and tie, and your Spectator shoes," I tell him later. "What does it feel like for you to be here? When you look out the windows, do you see 2012? Or does time stand still?"

I was reminded of the film Somewhere in Time with Christopher Reeves. I just saw it again recently on Netflix thinking I'd just see the first five minutes and then move on. I didn't. I watched it from beginning to end.

The ability to step back in time at will is one of my favorite daydreams. That must be something we all have in common here at Norish Los Angeles. That's part of the reason why this thread exists and continues to grow, I'm sure.

Thank you very much for sharing that article and your passion for all things Oviatt.

ETA
Now that I've buttered you up, would it be possible to organize a private tour of the Oviatt building for members of this board with you as our guide?
If that's at all possible, communication could be handled by Private Messaging.

[Mark L]

Hi MRyerson,
I believe VOD BITS is shorthand for "Vaudeville Bits" on the poster in post #8707
also, I am very intrigued by your reference to a Vodafone music transcribing system.
I poked around and could find nothing. Do you have anymore info on that?

...great stuff here from everyone, as usual

[QUOTE=MichaelRyerson;5782222]My best guess on 'Vod Bits' is short music trailers taken (probably with permission) from then current releases, Vod being short for Vodafone a popular music transcribing system of the day.

[MichaelRyerson]

gets me in trouble. I thought that was a pretty droll line and someone would jump on it quickly but...here we are. Sorry for any inconvenience I caused. really. I've now gone back and entered a disclaimer in the offending post. I thought it was hilarious when I wrote it. now, not so much.

[BifRayRock]

Originally Posted by ProphetM

This showed up in the funny pictures thread yesterday over at my usual stomping ground, the forums at Ars Technica:

Link to post, but no further info on source.

GW discussed Ostriches here: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=2448



"Pacific Electric Railway Company's South Pasadena line which ran between 6th Street and Main Street in Downtown Los Angeles and Mission Street and Fair Oaks Avenue in Pasadena."
http://www.flickr.com

cdlib.org

"First electric car over Arroyo Seco near the Cawston ostrich farm on March 7, 1895."
http://waterandpower.org/museum/Earl...81800s%29.html

More on the subject here: http://www.retronaut.co/2012/03/caws...arm-1896-1934/

1896 -1934



ebay


_________________________

Cawston was clearly a big supplier to the fashion industry. Given the plethora of Monkey Farms in the Los Angeles area, which may be disturbing in itself, wonder if any supplied the Monkey Fur industry?

Gloria Swanson
http://felixinhollywood.blogspot.com...onkey-fur.html

"The type of monkey fur used by Schiaparelli and the maker of our bolero comes from the colobus monkey. Native to Africa, the colobus is an arboreal monkey, meaning it spends most of its life in the tree canopy and rarely descends to solid ground."http://blog.fidmmuseum.org/museum/20...at-c-1938.html

[MichaelRyerson]

Originally Posted by BifRayRock

cdlib.org

I noticed the sign in the background...


DemateisandBro
Demateis Winery at N. Alameda near Olvera Street I Courtesy of Italian American Museum of Los Angeles

Always glad to see some kind of success come from such modest beginnings. Now I can't stop thinking about those poor colobus monkeys.

[westcork]

Originally Posted by MichaelRyerson

I noticed the sign in the background...


DemateisandBro
Demateis Winery at N. Alameda near Olvera Street I Courtesy of Italian American Museum of Los Angeles

Always glad to see some kind of success come from such modest beginnings. Now I can't stop thinking about those poor colobus monkeys.

Wireless? I can't read the rest of the sign. Can anybody make out what is says underneath "Wireless"?

[BifRayRock]

Originally Posted by MichaelRyerson

I noticed the sign in the background...


DemateisandBro
Demateis Winery at N. Alameda near Olvera Street I Courtesy of Italian American Museum of Los Angeles

Always glad to see some kind of success come from such modest beginnings. Now I can't stop thinking about those poor colobus monkeys.

Sometimes it's the little things. . . . I was focusing on the "November '08 Prosperity Parade" and wondered how it might have been connected with that other event involving Roses. Then there is the sign boasting about "The Largest Nubian Ostriches in America." (Are Turkeys and Emu's - Non-Nubian Ostriches? Were there small Nubian Ostriches off of Sepulveda or in the Mojave?)

Sorry for the Monkey Fur downer. Monkey Fur was a popular fashion in the 20's and 30's. Imagined some unnamed studio costumer visiting Cahuenga's Isle de Simian (or similar) and hearing the otherwise loud resident primates become silent. Of course I have no direct knowledge of how our primate cousins were treated. But look at what "they" did to the Richfield Tower!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/64683379...ine-monkey-fur

[BifRayRock]

Originally Posted by westcork

Wireless? I can't read the rest of the sign. Can anybody make out what is says underneath "Wireless"?

Marconi? Assume the "Via Wireless" refers to the title of a play rather than listening to a radio broadcast. Interestingly, the first commercial radio station in Los Angeles was licensed in 1921.

CALIFORNIA - In 1909, David Herrold began operating a radio station in connection with a radio school in San Jose. This was three years before Congress established radio licensing requirements. In 1913, Herrold adopted the call letters SJN. The station's letters were changed to KQW in 1921, and to KCBS in 1949. California's first commercial radio station, KQL, in Los Angeles, was licensed in 1921.http://www.nrcdxas.org/articles/1-states.txt

In any event, "There's never been anything like it!"

Truth in Advertising? What is meant by "Native Wines and Brandies?" Locally product or did the region have its own indigenous variety, e.g., dandelions or agave?

Sunny Slope Winery(?) Somewhere in Pasadena 1899


1910 Interior of a winery showing large casks (Sunny Slope marked containers?)

USC Digital

[Handsome Stranger]

Originally Posted by westcork

Wireless? I can't read the rest of the sign. Can anybody make out what is says underneath "Wireless"?

As best I can make out, beneath "Wireless" it says:

"See the Great Yacht Scene" and then something undecipherable in smaller text.

Below that: "Wonderful Wireless" and some more text I can't read, then "There's Never Been Anything Like It."

Seems to be an advertisement for a play at the Belasco Theater. The first of two theaters in Los Angeles bearing that name was at 337 S. Main Street from 1901 until it was renamed the Republic Theater some years later. I bet Lewis S. Stone is the same Lewis Stone that played Judge Hardy in the Andy Hardy movies.

[Mark L]

ha! that's why all I could find is modern day telecommunication companies.
actually quite funny. my naivete is showing
(harrison ford and vodaphone in the 20's.. who knew?)

Originally Posted by MichaelRyerson

gets me in trouble. I thought that was a pretty droll line and someone would jump on it quickly but...here we are. Sorry for any inconvenience I caused. really. I've now gone back and entered a disclaimer in the offending post. I thought it was hilarious when I wrote it. now, not so much.

[MichaelRyerson]

Originally Posted by westcork

Wireless? I can't read the rest of the sign. Can anybody make out what is says underneath "Wireless"?

could be another early Vodafone application...or it could be something like this


dubya-cheerleading

sorry, more humor. I'll have access to our tech dept Monday, maybe they can freshen and enhance it for us.

[MichaelRyerson]

Originally Posted by Mark L

ha! that's why all I could find is modern day telecommunication companies.
actually quite funny. my naivete is showing
(harrison ford and vodaphone in the 20's.. who knew?)

Thanks Mark, you're a good sport.

[BifRayRock]

Originally Posted by Handsome Stranger

Seems to be an advertisement for a play at the Belasco Theater. The first of two theaters in Los Angeles bearing that name was at 337 S. Main Street from 1901 until it was renamed the Republic Theater some years later. I bet Lewis S. Stone is the same Lewis Stone that played Judge Hardy in the Andy Hardy movies.

And you would win that bet! Stone was Spanish Am War Vet, and this would have been very early in his acting career. He evidently made a name for himself as a featured performer with Belasco.

After six years in the Belasco Theatre stock companies in Los Angeles, he went to New York with the premier company of "The Bird of Paradise.http://silentgents.com/BBStone.html

http://www.google.com

From '21 through '28 he lived at 212 S. Wilton Place

See GW's post on the subject: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=7488
http://paradiseleased.wordpress.com/...50000-mansion/google

[Handsome Stranger]

I haven't been able to find a better copy of the "Wireless" photo, but I did come across this. It's from the pages of the New York Clipper, published Feb. 20th, 1908:



[source: fultonhistory.com]