[HenryHuntington]

OK, e_r, here's my best take. The signage at the other end of the building reads "Ward Refrigerators" and "Viking...". A directory search (1947 Central L.A. Yellow Pages via Library of Congress) establishes that Viking Sales Corporation was a distributor of Ward Refrigerators and had their place of business at 1481 West Washington Blvd. in that year.

The remaining trace of supporting evidence is that the barely-visible building down the street in the photo bears a resemblance to the neighborhood market currently at 1451-57 West Washington. And thus endeth my case.

As for the rest, 1481 doesn't appear in the 1956 Street Directory, and what's there now is a storage lot that would merit a junkyard dog. I wasn't able to locate a street directory before 1956 that might've helped us determine the identities of the other businesses in the photo, assuming that we have the right location. The sign for the cafe appears to read "Steaks Snacks". I was able to make out the window lettering for the remaining ground-floor tenant as "______ Music Producers (or Publishers?), Inc. Local 207 (or 217?), but I never came up with an organization that fit the nomenclature; the first word is too fuzzy for my primitive image management skills, I'm afraid. And without it...

One last touch is that there was indeed a Ward Refrigerator and Manufacturing Company at 6501 South Alameda just to provide a nice red herring. And no, their building didn't resemble our quarry.

Stinker, indeed. But I can't say I didn't have fun with this! Comments and critique are welcome as always.