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Originally Posted by ethereal_reality
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Famous male hustler Scotty Bowers and his team of sex workers operated out of a Richfield gas station at 5777 Hollywood Blvd., corner of Van Ness, in the 1940's. Perhaps it is pictured here.
In his 2012 memoir, "Full Service," the aged Bowers describes revisiting the scene of the old service station about 2011 and writes that "a new fire station for the Los Angeles Fire Department was rising there." The fire station address is 5769 (chuckle) Hollywood Blvd.
Bowers wrote, "Over the years more Hollywood personalities secretly congregated at that little gas station than anywhere else in town. It was a scene that saw as much furious action as the busiest studio back lot. The place became a magnet for those in quest of carnal thrills and escapism of every kind. A cavalcade of movie stars and others were attracted to the station like the proverbial moth to a flame...Straight, gay, or bi; male or female; young or old - I had something for everyone. The vice squad and the press were constantly lurking on the periphery, eagerly waiting to pounce. But I always managed to elude them."
This photo, showing the station at the foot of a tranquil-looking Hollywood residential street, was probably taken at the height of Bower's "reign," which started in 1946 and lasted several years. In his book, I recall he described a brick motel either next door or across the street. A picture of that would be interesting.