noirish Los Angeles

[Scott Charles]

Originally Posted by MartinTurnbull

I'm trying to narrow down the location of this billboard from the green-roofed building in the bottom left corner of this photo. I feel like I should know it but I haven't come up with much. Does anyone recognize it?



and if we zoom in...



Thanks, y'all.

Just a wild guess here, but “green roof” makes me think of the Farmer's Market...

[Martin Pal]

That was my thought at first, too, Scott Charles. A green-roofed bar and/or restaurant(s) are also somewhere in my thoughts.
Spent a little time looking at wider shots and aerials of the Farmer's Market and I'm hard pressed to find any billboards that
were located around the perimeter, though.

[Martin Pal]

In downtown LA it reached 112° on Friday, just 1° shy of its all-time record high, and only the third time temperatures have climbed to such heights.

[odinthor]

For our "green-roofed" mystery location, the covered (drive-in?) parking on the right side of the photo has the potential to stir some memories. (It doesn't for me.)


detail of image already in evidence

Car folks: Going by the automobiles, about what year is the photo?

And vis-a-vis the temperature: Yes, it is, and has been, fairly hellish, even out Long Beach way. There's hope for a slight drop starting Monday, then a ten or twelve degree drop around Wednesday etc. Adding to the fun in my area is smoke wafting from a big fire in San Bernardino County; the rising sun this morning was very ruddy from it.

[Lwize]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

In downtown LA it reached 112° on Friday, just 1° shy of its all-time record high, and only the third time temperatures have climbed to such heights.

True Noir Los Angeles. We are being burnt to a crisp!

[Bristolian]

In the green roof mystery, I will add another slightly educated guess with Patmars Motel & Drive-in. It was located on the SW corner of Sepulveda and Imperial Highway in El Segundo.
It had a round drive-in and according to this postcard illustration, a green roof.

[Hollywood Graham]

That is a 1954 Buick.

[MartinTurnbull]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

That was my thought at first, too, Scott Charles. A green-roofed bar and/or restaurant(s) are also somewhere in my thoughts.
Spent a little time looking at wider shots and aerials of the Farmer's Market and I'm hard pressed to find any billboards that
were located around the perimeter, though.

I also wondered if it was the Farmer's Market, but I don't think it all those palm trees we can see in the background.

[Martin Pal]

Is anyone familiar with Rainbo Bread? What does it mean that "It's Twisted?"

I found a little bit of info at this LINK from last year:

Sacramento, Calif. — Are you having a problem finding your favorite bread products? A California favorite and Central Valley staple, Rainbo Bread will soon be a memory.

Bimbo Bakeries USA purchased Rainbo products several years ago and in 2015 shut down the Fresno baking plant in downtown moving operations to Sacramento.

If you're of a certain age, you remember the smell of fresh bread baking in the mornings or a tour with your school group and trying a piece of that bread. Yummy doesn't describe it enough. It ranks up there with the Freedom Train coming to town. How's that for dating yourself?

After speaking with a Bimbo representative, the company is a multi-national brand and the name "Rainbo" was only in California.

The product is the same, but will now be called "Nature's Harvest." They have been slowly phasing the name out.
___

Hmm...speaking with a Bimbo Representative...wonder what that's like?

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by odinthor

...in my area is smoke wafting from a big fire in San Bernardino County; the rising sun this morning was very ruddy from it.
_______________________________________________________________

Ugh! Sorry about that!
I was hoping that it wouldn't blow to the west; so far it hasn't.

Originally Posted by Lwize

True Noir Los Angeles. We are being burnt to a crisp!
_______________________________________________________________

Indeed!
___

Los Angeles worst heatwave was in 1955, August 31 - September 7.

Seven days of 100°+ temperatures. September 1st hit a then record high of 110°. A week later:

Sept. 13, 1955: Hot weather and a low inversion layer leads to the highest recorded ozone level in Los Angeles history.


(John Malmin / Los Angeles Times)

Downtown L.A. buildings are barely visible from 1st and Olive streets at the peak of heavy smog. Faintly visible from left are the Hall of Records, law building,
new county law library and state building, with City Hall in background.

[ethereal_reality]

.
I'm trying to find more information on this MISSING girl.


eBay

It's proving difficult because of her somewhat generic name. ..(Connie Smith)

Hopefully she was found alive.



I almost forgot, he date on the back is April 16, 1953.



.

[ethereal_reality]

.
This next girl isn't missing but she's in some deep sh*t.

ESPIONAGE!


eBay




I wonder if she was proven to be a spy.


.

[odinthor]

LA Times, 4/9/1942


LA Times, 4/9/1942

[odinthor]

In other news . . . here is the latest I see on the missing girl (the other article I found, from the previous day, essentially repeats the copy with the photo which e_r posted):


LA Times, 4/5/1953

The tie-in with Los Angeles is not revealed anywhere.

[Mackerm]

My trademark half-assed Googling turned up this page of articles on Connie Smith, including one mention of Los Angeles:

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/porc...52-t10200.html

Charleston Gazette
Sunday, July 11, 1954

The gypsy story was just one of scores of reports and rumors that the state police tracked down patiently in the months that followed. No tip was too insignificant to investigate.

A housewife in upstate New York saw Connie Smith riding a horse in front of her house; An upstate New York construction worker shared his lunch with the runaway girl; A woman from Great Barrington, Mass, saw Connie at the annual Fall fair; A service-station operator in Mabbetsville, New York saw her with another band of gypsies.

One group of itinerant orchard workers who had spent the summer in New England was trailed to Los Angeles.

[Update] A direct link to the Charley Project page for Constance Christine Smith. Hmmm. The links don't actually go to articles. Oh well, there are some portraits, so I'm leaving it.