noirish Los Angeles v2.0 - Page 35

Snix · #**681** Posted **Apr 6, 2026, 6:54 PM**

ATOM BURGER!
Mt. Vernon Broiler, 1948
4015 W. Washington Blvd.
🌙OPEN TIL MIDNITE🌙
Photo by Christie Hawkins "Photographic Illustrators" 5540 Hollywood Blvd.

eBay

Alkapone · #**682** Posted **Apr 6, 2026, 11:50 PM**

All I can say is if I suddenly found myself in need of a ten-megaton meat sandwich then I certainly would not have any use for Ma Bell’s Public Telephone. It ain’t Wilshire Boulevard in the 1980’s where you can call for the helicopter to land on the tower and get you out!

Noir_Noir · #**683** Posted **Apr 7, 2026, 3:21 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

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NOT a mystery location but I find it curious nonetheless.

It was either facebook or flickr

You could get a massage while your keys were being made.

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Having the power e_r to teleport back and forward in time, you could indeed have had a massage and your keys cut without leaving the building.

About six years previously to the locks and keys, 8576 Santa Monica Blvd. was home to a massage parlor.

Detail from an Ed Ruscha 1974 image -

getty.edu

I can find no mention of the Incredible Time Gallery.

ethereal_reality · #**684** Posted **Apr 7, 2026, 4:23 PM**

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Thanks for the excellent post, odinthor.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by odinthor

They however maintained an office in L.A. at 3310 S. Main for some years. This old building had had 10 feet shaved off in 1912 for the widening of Main St.
By 1929, it was the office for the first of several successive furniture companies. It's still around, and available.

gsv

Our new NLA headquarters?

Could be, but I'm not too thrilled with the first floor makeover. It reminds me of a Medieval Times restaurant.

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ethereal_reality · #**685** Posted **Apr 7, 2026, 4:30 PM**

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We must know this hotel by a different name because I don't remember any Hotel Paramount*.

1937

Currently on eBay..The seller is only asking a $1.00.

Does it look familiar to anyone?..

*perhaps Paramount Studios made them change the name. .(just a thought)
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ethereal_reality · #**686** Posted **Apr 7, 2026, 4:54 PM**

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ATOM - BURGER

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snix

ATOM BURGER!
Mt. Vernon Broiler, 1948
4015 W. Washington Blvd.
🌙OPEN TIL MIDNITE🌙
Photo by Christie Hawkins "Photographic Illustrators" 5540 Hollywood Blvd.

eBay

..Do you suppose they cooked with radiation?

Here's one of their seven delivery vehicles.

EBAY

ethereal_reality · #**687** Posted **Apr 7, 2026, 5:10 PM**

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The eBay seller with the Hotel Paramount photograph has this snapshot (also from 1937) of the studio itself.

eBay

You can see the famous gate straight ahead.

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HossC · #**688** Posted **Apr 7, 2026, 6:17 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

We must know this hotel by a different name because I don't remember any Hotel Paramount*.

1937

Currently on eBay..The seller is only asking a $1.00.

Does it look familiar to anyone?..

*perhaps Paramount Studios made them change the name. .(just a thought)

Given the name and "Hollywood" being written on the photo, that's the Hotel Paramount at 5311 Melrose Avenue. Near the studios and the corner of Van Ness, it appears in the CDs from 1928 to 1961. After that it becomes the Hollywood Executive Apartments, which were connected to the murder of Canadian teenager Reet Jurvetson in 1969. It was demolished in 1989.

Snix · #**689** Posted **Apr 7, 2026, 8:10 PM**

This photo of a Big Donut Drive-In showed up on eBay and I wondered which location it could be. The church across the street is the only clue...
No churches are currently located adjacent to the 4 remaining Big Donuts in Inglewood, Compton, Gardena or Westmont. I also don't see a steeple at the former location in Reseda

From the listing "A striking vintage silver gelatin photograph by photographer and educator Neal White, dated 1969 and signed by the artist on the mount."
eBay

HossC · #**690** Posted **Apr 7, 2026, 8:33 PM**

The corner of Sherman Way and Kester Avenue in Van Nuys. There's a picture of its 1959 opening on Wikipedia. The donut has gone, but the First Baptist Church of Van Nuys is still standing, although it's harder to see now.

GSV

Alkapone · #**691** Posted **Apr 8, 2026, 7:12 AM**

One listed on Worthpoint (negative with print shown) at unknown date and place with LARy Car #57 on “A”-line service having an intersection in the rear:

Worthpoint

Car end reads Adams and Alsace, but this might be positioned inbound at the other end of the run like East Hollywood? Any clues here?

Alkapone · #**692** Posted **Apr 8, 2026, 7:16 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

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The eBay seller with the Hotel Paramount photograph has this snapshot (also from 1937) of the studio itself.

eBay

You can see the famous gate straight ahead.

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Anyone ever heard of “The Little Biltmore” on the corner there?

odinthor · #**693** Posted **Apr 8, 2026, 4:03 PM**

Mystery Building!

Does this structure appear familiar to anyone?

Unnumbered ad pages at back of the 1904 book Our Architecture https://books.google.com/books?id=AFRDAQ...IHVAeL2MQ6AF6BAgFEAM#v=onepage&q&f=false

The image is given among other all-Angeleno achievements of cement contractor F. Odemar & Co., and is indeed captioned as "Wittmer Building," but I find no reference to such an edifice in the Times or Herald, nor among name-buildings listed on the 1909 birdseye map.

There was indeed a Mr. H.C. Witmer (one T), much involved with building at the time, as we see:

https://digitallibrary.usc.edu/asset-management/2A3BF19LEGVJ?&WS=SearchResults&Flat=FP

who is doubtless the Witmer of L.A.'s Witmer Street. Traveling via Googlemobile up Witmer St., however, proved unedifying, at least in this regard. Does anyone recognize the building?

ethereal_reality · #**694** Posted **Apr 8, 2026, 4:05 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alkapone

Anyone ever heard of “The Little Biltmore” on the corner there?

I certainly haven't.

It looks like a burger joint. (and note the weight machine outside)

Thanks for the information on the Hotel Paramount, Hoss.
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ethereal_reality · #**695** Posted **Apr 8, 2026, 4:32 PM**

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Here's a very intriguing night-time (yes, noirish) snapshot listed by the same eBay seller.

LOS ANGELES 1937

eBay

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ethereal_reality · #**696** Posted **Apr 8, 2026, 4:39 PM**

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The mystery location of the Wittmer Building.

Quote:

Originally Posted by odinthor

Mystery Building!

Does this structure appear familiar to anyone?

It doesn't look familiar to me, odinthor, but it's certainly an impressive building. The slope it was built on appears to be quite steep!

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HossC · #**697** Posted **Apr 8, 2026, 5:36 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alkapone

Anyone ever heard of “The Little Biltmore” on the corner there?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I certainly haven't.

It looks like a burger joint. (and note the weight machine outside)

I found this in a 1944 issue of Modern Screen. i don't know if it refers to the same place.

archive.org

HossC · #**698** Posted **Apr 8, 2026, 6:05 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Here's a very intriguing night-time (yes, noirish) snapshot listed by the same eBay seller.

LOS ANGELES 1937

eBay

There was a La Tosca Hotel at 339 S Figueroa Street around that time. This is the best shot I've found so far - it's the one in the distance above the black car.

USC Digital Library

ethereal_reality · #**699** Posted **Apr 8, 2026, 11:27 PM**

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Excellent, Hoss. ..

..Let's hope we find a closer photograph of La Tosca.

ethereal_reality · #**700** Posted **Apr 8, 2026, 11:46 PM**

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A mystery carving - exact location unknown.

Rock carving of Abraham Lincoln, with woman identified as Clarice Barcly standing near cave entrance glesturing upward, 1930 UCLA

The location of the cave is given as 'near the northerly end of Bundy Drive' under the headline:

Weird Carving Remain Mysterious, Los Angeles Times newspaper article from March 10, 1930

via Los Angeles Relics on Facebook.

The only way this could have remained a mystery is if it's located on private property. . otherwise I'm sure it's been found by now.

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