noirish Los Angeles

[BifRayRock]

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

srk1941...If you can find and post better images than the ad previously seen and this one from an obscure Spanish website, please do. I haven't seen any others of the Berl Berry building.

Credit

This would have been soon after opening in May 1951--that's a '51 Lincoln in the corner, along with some new Mercurys.

1949 - 3741 S. La Brea Avenue - Baldwin Theater ( if the arches appear elsewhere on NLA )

http://40.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8fbv0ccWU1qzqju7o1_1280.jpg




When the sun disappeared in 1949






http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater2/00015217.jpg
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater2/00015214.jpg
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater2/00015215.jpg
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater2/00015216.jpg





Do you deserve a break today?
[Mc]Downey takes pride in its McDonalds
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lt4rlxry1B8/UQ...dzDj8cHQ/s1600/800px-DowneyMcdonalds.jpg
Formerly in San Bernardino
http://thatslikewhoa.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/mcdonalds2.png

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by HossC

I can't see any sign of a train depot on the southwest corner.

You're right HossC. I just thought this building on the southwest corner (of Figueroa & 58th St.) had some of the same characteristics as a small depot.


gsv

and then, when I noticed the r.r. tracks, my imagination got the best of me.

And as you see below, the building is a bit too far from the tracks (it could have been moved of course)


google_earth



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[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

When I first glanced at BRR's photo of the Baldwin Theater I thought it was under attack.

posted by BifRayRock

http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater2/00015214.jpg
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[BifRayRock]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

The Carrell Speedway poster sent me googling.


Here's an aerial of the Carroll Speedway in Gardena. One source says it was located at 139th & Western, while another source says it was at 174th & Vermont.


http://autoracingmemories.com/forums/showthread.php?p=653
Note the drive-in theater next door. (and the Future Ascot Park Site at upper right)



http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/the-history-of-los-angeles.446547/page-15

Carrell Speedway 1940 to 1954

Garden (Western) Speedway 1954 to 1967

Ascot Park 1957 to 1990
_____

1930 - Welcome to Gardena


At or around 182nd and Western Ave. ( 5533 South Western Avenue) http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15799coll170/id/23913/rec/15



























http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15799coll170/id/23913/rec/15


Lucky Service

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15799coll170/id/23913/rec/15


Leetha's Chicken - None Better















The preferred view of Leetha's Chicken Inn







Hold the pickles hold the lettuce . . .


Judge Carlos S. Hardy, Justice with Mercy




Impeached for alleged improprieties involving Sister Aimee trial and later acquitted. https://books.google.com/books?id=Yj4VlF...e&q=carlos%20s%20hardy%20impeach&f=false "After evaluating the numerous newspaper reports, one Los Angeles Superior Court judge, Carlos Hardy, informally advised McPherson to hire private detectives to assist her. In his view, law enforcement officials were making no effort to find any substantiating evidence of a kidnapping and were only interested in breaking down her end of the story." (See note 27 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidnapping_of_Aimee_Semple_McPherson)

Judge Hardy on the right
http://lit250v.library.ucla.edu/islandor...elesDailyNews%3A2364/datastream/JPG/view http://lit250v.library.ucla.edu/islandor...alCollections.losAngelesDailyNews%3A2365

[BifRayRock]

1930 - Welcome to Huntington Park


Where Avenues (Rita and Florence) - and automobiles collide. http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15799coll170/id/81513/rec/16




Ellis G Earley Used Cars - 2534 E Florence Avenue












For those who prefer gasometers, avert your eyes.


Drink up







Sign of the times? Could the single street light globes be a deliberate attempt to economize?



Renown rooftop service for the Log Cabin Tavern should wet any appetite.

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I don't believe we've seen this unique building on NLA yet.

It's located in Venice at Speedway and Thornton Avenue.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/38310569@N02/5173154686/in/photostream/


http://dogtownink.com/21/thornton-towers-historic/


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Originally Posted by Flyingwedge

This April 6, 1912 Southwest Contractor and Manufacturer article must refer to 16 Thornton Avenue:

HathiTrust -- http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.c2602793;view=1up;seq=701

Los Angeles County gives a build date of 1913 and an effective built date of 1916 for 16 Thornton Avenue.

I'd love to see a photo of Thornton Towers when it still had its wrought iron stair rail and before it got heavily Art Deco-ized. I imagine it looked lighter and prettier.

[Slauson Slim]

The discussion about 58th and Figueroa brought up something.

In post-1965 photos the empty lots on South/South Central LA main streets - Crenshaw, Main Street, Broadway, Figueroa, Central, Avalon, Vermont, MLK (Santa Barbara), Vernon, Slauson, Florence, Manchester, Century - are likely the result of being burnt in the Watts and Rodney King Riots.

I grew up at 58th and Broadway from the late '40s to 1966. Street cars to freeways cutting off east-west streets. There were small businesses in solid buildings that are long gone, having been torched or from out of control fires.

My father owned a bar on South Broadway, and there is no vestige of the three story building, which included apartments upstairs.

So it's unsurprising there is an empty lot at 58th and Fig. Another thing, who owns all those empty lots? Paying taxes on unproductive property? Repossessed by lenders?

[BifRayRock]

1930 - Newsom's Cut-rate grocery. - 10520 South Vermont Ave. Not clear whether current structure at 10500 contains original elements. http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15799coll170/id/28522/rec/17











The Duke is coming for a visit? Weight gain? Operator, get me Thornwall-9117!







Did Champion Tailors and Cleaners move? (I need my only pair of pants back)
1930 image identifies location as intersection of Vermont Ave and West 106th Street. 1932CD has 6008 S. Broadway for Champion Tailors and Cleaners.



"Looking for a little excitement?" "Ever been to Cudahy?"





Sign paint'n by Jethro Bodine relative?

[ethereal_reality]

remember her?


eBay

After locating the photo below I'm 100% sure she is on the east side. (red arrow shows the same balustrade in both photos) I've circle where the lady was standing.


old file of mine / probably eBay

Adding to my initial confusion:
I think the Channel Road pedestrian entrance has been reconfigured. (the entrance is visible just to the right of the car turning on to Channel road)




I believe it was moved from here (blue) to here (red). -maybe when they added the left turn lane on PCH.

google_earth



Now the entrance is parallel with Channel Road. (marked in blue is where I believe the old entrance was located)


gsv

I could be wrong, but after looking at all the photos I think this is a possibility.
(refer back to the first photo of the lady in comfortable shoes) -it all falls into place.

__

[ethereal_reality]

Now back towards downtown Los Angeles.



eBay

This snapshot was taken near Olvera Street...but what is the building across the street with the 'Patio" blade sign.


here's a closer look



and here


El Rey Machinery & Mfg Co. (also notice the small vertical 'hotel' sign to the right of the printing co.)
Wasn't there a Pacific and an Atlantic Hotel in this area?

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[ethereal_reality]

I happened across this photograph by Grudnick on flickr.

I've never noticed this white 'colonial-style' building with the pillars before. I took a quick spin in the google-mobile, but couldn't find it.
Does anyone recognize it?


https://www.flickr.com/photos/9716802@N02/

This almost looks like a montage. I thick Grudnick used a 'depth-0f-field' trick.

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[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I still haven't found any proof that Isadora Duncan had anything to do with Thornton Towers.

I've read a few references that claim Thornton Towers was built by the Duncan Sisters, and that Isadora Duncan lived in the penthouse and danced on the roof. Then I remembered a page called Debunking Venice's Historic Myths (I first linked to it regarding the tunnels under Westward Avenue in post #21789). Amongst the celebrities rumored to have lived in Venice is this listing for Isadora Duncan at 16 Thornton: "Many residents claim that this 1913 apartment building was owned by the famous dancer. She lived in San Francisco and owned no Venice property."

Googling Isadora Duncan and Venice brings up the picture below. This is in fact the original Venice in Italy. Isadora Duncan's Wikipedia page suggests that Ms Duncan was in Europe until 1914 (a year after Thornton Towers was built), when she moved back to New York.

Isadora Duncan on the Lido in Venice (Raymond Duncan, 1903)


bat`erfly's Bytes of the Night on Tumblr

[bighen]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Now back towards downtown Los Angeles.



eBay

This snapshot was taken near Olvera Street...but what is the building across the street with the 'Patio" blade sign.


here's a closer look



and here


El Rey Machinery & Mfg Co. (also notice the small horizontal 'hotel' sign to the right of the printing co.)
Wasn't there a Pacific and an Atlantic Hotel in this area?

__

There was an El Patio next door to Hotel Pacific back in the late 1940's at Sunset (before realignment of streets in that area) and Spring.



Source: PERyHS.org

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I happened across this photograph by Grudnick on flickr.

I've never noticed this white 'colonial-style' building with the pillars before. I took a quick spin in the google-mobile, but couldn't find it.
Does anyone recognize it?


https://www.flickr.com/photos/9716802@N02/

This almost looks like a montage. I thick Grudnick used a 'depth-0f-field' trick.

The signs in the foreground are on the Hollywood Freeway between N Cahuenga and Holly Drive. Tracing a line from there to the Hollywood sign, I found the house on La Punta Drive. The number near the gate says it's 6360 La Punta Drive. A quick Google suggests it was built in 1989.


Google Maps

And here's a view of the north side.


Google Maps

[Tetsu]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Now back towards downtown Los Angeles.



eBay

This snapshot was taken near Olvera Street...but what is the building across the street with the 'Patio" blade sign.


here's a closer look



and here


El Rey Machinery & Mfg Co. (also notice the small horizontal 'hotel' sign to the right of the printing co.)
Wasn't there a Pacific and an Atlantic Hotel in this area?

__

I forget the name of its neighbor, but the El Rey storefront is part of the Sentous Block on the Main Street side.

On Bunker Hill

[Tetsu]

Originally Posted by bighen

There was an El Patio next door to Hotel Pacific back in the late 1940's at Sunset (before realignment of streets in that area) and Spring.



Source: PERyHS.org

The trio of buildings there all look to run the length of the block from Main to Spring. Next door to the left of El Patio is the back side of the Sentous Block. Another view to be found here, looking south along Spring towards Sunset:

HDL

[HossC]

Another picture looking at the Main Street side of this block (as seen in e_r's picture). The full version of the image below was posted by Flyingwedge in post #15394. It shows the backs of the old Atlantic and Pacific Hotel buildings, with the Sentous block being demolished in the foreground. It's dated 1957.


Detail of picture in Huntington Digital Library

[MichaelRyerson]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Now back towards downtown Los Angeles.



eBay

This snapshot was taken near Olvera Street...but what is the building across the street with the 'Patio" blade sign.


here's a closer look



and here


El Rey Machinery & Mfg Co. (also notice the small horizontal 'hotel' sign to the right of the printing co.)
Wasn't there a Pacific and an Atlantic Hotel in this area?

__

Yes, this is Main Street with the Atlantic to the left (or south) of the Sentous Building (with the little nondescript 'hotel' sign in your bottom pic). The El Patio Club was in the ground floor of the Hotel Atlantic. Here's a shot from the Spring Street side...


Looking south in the 600 block of N. Spring Street, ca.1948

[BifRayRock]

Isadora Duncan, the real truth?


She's got legs? http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=5145295&postcount=2669
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4120/4754612189_1f455e88db.jpg






http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15799coll170/id/32905/rec/5


Isadora Duncan died in '27. The following pictures were allegedly taken the same year. Coincidence?



Half-hearted attempt at replicating Rolls' "spirit of ecstasy" or raw performance art, circa 1927?



1927 - Not-so-tiny, but extremely versatile, dancer on a Chevy. (Apologies to Elton)














https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3748/8939886474_f9095f9f9a_z.jpg


And on a GM stalwart? "OMG"
http://mybimmer.com/graphics/blog%20photos/faces-7.jpg





Next act: Art Metrano.

[BifRayRock]

Although I am keeping an open mind, when it comes to radiator-dancing, I prefer a warmed-up Marmon.


Anyone recognize the location? Somewhere near 13th and Figueroa?
(Perhaps the fact that the photos were taken for Pelton Motors offers a clue? )



http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15799coll170/id/32356/rec/5




http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15799coll170/id/32356/rec/5







http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15799coll170/id/32356/rec/5