noirish Los Angeles

[ethereal_reality]

ebay

Originally Posted by HossC

We don't need no stinking clues .

Fletcher Drive at Crystal Street/Ripple Street.

Yep, you're absolutely correct Hoss. The clue (or clew ) was "Ripple" street.


ebay


The Harbor Petroleum Station (circled above) was home to this guy.


http://estatesalechronicles.blogspot.com/2013_09_01_archive.html

HARBIE, the harbor seal.





Here he is standing on his 'rock'.


http://estatesalechronicles.blogspot.com/2013_09_01_archive.html

I think he's taking a tip.





Does anyone remember Harbie? I've never heard of him until today.

__

edit: He isn't taking a tip. lol

"I remember the Harbor station in Studio City quite well. Harbie had a lantern in his outstretched flipper and it lit up at night.
Harbie was friendly looking to a small child – the Bardahl gangster guy at the gas station was creepy. Thanks for jogging my memory!
-Deuces Wild at Quartz_City

__

[Tourmaline]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

Here's a good twilight shot too:


superfuture


Somebody threw a ton of money at this. Probably the Lizard People :-)

Resisted posting much of this assuming it had been previously shaken and stirred. But toward the bottom of the post are some remarkable images yielded by this somewhat cold-blooded subject. in particular, a large (detailed) version of Broadway tunnel demolition. previously seen here: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=6014356&postcount=12518


http://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/citydig-the-underground-catacombs-of-las-lizard-people/





http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef01157025b2d3970b-pi





Do Doodlebugs lie?

http://www.renfusa.com/2012/08/la-verde-reptoids-in-city-of-angels.html





"Map of the Lost Lizard City under Los Angeles" http://bigthink.com/strange-maps/443-secret-caves-of-the-lizard-people

CITY LAID OUT LIKE LIZARD

The Lizard People, the legend has it, regarded the lizard as the symbol of long life. Their city is laid out like a lizard, according to the legend, its tail to the southwest, far below Fifth and Hope streets, its head to the northeast, at Lookout and Marda streets. The city’s key room is situated directly under South Broadway, near Second street, according to Shufelt and the legend.

This key room is the directory to all parts of the city and to all record tablets, the legend states. All records were kept on gold tablets, four feet long and fourteen inches wide. On these tablets of gold, gold having been the symbol of life to the legendary Lizard People, will be found the recorded history of the Mayans on on one particular tablet,the southwest corner of which will be missing, is to be found the “record of the origin of the human race.” http://bigthink.com/strange-maps/443-secret-caves-of-the-lizard-people

LATimes, Jan 29, 1934


Large image of LAT front page: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef01157020df2e970b-pi

Cont.: http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/imagenes_sumeranu/reptiles17_04.jpg



http://assets2.bigthink.com/system/tinymce_assets/4301/original/lizardflickr.jpg?1483180131



Pièce de résistance? Or remarkable pile of rubble?


http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef01156f2f2774970c-pi



https://i.ytimg.com/vi/JntZ8edyWZM/maxresdefault.jpg



Gratuitous

1925 - Tunnel construction - First and Glendale?
http://bh-s2.azureedge.net/bh-uploads/2016/01/Pacific-Electric-Subway-Los-Angeles-in-1925-04.jpg

[ethereal_reality]

I found this snapshot last night on ebay.

The 'Sir Launfal' Apartments, June 1956.

ebay



On closer inspection, I noticed it also has 'Sir Launfal' inscribed above the front entrance.

detail





I found the building!


gsv



It's located at 1848 N. Gramercy, Hollywood.


gsv

Built in 1929.

__

[HossC]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

BRR, to be picky, that cannot be the Bekins Bldg. in that 9884 Santa Monica Blvd.
photo because the Bekins Bldg. you are referring to is at 8431 Santa Monica Blvd.

Bekins had a warehouse at 215 S Canon Drive from at least the early '30s. That's probably what's in the background of BRR's photo. Here it is in 1964.


eBay

[HossC]

It's a shoe store from Julius Shulman today. This is "Job 185: Gruen and Krummeck, C.H. Baker Shoes (Glendale, Calif.), 1948".



Here's the entrance on the right side.



The clothes at the back were apparently "too smart for words".



I've left out a several of the interior images because they were quite dark. The set also includes a couple more images of the front from different angles.



All from Getty Research Institute

The building at 237 N Brand Boulevard has changed a bit, but is still recognizable. It's neighbor on the left was demolished in 2014.


GSV

[BifRayRock]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

BRR, to be picky, that cannot be the Bekins Bldg. in that 9884 Santa Monica Blvd.
photo because the Bekins Bldg. you are referring to is at 8431 Santa Monica Blvd.

I stand corrected. HossC's observation re 215 Canon, clarifies my poor topographical vision. I was aware of the BH location, but upon first view, the structure size did not seem to fit. As an aside, there appears to be MACMILLAN signage in the same image.

9884 Santa Monica Blvd.




Bekins in the distance





1935 - BH Panorama. Bekins to the left.
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics40/00039926.jpg


Bekins BH
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/17/20/8f/17208fa98f3b833030685e1b42b795f0.jpg




8431 Santa Monica Blvd.
http://farm1.staticflickr.com/4/7918521_827026b4b4_z.jpg?zz=1




http://66.media.tumblr.com/5426f1293ed2e1bc99c255b6aae21219/tumblr_o9xoo0C9Yh1tcqhjho1_1280.png

[oldstuff]

The airport in the "Ring Free" picture looks like it is probably Burbank. The hills look right and some of the original hangers (1930) near the runway had those turret/tower sort of things on the corners. Before there was an airport my grandfather and great- grandfather farmed that land and my dad was born there.

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by Tourmaline

http://bh-s2.azureedge.net/bh-uploads/2016/01/Pacific-Electric-Subway-Los-Angeles-in-1925-04.jpg

That's a lovely shot including some of the now vanished homes on Emerald.


google maps


................................................................



...and in current news:
Welton Becket's Parker Center fails to achieve landmark status:
http://www.dailynews.com/government-and-...cil-denies-parker-center-landmark-status


Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News




.

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by Earl Boebert

Interesting that they were still doing that as late as Vietnam. My uncle, a big strapping Dane, was named Cleomarius Fightmaster by my grandmother. High school for him was a steady series of fistfights ("Hey, Cleo! Wanna fight?") and in 1913 he ran away from home and joined the Army. In those days the name you enlisted under became your legal name. His recruiting sergeant picked "George A Gilbert" and so he was for the rest of his life. He was an artilleryman, chased Pancho Villa under Pershing, was one battery over from Harry Truman in WWI, (plus drinking buddy in the 40 and 8) and ended his career back in New Mexico as Provost Marshal at Alamogordo when they were training the A-bomb crews.
Cheers, Earl

Most interesting story Earl....fun to read.

In my case, when I was about 5 years old, my mom laid on me [and my brother] a last name different than my birth certificate last name. The military and the civil courts said that the new assumed name was de facto my actual name. The US State Department also said that my assumed alias was ok.

My genesis has disappeared into the mists of time...probably never to be found.

I know it sounds strange but that's life.

[ethereal_reality]

Models posing at the Mayfair Hotel, Los Angeles. [c.1927]




That's some fancy-smancy hosiery right there on the right.




#2

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15799coll170/id/72900/rec/3

I'm not sure if they're posing in the lobby or in the ballroom. Wherever it is, it looks pretty impressive.




reverse / info.


I take it L.S. Gillham is the clothing designer.

[Tehmeh]

Anyone familiar with the educational films of Sid Davis Productions? Mr. Davis made dozens of lurid, noir-ish educational films from the late 1940s to the 1970s, most in the Los Angeles area, and many of them in color.
One of the more notable films is 1951's "The Terrible Truth," which shows the horrors of heroin and marijuana addiction. This particular film is laden with L.A. noir and film sites in and around Stanley Avenue in the Melrose-Fairfax area.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDXR0p69S8M


YouTube


YouTube

[ethereal_reality]

'mystery' location(s)

The following four photographs were taken for the Maryland Casualty Company. [c.1940]

It doesn't say, but I believe the photographs show a stone traffic hazard.


Here's the first photograph of the group.

#1

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15799coll170/id/87779/rec/9994

In the foreground is the stone 'structure' I mentioned above, and in the middle distance there are several stacks of pallets.

If you look closely there appears to be a cemetery in the distance on the left.





detail

Could this be a trough left over from an earlier era? (read: horse and buggy)







Here's my favorite.

#2

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15799coll170/id/87779/rec/9994

The large building across the street with it's numerous architectural (I don't know what to call them) 'pylons' is probably a hotel.
(hence the bread truck)




a closer look at the ornament...(compared to the size of the door & transom, I'd say they're almost 6 ft. tall)

detail







I believe this one was taken from the top of the building shown in the previous photograph.

#3

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15799coll170/id/87779/rec/9994

From this angle you can see that the stone 'structure' appears to be hollow.





Here's the last photograph of the group.

#4


The area looks quite pastoral from this angle.

__




http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15799coll170/id/87779/rec/9994


I really want to figure out where this is folks!

[Wig-Wag]

Originally Posted by Tourmaline

1925 - Tunnel construction - First and Glendale?
http://bh-s2.azureedge.net/bh-uploads/2016/01/Pacific-Electric-Subway-Los-Angeles-in-1925-04.jpg

Actually the location is just off Glendale Boulevard at West 2nd and Toluca Streets.

Construction of the Pacific Electric subway tunnel on the left and electrical substation on the right. Toluca Yard has yet to be graded.

Additional details from Wikipedia: "As street traffic increased in downtown Los Angeles, the Pacific Electric Railway undertook its most ambitious project, a dedicated right of way into downtown through a subway - the existing terminal in the Pacific Electric Building at Sixth and Main was reached by shared street running. Responding to the traffic congestion that clogged the streets, the California Railroad Commission in 1922 issued Order No. 9928, which called for the Pacific Electric to construct a subway to bypass downtown's busy streets.[1] Plans for the "Hollywood Subway," as the project came to be known, were drafted as early as February 1924, and ground was broken in May of the same year."

Cheers,
Jack

[ScottyB]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

'mystery' location(s)

The following four photographs were taken for the Maryland Casualty Company. [c.1940]

It doesn't say, but I believe the photographs show a stone traffic hazard.


Here's the first photograph of the group.

#1

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15799coll170/id/87779/rec/9994

In the foreground is the stone 'structure' I mentioned above, and in the middle distance there are several stacks of pallets.

If you look closely there appears to be a cemetery in the distance on the left.



I really want to figure out where this is folks!

I believe this is near the old monastery in Sierra Madre.....a cursory glance at GSV matches the ridgeline of the San Gabriels. I'll keep looking for some building shots.


GSV

This is the Villa del Sol d'Oro, on the grounds of Alverno High School......maybe not a match, but in the right neighborhood. I'll actually be on campus in a couple of weeks and can check for details.


https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3bZuCkac1BU/W...v7akuvtLWyxx9gJJwCLcB/s1600/IMG_7310.JPG

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by Tehmeh

Anyone familiar with the educational films of Sid Davis Productions? Mr. Davis made dozens of lurid, noir-ish educational films from the late 1940s to the 1970s, most in the Los Angeles area, and many of them in color.
One of the more notable films is 1951's "The Terrible Truth," which shows the horrors of heroin and marijuana addiction. This particular film is laden with L.A. noir and film sites in and around Stanley Avenue in the Melrose-Fairfax area.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDXR0p69S8M


YouTube

Sid Davis (1916-2006) worked in Hollywood as John Wayne's stand-in. When Davis was concerned about his young daughter talking to strangers, he decided to form a production company (with the Duke as a silent partner) that specialized in social guidance films to be shown at schools, clubs, churches, etc. Eventually he would make over 150 films.

The film linked below is from 1961, is one of his most famous films.

''Boys Beware''.......1961

The film is ten minutes about winsome Jimmy and Ralph... the man who picked up Jimmy [who was hitching a ride].
Ralph favored Jimmy with treats and various outings....then Jimmy had to pay the ''price''.
Next thing you know, the police were involved and they're both arrested. Its all very ''instructional".

Is the film noir? In a weird way it is. It has to be one of the most freakish films ever made but it does reflect the mōrēs of that era.

Link to the film:>>>

https://youtu.be/GN2rBvkXS7Q

This is how it all started.

youtube

Some backstory:
http://rexhurstspeaks.blogspot.com/2015/10/boys-beware-anti-homosexual-propaganda.html

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0259898/reviews?start=10

Read all about Sid Davis...a man with many issues:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_Davis

[John Maddox Roberts]

I believe this one was taken from the top of the building shown in the previous photograph.

#3

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15799coll170/id/87779/rec/9994

From this angle you can see that the stone 'structure' appears to be hollow.

I believe this is an incinerator. The "door" at the bottom is for shoveling out the ashes. I never saw one like this in California but many in Texas when I was a boy. There was a near-identical one in my great-aunt's back yard in Kenedy, TX, only made of concrete instead of stone.

[BifRayRock]

Originally Posted by BifRayRock

Glenn L. Martin

Read somewhere that in 1912 Martin employed another SoCal-connected aviation pioneer, Donald Douglas (who has a 1921 CD listing: David-Douglas Co., Aircraft Manfs. 421 Colyton.**) In 1915 Martin's residence was listed at 431 W. Seventh Street (LA Athletic Club) and the "factory" at 943 S. Los Angeles Street. For those with an itch regarding other aviation luminaries:


1912 (Anyone decipher the name or headline from the newspaper payload?)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Glenn_L._Martin_in_pusher-biplane.jpg



1913 (Martin and James H. Irvine)
http://images.onset.freedom.com/ocregist...97195z.120130423165056000giv1dkg0r.1.jpg


1915 "A Girl of Yesterday" with Mary Pickford and Glenn L. Martin (No surviving negative)
http://images.wisconsinhistory.org/700003070007/0307000102-l.jpg


http://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/mobile/images/1915.jpg



Davis-Douglas Co. 1921 headquarters
**421-427 Colyton Street, LA
http://s.lnimg.com/photo/poster_768/17be96c45db7470e95d4c351c804a636.jpg

1916
http://aviationweek.com/site-files/aviationweek.com/files/uploads/2014/04/martin.jpg






June 1917 - First company outing (Source indicates this was the "first" annual outing. Since it also describes the street car as a cable car, it is unclear whether this was the first, second or last outing. )
http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15150coll2/id/19850

From the early years of the company, Martin hired trained engineers to design his planes and talented managers to run his factories. The Martin Company provided training and experience to a remarkable number of other aviation manufacturers who later struck out on their own. William Boeing, Donald Douglas, Lawrence Bell, and James S. McDonnell founded companies that bear their names. Charles Day, chief designer for Standard Aircraft in World War I, and Charles Willard, co-founder of L.W.F. Engineering in 1917, were both former Martin employees as were J.H. Kindleberger and C.A. Van Dusen, who ran North American and Brewster, respectively, during World War II.http://www.mdairmuseum.org/history-research.html

Wonder if any of the luminaries were at the event or possibly in the photo.


Closer



1941 from Popular Science
http://www.b26.com/page/img/glenn_l_martin_man-of-the-month.jpg

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by John Maddox Roberts

I believe this is an incinerator. The "door" at the bottom is for shoveling out the ashes. I never saw one like this in California but many in Texas
when I was a boy. There was a near-identical one in my great-aunt's back yard in Kenedy, TX, only made of concrete instead of stone.

An incinerator had crossed my mind too JMR, but I thought it would have a 'flue' on top. -but maybe the top part is just missing.
__

Originally Posted by ScottyB

I believe this is near the old monastery in Sierra Madre.....a cursory glance at GSV matches the ridgeline of the San Gabriels. I'll keep looking for some building shots.



GSV

From what I can see, that middle hill appears to match up.




This the monastery you're talking about, right ScottyB?


ebay

I was so hoping to spot my mystery building from last night.


And today (appears half the buildings are gone)


google_earth
_




As a reminder, here's my mystery building again.

[ethereal_reality]

I had the following two photos in an old file of mine, so I thought now would be a good time to post them.




Dedication Ceremony, Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center, Sierra Madre [c.1932]


old file 1 / laTimes ?





old file 2 / laTimes
__

[HossC]

It was only a few days ago that we had a Julius Shulman post from Manhattan Beach, and now we have another. This is "Job 3359: Flewelling and Moody, Mira Costa Auditorium (Manhattan Beach, Calif.), 1962". I've picked a selection of the black & white images, and left out all three of the color ones.



The front of the auditorium looks like this.



There are several shots of the outside from different angles. This one shows the early stages of landscaping.



I've left the only interior photo until last.



All from Getty Research Institute

The auditorium is at the Mira Costa High School, 1401 Artesia Blvd, Manhattan Beach.


Google Maps