noirish Los Angeles

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

After looking at that awhile--there is something to the right that, though unreadable, looks lke writing to me and made me feel that what is being looked at is a poster.

It's definitely not a poster Martin_Pal. If you go back to BRR's original post you will see that the horizontal 'lines' appear in the window next to the boy as well.

originally posted by BifRayRock


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[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I came across this on ebay a few weeks ago.


ebay

I looked for the address of the Seaboard National Bank in the 1927 Los Angeles City Directory. (I wanted to see if that entrance is still there)
I found the home addresses of the bank president, vice president and even a teller...but not the address of the actually bank.
(not sure what I did wrong...sometimes I free like a complete dolt)

I'm not sure where you went wrong, e_r. When I looked at the 1927 CD it listed the Seaboard National Bank at 612 S Spring with a branch at 3152 Wilshire Boulevard. It's the latter that we're looking at in the picture above. Here's the full block a year later (I'm sure we've seen this image before). Can you spot where the Seaboard National Bank is .


USC Digital Library

In this enlargement I've stretched the width of the image by 50% to make it clearer. The "Auto Entrance" sign is below and to the right of the "E" of "GARAGE". USC has another picture of the same block taken sometime after 1936, but the "Auto Entrance" sign has been covered by a new box sign. The "GARAGE" blade sign has also been virtually halved in size.


Detail of picture above.

I've had a look at Historic Aerials, and I think the whole block was replaced in the 1970s. There's certainly no trace of the "Auto Entrance" today .

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Thanks again for your help HossC and Graybeard. I won't bog down the thread with any more talk of my computer situation.
(I'll be sue to use personal messaging if I need any more help)



Here are a few more kodachrome images by Ed Alinder.

Post-War housing 1947. (I believe this is Burbank)

macrochef.wordpress.com


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Hey ER, could this be the same house today? East Oak St. Burbank. I went down the entire street until I found this. It appears they've added a window by the door.


GSV

[Graybeard]

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

Hey ER, could this be the same house today? East Oak St. Burbank. I went down the entire street until I found this. It appears they've added a window by the door.


GSV

At the other end of Cordova St. you'll find the high tension power lines seen in the 1947 photo.

[westcork]

I've been walking past this place on Valley for a while now. I've been guessing it was a tea cup or a coffee cup. But it turns out to be a chili bowl. And there were several them...

(1937) Located at 3012 Crenshaw Boulevard.
Art Whizin established the Chili Bowl restaurant chain in Los Angeles in 1931, known for its distinctive shape in the form of a chili bowl. Whizin was a 25-year-old former amateur boxer when he established the business on Crenshaw Boulevard near Jefferson Boulevard with funding raised by selling "his wife's wedding ring and his roadster." Other businesses at the time were also modeled with architecture featuring eye-catching architectural depictions of the goods sold including ice a cream cones and coffee kettles.*^

waterandpower.org


waterandpower.org

The Chili Bowl - a chili place in the shape of a chili bowl, built in 1931. There were at least six of these built in a chain (although I've heard that as many as 23 were possibly built. Four still stand although not as Chili Bowls anymore. For example, one former Chili Bowl may now be a Kim Chuy Restaurant and is located at 501 W Valley Blvd, Alhambra. Another one is located at 2230 E. Florence Avenue, Huntington Park and is now a nightclub called Guadalajara de Noche. A third is a car dealership in Glendale called Valley Dealer Exchange. Last, at 12244 West Pico Boulevard, a Chili Bowl was last a Mr. Cecil's Ribs joint and appears to still be in the original chili bowl shaped building. You can still see it on Google Street View. Another use to exist at 801 N. La Brea Avenue. The owner of the Chili Bowls, Arthur Whizin, also used a variety of marketing tactics to attract customers including a Chili Bowl airplane (which he would raffle off rides in to customers) and a Chili Bowl speedboat (often seen crossing the Catalina Channel with showgirls taking a ride).

weirdca.com


weirdca.com

12281 W Pico Blvd
12281WPicoBlvd by Westcork, on Flickr
GSW

501 W Valley Blvd
501WValleyBlvd by Westcork, on Flickr
GSV

[FredH]

[QUOTE=ethereal_reality

HossC, I couldn't read the address on that Kellogg & Hall/Hudson photograph. (hmmm...maybe I need glasses).


ER - As long as we are giving you purchasing advice tonight... I get my reading glasses at the 99 Cent Only store. Cost a buck and work great!

Word of caution, however - I couldn't read the address either.



BTW - For those of you (like me) who are wondering what this Chili Size business is all about, here is what Wiki.answers has to say about it.

"Originally, it was simply a bowl of chili. If you see the item today (which is rare, since the term is almost obsolete), it's usually an open-face chili burger.

From 1913-1958, there used to be a 24-hour chili parlor called "Ptomaine Tommy's" in Los Angeles. It was the largest and best known chili parlor in town. Ptomaine Tommy served straight chili and a Southwestern variation, a hamburger smothered with chili. He had two ladles, a large and a small. When a customer ordered straight chili, he got out the large ladle. When he wanted the other, he usually said "Hamburger size." So Ptomaine Tommy put up one sign that read HAMBURGER SIZE 15¢, and another that read CHILI SIZE 20¢. Other chili joints followed suit and before long chili was known throughout Los Angeles as "size". They'd say, "Just gimme a bowl of size."

Since Tommy created perhaps the very first chili burger, other restaurants began copying it. They thought the new item was called a CHILI SIZE. So, that's why, today, you might find a chili size on a diner menu that consists of a burger patty topped with chili, cheese, and onions."



That all doesn't make a lot of sense if you ask me.

[HossC]

3940dxer posted about "chili size", and included a picture of Ptomaine Tommy's, in post #5904.

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

HossC, I couldn't read the address on that Kellogg & Hall/Hudson photograph. (hmmm...maybe I need glasses )

Originally Posted by FredH

ER - As long as we are giving you purchasing advice tonight... I get my reading glasses at the 99 Cent Only store. Cost a buck and work great!

Word of caution, however - I couldn't read the address either.

I wasn't sure if it said 826 or 828 W Anaheim, but we're in the right ballpark (or should that be parking lot?).


Detail of picture posted ethereal_reality.

Maybe I need to get some of those reading glasses - the first time I read FredH's post, I thought it said that Ptomaine Tommy "had two ladies, a large and a small"!

[MichaelRyerson]

Peterson Bros General Store, ca.1948

This little '41 Ford convertible belongs to Marian and Ed Alinder (nearly newly-weds) relatives of the Peterson Bothers. Likely somewhere in the San Fernando Valley. Ed Alinder is the photographer.

macrochef.wordpress.com

[Blaster]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

It's definitely not a poster Martin_Pal. If you go back to BRR's original post you will see that the horizontal 'lines' appear in the window next to the boy as well.

originally posted by BifRayRock


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I'm also bothered by the "boy" in this picture. There's something oddly un-lifelike about him. Not a poster as you point out but possibly a cut-out or a standee of some kind? Of course the simplest explanation is that it's just a kid -- with very big ears.

[MichaelRyerson]

Looking north on Broadway from just north of 10th Street, 1947

Another really nice Ed Alinder image. 'Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman', the Susan Hayward potboiler, is showing
over there at the U-A.

Photo by Ed Alinder.
macrochef.wordpress.com

[ethereal_reality]

Here's an amazing photograph of a movie set for the silent film Terror Trail (1921) overlooking the south end of the Hill Street Tunnel.


Marc Wanamaker archive/Arcadia Book Location Filming in Los Angeles


Here's a detail showing Eileen Sedgwick as Vera Vernon hanging precariously from the fire escape. (or is it her stunt-double?)



I found Terror Trail on a list of lost films.

wikipedia




And here's the finished product as it appeared in Terror Trail.


http://mothgirlwings.tumblr.com/page/654


gsjansen posted the second photo back on page 119.
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=2365

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[ethereal_reality]

...surely we've seen this building before. (Tourmaline will let me know )



At the time this photograph was taken it was bandleader Orrin Tucker's Stardust Ballroom. (Sunset near Western)


http://cruiselinehistory.com/social-...aders-is-gone/


Mr. Orrin Tucker

cruiselinehistory.com


-he's quite fetching isn't he-

http://vintage45.wordpress.com/2011/...his-orchestra/




In this photograph the sign towering over the building says Roller Bowl.

http://gogonotes.blogspot.com/2009/0...-ballroom.html





Get a load of the 'star' line-up on this undated poster. (it's like an episode of Love Boat)


http://felixinhollywood.blogspot.com...-i-missed.html







The Stardust sign has been altered once again with Korean (?) lettering at the top.


http://felixinhollywood.blogspot.com...-i-missed.html




There's a possibility that it still stands, unrecognizable, as a Home Depot.


Philip Mershon seems to think so at http://felixinhollywood.blogspot.com...-i-missed.html

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[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

In this photograph the sign says Roller Bowl. (sorry the photo is so small)

http://gogonotes.blogspot.com/2009/0...-ballroom.html

Here's a larger version of the same picture, which apparently dates from 1973. The caption describes it as "Roller Bowl on Sunset Blvd. & St. Andrews Pl." The 1973 CD lists Madame Kathryn Etienne's Ballet School at 5600 Sunset, with the Hollywood Rollerbowl at 5612 Sunset. That would put it in the parking lot of Home Depot (on the far left of e_r's last picture).


hollywoodphotographs.com

This one's described as "Roller Bowl on Sunset Blvd. & Bronson Ave.", yet it's obviously the same building.


hollywoodphotographs.com

The confusion over the address may be due to this earlier establishment of the same name. This was another of Sid Grauman's enterprises located in the Warner Bros Studio on Sunset. The seller says this label is from the 1940s.


eBay

An issue of Billboard from July 1957 has this snippet about the Hollywood Rollerbowl.


books.google.com

I went back to hollywoodphotographs and found that they had this larger/sharper version of e_r's first picture of the Stardust Ballroom, and a view from a different angle, hidden in their Restaurants/Nightclubs section.


hollywoodphotographs.com


hollywoodphotographs.com

[MartinTurnbull]

I recently came across "Los Angeles - A Guide to the City and Its Environs" (1941) on archive.org, and thought I'd post its pages dedicated to various restaurants, bars, nightclubs and roller skating rinks. Several of these places were new to me.

Anybody seen photos of the aquarium windows at BERNSTEIN'S FISH GROTTO?



I love how you get a pail of water and a washcloth at OLD HICKORY BRICK KITCHEN















Has anyone seen photos of the Zodiac Bar at the THE MARCUS DALY? Sounds interesting.



The "very ripe" entertainment at the CAFE CASINO sounds intriguing!











"Deadpan Maxie" sounds like a hoot at SLAPSY'S











You can see and download the whole book athttps://archive.org/details/losangelesguidet00writrich

And for perhaps easier reference, I've posted all these on my website.
http://www.martinturnbull.com/?p=5580

[ethereal_reality]

Very interesting list Martin. It will be fun to explore these places.


originally posted by HossC


I really appreciate the additional information HossC. I'm still intrigued by the original purpose of this building.
Do you think it might have been built as a garage in the 1920s?
(this is just a shot in the dark mind you)
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I know we've seen numerous gas stations in various stages of disrepair on NLA.
A few days ago I accidentally came across this one on S. Vermont Avenue at 164th Street.
I don't believe we've seen this one before.


GSV


GSV





aerial view

Google_Earth

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[CityBoyDoug]

Just my little 2 cents but I feel there is no need to apologize for re-posting photos on this fabulous noirish thread. The thread is so huge now that most members will probably never view the entire thread.

++++++

YEAR 1968. From the day The Patch opened four months earlier, the popular Los Angeles gay Bar fought a series of battles just to stay open. The Los Angeles police tried to prohibit dancing to in the joint, the local musician’s union demanded the Patch put up a week’s worth of wages for any bands they hired, and the local PTA was trying to drive it out of town. If that weren’t enough, local youths who hung out at a nearby hamburger stand made a sport out of threatening and harassing bar patrons. Whenever anyone from the bar tried to call the police, the police would simply threaten to arrest the patron, while giving the local toughs a free reign.

Things came to a head on Saturday, August 17, 1968 when the Patch’s manager, Lee Glaze, noticed a couple of vice cops in the room. During a break in the music, Glaze got up on stage, pointed out the cops, and chided the LAPD for sending such “homely” vice officers. The vice cops left, but returned a little later at around midnight with five or six uniformed officers in tow. As the band kept playing, the officers fanned out and began checking I.D.’s as the band kept playing. They arrested two of the patrons and charged them with lewd conduct. Glaze was outraged at the accusation. The two had been competing for a third man’s attention and weren’t the least bit interested in each other.

This wasn’t a full on police raid. The police understood that they didn’t need to conduct a full raid to close a bar down. Ordinarily all it would take would be for the police to show up and ask for a few I.D.’s and the bar’s patrons would go scrambling for the door. Make a few arrests, and the patrons would never return and the bar would be out of business. Glaze wasn’t about to let that happen at his bar. He jumped back onto the stage, and with the police looking on, he urged the audience not to be intimidated by the police. “It’s not against the law to be a homosexual,” he said, “and it’s not a crime to be in a gay bar.” He then announced that the Patch would provide bail money and a lawyer for the two who had been arrested. He stepped down from the stage, the band resumed playing, and a most remarkable thing happened: nobody left. The crowd of 250 kept dancing as though nothing happened.

Below: Bar patron outside LA Police Station, 1968 raid on bar.

BoxTurtle

Below: August 1968....Bar patrons arrive at LA Harbor police station with flowers for the officers and their incarcerated friends. When they arrived at the police station, Lee told the officer at the desk, “We’re here to get our sisters out.” The officer asked, “What are your sisters’ names?” When Lee said, “Tony Valdez and Bill Hasting,” the officer had this surprised look on his face and called for backup. They didn’t know what to do with all the gay men with flowers waiting in the lobby. …Lee showed people you don’t have to be afraid of the police.

BoxTurtle

[loyalton]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Here's a detail showing Eileen Sedgwick as Vera Vernon hanging precariously from the fire escape. (or is it her stunt-double?)

. . .
And here's the finished product as it appeared in Terror Trail.


http://mothgirlwings.tumblr.com/page/654

Looks like Sedgwick gained about 20 pounds ad got shorter between the two shots, so I would say at least a stunt double, but possibly also a dummy in the first shot.

The area below seems to be lacking rubberneckers. It's obvious that a movie shoot is going on. By the long shadows on the stairs, though, it's pretty early in the morning.

[BDiH]

In this photograph the sign towering over the building says Roller Bowl.

http://gogonotes.blogspot.com/2009/0...-ballroom.html

This was a great meeting place for young people in the 1950's and early 1960's. There was a huge, polished wooden skating floor with seating all around. Live music was played on the pipe organ and early rock and roll records were played for teenagers. It was packed on weekends. Above the floor, colored lights blinked and dimmed as the master of ceremonies would announce over the public address system, "Couples only," or "Reverse." There were two concession stands that served hamburgers, fries and soft drinks in Dixie Cups. For an idea of what it looked like inside, watch the film Margie (1946) with Jeanne Crain and Conrad Janus

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

originally posted by HossC


I really appreciate the additional information HossC. I'm still intrigued by the original purpose of this building.
Do you think it might have been built as a garage in the 1920s?
(this is just a shot in the dark mind you)

I did a quick search of some of the pre-1950s City Directories for the addresses 5600, 5606 and 5612 Sunset Boulevard. Because these CDs are organized by business type rather than address, it's quite possible that I've missed some tenants.

1926
5600 Sunset - Delbt Rogers, restaurant/lunch room.
5612 Sunset - Walter L Elbe, auto dealer.

1927
5606 Sunset - Fidelity Finance Corp.
5612 Sunset - Walter L Elbe, auto dealer.

1929
5606 Sunset - Lindsay Dickey, auto repairer.
5612 Sunset - Walter L Elbe, auto dealer.

1932
5600 Sunset - Fanchon & Marco Inc, booking agents

1942
5606 Sunset - John Strathaus, furniture manufacturer.
5612 Sunset - American Television Laboratories Inc, engineers.


So it looks like there was an auto dealer there in the late 1920s, although I don't know if it was in the same building (I'm still looking for pictures). I found a reference to Walter L. Elbe in the January 11, 1921 edition of The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. It simply lists him as a "Cunningham distributor". Cunningham, a Rochester, New York company, produced automobiles between 1908 and 1936 - more info here and here. This is the 1922 Cunningham V4 Model 82-A Town Limousine.


Wikipedia

[Tourmaline]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

originally posted by HossC


I really appreciate the additional information HossC. I'm still intrigued by the original purpose of this building.
Do you think it might have been built as a garage in the 1920s?
(this is just a shot in the dark mind you)


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Regarding the Ballroom's original purpose, I do not know. Some light might be found by re-exploring the subject considering the dramatic changes to that neighborhood when the Hollywood Freeway was installed. The Tanner Livery was very close by. 5639 Sunset. http://skyscraperpage.com/forum/show...ostcount=17954 I suspect that HD may occupy the Ballroom's footprint but not much (if any) of the original construction. Home Depot's solid reinforced masonry is far more substantial than the Ballroom's primarily wood construction.

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I know we've seen numerous gas stations in various stages of disrepair on NLA.
A few days ago I accidentally came across this one on S. Vermont Avenue at 164th Street.
I don't believe we've seen this one before.


GSV


GSV

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"You can trust your car to the man who wears the star."


1947 - Glendale Blvd and Riverside Drive
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00104/00104386.jpg



1950 - La Brea Ave and Venice Blvd.
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00104/00104410.jpg



1953 First and Hill Streets
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00091/00091576.jpg

1955 Hill Street Tunnel http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/single.../id/7934/rec/7










'50s First and Hill


http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/single...id/7948/rec/17


The "Connie" looks very sleek. Bowtie on. I am ready for my NY trip!
New courthouse, not to be mistaken for any county other than LA? Could lone mail box handle all court mail?