noirish Los Angeles

[ethereal_reality]

Does anyone who grew up in the Wilmington area remember the 'Strong Boy Burger' at Ja-Mar?


eBay

803 W. Pacific Coast Highway.
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'Strong Boy Burger' reminded me of a place I stopped at on my way to L.A. from Illinois

'Bun Boy' out in Baker California

It also had a motel attached to it.


http://www.roadsideamerica.com/

[ethereal_reality]

What's up with all these HE-Man burgers?


http://www.lamag.com/askchris/

This is 'Chubby the Champ' created in 1941 for The Clock Broiler in Lynwood Cal.









I was curious to see if the building was still standing, but neither of the advertisements have an address.





look, he's sitting on a little stool


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[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Here is today's 'mystery' location from the series of 12 sepia photographs.

Building #7 [1925]


eBay

One of the first things I noticed was how extremely loooooooooooooong this building is.

The only reference I can find to International Motor Trucks in that era is the Mack International Motor Truck Corp. The company appears at 1628 E 7th Street in the CDs of the early 1920s (the sign for E 7th St is just visible on the corner). Here's the building running along Lawrence Street on the 1921 Baist map.


USC Digital Library

The long building is still visible on this 1939 aerial view.


Detail of picture in USC Digital Library

Around 1925, Mack moved to 2001 S Alameda Street. I posted pictures of that building in post #19894. By the end of the 1920s, 1628 E 7th Street was home to the International Harvester Co of America. The building was owned by Western Greyhound Lines when it was demolished in 1968. You'll now find a Greyhound Maintenance Center on the site. In fact, Greyhound seem to own most of the block.


GSV

[ethereal_reality]

Excellent sleuthing Hoss!
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I was surprised to see a "Spaghetti Factory" on the 1921 baist map.

I thought 'Spaghetti Factory' was just a made up name for the 'cheesy' restaurants in the 1980s. -I didn't realize the name had a basis in fact.

If I remember correctly, there was a Spaghetti Factory (the restaurant) somewhere along Hollywood Boulevard.

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[Blaster]

The Old Spaghetti Factory was actually on Sunset, just east of Gower. I believe it was part of a chain.

[ethereal_reality]

Thanks for the correction Blaster.


Here's the 'Old Spaghetti Factory' on the northeast corner of Sunset & Gordon St in 2011.


gsv




Today, it's been saved and incorporated into an oversized complex.

2015

gsv
_______________________













Hmmmm....or was in saved??

During construction the 'Old Spaghetti Factory' appears to be missing.

2014

gsv

-was a facadectomy performed......or is it a complete fake?




I have to admit it was tastefully done.....fake or otherwise.


gsv

[Blaster]

I read that the facade was destroyed then "reconstituted."

[Blaster]

Does anyone know if the courtyard apartments in 1975's THE FORTUNE were an existing location or were they constructed for the film? I sorta suspect the latter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRxiobC2LhI

[Martin Pal]

Godzilla did a great post about the building that housed the Old Spaghetti Factory and its history.
And he posted some information about the new construction/destruction.

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=27263

Starting with this:

Originally Posted by Godzilla

The building, located at 5939 Sunset Boulevard, was built in 1924 and started out as a luxury car showroom, the Peerless Motor Company.

[...]

[I]

1943 - 5939 Sunset Boulevard
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00106/00106070.jpg

[ethereal_reality]

re: International Motor Trucks + Sperry Flour Company (Angelus Mills)



Originally posted by HossC

usc

I was surprised to see the Sperry Flour Company across the street from the International Motor Truck Co. ('Mack Truck Service' on the map)




Could this be the flour mill reflected in the front windows of the I.M.T. building?


eBay



enlarged

detail


OK, let's flip it horizontally.


detail

Well, what we're seeing reflected in the windows is a small wooden bungalow with "In Every Home" painted on the side,
and next to it is the larger brick building of the Sperry Flour Company.





Sperry Flour Company, 1617 E. 7th Street, Los Angeles


http://photos.lapl.org/carlweb/jsp/F...olNumber=53466

note: At the very top it says 'Angelus Mills'.



In the panorama below, the small bungalow (at far right) has been painted a darker color.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/crackdog/3307467013




And get this, the old Sperry Flour Company building still stands! - albeit missing the top two floors.


gsv



Today it's a Los Ninos Learning Complex & Charter School.


google_aerial



Here's a wider view showing the trees on the right, where the little bungalow used to stand.


Google
_




Obviously this is a different site than the Fruitland Avenue address that Hoss located.

I'm guessing the 7th street site is earlier....or perhaps Sperry moved to Fruitland when General Mills became involved.

Here's a comment I found on flickr that mentions the Fruitland Avenue location.

"I recently came across a wooden recipe box that belonged to my grandparents. The advertisement on the lid of the inside of the box is: Sperry Bakers Service
a unit of General Mills Bakers Service. It says for all information contact Sperry Flour Co. at 4309 Fruitland Ave., Los Angeles, Ca. Does anyone know about this?
I also have a name and address of most likely the sales person that sold flour to my grandparents."
Bev


One last time.........here's the Fruitland Avenue photo.

eBay

[odinthor]

Fulfilling a promise, or threat, I made back in April, here's the pic that is on the back of the photo album page the front of which has that photo of the Main St. face of the Bullard Block. It's tightly glued to the album page, so I don't think it wise to pry it up to see if there's any data on the back of the photo.


odinthor collection

It's labeled "Residence of Fred Robinson Los A.", with no further indication of location. Any thoughts?

You will detect a person in the photo who, I suspect, is not Fred Robinson.

[HossC]

How about some color Julius Shulman pictures of a shiny building in Glendale? This is "Job 5504: Fidelity Federal Savings & Loan (Glendale, Calif.), 1977".



From the other side.



The only interior picture is the only black & white one.



All from Getty Research Institute

The building is still standing at 600 N Brand Boulevard, although it's now a US Bank. You can read more about it at laconservancy.org. It looks like the people on the corner spotted the Googlemobile .


GSV

[HossC]

Originally Posted by Blaster

Does anyone know if the courtyard apartments in 1975's THE FORTUNE were an existing location or were they constructed for the film? I sorta suspect the latter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRxiobC2LhI

The Wikipedia page for The Fortune says The film was shot on location in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and on a segment of street constructed in the corner of the former RKO Forty Acres backlot where the "Stalag 13" sets for TV's Hogan's Heroes were located during the Desilu days.. I haven't found any other sources to verify this information.

One of the comments under the Youtube video suggests "They used the same housing complex as Day of the Locust." Maybe that's another lead to check out.


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I tried reading the sign reflected in the International Motor Trucks window. Thanks for solving the mystery, e_r.

[Earl Boebert]

There's an old war horse from the Fidelity Federal interior:



IBM Model C Executive typewriter, all 50 lbs of it. Proportional type, so if you put an "i" where there should have been an "m" you were out of luck. Power carriage return capable of shaking the the room.

Sold from 1959 to 1964, when the "golf ball" Selectrics came out, so at least thirteen years old in 1977. You had to be one heckuva typist to use one of those things.

Cheers,

Earl

[VC351W]

Originally Posted by HossC

The only reference I can find to International Motor Trucks in that era is the Mack International Motor Truck Corp. The company appears at 1628 E 7th Street in the CDs of the early 1920s (the sign for E 7th St is just visible on the corner). Here's the building running along Lawrence Street on the 1921 Baist map.


USC Digital Library

The long building is still visible on this 1939 aerial view.


Detail of picture in USC Digital Library

Around 1925, Mack moved to 2001 S Alameda Street. I posted pictures of that building in post #19894. By the end of the 1920s, 1628 E 7th Street was home to the International Harvester Co of America. The building was owned by Western Greyhound Lines when it was demolished in 1968. You'll now find a Greyhound Maintenance Center on the site. In fact, Greyhound seem to own most of the block.


GSV

I worked near that corner recently so I walked over to see the pad where the gas-o-meter used to stand. Pretty much what one would expect. Just a concrete slab. I noticed however that Channing street is still paved for the most part in granite cobble. Much more so than the street by Homeboy industries mentioned earlier in the thread.

[Blaster]

Originally Posted by HossC

The Wikipedia page for The Fortune says The film was shot on location in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and on a segment of street constructed in the corner of the former RKO Forty Acres backlot where the "Stalag 13" sets for TV's Hogan's Heroes were located during the Desilu days.. I haven't found any other sources to verify this information.

One of the comments under the Youtube video suggests "They used the same housing complex as Day of the Locust." Maybe that's another lead to check out.

Thanks, Hoss. I'm fairly sure they're not the same place. Strangely, both THE FORTUNE and DAY OF THE LOCUST came out within two weeks of each other in May, 1975.

Another researcher states that the LOCUST set was built in the Paramount tank (the parking lot area with the famous fake blue sky behind it).

[ethereal_reality]

If I remember correctly, CBD was an extra in 'The Day of the Locust'...maybe he has some insight.

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[ethereal_reality]

"Workers Lose Lives in CessPool Cave-In, 8/18/1937."


eBay

"Two workmen excavating a cesspool in the rear of 251 Kern Avenue, Los Angeles, lost their lives today as a result of a cave-in and inhalation of gas fumes,
and another workman, a deputy sheriff and a county fire fighter were taken to the general hospital in serious condition.
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I tried finding the location on google earth, but the photograph is confusing. I can't tell if we're looking at backyards....front-yards...or both,
and the description doesn't say whether it's north or south Kern Ave.
_



reverse

[VC351W]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

The sign!


eBay

Great find oldstuff! -thanks for your efforts in solving the mystery.

HossC wrote:
"It also comes with this newspaper clipping on the reverse which mentions an address at Silver Lake and Lake View Avenues."

I've been snooping around in the area but Silver Lake Blvd. doesn't intersect with Lake View Avenue, so it's been rather difficult finding anything
relevant to the old eBay photos. (it appears Lake View Avenue becomes India Street at some unspecific point)


Google_Earth

Next, I thought I'd hunt for the major power-line that appears in the first "Radio Church' photograph...


eBay

but the nearest power-lines I could find in the area are over toward the Los Angeles River. -so that was pretty much a dead-end.
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Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

The sign!


eBay

Great find oldstuff! -thanks for your efforts in solving the mystery.

HossC wrote:
"It also comes with this newspaper clipping on the reverse which mentions an address at Silver Lake and Lake View Avenues."

I've been snooping around in the area but Silver Lake Blvd. doesn't intersect with Lake View Avenue, so it's been rather difficult finding anything
relevant to the old eBay photos. (it appears Lake View Avenue becomes India Street at some unspecific point)


Google_Earth

Next, I thought I'd hunt for the major power-line that appears in the first "Radio Church' photograph...


eBay

but the nearest power-lines I could find in the area are over toward the Los Angeles River. -so that was pretty much a dead-end.
__

First of all my apologies for the lack of photos. I'm on mobile and don't have a photo hosting account yet.

I was able to locate an old Power company real estate made that confirms your suspicion. The tower line in the "First Radio Church" picture no longer exits at that location. Hoss you're right the only towers are down on the Los Angeles river banks. The tower pictured carried a 115kv "Belt Line" from the station on Whittnall Hwy down to the station on N Main st. Some of the old style towers are still in use on this belt line, they're down by the Figueroa st, Broadway, and Spring st bridges. If you check any map app you can see how the tower line went from Fletcher Dr in almost a straight line to the electrical station on Whittnall highway and Cahuenga bl

I scanned the maps but because of ownership and NERC/FERC issues I can't post them. But as far as the information about the tower line I can share that. A very close approximation of the tower line is visible on historicarials.com in the topographic layer for 1955. It shows up as a dashed line.

As far as locating the right of way in which the church either sat in or abutted, the power company map shows an easement about 100' wide going from the s/w corner of Peru st and Modjeska st to the inside radius of Corralitas Dr loop where it meets Corralitas walk. The former "corner" tower was located right in the middle of the driveway of the current house on that lot. From there the line went in a straight line to the S/W corner of Waverly dr and Farwell Ave. the line crosses Fletcher drive on this segment.

Now for the fun part. India st was in fact renamed from... Silver lake ave. The power map shows that name struck through and India street replacing it. Silver lake Av extended from silver lake bl up to lake view av. So they did intersect at one time.

The map also shows a portion of property on the north side of fletcher dr deeded to the apostolic church which still stands as does a transmission tower. I believe this may be the site of the radio station due to the slopes of the hillsides and the mountains in the far background on the right margin of the photo. Maybe somebody can dig through other maps and see if I guessed correctly?

[odinthor]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

"Workers Lose Lives in CessPool Cave-In, 8/18/1937."


eBay

"Two workmen excavating a cesspool in the rear of 251 Kern Avenue, Los Angeles, lost their lives today as a result of a cave-in and inhalation of gas fumes,
and another workman, a deputy sheriff and a county fire fighter were taken to the general hospital in serious condition.
__

I tried finding the location on google earth, but the photograph is confusing. I can't tell if we're looking at backyards....front-yards...or both,
and the description doesn't say whether it's north or south Kern Ave.
_



reverse

My not-very-certain guess is that we're looking west over the backyard of 251 S. Kern from a lot on the next parallel street to the east S. Mednik (and a cesspool would likely be in the backyard). The houses towards the back of your pic are (I'm guessing) fronting on S. Kern. If you hop into the Googlemobile and take a drive up S. Kern, you'll notice that there is a slight rise as you go north; that seems consonant with your pic, which appears to show a house towards the right (north, in my conjecture) which is slightly higher than those to the left. Here--I theorize--is something like the same view now; it's a parking lot. The slight rise to the north is not readily apparent in this modern view.


gsv