Here's a rare look at the interior of the Wilshire Bowl Nightclub (later Slapsy Maxie's)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ORIG-Vintage...wAAOSwLF1X2W0N
I'm somewhat surprised by the wooden bar...I thought it would be fancier (this looks like something my grandfather might have built)
Here's the photographer's stamp on the reverse.
detail
Luckily, "Wilshire Bowl" is written on the back. (I doubt that we could have figured out the location without this info)
reverse
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Here's a reminder of what the nightclub looked like in the 1930s when the above photograph was taken.
https://www.laconservancy.org/locati...ies-demolished
I believe this excellent night view from 1947 is new to NLA.
https://www.laconservancy.org/locati...ies-demolished
Here's a brief history for newcomers to NLA.
"The site originally housed the petite Art Deco tower of the Wilshire Bowl, a nightclub that offered dinner and dancing
to the big-band sounds of Phil Harris' orchestra for the flat rate of $1.50 ($2 on Saturdays).
The building later changed owners and became Slapsy Maxie's, then the Mardi Gras, both nightclubs.
It was eventually demolished to make way for the sleek lines of the modern Van de Kamp's coffee shop designed by Welton Becket and Associates,
whose offices were next door at 5657 Wilshire.
The large coffee shop was designed to serve 13,000 individuals a day and beckoned to Wilshire motorists with a bright canopy, glass walls, and pair of
huge Van de Kamp's windmills attached to an integrated sign pylon.
The structure was eventually demolished, and an office supply store now occupies the site."
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more images here:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=3770
a sepia photo here
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=3772
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