noirish Los Angeles

[ethereal_reality]

This map is kind of a hodge podge of disparate things but it's quite fun to look at. [1942]

Los Angeles Historical and Recreational Map

(scroll your mouse to see it HUGE)
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Can anyone tell me why there's a chinchilla wandering around between Slauson and Manchester Avenues?


detail



& this is pretty lame

detail

anything to avoid drawing the actual building.

_

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

This map is kind of a hodge podge of disparate things but it's quite fun to look at. [1942]

Los Angeles Historical and Recreational Map



Can anyone tell me why there's a chinchilla wandering around between Slauson and Manchester Avenues?


detail


_

That probably refers to the Chapman Chinchilla Farm.

Some pix here


ETA:

Reprint of a 1933 article covering the three American chinchilla farms, including Chapman's.


1952 Chapman ad, seeking to sell to new breeders:

modern mechanix



And...




Also....

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

That probably refers to the Chapman Chinchilla Farm.

Some pix here


ETA:

Reprint of a 1933 article covering the three American chinchilla farms, including Chapman's.


1952 Chapman ad, seeking to sell to new breeders:

modern mechanix



And...

One of our San Gabriel neighbors in 1955 had an air conditioned storage room full of cages and at least 100 chinchillas...maybe more. You had to keep the little rodents cool or their fur would fall off. This was a craze in that era.....you raise these little furry animals and get rich. Raising the little animals at your house was illegal at that time.

Here is that house and garage in San Gabriel....still there. The boy who lived there was about 3 or 4 years older than me. I lived a block south of this location.

225 S. Circle Dr., San Gabriel, CA

gsv

[Mstimc]

For Japan’s reasons for striking Pearl Harbor, I suggest a reading of the first chapter of Barbara Tuchman’s March of Folly. Japan’s main objective was seizing the natural resources of the British and French colonies in the South Pacific. But Japanese military leaders thought America would come into the fight, so they decided a first strike was the best alternative. Attacking the American fleet would delay its intervention in the war; Japan could seize the European colonies and then face America from a strong position, forcing it to sue for pace. In keeping with the book’s title, it was the worst possible decision for Japan. Isolationist sentiment in the U.S. was still strong and it’s unlikely an attack on some remote colonies would prod us into war. But a surprise and unprovoked attack was just the ticket for guaranteeing American retaliation and commitment. So, the West Coast was never really an invasion target, although certainly it and the Panama Canal were both potential (and briefly real) targets for Japanese air and sea attacks.

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by Mstimc

For Japan’s reasons for striking Pearl Harbor, I suggest a reading of the first chapter of Barbara Tuchman’s March of Folly. Japan’s main objective was seizing the natural resources of the British and French colonies in the South Pacific. But Japanese military leaders thought America would come into the fight, so they decided a first strike was the best alternative. Attacking the American fleet would delay its intervention in the war; Japan could seize the European colonies and then face America from a strong position, forcing it to sue for pace. In keeping with the book’s title, it was the worst possible decision for Japan. Isolationist sentiment in the U.S. was still strong and it’s unlikely an attack on some remote colonies would prod us into war. But a surprise and unprovoked attack was just the ticket for guaranteeing American retaliation and commitment. So, the West Coast was never really an invasion target, although certainly it and the Panama Canal were both potential (and briefly real) targets for Japanese air and sea attacks.

The Japanese didn't consider that just maybe ''science'' would advance and deal them a fatal blow. The two nuclear bombs did exactly that. Its always good to know when to
hold 'em or fold 'em. Their attack on Pearl was a fatal mistake.

You never know what your adversary will do. The art of war is always and sadly advancing.

North Korea is making the same mistake today in 2017.

[Otis Criblecoblis]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

626 Stevens Place and the Tamale Factory

I noticed the 'rooms' to the left of the tamale factory. -no doubt for his vendors or tamale cooks(?)



also, that one small square building appears to have been built over the property line. why is that?
__

Here's one possible explanation. I have looked at all the available Sanborn maps of our house here in Bungalow Heaven. It was built in 1885 on an acre of land; now, it is on a third of an acre, and the lot widens ten feet in the back 50 feet. I used to wonder why, until I saw the Sanborn maps.

The lots were initially laid out in 1910, when the subdivision was created, and the Sanborn map from that year shows that the lots were rather different along our street from what they ended up being. Our own lot was at that point the same width all the way back--and the property line exactly bisects the outhouse. Apparently the lots were laid out on paper without a survey.

The next Sanborn map shows the property lines mostly as they are today.

So when you see a property line going through an existing structure on a Sanborn map, it could mean that a lot was subdivided after it was developed.

[ethereal_reality]

Thank you Otis for the explanation. I appreciate it.




'mystery' location.

"Original Photo LOS ANGELES Classic City View Power Line Towers"


http://www.ebay.com/itm/LA41-Origina...IAAOSwYlRZIhl1

Does this area look familiar to any one?


photographer's stamp /reverse




from this contact sheet (the seller include just the one enlargement)



I thought this might hold some clues as well.
__

[ethereal_reality]

'mystery' location #2

"1954 LOS ANGELES Mashak Desoto Auto Dealership 4"x5" original negative"

This one is a bit blurry but it's intriguing none-the-less.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/MD43-512-195....c100005.m1851

it looks like some ditch work is being done near the entrance to the appliance store with the very cool signage. -(what we can see of it anyway

_

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

That probably refers to the Chapman Chinchilla Farm.

1952 Chapman ad, seeking to sell to new breeders:

modern mechanix

Thanks t2!




"Palm and Oak" or 4957 W. 104th Street, Inglewood?


lapl

"In 1918 Mathias Chapman brought the first ten chinchillas to Inglewood to start his farm, located on the corner of Palm and Oak*
They had never been bred in captivity outside their native Chile, and Chapman had to adapt to the lessons he learned
including refrigerating the cages to 68 degrees. Fifteen years later Chapman Chinchilla Farm was still the only chinchilla farm
in the world outside the Andes and his operation was closely watched by the fur industry."


*I don't know where lapl came up with "the corner of Palm and Oak".
I can't even find where Palm & Oak intersect.

__




Chinchillanapping!

"Someone recognized the tremendous value of the Chapman herd and in the dead of night
stole into his mountain ranch at Tehachepi, Calif., (recently abandoned) and made away
with thirty-five sturdy chinchillas. Sixteen were carrying young. The potential loss, therefore,
amounted to fully seventy of the animals. Chapman, in swearing out warrants
for the unknown culprits’ arrest, placed a value of $54,000 on the stolen animals.

Late last fall eighteen were traced to a ship bound for Germany. So closely did United States operatives
press the hunt that they learned five died en route. Later one American confessed his part in the theft
and today is paying the penalty in San Quentin prison. Two of those smuggled to Germany are alive today,
all the others having perished. The other seventeen have not been traced."


http://cuddlebug.dyndns.org/information/history.html

I believe the Inglewood address should be 4957 West 104th Street.

(might be a typo, cuddlebug has the 4957 address in another part of the article)





And finally, here is Mr. Chapman and 'Pete' who often rode on his shoulder.













Here's 'Pete' today.

[Ed Workman]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Here is another 'invasion' map written in Japanese. [1941]

David Rumsey Map Collection

I would like someone to translate what is written beneath the large battleship just off the California coast.

_

I can-t translate, but if one uses THIS url

https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/ser...-Jap-plan-to-#

a jpg can be downloaded at large size.
Animosities go back to ca 1900- There was some trepidation about the visit of The Great White Fleet to Tokyo Bay. In CA there had been complaints about Japanese immigration There are many good postwar books as well, for which documents from both sides were available. And on the web can be found news and pix of the shelling of Ellwood, just north of Santa Barbara, that precipitated the Battle of Los Angeles a night or two later-
Noir interspersed with flashes of AAA and searchlights

[ethereal_reality]

Thanks Earl, I'll try it out.

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Thanks t2!




"Palm and Oak" or 4957 W. 104th Street, Inglewood?


lapl

"In 1918 Mathias Chapman brought the first ten chinchillas to Inglewood to start his farm, located on the corner of Palm and Oak*
They had never been bred in captivity outside their native Chile, and Chapman had to adapt to the lessons he learned
including refrigerating the cages to 68 degrees. Fifteen years later Chapman Chinchilla Farm was still the only chinchilla farm
in the world outside the Andes and his operation was closely watched by the fur industry."



__

As I wrote in a comment before, in the 1950s during the chinchilla craze, people would raise the animals in their garages and backyards.
These residential neighborhoods were not zoned for farms/ranches/businesses. This was illegal activity. I assume these laws still exist.

[odinthor]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

[...]
"Palm and Oak" or 4957 W. 104th Street, Inglewood?[...]

Gosh, the W. 104th St. address is just about two blocks from where my grandmother lived during the Chinchilla craze! And I have a vague memory of her mentioning something about "a chinchilla farm" in the neighborhood...

[ethereal_reality]

This appears to be a hand-painted glass slide.

"Mathias F. Chapman holding a chinchilla at Chapman Chinchilla Farm, Inglewood" (1932-1934)


this week in California history

I wonder if that's 'Pete'?

daily guided tours too.

paradiseleased



And finally, here's a larger photograph of the farm.

"1937 Press Photo Chinchilla Farms In Inglewood Calif"


historic images

ok, I'm done with the chinchillas.

_

[ethereal_reality]

found this amazing pic this afternoon on ebay.

"Original 1940'S WWII LOS ANGELES HARBOR GUARDS PORT Police Negative 4"x5"


ebay

I like the unsuspecting passenger at far right about to come face to face with this group.




a closer look at some of the men.



this port policeman is ...good lookin'. (maybe it's the uniform) -and his attitude.

__


Los Angeles Port Police was founded in 1911.

[ethereal_reality]

And while we're down in that neck of the woods.

"Original 1957 35mm Kodak Slide Long Beach CA Seaside Hospital"


ebay




flickr



this one shows a bit more of the parking lot.


ebay





All gone now. (replaced by a rather ugly park)


google_earth
__

[odinthor]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

And while we're down in that neck of the woods.

"Original 1957 35mm Kodak Slide Long Beach CA Seaside Hospital"


ebay




flickr



this one shows a bit more of the parking lot.


ebay





All gone now. (replaced by a rather ugly park)


google_earth
__

This seems to be odinthor family day at NLA: Seaside Hospital is where my brother was born!

[John Maddox Roberts]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Thanks t2!




"Palm and Oak" or 4957 W. 104th Street, Inglewood?


lapl

"In 1918 Mathias Chapman brought the first ten chinchillas to Inglewood to start his farm, located on the corner of Palm and Oak*
They had never been bred in captivity outside their native Chile, and Chapman had to adapt to the lessons he learned
including refrigerating the cages to 68 degrees. Fifteen years later Chapman Chinchilla Farm was still the only chinchilla farm
in the world outside the Andes and his operation was closely watched by the fur industry."


*I don't know where lapl came up with "the corner of Palm and Oak".
I can't even find where Palm & Oak intersect.

__




Chinchillanapping!

"Someone recognized the tremendous value of the Chapman herd and in the dead of night
stole into his mountain ranch at Tehachepi, Calif., (recently abandoned) and made away
with thirty-five sturdy chinchillas. Sixteen were carrying young. The potential loss, therefore,
amounted to fully seventy of the animals. Chapman, in swearing out warrants
for the unknown culprits’ arrest, placed a value of $54,000 on the stolen animals.

Late last fall eighteen were traced to a ship bound for Germany. So closely did United States operatives
press the hunt that they learned five died en route. Later one American confessed his part in the theft
and today is paying the penalty in San Quentin prison. Two of those smuggled to Germany are alive today,
all the others having perished. The other seventeen have not been traced."


http://cuddlebug.dyndns.org/information/history.html

I believe the Inglewood address should be 4957 West 104th Street.

(might be a typo, cuddlebug has the 4957 address in another part of the article)





And finally, here is Mr. Chapman and 'Pete' who often rode on his shoulder.













Here's 'Pete' today.

Who would have guessed that there ws such a thing as Chinchilla Noir?

[Lorendoc]

Here is another c. 1936 Los Angeles Daily News photo captioned only "View of the dilapidated buildings and unpaved streets in a Los Angeles area slum during the Great Depression."


LA Daily News via UCLA Special Collections

(The zoomable version is here.)

It looks like it's in a semi-rural area. There are a few clues:


UCLA Special Collections



At the right, the sign on the right side of the store reads "N. Esperanza Ave." The store is called "Las Olas Altas" ("The Big Waves") and is at #329. To the left of #329 is a building numbered 327...



...so we are looking west.

In small letters below the store name is "___________nsa y nobles. Grocery. J. Bernal" I couldn't read the first part, maybe someone with better eyes can.

There is an Esperanza street in Boyle Heights but it starts in the S. 600 block and extends southward. No N. Esperanza seems to exist today in the East Side. I remembered that Hope Street downtown used to be called Esperanza, but it only went as far north as Temple, and did not have a 300 N. block. Any thoughts?

[GaylordWilshire]

I ran across this small item from the Times of Dec 31, 1930, and noticed the address... wasn't aware of any Arbuckle connection to the El Mirador. Which reminds me of the controversial building at Fountain & Sweetzer. Does anyone have an update?


The last info seems to date from five years ago in post 9291


Pics from previous GW posts on NLA