noirish Los Angeles

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

.
While I was obsessing


Here are a couple of interior photographs of the current state of the downtown May Co. building.

NOV. 2012

matthew littrell

It's still impressive but what's taking so long with the renovations?.. Does anyone know what's going on?. . .or who owns it?






This next photograph is especially intriguing.

NOV. 2012

matthew littrell

What was the purpose of this large space? (note the quasi-coved ceiling with curved edges)...A ballroom comes to mind but this was a retail store not a hotel.

Does anyone who might have shopped here recognize this room?...Is it on the top floor?



.

Maybe the large space above was a cafeteria or restaurant of some kind? This department store was so huge, like a small city, they must have had some kind of restaurant inside to feed the many thousands that must have shopped and worked there on a daily basis, at least back in the 1920s-1950s. Or maybe the space was just a retail space, women's clothing, appliances, whatever. Because of the grand high ceiling, it must have been the more high value stuff like appliances, furnature or women's clothing. Or maybe it was offices for the store managers? Lastly, perhaps it was an auditorium of some kind, for retail events like fashion shows?

If I had to choose one of the above possibilities, I'd guess a restaurant or cafeteria/lunchroom for shoppers & employees.

A bit off topic, but maybe this giant old May Company store could be turned into housing for the homeless? Better than tents on the sidewalks. There is already a proposal to use the old Sears distribution center in Boyle Heights for homeless housing and services.

[odinthor]

It's probably the assembly room etc. referred to in the following (which I cobbled together from a long article in the July 29, 1905, Los Angeles Times, in which the plans for the building are announced; I also included a passage on the history of the firm):


LA Times, 7/29/1905

[ethereal_reality]

.
Thanks for your help, CaliNative and odinthor.


Here's an excerpt from an article at lacurbed describing opening day, Aug. 10, 1908.


lacurbed

Note that the 'rooftop garden' is mention.


eBay



.

[CaliNative]

delete

[Harrys]

The Griffith Park Observatory in 1936

[Mackerm]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

.
Thanks so much, Hoss.


re: Photo Challenge.

Here's the answer, as promised.



Ta Dah!


It's the roof of The May Co. in 1928!




I wouldn't have guessed that in a hundred years.



801 S. Broadway as it appears today.

google_aerial




.

I think the building with the arches is still there with an addition - top right of the Google Earth screengrab. Looks like this here photo was taken FROM that fancy penthouse.

This is so cool.

University of Spoi USC Digital Library

Easter program on roof, The May Company, Southern California, 1931

[Slauson Slim]

I was in the May Co. building a few years ago. The first floor was a welter of booths selling clothing, toys, shoes, electronics, etc., like a swap meet or flea market.

As a child I went there with my mother. The store had a distinct smell of perfume and make up and clothing. Elevator operators, and on the first floor starters who indicated to customers which car to take. There was a plaque with the names of May Co. employees who had fallen in WWI.

It was a real treat to go downtown on the street car for shopping and have lunch at Clifton’s or Pig n’ Whistle.

[Snix]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

.
While I was obsessing


Here are a couple of interior photographs of the current state of the downtown May Co. building.

NOV. 2012

matthew littrell

It's still impressive but what's taking so long with the renovations?.. Does anyone know what's going on?. . .or who owns it?






This next photograph is especially intriguing.

NOV. 2012

matthew littrell

What was the purpose of this large space? (note the quasi-coved ceiling with curved edges)...A ballroom comes to mind but this was a retail store not a hotel.

Does anyone who might have shopped here recognize this room?...Is it on the top floor?



.

Omgivning
https://omgivning.com/projects/broadway-trade-center/

After Sitting Vacant for a Decade, Downtown’s Broadway Trade Center Could Become LA’s Newest Tech Hub

"Emcee’s plan is to lure a combination of software developers, entrepreneurs and designers to the Downtown space, which it says will house a hotel, member-exclusive rooftop pool, restaurant and one floor of co-working offices. The company wants the ground floor to operate like a futuristic shopping mall where in addition to physical storefronts, brands will maintain an augmented reality presence letting shoppers browse and buy online..."
https://dot.la/emcee-downtown-la-tech-2656677337.html




Emcee, a company which brands itself as a "social commerce platform," announced plans yesterday to buy the historic Broadway Trade Center, a 1.1-million-square-foot building at 8th Street and Broadway…"Tens of thousands of creators, innovators and companies collaborating and creating the future of the internet under one roof," reads a description from a landing page on the Emcee website. "The 1.2M square foot EMCEE STUDIO in DTLA offers the first and largest physical metaverse hub in the world, connecting next-gen creators and brands." Emcee founder John Aghayan expects the purchase of the building to close in April, after which point, the interior of the former department store would be converted to co-working spaces, retail stores, a hotel, and restaurants, all in service of the as-yet undeveloped "metaverse" platform…its expected price tag, have not been disclosed. As of late 2020, the company was seeking $425 million in a potential sale of the Broadway Trade Center.

https://urbanize.city/la/post/new-yo...y-trade-center

[ethereal_reality]

Well, that's good news. Thanks for the links Snix.

Originally Posted by Mackerm

I think the building with the arches is still there with an addition

I'd say you are correct.

detail

I see that it's labeled the Penthouse. I'd love to see inside. (and I see it has a skylight)


That photograph of the May Co. Roof Garden Theatre is a fantastic find. . .but I'm curious about the cages in the foreground.

I checked the stage to see if there was some sort of animal menagerie.

Nope. . .mostly rug rats.

USC Digital Library


I just took a closer look at the 'cages'. . .now I think they may be trellises.



Good sleuthing, Mackerm. Nice memories, Slauson Slim.

.

[ethereal_reality]

.
I don't believe we have seen this night-time view of Hamburger's Dept. Store (later the May Co.) back in 1909!


Patt Morrison collection via LA Times

On the back, someone named Bob, wrote: "This old town is decorated up so that you would hardly know it." It was mailed to a recipient in San Fernando in 1909.

As you probably figured out, the two diagonal lines at the top delineate the roofline. The lines appear rather low because the photograph was taken before 4 additional floors were added to the top of the building.

As for. . .
the ornament at street level:.... Unless I'm looking at it wrong, the 'pylons' are placed away from the actual building.

Is that how you see it?


Here's a closer look.

detail

I thought this was Christmas decorations but I just noticed the initials on the taller pylon and I think it's B.P.O.E. (Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks)



.

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by Mackerm

I think the building with the arches is still there with an addition - top right of the Google Earth screengrab. Looks like this here photo was taken FROM that fancy penthouse.

This is so cool.

University of Spoi USC Digital Library

Easter program on roof, The May Company, Southern California, 1931

The cloche-type hats and skirts seem more like late 1920s than 1931, when women were switching to smaller beret like hats. But if it says 1931, who am I to say, except it looks really late1920ish. I suppose some women, in the early depression, kept wearing their 1920s stuff to save $, just like they kept their older cars. Same with the picture several posts below. When was the Eastern Columbia building (the one with the big clock) completed? If after the 1920s, that settles it. 1931. Just seems like too many cloche hats for 1931.

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Well, that's good news. Thanks for the links Snix.




I'd say you are correct.

detail

I see that it's labeled the Penthouse. I'd love to see inside. (and I see it has a skylight)


That photograph of the May Co. Roof Garden Theatre is a fantastic find. . .but I'm curious about the cages in the foreground.

I checked the stage to see if there was some sort of animal menagerie.

Nope. . .mostly rug rats.

USC Digital Library


I just took a closer look at the 'cages'. . .now I think they may be trellises.



Good sleuthing, Mackerm. Nice memories, Slauson Slim.

.

Like the above photo in previous post, styles look late 1920s. Cloche hats, bobbed hair, etc.

[HossC]

Originally Posted by Mackerm

This is so cool.

University of Spoi USC Digital Library

Easter program on roof, The May Company, Southern California, 1931

Originally Posted by CaliNative

When was the Eastern Columbia building (the one with the big clock) completed? If after the 1920s, that settles it. 1931.

According to www.laconservancy.org, "The Eastern Columbia Building, designed by Claud Beelman, opened on September 12, 1930, after just nine short months of construction."

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by CaliNative

The cloche-type hats and skirts seem more like late 1920s than 1931, when women were switching to smaller beret like hats. But if it says 1931, who am I to say, except it looks really late1920ish. I suppose some women, in the early depression, kept wearing their 1920s stuff to save $, just like they kept their older cars. Same with the picture several posts below. When was the Eastern Columbia building (the one with the big clock) completed? If after the 1920s, that settles it. 1931. Just seems like too many cloche hats for 1931.

I think it looks like 1931. Hemlines are already long-ish on some of the women, and the waistlines already look like they're in their natural positions after nearly a decade of low/at-the-hip waistlines for most of the 1920s; I think 1929 is when you started seeing waistlines at the normal position again, like in the Joan Crawford video I posted in the other thread:
• Video Link

[ethereal_reality]

.
Mystery submarine / mystery location. (somewhere in Los Angeles)

Here are three snapshot of a (captured?) submarine in Los Angeles in 1942.


eBay





eBay




. . .one last look.


eBay

Can anyone help me out here?




.

[ethereal_reality]

.

Here's a business card I happened upon in an old file of mine.


originally found on eBay

What, pray tell, is a Steam Car?




For search purposes:...White Steam Cars - Eylar M. Fillmore - White Garage of Los Angeles - 806-816 South Olive St. - Home 10379 - Main 8133.

[Jungmann]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

.
Mystery submarine / mystery location. (somewhere in Los Angeles)

Here are three snapshot of a (captured?) submarine in Los Angeles in 1942.


eBay





eBay




. . .one last look.


eBay

Can anyone help me out here?




.

Might be the Japanese one the Navy captured at Pearl Harbor after the attack. Pershing Square?

[Earl Boebert]

Originally Posted by Jungmann

Might be the Japanese one the Navy captured at Pearl Harbor after the attack. Pershing Square?

Yup. Submarine HA. 19, sent to the mainland for War Bond parades in 1942.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HA._19...dget_submarine)

Cheers,

Earl

[Martin Pal]

Could the submarine photos have been taken around the Coliseum?

I found this Los Angeles Times "From the Archives" article:

Japanese Sub at UCLA-USC Football Game
A captured Japanese midget submarine was paraded around the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum during USC-UCLA football game Dec. 12, 1942.
https://www.latimes.com/archives-japanese-sub-at-ucla-usc-football-game-story.html


_______

Also: WWII U.S. Captured Equipment 1942, Los Angeles, USA
A two-man Japanese submarine, aka "Tojo Cigar" is displayed for thousands of workers at the California Shipbuilding Corporation during a nationwide war bond sale tour for the U.S. Treasury Department, in Los Angeles, Calif.,. The sub was captured at Pearl Harbor under the personal direction of Captain Eugene Wilson of the Army Air Corps, who was inspector general of the Hawaiian Air Force when the Japanese attacked. (A separate website titled This Day in History gives the date of this event as December 23, 1942.)

Shutterstock

(Additional photo at the link.)
_______

FYI: The California Shipbuilding Corporation built 467 Liberty and Victory ships during World War II. California Shipbuilding Corporation was often referred to as Calship. The shipyard was created at Terminal Island in Los Angeles, California, as part of America's massive shipbuilding effort of World War II. Calship was created from scratch and began production of Liberty Ships in May, 1941. The yard was located on 175 acres on the north side of Terminal Island, north of Dock Street, near present-day berths 210-213.Wiki page

[John Maddox Roberts]

I've seen a photo of that sub on display at a War Bond drive in Moriarty, NM, about 20 miles from where I live.