noirish Los Angeles

[ethereal_reality]

.
I've been meaning to post this rppc ever since I happened upon it a few weeks ago on eBay.

Now seems an appropriate time to do so.



I didn't realize it started out so small.



5 minutes later.

. . .or maybe that isn't the hotel on Ivar. ... I see in the 1940 city directory there was also a Knickerbocker downtown on Olive St.



. . .but it says "bldg." not hotel.




10 min. later

I just found another one. This Knickerbocker is listed as a hotel and it was on Fremont. (in 1937)





.

[HossC]

That's the Hotel Knickerbocker at 551 S Fremont.

Originally Posted by HossC

We've seen the Knickerbocker in Hollywood several times over the years, and I'm sure that's where the Gray Line bus was going. Many years earlier, however, there was a Hotel Knickerbocker at 551 S Fremont Avenue. It's seen here circa 1929. The site is now almost dead center under the Harbor Freeway.


USC Digital Library

Here's a reminder of the extant Knickerbocker Building at 643 S Olive.

Originally Posted by HossC

The detail below highlights the area around 7th and Grand where the "Little Giant" Garage and Casa Grande stood only a decade or so earlier. The
Wilhelm Apartments has become the Woman's Hotel, and the "Little Giant" Garage and Casa Grande have been replaced by the Security Trust &
Savings Bank. I wonder if the residents knew that Orange Street (Wilshire Boulevard) would be extended through to Grand Avenue (splitting the
blocks at the bottom of the image) the following year.


Detail of picture above.

For search purposes, the picture also shows the Knickerbocker Building, the Bank of Italy Building, the Brack Shops, the Quinby Building, the Brockman
Building, the Union Oil Building, the Criterion Theatre and the Univeristy Club.

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by BDiH

The excavation for the Red Line would have stumbled across a tunnel.
_________________________________________________________________

That occured to me, but thought it possible I wouldn't have heard or read about it. One thing for sure is there's a Red Line tunnel down Hollywood Blvd. now!

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

.The only tunnel I've heard about that is in the immediate area is/was between the Knickerbocker Hotel and the El Capitan Theater on Vine Street.
_________________________________________________________________

That would make more sense. It would also make more sense if the tunnel was from the Broadway to the EL Capitan. Maybe there were two?!

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

.P.S. I'm not really in a tunnel.
_________________________________________________________________

I thought you meant a metaphorical one.

[AlvaroLegido]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

.

The only tunnel I've heard about that is in the immediately area is/was between the Knickbocker Hotel and the El Capitan Theater on Vine Street.

I remember the (early) posts on the tunnel which was between the two buildings of the Rosslyn Hotel at Main and Five.

[Martin Pal]

^^^

That was a different tunnel than the Hollywood & Vine inquiry.

[riichkay]

Back in Sept. 2018 a gentleman who goes by Mr. Rollers responded to our post of his flickr.com photos re: the ruins of the old Griffith Park zoo....https://www.skyscraperpage.com/forum...lers&page=2441

In addition to the zoo pictures on his flickr page are photos primarily of Hollywood/Silverlake circa mid-'70's.....https://www.flickr.com/photos/mr-rol...h/50739027531/

With the hope Mr. Rollers would have no objection I culled out a few....





Sunset Blvd. at Lucille Ave., 1976






I believe this is adjacent to the Go-Lo station as a portion of the station canopy is visible.






Location not specified....a reminder that the scourge of graffiti was well established by the '70's.






Sunset Dr. at Hoover St., 1975






Echo Park, 1975






1974....this would be the east side of Western Ave. just past Hollywood Blvd., looking north.






"View from dorm", undated






"Piano Pete", atop the Jensen Piano Co. store at 13325 Victory Blvd., Van Nuys


Pete has left the building....









Jensen Piano grand opening on June 6, 1956....owner Johnny Jensen and wife at photo center.




The Physical Way, 3229 Sunset Blvd....






....a permit dated Oct. 6 1970....





Hmmm...."partitions" and "sound proofing"....and bookshelves, perhaps displaying the collected works of the Marquis de Sade?



This colorful den of iniquity is now, of course, a hookah lounge....






I well recall the tawdry East Hollywood/Silverlake of the mid-'70's, suffice to say there were far more hookers than hookahs in those years....


....but something has been lost here, in my view a red-light district is essential to every great city.

[Martin Pal]

Thanks for those, riichkay, I love Piano Pete! Wonder what lighting there was for him at night.
By the mid-70's he needed some Piano Paint.

[ethereal_reality]

Here's a truly amazing cabinet card just listed on eBay.

"1890 LOS ANGELES VERNON ST RAILWAY CAR BARN 22ND ST CENTRAL CABINET REAL PHOTO"



If I'm reading the description correctly the seller believes the car barn was located at 22nd Street and Central Ave. Does anyone know if this is correct? ...(there is no writing on the reverse)




Here's a closer look. ..It clearly says Los Angeles & Vernon St on the railcar.



But I don't see any indication of the location. (there aren't any signs on the building)


Thanks for setting me straight on the Knickerbocker locations, HossC. I appreciate the help.
.

[ethereal_reality]

.
This is another interesting photograph on eBay.

"1920's POLICE GUARDS ON BICYCLES w/ SIDECAR - LOS ANGELES CA SHIPYARD ORIG PHOTO"




And the reverse.



I wish the daughter had included the name of the shipyard.

.

[ethereal_reality]

.
MYSTERY location currently on eBay


"VTG 1930s Sunset Blvd Los Angeles West Hollywood Beverly Hills CA History Photo"


EBAY

At first I thought this might be part of the French Village (Cahuenga & Highland) or the Normandie Village (8474 Sunset Blvd.) but these buildings don't appear to match either place.
And it isn't Sunset Plaza (faux classical) because the architectural style (faux Tudor) is all wrong.





There are some street numbers but they're too difficult to read.


detail


Go forth my loyal minions!

.

[Bristolian]

This appears in Joe Friday's opening monologue from the Dec. 7, 1967 episode "The Phony Police Racket". What makes it stand out in the Dragnet world is it appears to be an actual business, not a hokey set created by their prop department. I assuming it's in "The City". I looked at the city directories but as usual, didn't have any luck.

[Engineeral]

Originally Posted by Bristolian

This appears in Joe Friday's opening monologue from the Dec. 7, 1967 episode "The Phony Police Racket". What makes it stand out in the Dragnet world is it appears to be an actual business, not a hokey set created by their prop department. I assuming it's in "The City". I looked at the city directories but as usual, didn't have any luck.

The box with the hose across the road is a traffic counter. Every two pulses is two axles or one car (assumed). Every 15 minutes (usually) the device printed the 15 minute total on a paper tape. Some of these were clockwork, even in the 70s, or battery powered. The box was fastened to the parking meter post with a chain and padlock. Current devices can be much more sophisticated, but comparing totals at 15 minute intervals taken yearly can tell a lot. (I am a retired traffic engineer.)

[HenryHuntington]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Here's a truly amazing cabinet card just listed on eBay.

"1890 LOS ANGELES VERNON ST RAILWAY CAR BARN 22ND ST CENTRAL CABINET REAL PHOTO"



If I'm reading the description correctly the seller believes the car barn was located at 22nd Street and Central Ave. Does anyone know if this is correct? ...(there is no writing on the reverse)




Here's a closer look. ..It clearly says Los Angeles & Vernon St on the railcar.



But I don't see any indication of the location. (there aren't any signs on the building)


Thanks for setting me straight on the Knickerbocker locations, HossC. I appreciate the help.
.

__________________

Can confirm, e-r. Robert C. Post's Street Railways and the Growth of Los Angeles shows a (different) photograph of this building at 22nd & Central and positively IDs it as the LA&V car barn.

Post adds some color...

"Then came the Los Angeles & Vernon Street Railway, a five-mile standard gauge horse railway running for most of its length on Central Avenue and connecting with the Santa Fe's Ballona branch at Green Meadow Road (Slauson Avenue), beyond the city's southeastern outskirts. Among this company's founders in 1887 had been the architect E.F. Kysor and John D. Bicknell, an attorney prominent in the affairs of the Pacific Railway."

Post then goes on to describe how the LA&V became one of the pieces of the street railway consolidation wars that would last into the early 20th Century.

[Hollywood Graham]

Originally Posted by riichkay

Back in Sept. 2018 a gentleman who goes by Mr. Rollers responded to our post of his flickr.com photos re: the ruins of the old Griffith Park zoo....https://www.skyscraperpage.com/forum...lers&page=2441

In addition to the zoo pictures on his flickr page are photos primarily of Hollywood/Silverlake circa mid-'70's.....https://www.flickr.com/photos/mr-rol...h/50739027531/

With the hope Mr. Rollers would have no objection I culled out a few....





Sunset Blvd. at Lucille Ave., 1976






I believe this is adjacent to the Go-Lo station as a portion of the station canopy is visible.






Location not specified....a reminder that the scourge of graffiti was well established by the '70's.






Sunset Dr. at Hoover St., 1975






Echo Park, 1975






1974....this would be the east side of Western Ave. just past Hollywood Blvd., looking north.






"View from dorm", undated






"Piano Pete", atop the Jensen Piano Co. store at 13325 Victory Blvd., Van Nuys


Pete has left the building....









Jensen Piano grand opening on June 6, 1956....owner Johnny Jensen and wife at photo center.




The Physical Way, 3229 Sunset Blvd....






....a permit dated Oct. 6 1970....





Hmmm...."partitions" and "sound proofing"....and bookshelves, perhaps displaying the collected works of the Marquis de Sade?



This colorful den of iniquity is now, of course, a hookah lounge....






I well recall the tawdry East Hollywood/Silverlake of the mid-'70's, suffice to say there were far more hookers than hookahs in those years....


....but something has been lost here, in my view a red-light district is essential to every great city.

The market was located on Sunset and Coronado. It used to be called King Cole Market. Mobile Gas Station was a Douglas Gas Station.

[Noir Lady]

Thank you so much! I remember my mother shopped at King Cole Market when I was a small child. I knew it was called King Cole but had no way to determine where on Sunset it was. I knew that my mother walked to it and we lived on Marathon. You have solved a mystery for me!!

[Lorendoc]

Originally Posted by Hollywood Graham

The market was located on Sunset and Coronado. It used to be called King Cole Market. Mobile Gas Station was a Douglas Gas Station.

Yes.

Then:



Now:


GSV

[Mackerm]

Originally Posted by riichkay

There were some pretty interesting blog posts about The Cameo Room, 5061 Sunset Blvd., involving director Ed Wood and his movie The Beach Bunnies.

https://d2rights.blogspot.com/2022/1...cameo.html?m=1

https://d2rights.blogspot.com/2022/1...-back.html?m=1

https://d2rights.blogspot.com/2014/0...beach.html?m=1



There is another photo in the set labelled "view from dorm" looking toward downtown, so that might help work out the location of the one looking toward the Hollywood hills.

[riichkay]

I had the Cameo Room located incorrectly as adjacent to the Go-Lo station at Sunset/Lucille, obviously this does not work with the Cameo at 5061 Sunset....


Here is Ed Ruscha 1965, turns out the Cameo was adjacent to a Standard station at Sunset & Normandie....

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by Mackerm

There were some pretty interesting blog posts about The Cameo Room, 5061 Sunset Blvd., involving director Ed Wood and his movie The Beach Bunnies.

https://d2rights.blogspot.com/2022/1...cameo.html?m=1
_________________________________________________________________

Love this color photo, Mackerm, at night with the blue neon.

Originally Posted by riichkay

Here is Ed Ruscha 1965, turns out the Cameo was adjacent to a Standard station at Sunset & Normandie....
_________________________________________________________________

Thanks for finding the Ruscha photos, riichkay!

(Do you have an easier way to find those Ruscha photos, than I've been able to? I find it hard to search addresses for them.)

[riichkay]

Martin Pal, the Ruscha photos have been difficult to work with, the Getty could have done a better job in collating the images....I have been where you are, scrolling endlessly trying to get into a given neighborhood or to an address.

However, in finding the Cameo Room yesterday I tried something different, and it worked....when you go into the collection there is a search box, I simply entered "5061" (street number for The Cameo), that's all....I did not add the street name.....that search got me to the Sunset/Normandie corner, or just off of it...the various Ruscha years came up, I generally want the oldest images which in this case was '65, so I clicked on that one....I had to do some nominal scrolling easterly but the initial image was very close to 5061.