noirish Los Angeles

[Noir_Noir]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

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Programmatic Architecture / And mystery location.


"Igloo Ice Cream, Paper 'Tintype' Photo Los Angeles CA 1920s"




Newly listed on eBay..Asking $269.41

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

The Igloo was at the swc of Pico and Victoria. We've seen it here before.... Looks like it was taken just after school let out--LA High is not far to the north.

Originally Posted by HossC

That was my first thought too GW, but here's a picture of the one on Pico.

Exterior view of The Igloo, an igloo-shaped ice cream parlor, located at 4302 W. Pico St. The igloo is attached to a huge "ice berg," on top of which sits a stranded ship. Two polar bear flank the entrance.

To me, the iceberg is a slightly different shape, and the ship is definitely different. Could e_r's picture be an earlier incarnation (the ship looks simpler) or another location? Maybe I'm imagining it, and maybe the original ship was stolen and replaced.


LAPL

I think the igloo in e_r's ebay picture was located at 4315 Beverly Blvd, close to the NE corner with N. Kingsley Dr.

John Withington operated two ice cream outlets - one at 4302 W. Pico and the other on Beverly Blvd.



rescarta.lapl.org


The Beverly Blvd. igloo fits with the buildings in close proximity that we see in the ebay picture.

I think this is it, center of red circle, on a 1928 aerial.



mil.library.ucsb.edu


The igloo on Pico stood isolated on it's corner for most if not all of it's time there. Seen here also in 1928.



mil.library.ucsb.edu

[JeffDiego]

Originally Posted by riichkay

Screen grabs from "Larceny", a 1948 crime/noir picture released by Universal....starring John Payne, Joan Caulfield, Dan Duryea and Shelly Winters....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfeW...channel=ChrisT


The picture opens in Miami Beach but about 12 minutes in the action moves out here to "Mission City"....



....this is the Sante Fe RR station in Pasadena.



....John Payne gets off the train and hails a taxi....



.....adjacent to the station is Wilkinson's Lighting Fixtures, at 182 S. Raymond Ave.



...the Wilkinson building survives with the assistance of seismic retrofit....





The cab heads down Los Robles Ave. and turns right onto E. Green St.....




....this streetscape was decidedly pedestrian-friendly back in the day, perhaps somewhat sterile now....






At the corner of Los Robles and Green we find The Tournament Room....






Payne is staying at the Pasadena Athletic Club building....



...the bottom of the blade sign for Spanish-language radio station KWKW, then at 1300 on your AM dial, is visible.



One more from in front of the Athletic Club, facing west....






The Athletic Club was a handsome building....




.....razed in 1978 to make way for Plaza Pasadena Mall, which has now been demolished.




Later on Payne wants a cup of coffee, he heads to this place....




....which appears to be the Richardson Pie Shop at 44 N. Marengo Ave...






Payne decides he likes Southern California, and wants to look at some houses....so it's off to McNulty Realty....






....adjacent to the realty offices is the Le Roy Gordon Beauty Salon at 62 S. Los Robles Ave.









McNulty shows John Payne this place, quoting the listing price of $100,000....






Payne returns to his lodging, affording us a view of the s.e. corner of Los Robles and Green.....

riichkay, thank you for all of those FANTASTIC screen grabs of 1940's Pasadena. You write that the present-day streetscape of Los Robles near Green Street is "perhaps somewhat sterile now." Ha! That is the understatement of the year. The comparison photos are frankly depressing. The only thing positive you can say about the street today is that it's still clean & well-kept - otherwise....total blah. Yes, I'm well-aware that today's economy & lifestyle no longer make a street like 1940's Los Robles Avenue, lined with charming shops & storefronts viable, but it was so much more inviting and atmospheric then. Oh well, time marches on.

[John Maddox Roberts]

In 1954, when I was 7, I took swimming lessons at the Pasadena Athletic Club.

[WS1911]

[QUOTE=riichkay;10082715]Screen grabs from "Larceny", a 1948 crime/noir picture released by Universal....starring John Payne, Joan Caulfield, Dan Duryea and Shelly Winters....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfeW...channel=ChrisT


McNulty shows John Payne this place, quoting the listing price of $100,000....




This house at 500 Bellefontaine Street in Pasadena was designed by Frederick Louis Roehrig and built in 1917 for Edwin Jessop Marshall. It now serves as the main building of Mayfield Senior School.

__________________________

[ethereal_reality]

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I happened upon this unique photograph a couple of months ago on eBay but I think I forgot to post it on NLA.


It supposedly shows "3rd Street and Union Place in 1938".


eBay

What surprises me most (besides the large brick building) is how hilly the area is and that there's still a barn standing in that cluster of trees.




Now let's take a closer look at the impressive building in the distance. . .



. . . I know it's not the Hotel Stillwell so what building is it? (I have an idea but. .)


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[ethereal_reality]

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You scream, I scream . .we all scream for a mystery location.


I'm trying to find the local branch of the Valley Maid Dairy Co.


eBay link





eBay link





eBay link





This next photograph is interesting because it shows rail cars behind the man. (at least I think they're rail cars)






I found this but I don't know if it was ever built. (shown below)


Link coming

OOPS. Wrong company.

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[odinthor]

e_r, it's found in the pages of everyone's favorite magazine, Milk Plant Monthly:


Milk Plant Monthly, vol. 13, July 1924, p. 70

[fullpower]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

.
I happened upon this unique photograph a couple of months ago on eBay but I think I forgot to post it on NLA.


It supposedly shows "3rd Street and Union Place in 1938".


eBay

What surprises me most (besides the large brick building) is how hilly the area is and that there's still a barn standing in that cluster of trees.




Now let's take a closer look at the impressive building in the distance. . .



. . . I know it's not the Hotel Stillwell so what building is it? (I have an idea but. .)


.

that is the Mary Andrews Clark House

[Engineeral]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

.
You scream, I scream . .we all scream for a mystery location.


I'm trying to find the local branch of the Valley Maid Dairy Co.


eBay link






This next photograph is interesting because it shows rail cars behind the man. (at least I think they're rail cars)






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Not railway cars. Truck wheels with solid rubber tires. Compare with the truck in the first picture.

[ethereal_reality]

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I did, and they are clearly different than the truck tires. ..That's why I thought they might be rail cars... (well, miniature rail cars)

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[Engineeral]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

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I did, and they are clearly different than the truck tires. ..That's why I thought they might be rail cars... (well, miniature rail cars)

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I think the second picture is two trucks similar to the first picture, rear-end to rear-end. Compare with the wheels under the box in the first picture.

[ethereal_reality]

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You're correct, Engineeral...I only looked at the front tire of the truck. :


This is a bit far afield but it's interesting none-the-less.


It shows an advertisement for a service station painted on an enormous rock somewhere in the vicinity of Riverside California.


eBay

Hmm. .everything but the name of the service station.


. . .and here's what is written on the reverse.






I debated on whether or not to do a 'closer'look' but I can't help myself. so here it is folks, BIGGER!



I'm glad I did because it appears that there is something carved into the rock beneath the painted advertisement. (squint)


Sooooo. . . .
those are some pretty big rocks so I imagine they haven't been moved. Does anyone know where they are (or were) located?

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[ethereal_reality]

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I was willing to bet money (not really) that this wasn't Bunker Hill but then I noticed the tunnel.


imgur

I should probably know the large building under construction but I don't recognize it.

Any ideas where the photographer was standing?


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[HossC]

That's the Bunker Hill Towers under construction with the 2nd Street tunnel on the left. We're looking southeast across the Harbor Freeway from just above S Beaudry Avenue. This was as close as I could get in StreetView.


GSV

[ethereal_reality]

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Thanks, Hoss! I appreciate your help.

[Engineeral]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

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Hmm. .everything but the name of the service station?


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Could the service station name be 2-A-T Service Station?

[ethereal_reality]

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I've toyed with that idea...I've been trying to decipher what "2-A-T" means. (it probably refers to. .um. .where two highways converge. (or not)

I thought this might help. . .


Link

but I can't find my fine tooth comb so I haven't had time to sufficiently inspect the map.

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[ethereal_reality]

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OOPS!..I was in a hurry and forgot to include a 'closer look' of Riverside proper.



Perhaps the rocks are somewhere in the vicinity of 'The Tree Sisters'.


A friendly reminder of what we're looking for.



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[Those Who Squirm!]

Hello everyone, it has certainly been a long time since
I was active here. That's what moving to Oregon gets you.

In one of my Facebook groups, someone shared this photo from the Water And Power Association website, looking north from approximately
300 N. Main. (Colorization as on W&P site.)




Here's a tighter view. For orientation purposes, I have marked the Plaza Church belfry, the Merced Theater, and the partially visible roof of the Masonic Hall, all building that are still standing today.



In the distance, notice the surprisingly large building whose roofline and nearest corner I have outlined in orange, and what may have been an exterior stairway leading to an entrance, outlined in red.* It appears to be at least two stories,
given that it's visible beyond the church, and only the top of part of that is visible.

Here's a still tighter crop:



What on earth was it? I'm frankly flabbergasted that there was such a large building there of any kind when this photo was taken.

The exact location is hard to judge as the depth of field seems to be highly compressed, but I'm thinking this could have been across the street (north of) where Italian Hall is now, given the orientation of the building, but there hasn't been anything nearly as large since 1880, that I can think of.

On the FB post, we've been kicking the football around on this for awhile but we haven't come up with a definitive answer.

*What looks like a stairway could possibly be the end of a gable roof
on a nearer building, although the perspective doesn't look quite
right for that. 

[odinthor]

No answer yet; but perhaps a couple of things on the road to finding an answer:

I note that the building in question and the proposed staircase are, or seem to me, differently aligned. With that in mind, here is a detail from Wm. Rich Hutton's view of L.A. from the north, 1847 I think.


Detail from Hutton; full original in the Huntington collection, #HM 43214 (32), used by permission at https://home.csulb.edu/~odinthor/botello.html

Note the quadrangle portion out of line with everything else which however is on the same alignment/at the same location as the building in question. I'm not proposing that the one at the quadrangle is the same building as the one in question; but I am proposing that it's a successor-building on the same differently-aligned lot.

Now, from the south:


From Kuchel & Dresel 1857, at same link as above

Note in this detail from Kuchel & Dresel 1857 what appears to be the "staircase" bldg. at center. That's the Plaza Church's tower from the side at left.