noirish Los Angeles

[ethereal_reality]

file this under: Hiding in plain sight.

The 1907 Camera Obscura

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/





http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=7593



Believe it or not, the hundred and six year old Camera Obscura is still in place, surrounded by a senior recreation center.

google_earth



1450 Ocean Avenue

http://www.365-la.com/2011/07/197-camera-obscura.html




You can see the top of it in this photograph.

gsv


interior

http://www.365-la.com/2011/07/197-camera-obscura.html

A mirror inside the rotating turret reflects the surrounding scenery down through a convex lens.
The images are projected on the circular table below.

-the controls look like a ship's wheel.

http://www.365-la.com/2011/07/197-camera-obscura.html


http://www.365-la.com/2011/07/197-camera-obscura.html

Admission to the Camera Obscura is free. You just have to leave an ID at the front desk in order to get the key.
__

[Wig-Wag]

Originally Posted by Those Who Squirm

Isn't this right opposite the Red Line terminal? I remember it being mentioned in the press when the subway station opened.

TWS, the old North Hollywood station is in its original location on the west side of Lankershim Boulevard across from the present Red Line Station. The restoration is progressing nicely. See the last photo on this site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/terryvi...7611186475929/

Cheers,
Jack

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

Columbia Square Complex at 6121 Sunset Blvd. (1939)

Friday the 13th:
KABC7
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story

I didn't even hear about this fire, so thanks for the alert Martin Pal. Is that a palm tree on fire or some kind of construction platform?*

*ok, I just reread the article. It's the construction trash chute. (and I thought it was a palm tree. lol)

[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

file this under: Hiding in plain sight.
1450 Ocean Avenue

http://www.365-la.com/2011/07/197-camera-obscura.html

ER-- Amazing discovery. At first I thought it was just a modern building--then I realized that what's inside it is old. I'd say it's time to remove the modern façade, but it actually has a bit of odd charm, at least from your pics.


As for

Originally Posted by so-cal-bear

None of that block had fences when I lived there as a 10 year old here's proof. I don't live there anymore but here's a photo of me in 1983 (I'm somewhere there, the light skinned young kid with the long hair blocking half his forehead) I always loved those 3 houses on Adams and Ellendale even as a kid in the early 1980's. 1315 was always tattered-looking, even then! The house to it's left was facelifted in 83' and it looked nice, I lived there from 1973 when I we moved out in 1988 when I lived close to it. But all of Adam's Street block from Ellendale to Vermont was never fenced in. I looked at the Google street views and I'm surprised, sad how every single along from Adams to Ellendale is.

That is a great shot of you parading down Adams, so-cal-bear--the Kerckhoff house at left looks good. I figured its fence was fairly recent, but not that the vine-covered wall in front of the Bonsall-Peck house was so new. A rare instance of someone's personal picture revealing what otherwise may never have been known about a streetscape--and there aren't many pictures of this part of Adams of any vintage.

While poking around for some more info on the Kerckhoff house (1325 W Adams), I came across these San Pedro notes in the Times of April 29, 1897:



I wonder if Herman didn't tip off George about the widow Bonsall selling the house next door after her husband's demise in 1905...

Also interesting is that it looks like George laid the first concrete sidewalks in 'Pedro, though not, apparently, the ones around his house there....

[Wig-Wag]

On weekends in the late 1960’s and early 70’s a lady friend and I used to explore former PE and LA Railway streetcar lines in LA.

This photo, while not related to LA streetcar lines, was taken during an evening in April of 1970 and records the wonderful neon graphic that once graced the side of the Bekins warehouse at 120 South Western Avenue. Today this building is occupied by Hanmi Bank and a self storage facility.

Cheers,
Jack

[ethereal_reality]

That's a great photo Jack. The neon truck sign is beautiful.


We've seen many videos here on noirish Los Angeles, but I don't recall seeing this film of eastbound traffic on Wilshire Boulevard.






-here's the link to the video. (it has sound)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkkjpDmf7zw

At one point a car has to swerve to avoid hitting a pick up truck trying to turn left ..and then 10 seconds later we see a wrecked car being towed.
The lack of a center line seems a bit dangerous.

Of course there's a lot more interesting things to look at than the traffic.
__

[JScott]

.

[Tetsu]

Originally Posted by HossC

Thanks to E_R, Tetsu and GW for your great replies regarding the residences of George H Peck. I'm hoping that the well-trimmed hedges of the West Adams house mean that someone's looking after it. As for the house in San Pedro, I don't recall any other buildings having a first floor added (molested and vandalized modernized, yes, but not added). They normally gain or lose floors from the top. The nearest I can think of is the Alhambra and Alhambra Annex turning their basements into their first floors when Broadway was regraded (see post #13060 by ProphetM).
[/URL]

Sure thing, HossC! Your post actually helped me learn a few things, as I didn't know for sure if there was a connection between the Peck who put up the sign in the photo you posted, and the Peck House, until I started researching myself.

Interestingly enough, there's another Victorian in San Pedro that is said to have been raised up and had a new floor built underneath, the "German Helmet" House at 918-22 S. Centre Street:

LAOkay

The whole process really does seem inconvenient/non-economical in comparison to just adding to the top. But I'm no builder so I wouldn't really know for sure.

[Tetsu]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

re: George H. Peck's home in San Pedro



Good find Tetsu!
-from this angle you can see that it was quite an impressive home back in the day.

GSV
__

Thanks E_R! Wow, a coat of paint can really work wonders when applied correctly!

It really is an intriguing house. The remodeling job is definitely one of the most bizarre I've ever seen. It's hard to tell which side was originally the front, lol.

[HossC]

Originally Posted by JScott

I heartily recommend perusing this blog on tumblr. I must say – this person has excellent taste when it comes to historical images of Los Angeles. A great many of the photos literally ooze noir...

http://memoriastoica.tumblr.com/tagg...ngeles+history

While we're still in the San Pedro area, I decided to merge two photos of the harbor that I found in the above blog, and created the panorama below. The caption dates the scene to the 1890s.

Scroll right ---->


Original pictures at http://memoriastoica.tumblr.com

[GaylordWilshire]

I'm reminded of Terminal Island--as I've been looking into the city residences of prosperous Angelenos, I've found a number of references to many of them having second homes on the island, in the period, more or less, from 1890 to 1910. Later, it seems, the resort types moved on and fishing and canneries became the point; the old summer houses were given over to Japanese fishermen and factory workers, and the old houses were cleared away after the internments following Pearl Harbor. There doesn't seem to be much in the way of photographs from the island's resort years, but I did find the ones above.


LAPL, USCDL

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I didn't even hear about this fire, so thanks for the alert Martin Pal. Is that a palm tree on fire or some kind of construction platform?*

*ok, I just reread the article. It's the construction trash chute. (and I thought it was a palm tree. lol)

Yes, E_R, I, too, thought it was a palm tree at first! I am in that area for a bit a couple times a month and I decided to walk past there last Monday. Whatever fire happened there a few days prior to that, there was no evidence of it on Monday. The chute was replaced and everything continuing.

So, maybe it wasn't as big a deal as first thought, so you wouldn't have heard about it...but did you hear that a couple weeks earlier (Sept. 5th) Angels Flight had another incident?

LA Times
http://www.latimes.com/angels-flight-derailed.story

"Electrical disruption caused Angels Flight to derail," operator says.

The new Angels Flight's had it's problems. It re-opened in March, 2010 after an accident in 2001 prompted a nine-year closure. It's had some other minor mishaps and now this one. Each one causes further angst about its operation.

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

The Columbia Drug Store looks like such a great place with it's unique architecture and outdoor book stand.
Using Google Street Views I recently "toured" the street I used to live on in West Hollywood.
I was delighted to see that the outdoor book stand at Hancock & Santa Monica Blvd was still in business.


google street views

I was surprised there were no cars on the street, parked or otherwise!

And I do realize that I am only on page 140 or so of this thread and have so much more to look at, but I was wondering, E_R, when was the last time you lived here in this area?

This particular building was built (constructed) in 1990-91 and this newsstand in question was one of the first tenants. Sometime soon after you posted this the newsstand relocated because the property owner hiked the rents an absurd amount. Two other people tried to make a go of another one, but last fall the last one vacated and it is now a vacant space. The building has been repainted another color.

As for outdoor newsstands, they have always been really common, but in the last two years it seems most all of the remaining ones have disappeared. When I walked around Hollywood last Monday I saw two vacant ones and none open. I can only think of two still open, one being on Sunset Blvd. across from the Chateau Marmont.

Wonder what you could put in a space like this, besides a news stand?

Also, I live on this street in one of the buildings up the sidewalk!

Where you used to reside is still quite the same, except for the montrosity built in front of it where the "Pacific Bell" repair building used to be.

For what it's worth.

[fhammon]

Originally Posted by Flyingwedge

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

from ebay

Why is it that old photos seem to show things larger than recent photos?
I've noticed that a lot with the "then and now" building photos as well.
They always look bigger then than now when shot from the same or similar locations.
It's it the camera lenses? In this case maybe it's the different elevations from which they were shot. Still....

BTW Did anybody notice the Heinz 57 in the round hill? (I know you did)
It's identical to the Baldwin Hills "57" that was perched above La Cienega.
They were made from poured concrete I believe.

[HossC]

Originally Posted by fhammon

Why is it that old photos seem to show things larger than recent photos?
I've noticed that a lot with the "then and now" building photos as well.
They always look bigger then than now when shot from the same or similar locations.
It's it the camera lenses? In this case maybe it's the different elevations from which they were shot. Still....

It's mainly the camera lenses - they can make matching up filming locations to Google StreetViews really tricky, even when the places haven't changed much.

Here's a scene from the TV movie 'Hazzard in Hollywood' that was filmed on Fletcher Drive:


Warner Bros.

The StreetView below is actually taken from closer to the 'M & W Liquor' sign on the left than the one above, yet the McDonalds sign is hardly visible, and you'd be hard pressed to see the Chevron sign.


GSV

The Chevron sign is still in the same place, but the TV footage makes it look much closer. The original angle also hid the underpass and just missed the Van de Kamp's Bakery building on the right.


GSV

There's another shot from the same movie showing Franklin and Gower with the Hollywood sign looming large in the background. Go to StreetView and you can hardly see the sign from there.

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by fhammon

Why is it that old photos seem to show things larger than recent photos?
I've noticed that a lot with the "then and now" building photos as well.
They always look bigger then than now when shot from the same or similar locations.
It's it the camera lenses? In this case maybe it's the different elevations from which they were shot. Still....

.

It appears that old photo was shot from a higher elevation. Also keep in mind that a lot of trees cover the scene that were not there 80 years ago. Maybe the trees hide the buildings.

Google street view is about 8 to 10 feet high. That old photo appears to be shot form about 15 or more feet from the pavement.

It appears that as many men as women were smitten with Rudolph Valentino, that is when you look at that photo. Many in Hollywood considered Rudy to be, hmm how do I say it... cake-boy.

[Those Who Squirm!]

Now this man really is a Sanitation Engineer!

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

Modern Mechanix

[GaylordWilshire]

David Mixner

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

It appears that as many men as women were smitten with Rudolph Valentino, that is when you look at that photo. Many in Hollywood considered Rudy to be, hmm how do I say it... cake-boy.[/SIZE]

It's ok, City Boy--you can say it, we're all adults here--he was gay. Not a secret. Or uncommon among posters here, I'd wager.

[HossC]

More recent Ebay finds - apologies if any are reposts:

Three postcards, three angles, one intersection, one theme. They all seem to date from soon after the freeways were built.

"Dig Those Freeways"


Ebay

"Dig Those Crazy Freeways"


Ebay

"Man-Dig Those Crazy Los Angeles Freeways"


Ebay

The middle card gives a good view of the remaining half of Court Circle, and shows that the southern end of Court Street was still in use after the freeways were built. There are even a few houses left on Fremont Avenue. Detail of the middle card:



Some of the previous posts about the remains of Fremont Avenue/Court Street:

post #12415 - kznyc2k
post #12423 - kznyc2k
post #12451 - ProphetM
post #12494 - westcork

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

David Mixner




It's ok, City Boy--you can say it, we're all adults here--he was gay. Not a secret. Or uncommon among posters here, I'd wager.

hahaha thank you Mr. Wilshire. When I posted that I was thinking, 'I wonder if Mr. Wilshire will notice this'. Bingo.
Rudy was always hiring handsome gardeners and then inviting them to his Sunday parties. Hollywood gossip was sorta big then but nothing like it is now.