noirish Los Angeles

[MichaelRyerson]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Thanks Michael_Ryerson and HossC for responding to my question earlier today.

I have more question if you don't mind.


There appears to be a small east-west street to the left of the house with the arrow.

You can clearly see two smallish streetlights to the left of the house.


detail / MR's 1951 photo is dated 1951

1954 aerial / usc


Did that little street have a name...or was it more like an alley?


__

Yeah, I'm not getting anything on any of my maps. I think an unnamed alley. Here's a detail from a much larger image I've posted before...


detail, Figueroa north of Temple, unnamed alley, 1948

[ethereal_reality]

By looking at your aerial I would agree...it's just an alley.

The two streetlights (visible in that first photo) made me think it might be a short street that we had somehow overlooked.

Thanks again for your help Michael.

[Mstimc]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

This brought to mind the question of whether many average families still buy and use sewing machines? When I was growing up it seems to me most every one of my friends mothers had a sewing machine, not only to repair a tear or sew on a button, but many made a lot of clothes, including my own mother. A trip to a Singer store to pick up and view new "patterns" was not an uncommon occurrence on the weekends. I even recall television ads for the latest model of sewing machines and I can't remember the last time I saw one of those. I remember my mother often sewing late into the evening when I was watching tv. Or, as my father would say when he came in, "What is your mother building now?" Anyone else remember sewing machines in the house?

My wife and I are over 50 but we've always had a sewing machine. In fact, she saved me a ton of money making custom-fit dust cover for my Shopsmith from a bunch of old towels!

[Hollywood Graham]

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

Bus bottoms out on Baxter Street. Call the tow truck.


the eastside

I don't know if it is still like it was but at the bottom of Baxter but Echo Park was a crowned road. One night in about 1960 I and a couple other guys were riding in a friends Studebaker. Not really knowing the area, we were from Silverlake and Sunset area, my friend decides this is a roller coaster street and floors it down Baxter. Well I think all of said Oh %$#@ when we spied the crown. Too late the Stude hit it hard knocking the engine off its mounts. Nobody got hurt so we walked over the hill to Silverlake Bl. and home.

[ethereal_reality]

I found these four Kodachrome slides as a group on ebay. (there were 5 actually; I posted the fifth a few months back)



Olive Street, Pershing Square.

#1

ebay

The square looks wonderfully lush. odinthor, do you recognize any of the flora?





The Biltmore Hotel, Pershing Square.

#2

ebay

I've never noticed the two birdhouses before.







A freshly painted NBC Radio City, Sunset & Vine

#3


I'm half-expecting Michael and his family to drive by in their blue Nash.





Wilton Hotel & Sky Room, Long Beach.

#4


ebay

I don't recall the name of this cafeteria

# # # # #





Oh, and here's the 5th slide of the group I posted a couple months ago. (sorry for the delay in posting the remaining four) I got sidetracked I guess.


Looking south on Olive toward Pershing Square.

#5

ebay

Still lovin' it!

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

Bus bottoms out on Baxter Street. Call the tow truck.


the eastside

In that LA Weekly article (maybe it was in the embedded vid), it mentions helicopters having to be called in to lift vehicles off the Baxter Street peak.


la weekly


"Crestmont"?

[BifRayRock]

There were "clubs" during Prohibition http://skyscraperpage.com/forum/show...postcount=9557 and there were legitimate drinking establishments, e.g., Beer Parlors/Gardens, with and without entertainment, after repeal. Two of the latter examples with familiar sounding names (from NY) were near 29th Place and Western Avenue: "The Dew Drop Inn" and the "Cabin Club." The Dew Drop seems to have started as a converted residence. The Cabin Club occupied preexisting commercial property. Despite plenty of wear and tear, most, if not all of the structures and their neighbors, seem intact.



1934 - 2900 Block/s, Western Ave
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/co...ll170/id/56991




Dew Drop Inn
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/co...ll170/id/56991





2921 S Western Ave
GoogleSV








Yes, Virginia and WigWag, the former home of the Dew Drop Inn
GoogleSV





1934 - Dr. P T Conlan was at 2911 S Western




















Hardware advertisement?
GoogleSV






Across the street at 2914 is the Cabin Club featuring "Ralph Mar-key and his Musical Keys."




Is it two or three show nightly? or maybe three on the left and two on the right.




This appears to be the former Cabin Club. Alleged and would-be sinners may consider seeking salvation here.
GoogleSV




GoogleSV


Cabin Club and Three Little Pigs at 335 N. La Brea http://skyscraperpage.com/forum/show...ostcount=33264


Hollywood Filmograph Dec 2, 1933




Hollywood Filmograph Dec 2, 1933

[Lorendoc]

Driving into work today, I encountered the following:

...which is looking south just past Laurel Canyon and Kirkwood. Someone's back yard, patio, and retaining wall slid 100 feet down to the roadway, which was only partially re-opened this morning. Southbound traffic has been rerouted into the northbound lane, northbound traffic has been rerouted to "Little Laurel Canyon Blvd."



The source of the slide, 8189 Gould Ave., was red-tagged. It was built in 1926/9 says the assessor.

Easily the worst thing about living in the canyon is the traffic on LCB. (Houses lost to landslides are relatively rare, right?). I had heard of plans for a Laurel Canyon Freeway, but thought it was an urban legend. http://www.calhighways.org begs to differ:

There was also an unconstructed [freeway] that ran along Crescent Heights/Laurel Canyon Blvd between Santa Monica [Blvd?] and US 101 (in the San Fernando Valley). This was never constructed, although it remained proposed for a long time. Had [this] routing been constructed, it would have been named the "Laurel Canyon Freeway". Maps based on the 1956 freeway planning maps show this as continuing N from US 101 to I-5, joining at what would have been a hell-of-an-interchange: the Laurel Canyon freeway, the Sunland Freeway (see Route 64), the Hollywood Freeway (present-day Route 170), Golden State Freeway (I-5). Laurel Canyon refers to the canyon in Hollywood Hills; the portion in the flats was originally called Pacoima Avenue.

It also mentions the reason for the large separation between lanes landscaped with ice-plant on the Hollywood Freeway near Vermont as discussed by resident horticulturists here a few days ago:

Take that big chunk of land that sits between the north- and southbound lanes of the Hollywood Freeway near Vermont Avenue. It was set aside for a massive interchange of the Hollywood, Glendale and Beverly Hills freeways--one that was never built.

[tovangar2]

Does anyone know anything about the Pollyanna Club?


Los Angeles Herald, Number 37, 14 December 1920



.

[Joe Gillis]

Originally Posted by Lorendoc

Driving into work today, I encountered the following:

...which is looking south just past Laurel Canyon and Kirkwood. Someone's back yard, patio, and retaining wall slid 100 feet down to the roadway, which was only partially re-opened this morning. Southbound traffic has been rerouted into the northbound lane, northbound traffic has been rerouted to "Little Laurel Canyon Blvd."



The source of the slide, 8189 Gould Ave., was red-tagged. It was built in 1926/9 says the assessor.

Easily the worst thing about living in the canyon is the traffic on LCB. (Houses lost to landslides are relatively rare, right?). I had heard of plans for a Laurel Canyon Freeway, but thought it was an urban legend. http://www.calhighways.org begs to differ:

There was also an unconstructed [freeway] that ran along Crescent Heights/Laurel Canyon Blvd between Santa Monica [Blvd?] and US 101 (in the San Fernando Valley). This was never constructed, although it remained proposed for a long time. Had [this] routing been constructed, it would have been named the "Laurel Canyon Freeway". Maps based on the 1956 freeway planning maps show this as continuing N from US 101 to I-5, joining at what would have been a hell-of-an-interchange: the Laurel Canyon freeway, the Sunland Freeway (see Route 64), the Hollywood Freeway (present-day Route 170), Golden State Freeway (I-5). Laurel Canyon refers to the canyon in Hollywood Hills; the portion in the flats was originally called Pacoima Avenue.

It also mentions the reason for the large separation between lanes landscaped with ice-plant on the Hollywood Freeway near Vermont as discussed by resident horticulturists here a few days ago:

Take that big chunk of land that sits between the north- and southbound lanes of the Hollywood Freeway near Vermont Avenue. It was set aside for a massive interchange of the Hollywood, Glendale and Beverly Hills freeways--one that was never built.

Mario Lopez posted some shots on Twitter recently of half his back garden disappeared down the cliff, wonder if thats his house?

[CityBoyDoug]

[QUOTE=Joe Gillis;7680507]Mario Lopez posted some shots on Twitter recently of half his back garden disappeared down the cliff, wonder if thats his house?

No, I believe that is not his house. His house, a Spanish Revival mansion, had its own mud slide problems.
Yes, the pic in the post above is his backyard. Notice the fake grass
has also come loose in the slide.

[Beaudry]

Originally Posted by Bristolian

408136 @ Huntington Digital Library

This photo is dated June 10, 1966 so it was taken very close to the time of the filming of "Angel's Flight". The benches as well as the yellow diamond shaped sign with the reflectors are a match. Has the McBurney house been leveled by the time of this shot and we see the vacant lot next to the red and blue mailbox? That would seem to make sense when you consider the angle of the screenshot.

Yes, the McBurney was demolished at the end of '62-early '63. (Although Angel's Flight usually has a 1965 date attached to it, most all of it was shot in 1962.) The square beige building at far right is the back of the Alto Hotel, which got its demolition permit at the end of July, 1966, about six weeks after this photo was taken. The Alto fronted on Grand, designed by Lewis A Smith (who did the Clift Hotel at Figueroa & 2nd) and erected in 1925—here's a view from the other side

huntington

from February 1963, when the Brousseau at 238, and the houses at 244 & 246 S Bunker Hill were still there.

Just cuz I'm mentioning the Alto, here's a shot of its front at 251/53 Grand–

csl

[Apollodorus]

Even though I don't post very much, over the years I've really enjoyed reading and looking at all the posts you guys. Thanks for keeping this thread alive for so many years. This is amazing, great stuff, especially since I live in the LA area, it's extremely nostalgic. Thanks to all who have contributed.

Just wanted to bring to your attention that over the weekend was the 70th anniversary of the Black Dahlia murder. Her body was found on January 15th, 1947 in Leimert Park. Don't know if it's been posted before but James Ellroy's 'Feast of Death' has a great segment where he (Ellroy) and his group of LAPD and LASD friends have dinner and listen to Larry Harnisch (former LA Times writer) explain and outline his theory of who killed Elizabeth Short. His theory is not only plausible but very interesting and relative. Here's a link to the vid. 21 minutes of pure LA noir. Enjoy

Elizabeth Short

[rick m]

Originally Posted by MichaelRyerson

Yeah, I'm not getting anything on any of my maps. I think an unnamed alley. Here's a detail from a much larger image I've posted before...


detail, Figueroa north of Temple, unnamed alley, 1948

This would be the driveway shared by the cluster of structures that was the successful Charles Beach Art School (had a run of about 20 years- a hub for the Echo Park arts community) and the adjacent 2 story home of the infamous Evelyn Nesbit-NYC sex scandal adolescent in the pre WW1 era-- She was a patroness of Charles and taught there for a period. This school was also a scene for gay creative types--

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Wilton Hotel & Sky Room, Long Beach.

#4


ebay

I don't recall the name of this cafeteria

I'm not sure of the exact date of the photo, but I had a look in the Long Beach CDs around 1950. The Wilton Hotel was at 210 East Ocean Boulevard, and the CDs show a Pig 'N Whistle restaurant at 252 East Ocean Boulevard (there's nothing in between on that side of the street). The address is listed as "Vacant" in 1955. So far, I haven't found any clearer pictures.

[SHERIFFPAUL]

I worked at the STARS building in 1985. It also had a swimming pool that was later filled in with cement.

Originally Posted by HossC

When I saw the first thumbnail of this Julius Shulman set, I thought it was the Lytton Savings Bank on Sunset Boulevard. It's actually "Job 3791: William H. Harrison, Monte Vista High School (Whittier, Calif.), 1964".



This appears to be a different building.



Now the black & white images. I've left out a different angle on this corner. The only extra information it gives is that the little object at the front of the roof is a cluster of lights.



There's only one interior shot.



All from Getty Research Institute

As far as I can tell, the Monte Vista High School was only open from 1964 (Wikipedia) or 1965 (article below) until 1979. The following is from a blog post at My Whittier:

Back in 1978 the Whittier Union High School District’s board of trustees met and made a landmark decision that would change the landscape of Whittier forever: the closure of Sierra High School and Monte Vista High School.

This decision completely changed the make-up of the district forever. Sierra High School, located at 9401 Painter Avenue, was only open from 1957 – 1979. It will always be linked forever with Monte Vista High School, located at 11515 S. Colima Road which was open from 1965-1979.

[...]

Monte Vista High School, whose school nickname was the “Mustangs”, was located on the south side of Whittier. It was eventually sold to the Los Angeles County and is the location of the Sherriff’s [sic] academy.

I've compared the current buildings to those that were there in 1973 (the first Historic Aerials image after 1964), and they all seem to be original. The site still appears to be the Explorer Training Academy at the Sheriff’s Training Academy and Regional Services (STARS) Center. Unfortunately, the building with the zig-zag roof is now hard to see from the road. Where's that chainsaw, GW?


GSV

[SHERIFFPAUL]

Great Look

Originally Posted by HossC

When I saw the first thumbnail of this Julius Shulman set, I thought it was the Lytton Savings Bank on Sunset Boulevard. It's actually "Job 3791: William H. Harrison, Monte Vista High School (Whittier, Calif.), 1964".



This appears to be a different building.



Now the black & white images. I've left out a different angle on this corner. The only extra information it gives is that the little object at the front of the roof is a cluster of lights.



There's only one interior shot.



All from Getty Research Institute

As far as I can tell, the Monte Vista High School was only open from 1964 (Wikipedia) or 1965 (article below) until 1979. The following is from a blog post at My Whittier:

Back in 1978 the Whittier Union High School District’s board of trustees met and made a landmark decision that would change the landscape of Whittier forever: the closure of Sierra High School and Monte Vista High School.

This decision completely changed the make-up of the district forever. Sierra High School, located at 9401 Painter Avenue, was only open from 1957 – 1979. It will always be linked forever with Monte Vista High School, located at 11515 S. Colima Road which was open from 1965-1979.

[...]

Monte Vista High School, whose school nickname was the “Mustangs”, was located on the south side of Whittier. It was eventually sold to the Los Angeles County and is the location of the Sherriff’s [sic] academy.

I've compared the current buildings to those that were there in 1973 (the first Historic Aerials image after 1964), and they all seem to be original. The site still appears to be the Explorer Training Academy at the Sheriff’s Training Academy and Regional Services (STARS) Center. Unfortunately, the building with the zig-zag roof is now hard to see from the road. Where's that chainsaw, GW?


GSV

Originally Posted by rick m

Okay! This is of the McBurney house at 256 So. Bunker Hill Ave-- Used in a late scene of Angel's Flight with a frantic old coot landlady reacting to murder at the benches across the street.. My latter day images show it to be modernized from it's 1910 appearance a wee bit- such as stripping away the porch to it's basics and some simpler siding treatments.. The lead Liz (Indus Arthur lodged in this rooming house in the film.

[SHERIFFPAUL]

Pepper Tree .

Originally Posted by rick m

Okay! This is of the McBurney house at 256 So. Bunker Hill Ave-- Used in a late scene of Angel's Flight with a frantic old coot landlady reacting to murder at the benches across the street.. My latter day images show it to be modernized from it's 1910 appearance a wee bit- such as stripping away the porch to it's basics and some simpler siding treatments.. The lead Liz (Indus Arthur lodged in this rooming house in the film.

[odinthor]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I found these four Kodachrome slides as a group on ebay. (there were 5 actually; I posted the fifth a few months back)



Olive Street, Pershing Square.

#1

ebay

The square looks wonderfully lush. odinthor, do you recognize any of the flora?

[...]

I can only vouch for the numerous Banana trees (Musa). At this distance, some of the others look kind of Ficus-y--not the usual Ficus nitida or benjamina, but maybe youthful macrophylla or something close. Ficuses of various sorts had a long vogue (I think of the ones in the L.A. Plaza, and at Pt. Fermin Park, some even manage to hang on in the disused portion of PFP); but in the long term they're fairly destructive, and in the short term they're messy. The wispy things feebly trying to cover up the church/auditorium are likely Eucalyptus citriodora.

[quickstop]

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

Seems amazing that this building still exists...including a northward wing that was added after the 1925 image was made...and not only that--it's still an animal hospital.





Dr Shipp’s Animal Hospital


PS Actually, the attached "wing" I mentioned seems to be a whole complex--not sure if it's part of the vet clinic or not

Thanks for posting this, We used to take our dogs there in the 60's and I haven't seen it since ,but recognized it immediately.