noirish Los Angeles

[BifRayRock]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Does anyone know where the old Miyako Hotel was located? (obviously somewhere in Little Tokyo)


ebay

"The once busy life of Little Tokyo is contrasted by this scene of a quiet street corner at 1st and San Pedro streets on June 17, 1942, following the Japanese evacuation. In the foreground is the newly-named Civic Hotel, formerly the Miyako Hotel, once a 'reputed center of Japanese intrigue in Southern California.'" http://photos.lapl.org/carlweb/jsp/F...olNumber=27074

June 18, '42
LAPL

Circa 1937
LapL

CIrca 1939
USC Digital

First Street (from Hill St.) looking east toward little Tokyo after "widening."(unk date)
USC Digital

[Those Who Squirm!]

Out for a walk yesterday, I happened on this small industrial or commercial structure on the west side of Motor Avenue, a few doors south of National Boulevard. County property records give 1912 as the construction date, and while it could use a wash and a coat of paint or two, the details are marvelous. In this shot, note the transoms to the left and right; presumably the one over the middle window had to be replaced at some point. From the style featuring louvered panes I think it must have been around the middle of the last century.



Here's a detail of the door, whose structure also appears to be original pre-WWI vintage construction.



I only had my phone camera with me at the time, but when I have the opportunity I'll be sure to get more photos with the good camera, including a better general view of the whole building. I have no idea who the architect was, but from the look of it I believe there was an architect, possibly a big name in the field at the time. What I like most about this building is how the visible variations in pattern and texture on the facade seem to originate in the basic pattern of masonry work, rather than being pasted-on Revivalist features.

ETA 2016-10-18: I recently posted about this on one of the L.A.-themed FB groups, and thanks to one John Bengtson, author of a Harold Lloyd autobiography, Silent Visions, we now know what the building's original purpose was; it was the Palms Bank. With that important piece of information, I was able to find this LAT item on a 1922 robbery there. To read the entire article you'll need a Times subscription, or access via a library account, but here are the headline and first few inches of type. The "boy" referred to in the lead sentence was twenty years old!



(Article accessed through my ProQuest account.)

[fhammon]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Thank you Westcork.
__

fhammon, I am amazed by the buried 'Ten Commandments set". Shall we take a vacation and explore that area.
__

I'm up for it. My wife would dig it too (no pun).
I'm not sure exactly where it is at this point but it shouldn't be too hard to find it. Oxnard/Ventura area?
Something like that. PM me.

ETA
Nope It's closer to Santa Maria - Guadalupe, CA.
Maybe a 1-1/2 hour drive from the city center...at most.
I wonder if it's a protected area. "Look but don't touch".
Seems unlikely by the photos but....

[Los Angeles Past]

Originally Posted by malumot

Market Street?....hmmmmmmm....I dunno any Market Street in LA.....)

Market Street in Los Angeles has been mentioned numerous times in this thread, most notably with reference to the Paris Inn, the United States Hotel, and the Amestoy Building.

Map:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=3115


Market began at the old diagonal alignment of Spring Street, one block south of Temple Square. The photo below shows the NE corner of Spring and Market. Here, Spring is to the left, Market is the short street to the right.

U.S.C. Digital Library


On the north side of Market was the south portion of the Temple Block; on the south side was the original market building erected in 1859 by John Temple, which later became Los Angeles County's first Court House. Here is a view of Market Street looking west from the cupola of the United States Hotel in 1889, soon after the construction of the new Court House on Pound Cake Hill (background). The old market and Court House can be seen at left.

U.S.C. Digital Library


That short western section of Market ended at Main Street, then it continued easterly from a point 1/2 block further to the north on Main. This shows Market looking east from Main. On the left is the Amestoy Building; on the right, the U.S. Hotel.

U.S.C. Digital Library


An overhead view of the east section of Market Street. On some maps, Market is shown as extending eastward to Alameda Street, but the section of the road continuing from Los Angeles St. eastward was also sometimes known as Requeña Street.

U.S.C. Digital Library


Here is a roughly contemporaneous view from earlier in this thread that shows Market Street looking west from Los Angeles Street. In the background, the Temple Block has been replaced by City Hall.

Skyscraperpage.com user SilentLocations.

-Scott

[MichaelRyerson]

Originally Posted by fhammon

I wasn't entirely honest. I'm OK with Union Station all except for the skanky history behind it. Same goes for Dodger Stadium and Chavez Ravine.
At some point it's just "Los Angeles". Things don't stand still. The present and future must be served.
I do however grieve the loss of that little bit of outstanding history that was the Lugo House, Calle de los Negros and Ferguson Alley etc. There was no good reason why those pieces of valuable historical assets should have been destroyed. For what? "parking lots and sterile open spaces".
I get angry but it's too late. I didn't have a say. It happened a long time ago.
I can for sure still get angry over this Disneyesque "visitors center" for all the good it will do.
Is anybody hearing me? Anybody? (crickets)

Your second response simply states with added nuance what I had said originally. I'm okay with Union Station, too. I don't think we have a disagreement on any level here. It would seem self evident, especially on this thread, that part of trying to live an examined life is understanding and appreciating the context within which things happened. It is an ugly business when one culture uses its dominance to force a patently false cultural perspective on another, less enfranchised, culture. That it happens 'all the time' makes it no less repugnant or that events may have happened 75 years ago no less worthy of investigation. It may not be everyone's cup of tea but that's what the scroll button is for. But in my 'meat life' I'm not a tiresome pedant about it. When I first took my son over to Union Station for a walk through and some picture taking, I did not natter on about the displacement of Chinatown. He saw the building for what it is, a lovely example of mission revival down to the tiles and iron work. He still sees it that way, as a beautiful building, even though he is now more aware of how it came to be. The foot print of the 'new' civic center could just as easily been placed southeast of City Hall and the residents and property owners on Bunker Hill could have done what residents and property owners always do in the face of appreciating property values. Some homes/apartments would have been restored and improved and some would have been swept aside for newer construction. Union Station could have as easily been placed to the southeast as well, perhaps at or near the old Arcade Station and no one would have been any the less well served and Chinatown and the surrounding neighborhoods would have likewise gone through a process of gradual redevelopment driven by the best interests of the property owners. But of course the hubris of White-Anglo-Saxon-Protestant exceptionalism would have none of it. To say that Christine Sterling 'may have made some mistakes' displays a breezy nonchalance of the history. Seventy-five years ain't that long. In my lifetime, there have been lynchings, the Army-McCarthy Hearings, HUAC and the assassination of a president. And if you can come up with a term more relative than 'over-intellectualising' I'd like to hear it.

[MichaelRyerson]

union station, 1939

A woman speaks with a porter outside the baggage waiting room at Union Station, 1939

USCdigital archives/Dick Whittington collection

Or this one...



An old man sitting with a young girl in a doorway which leads to many residences in Chinatown, 1936

USCdigital archive/Dick Whittington collection

EDIT: on viewing this last image again and on a better monitor I'm somewhat uneasy with it. It seems a bit too good to be 'true'. It feels a bit staged. The sidewalk behind the old man and little girl seems wrong, too well finished, the people in the background a bit too dressed up. I'm not confident with the year. And yet the name Dick Whittington is nearly beyond reproach so I guess I'll leave it with these comments.

[malumot]

Thanks for pointing that out. I do recall all three (esp. pages and pages on the PI), but I must have mis-remembered the street name. Maybe I missed that day in class......Can I schedule a make-up? lol

We DO agree that the "Market Street" in those delicious color pix of the LARY was Dtwn Inglewood.......

Originally Posted by Los Angeles Past

Market Street in Los Angeles has been mentioned numerous times in this thread, most notably with reference to the Paris Inn, the United States Hotel, and the Amestoy Building.

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by BifRayRock

[COLOR="Indigo"][SIZE="2"][FONT="Tahoma"]June 18, '42
LAPL

Very interesting about the Japanese 'intrigue' at the Miyako Hotel. They certainly didn't waste any time renaming it the Civic Hotel.



below: I found this the other day. It looks like the name was changed back to the Miyako Hotel after the war.




The caption says the New Ginza Theater is next door to the Miyako, but to me it looks like it's in the same building.
Is it possible (well, of course it's possible) to add a theater to an already existing hotel? It seems to me that you would have to gut a good portion of the structure.

___


ThoseWhoSquirm:
I look forward to seeing more photos of that building you discovered during your walk.


MichaelRyerson:
You've been posting some beautiful photographs...keep'em coming
___

[ethereal_reality]

Lingerie Show at the Biltmore Hotel, 1953.


press photo/ebay

[ethereal_reality]

An amazing view of world famous SARDI'S on Hollywood Boulevard.
Sardi's was designed by world-renowned architect Rudolph Schindler in the International style with metal and glass.


ebay (I think)

I had no idea Tom Breneman's radio program was broadcast from Sardi's before he established his own enormously popular restaurant/radio program on Vine Street.
(we've covered his Vine Street location numerous times on the thread...perhaps it's worth a re-visit)


__

[BifRayRock]

Lockheed at Burbank, seemingly a thousand miles away from downtown LA?
All photos courtesy of Lapl


Circa '40




__________________________

Circa '37
Union Air Terminal located at 2627 North Hollywood Way in Burbank. Please, proper attire required! And leave your clubs in the car!


Patio dining near the action at the Control tower. Ask for the Sole when it's in season!






After the crowd has dispersed.

[MichaelRyerson]

Originally Posted by BifRayRock

This is a Hudson Bomber bound for lend-lease in Great Britain. My mother and Aunt Evelyn rode the street cars from Sunset and Silverlake Blvds everyday to work on these ungainly, but durable planes. Because of my mother's small stature (she was barely 5') she could fit in the tight quarters in the cockpit and wire the radios in.


Maybe they are both in this picture...


lockheed_1940s_hollywood_way
wesclark.com

Looks like maybe the day shift is getting off and the swing shift is coming in...

[BifRayRock]

Burbank/Lockheed in camouflage trim (difficult -if not impossible- to locate on MRyerson's Map? http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=8551)

http://wesclark.com/burbank/lockheed..._with_p38s.jpg

shorpy

________________________

Inside the Lockheed beehive, Circa '45

The C-69 Constellation
lapl

P-38 makes friends with C-69
lapl

wesclark.com

lapl

lapl

Burbank, Jan 9, '43
wiki

Over Burb ank, '50s
wesclark.com

[MichaelRyerson]

I worked at Lockheed for a year or so after high school. I worked in Building 310, at that time (and maybe still) the largest open, unsupported interior in the world. In the thirties, (the story goes) they filmed an episode of 'Tailspin Tommy' at '310' and by opening the huge rolling doors at both ends of the building, were able to fly an airplane through the building! Very cool. I've never seen the film but I have seen this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIZzkq5Y8q0

Oh and, no, neither Lockheed nor Burbank Airport show up on my 'near-pristine, 1942 Shell map of Los Angeles' (which I don't let anybody touch). But they are back in my 1945 Renie Atlas of Los Angeles City and County. (which I do sometimes let people touch)

[Earl Boebert]

Originally Posted by MichaelRyerson

This is a Hudson Bomber bound for lend-lease in Great Britain.

[Snip]

Er, no, it's a Boeing 247.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_247

Cheers,

Earl

[BifRayRock]

Lockheed produced the Model 14 which evolved into the Hudson B14-bomber. However, I think the aircraft in the picture is actually a Boeing 247. (They look similar, but Lockheed had the twin rudder versus Boeing's single rudder.)

"United Airlines" Boeing 247 (?)civilian trim, circa '37. When weight and space came at a premium.
lapl

Lockheed Model 14
wiki

http://wesclark.com/burbank/hudson_bombers.jpg

For more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRWQYuymGZ8

MR, you may find this doc. particularly interesting! Lockheed Aircraft Company in 1940 - Aircraft & Aviation Documentary featuring the Hudson: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vhqo...eature=related

[MichaelRyerson]

as other than that, the two planes are very similar. What was a Boeing 247 doing at Lockheed?

[Earl Boebert]

Originally Posted by MichaelRyerson

as other than that, the two planes are very similar. What was a Boeing 247 doing at Lockheed?

I think the picture was taken at the Union Air Terminal.

Cheers,

Earl

[MichaelRyerson]

is this a great looking fire station or what?

Los Angeles Fire Station no. 1, 2230 Pasadena Avenue


truck co 1, engine co 1, los angeles,

Los Angeles Fire Station No. 1
Streamline Moderne architecture built by the WPA in 1940.

Photo Credit: Don Barre, 2011
livingnewdeal.berkeley.edu


los angeles fire station no 1, detail

Photo Credit: Don Barre, 2011
livingnewdeal.berkeley.edu



los angeles fire station no 1, wpa plaque 1940

Photo Credit: Don Barre, 2011
livingnewdeal.berkeley.edu

[BifRayRock]

Originally Posted by MichaelRyerson

What was a Boeing 247 doing at Lockheed?

Redacted roadmaps were even more confusing from the air? The Burbank "Dover Sole" was worth the detour? Sneek'n a peek at the Skunkworks?
__________________________

http://wesclark.com/burbank/old_unio...l_postcard.jpg

http://wesclark.com/burbank/union_ai...l_postcard.jpg

http://wesclark.com/burbank/union_ai..._matchbook.jpg


On a more serious note, Boeing Airport & Transport, which was evidently a holding company for what later became "United Airlines," had a physical presence at the "Burbank" location. It was evidently not a coincidence that the airport was once named the "United Airport" (1930-34) because of the United Airlines connection. Lockheed did not obtain its foothold until the late '30s.http://www.godickson.com/burterm1.htm

"The Burbank facility remained United Airport until 1934 when it was renamed Union Air Terminal. The name change came the same year that Federal anti-trust actions caused United Aircraft And Transport Corp. to dissolve, which took effect September 26, 1934. The Union Air Terminal moniker stuck until Lockheed bought the airport in 1940 and renamed it Lockheed Air Terminal."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Hop...rt#cite_note-8

Notice the "United" name on the hangar roof in this undated photo (far left).




May '30 (?)


All from USC digital

lapl

_________________________

Northrop is typically associated with the Hawthorne Airport. Evidently, it too had a small presence in Burbank - July 29, 1930 "United Airport" .
lapl

Jack Northrop (left) and William E. Boeing watch the test hop of the first Northrop "Alpha" plane, March 19, 1930 [United Airport]:
lapl

__________________________

http://wesclark.com/burbank/lockheed_1934.jpg

United Airport - August 1930, Practice wing walking or stress testing? (Prototype skateboard ramp?)
lapl