noirish Los Angeles

[59imperial]

Originally Posted by Mstimc

I'm skeptical of the date as well. That's an awfully advanced-looking TV antenna up there for 1939.

Also noticed metal security bars on the first floor windows.

[Wig-Wag]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Here is the 'mystery' train station I mentioned last night.

It appears at the 5:46 mark in the 1928 short 'Blazing Away".

This 'sepia' version from youtube is a tad bit better quality than the one from last night.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=966bG-LlqJo

At right you can see an 'arched' sign on the roof.......................................................

below: I didn't notice the distinctive 'Indian-like' geometric design until I watched this sepia version.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=966bG-LlqJo

Do any of you rail-fans recognize this train station?

__

ER, I am fairly certain that these scenes were filmed on the railroad yard side of Santa Fe's La Grand station in LA. This was a popular venue for many films of the period. Also, pictures of the station on various websites show the arched sign in the background. The Indian motif you cited was a typical feature of Santa Fe station decoration.

REF: https://silentlocations.files.wordpr...er_page_11.jpg

Also, the 1904 postcard on this site: https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/l...of-los-angeles

Did a bit more research and came up with this lo-res picture from the LA water Department to which I have made some notations:



Cheers,
Jack

[Flyingwedge]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

'mystery' school.

I happened across this rare 1928 silent film starring Lloyd Hamilton.

"Lloyd Hamilton is seldom given a mention today even among silent comedy fans. One significant reason to this is his sad lack of surviving output;
most of his negatives were destroyed in a laboratory fire at Universal shortly after his death. He died an unemployable alcoholic in 1935, aged 43."

In this comedy short, "Blazing Away", there's a madcap football game at 7:38, and I've been trying to figure out which school they used in the filming.

Then the camera pulls back.......and there's an addition that has been attached to the back of the school.


http://psychotronicpaul.blogspot.com...new-years.html

Further back still, there are additional out buildings (for athletics I surmise).


http://psychotronicpaul.blogspot.com...new-years.html

The last one being the largest. This might be an indoor gym/basketball court.


http://psychotronicpaul.blogspot.com...new-years.html



BUT......in the middle of these scenes, twice they cut away to what appears to be a totally different location (perhaps they added these scenes later).

Here's the 1st image: The windows aren't grouped in pairs (like they are in the addition to the 'white' school).


http://psychotronicpaul.blogspot.com...new-years.html

I believe in the upper right edge there might be a bell tower (just a sliver of it)......................................................


Anyone feel like trying to solve this little riddle just for the fun of it? (to watch the video click on any of the links below the screengrabs)
_______________

Thanks, e_r, I'd never heard of Lloyd Hamilton before.

That film was shot at USC. The large white building, seen in the three photos above, is the Widney Alumni House.
You can see it below mid-block in this north-facing c. 1900 photo I posted previously. To its left is a square
building with a cupola; behind that are two buildings whose size and roof lines match the buildings seen in the
second and third photos above. I know the Widney House and the football field are in the wrong place, but wait:


CHS-9923 @ USC Digital Library -- http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/re...oll65/id/13911

The east-facing photo from which this close-up is taken is dated c. 1920-29 (my guess would be 1925-29). The
football field has been reoriented from east-west to north-south, and Widney House has been moved to the corner
where the square building with the cupola was. The last screengrab from the Hamilton film, which appears to show
a different location, I believe shows the west side of the Old College building, which is to the right of Widney House
in the c. 1900 photo above and at the east end of the open area below:

CHS-36791 @ USCDL -- http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/re...coll65/id/3791

[ethereal_reality]

Thanks so much Flyingwedge, you solved my mystery! I sure couldn't figure it out.

I thought the 'white school' was probably long gone. -so nice to see it's still on the USC campus.
__


& to Wig-Wag for locating the train station.



This aerial of the station was extremely helpful Jack.



"The Indian motif you cited was a typical feature of Santa Fe station decoration." Wow, I had no idea! That's very cool.



Perhaps the pictograph is Native-American for "Don't Forget your Luggage".




__

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by Mstimc

I'm skeptical of the date as well. That's an awfully advanced-looking TV antenna up there for 1939.

originally posted by HossC

Getty Archive

Good eye Mstimc!

I noticed that guy trimming the bushes but I didn't notice the tv attenna.
_

[HossC]

I think the weight of evidence suggests that the Mackey (Pearl) Apartments photos date from after 1939. Thanks for all the follow-ups.

Also, thanks to e_r for identifying my mystery airplane at Westchester Enriched Sciences Magnets. They didn't do aviation & aerospace classes when I was at school!

Finally, thanks to Flyingwedge for your personal memories and photo of yesterday's Julius Shulman subject.


-----------------


The Sunset Medical Building at 6642 Sunset Boulevard has been mentioned a couple of times before on NLA, but I can't find any pictures of it. This is "Job 0136-MB: Sunset Medical Building (Los Angeles, Calif.), undated". The photoset is undated, but the cars in one of the later images suggest this may be closer to 1939!



I know that these two shots of the entrance are fairly similar, but I decided to include both of them.





Now, a wider view. I've omitted a similar, tighter image from across the street. On the left is Westmore's Salon of Beauty, as seen in post #6078 by GaylordWilshire.



The set also includes these two interior pictures.





All from Getty Research Institute

From the building records, it looks like 6642 was built as a residence in 1921. The description of the Shulman photos names Rudolph M Schindler as architect, and it's his name that appears on the 1936 alteration permit. There also seems to be a demo permit dated as
early as 1967. Here's the view today - it's just a parking lot. Check out BifRayRock's post #28477 for more information on 6634 Sunset Boulevard (the building on the left).


GSV

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by Flyingwedge

Hoss, you might have entitled your two posts today, "This is Your Life, Flyingwedge," since you've shown
the Jr. High and High School from which I graduated.

With parents and family in the auditorium (the building with the rounded front in the center of the GoogleEarth
view), the back wall of the auditorium slides open to reveal the assembled graduates on the steps, who then
march into the auditorium and onto the stage. My mom said it was very impressive.

FW, you intrigued me about those sliding walls. I tried to find a vintage photograph of a Westchester High graduation to no avail.

but while searching, I happened across this fun photograph of the Westchester High School cheerleaders from 1962.



https://www.pinterest.com/pin/273312271107147957/



The Los Angeles Conservancy has some very good things to say about Flyingwedge's Alma Mater.

"Los Angeles saw an enormous population explosion in the postwar period, leading to a dire situation for the Los Angeles Unified School District's schools: there were far more students than there were classrooms in which to teach them. Thanks to funding from several school bond measures, the LAUSD embarked on an ambitious construction program to provide more schools all over the region."

The designs created for the school building program came from a variety of talented architects, and very few were used more than once, but they all followed basic design guidelines drawing on modern ideas about the ideal school. They followed tenets of the International Style with horizontal orientations, ribbon bands of windows, and flat or nearly flat roofs, and they emphasized outdoor space.

"The design that architects Sumner Spaulding and John Rex created for Westchester High School, which later became Orville Wright Middle School, took all of these guidelines and turned them into a spectacular example of a Mid-Century Modern school. The campus features a series of pavilion-like buildings arranged around courtyards, allowing for free indoor-outdoor flow. A large auditorium and unusual circular cafeteria both open to a central courtyard. This campus is a wonderfully intact and very vibrant testament to the power of good "design for learning."

originally posted by HossC

Getty Archive

L.A. Conservancy
https://www.laconservancy.org/locati...-middle-school
__

[ethereal_reality]

Button found last year on eBay.



reverse



I thought a Torrey Meeting was probably a political group, but
now I think it has something to do with R.A. Torrey the evangelist.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._A._Torrey

"In 1912, Reuben Archer Torrey was persuaded by Dwight L. Moody to build another institution like Moody Bible Institute, and from 1912 to 1924,
he served as Dean of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. Beginning in 1915, he served as the first pastor of the Church of the Open Door, Los Angeles."

...but the button is dated 1908, so I'm not 100% sure of the connection.
__




While trying to find additional information on Mr. Torrey and the Torrey Meeting button, I happened across this snapshot.

I actually thought it was a postcard.


http://www.torealize.net/conclusion.html

"BIOLA (Bible Institute of Los Angeles), my mother's alma mater. Photo shot by my mother during the 1930s, with her hand-written notes at bottom."
-Larry Dominus Reavus Ph.D.

I've been trying to figure out where Mr. Reavus' mom was located when she took this photograph.
__

[ethereal_reality]

Information on the Wm. H. Hoegee Co.

Los Angeles Herald, March 29, 1908. (the same year as the Torrey Meeting button)



http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d...80329.2.49.3.2

Sounds like 138 South Main Street was huge!



one last look.


....are those Poppies?

__

[MichaelRyerson]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Button found last year on eBay.



reverse



I thought a Torrey Meeting was probably a political group, but
now I think it has something to do with R.A. Torrey the evangelist.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._A._Torrey

"In 1912, Reuben Archer Torrey was persuaded by Dwight L. Moody to build another institution like Moody Bible Institute, and from 1912 to 1924,
he served as Dean of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. Beginning in 1915, he served as the first pastor of the Church of the Open Door, Los Angeles."

...but the button is dated 1908, so I'm not 100% sure of the connection.
__




While trying to find additional information on Mr. Torrey and the Torrey Meeting button, I happened across this snapshot.

I actually thought it was a postcard.


http://www.torealize.net/conclusion.html

"BIOLA (Bible Institute of Los Angeles), my mother's alma mater. Photo shot by my mother during the 1930s, with her hand-written notes at bottom."
-Larry Dominus Reavus Ph.D.

I've been trying to figure out where Mr. Reavus' mom was located when she took this photograph.
__

I would guess she's in the Architects Building, SE corner of 5th and Figueroa.

[Otis Criblecoblis]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Information on the Wm. H. Hoegee Co.

Los Angeles Herald, March 29, 1908. (the same year as the Torrey Meeting button)



http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d...80329.2.49.3.2

Sounds like 138 South Main Street was huge!


__

Here's a link that tells more about the Hoegee family: http://losangelesrevisited.blogspot....hollywood.html

The Hoegee family continues to be part of the city; one of them is a LA County Deputy Public Defender.

[HenryHuntington]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Here is the 'mystery' train station I mentioned last night.

It appears at the 5:46 mark in the 1928 short 'Blazing Away".

This 'sepia' version from youtube is a tad bit better quality than the one from last night.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=966bG-LlqJo

At right you can see an 'arched' sign on the roof.......................................................





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=966bG-LlqJo

Stepping down from 'half a car'.




below: I didn't notice the distinctive 'Indian-like' geometric design until I watched this sepia version.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=966bG-LlqJo

Do any of you rail-fans recognize this train station?

__

Also........

earlier in the video, there is a clever car chase that ends in a park. Visible in the background is what looks like a high tressle bridge (with a truck on top).



That's half of a car crossing the pathway and eventually ending up in the pond. The bridge in the background has nothing to do with the narrative.

You can watch the 'sepia' video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=966bG-LlqJo

__

As Wig-Wag's already handled the question of the railway station, I believe that the bottom photo shows Hollenbeck Lake and the E. 6th St. bridge. There's a photo of the bridge from a different angle at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7294653@N07/1099574984/

[Wardi930]

.

[Wardi930]

Originally Posted by BifRayRock

Fire and [Pasadena] Hotels is obviously a serious subject. More on the Pintoresca/Painter, including its sad demise.


Most images VVVV - from the blog of Pasadena Information Officer, Ann Erdman.>>http://annerdman.blogspot.com/2012/0...ry-solved.html This image reveals even more detail, most notably, the foreground utility pole. Street lighting? Electric? Telephone? birds nest?






This half of a stereograph from a different angle presumably depicts a later addition.
Huntington DL

In the below google street view it looks like the stairs on Fair Oaks might still be there, as well as the middle pine tree of the three little ones planted to the right of the stairs (looking east up the stairs) way back then.

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.1691...!6m1!1e1?hl=en

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.1691...!6m1!1e1?hl=en

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by HenryHuntington

I believe that the bottom photo shows Hollenbeck Lake and the E. 6th St. bridge. There's a photo of the bridge from a different angle at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7294653@N07/1099574984/

I believe you're correct HH.

Here's the pic. from your link.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/7294653@N07/1099574984/

Interesting building on the right with the bridge supports going through the roof............................................................................


I believe this is it in the silent film. I hadn't noticed it before. (I was too busy looking at the bridge )






Here's another view showing that same building. I see that there is another building visible under the bridge


https://www.pinterest.com/pin/457959855832538259/

I think the building with the bridge supports through the roof might have been a maintenance building.




Here's a look at that second building.


https://www.pinterest.com/pin/367958...=0&w=564&h=425

I'm not sure if any of these structures have survived.

__

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by MichaelRyerson

I would guess she's in the Architects Building, SE corner of 5th and Figueroa.

Thanks MichaelRyerson. That snapshot really had me stumped.


Here's the Architects Building in 1955.


urbandiachrony

To see how the same view looks in 2013 go here:
https://urbandiachrony.wordpress.com...r-1955-c-2013/

See you all on Monday afternoon. Have fun noirishers!

__

[HossC]

That's one of three "then and now" comparisons I posted here. Two of them were republished (with permission) on urbandiachrony.

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Sounds like 138 South Main Street was huge!

Hoegee's business on S Main has come up a couple of times before. FredH posted a 1960 picture just before demolition in post #21421, and Noircitydame posted a picture of the neighboring Weil Block and a section of the 1921 Baist map which shows Hoegee Sporting Goods extending from Main through to Los Angeles Street in post #21461. Here are a couple of images that I posted around the same time.

Originally Posted by HossC

USC has this picture dated December 1, 1932. It shows the Hoegee Sporting Goods Store, the Weil Block, and the Hotel Yorke on the corner.


USC Digital Library

HDL has another color shot dated 2/15/60 (nine months before the one posted by FredH. The lower two floors of the Weil Block are still standing and the Meyberg Bros ghost sign hasn't been uncovered yet.


Huntington Digital Library

[Earl Boebert]

Looks like a pretty nifty (and rare) Chevrolet Cameo pickup in the foreground of the last picture of Hoegee's.

Cheers,

Earl

[BifRayRock]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

Thanks Godzilla. Except for a few (to my eye) unfortunate modernizations, the
neighborhood around Manitou and Eastlake remains almost entirely intact.



The Harvey Apartments went in next door to the west the year after the first photo was taken, famous for their back-wall murals and notorious for the suicide in the lobby (as detailed here):

gsv

In the same vicinity of Santa Monica Blvd. (5522), there may be something left of the former Marsh Music Co home. http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/co...id/16969/rec/1



















Contemporary
GooSV

[HossC]

Today's Julius Shulman post shows the Lever Brothers Company. It's "Job 988: Welton Becket and Associates, Lever Brothers Company (Los Angeles, Calif.), 1951".







Here's the loading dock with a very short truck.



Around the back where the railroad tracks run through the site.



Mr Shulman could even make a fire escape interesting.



The final four shots show the interior, including some big boxes of Surf in the first.









All from Getty Research Institute

The factory stood beside the Santa Ana Freeway in the City of Commerce, just south of E Washington Boulevard. You can read some of its history in an article in the LA Times. If 10 Julius Shulman images aren't enough, there are 16 more pictures of the factory showing its 1951 opening in the USC Digital Library. The view below on the left is from 1953, while the one on the right is from 2003. In the top-right corner of the 2003 image you can see the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company Headquarters that we saw recently in post #34573


Historic Aerials