Quote:
Originally Posted by tovangar2
I was just noticing that this block hasn't changed at all in 60 years.
The plating company buildings are still on the right and the cement works beyond Sycamore. The gas works on the other side of La Brea, is, of course, gone. That's now a big Best Buy / Target shopping center (I can't remember what was there before that). The only other thing on that block is the Formosa Cafe. It occurs to me I've never seen a photo of the Formosa or the Pickford Fairbanks Studio that shows the gas works. They're always taken from the other angle.
RKO Radio Pictures / netflix
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My memory is vague, but I believe that the Best Buy shopping hub replaced a very long
car wash, probably seen in Peter Gunn and Perry Mason episodes. I am also convinced the storage tank
was featured prominently in "The Best Years of Our Lives."
http://skyscraperpage.com/forum/show...postcount=3594
Although the area has a lot of history under its belt, its lack of change is understandable. The area was never particularly picturesque and was a large part of Hollywood's industrial underbelly. It always seemed to have a gritty reputation - especially after the sun set. Before the '84 Olympics, certain nearby locations hosted a cast of real-life noir-urchins, lurking well beneath central casting's day player net. In connection with this thread, I read something about vagrants squatting in the shuttered remains of KCOP's studios. (
Real Hobo Kellys?) The buildings were recently relegated to memory status.
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=10415
Long-gone locals said that overnight parking was prohibited in a long standing effort to promote neighborhood decorum (much like Beverly Hills/Hancock Park?). This may not have been much of a problem with those few locals who could afford cars, since they had room for the cars in driveways or garages. (Curious when this policy banning overnight parking changed, '50s or '60s? Evidently, auto-overcrowding eventually led to permit parking.) When times were economically tough (during the depression) or when housing and fuel was in short supply (during WW2) the neighborhood streets were often filled with a slow moving parade of people attempting to sleep in their cars or ply their wares, and fewer patrolling Deputy Sheriffs. Given this picture, neither Mr. Hughes, nor his visitors, intentionally left their cars unattended over night - unless they were bent on pressing their luck.
The neighborhood is apparently changing, as I am informed there is ongoing demolition and construction. Unfortunately, that change likely affects the neighborhood's hard-to-describe "charm" and our collective interest therein. (
Remotely analogous to some formerly elevated areas in downtown LA?) Indeed, the Formosa added a second story that may have been good for business, but maybe not so good for adding charm. Recently overheard tourists (in an Arizona airport) thrilled about their pictures of "real old" Hollywood, notably the chrome statuary at La Brea and Hollywood Blvd. They were under the misimpression that the statues were there as long as Grauman's (rather than a creation from the early '90s).
In retrospect, their view of "real old" Hollywood is just as "real" as mine.
"I 'am' big. It's the 'pictures' that got small."
Would enjoy seeing any photos of what I remember being nondescript store fronts near the original Formosa. Vaguely remember liquor stores, prop makers, bumper shops (Faith?), photo labs and the like. If I am not mistaken, the shopping center to the west of Goldwyn Studios, currently anchored by Trader Joe's, had its own noir reputation. So did nearby Plummer's Park, which until 1983, was the location of the oldest house in Hollywood - 1874 (designated as such in 1935.)
"Gateway to Hollywood" (?)
http://0.tqn.com/d/golosangeles/1/0/...Ladies004x.jpg
7304 Santa Monica Blvd. - Trader Joe's
http://www.city-data.com/businesses/...lywood-ca.html
1929 - "Señor Eugene Plummer, right, Hollywood's oldest living male resident hosts annual Hollywood old settlers' picnic at his estate, Plummer Park (now West Hollywood). He tells film star Ruth Roland and pioneer banker C.G. Greenwood of the olden days."
Lapl
1932 - The Plummer Ranch House, in what is now known as Plummer Park 7377 Santa Monica Blvd.
Lapl
May 20, 1939 - "Eugene Plummer, seated in a chair at his estate . . . . . His is the oldest house in West Hollywood and is located in Plummer Park, which he donated to Los Angeles County."
Lapl
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