noirish Los Angeles

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I've circled what might be the angled billboard that appears on the left edge of the 'mystery' photo.


originally posted by HossC

Whatta' ya think?

I think you're looking at it the wrong way around, e_r. My guess is that we're looking south, so the billboard would have to be on the east side of the road. I've circled the approximate location below. The camera would have been just below the Eagle Rock Boulevard label. The Richfield service station buildings are to the left of the Cypress label.


Historic Aerials

[HossC]

Originally Posted by Lomara

(why is there no facepalm smiley?)

This one is available:

Otherwise you could use Clyde.

[ethereal_reality]

[Lomara]

Originally Posted by HossC

This one is available:

Otherwise you could use Clyde.

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Clyde is great, but this might be more up my alley.

[HossC]

This Julius Shulman set has a very similar name to the one I've been posting from for the last few days, but this one only contains a single image. This is "Job 763: Miscellaneous buildings, 1950". There's a note in the description crediting architect Richard Neutra, but I don't know which building he was meant to have designed. Maybe the two-story one on the right.



Here's a larger view. The sign for the Teris Hotel narrowed down my search, and I found the Junior Realty Company at 1301 Wilshire Boulevard, which is the corner of Witmer Street.



Getty Research Institute

The whole block west of Witmer seems to have been flattened in the '80s (the demo permit for 1301 Wlishire was issued in 1989), and has been a parking lot ever since. Here's a more recent view from 2012 when there was still an old street light on each corner. Maybe the one currently missing from the northeast corner will return when the building work finishes there.


GSV

My original post on the Hotel Teris can be found here, and e_r's follow-up containing recent interior shots is here.

When I was checking the demo permits, I found the sketch below. I wonder what historical-cultural monument was to be left in place on Witmer in 1989. There's only a parking lot there now.


Online Building Records

[ethereal_reality]

I can't stop looking at these photographs. The interior is almost spiritual.



Photo:Lomara



Photo:Lomara

Thanks so much for sharing your photographs with us Lomara.
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'Building 15' is visible in this photograph dated June 16, 1946.


http://mashable.com/2015/08/21/howar.../#lSZr_TGtGkql

So the diagonal (zig-zag) strips of wood on the exterior of the building are covered up now, right?

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[Lomara]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I can't stop looking at these photographs. The interior is almost spiritual.

That building is like a Church of Aviation!

I'm so glad it's still there and is being cared for.

Unlike building 1 at the old Vultee/North American Aviation/Rockwell Downey site

Building 1 is where the Apollo command module was built, as well as portions of at least 5 space shuttle vehicles.

http://spaceref.com/news/viewnews.html?id=1666

There is so much aviation history on the site it's a real tragedy so many structures were not preserved.

http://www.airfields-freeman.com/CA/...A_C.htm#vultee

At the moment, the old Consolidated Vultee headquarters building and rotunda is still there, but what's left is in bad shape.

First photo is from the day of the Endeavour flyover. We didn't find out Downey would get a pass until the day before, or maybe it was the morning of. And we ended up getting two passes. It was a pretty great day.


Endeavour over Downey by Kimberly, on Flickr


Downey Studios and Columbia Memorial Space Center by Kimberly, on Flickr

[ethereal_reality]

Hoss, what does this tall smokestack belong to?



detail / Originally posted by HossC
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update: Ok, I decided to check google_maps myself. (I was being lazy )

It was probably attached to Good Samaritan Hospital, right?


google_earth


By the way, the old Teris Hotel sign with the arrow pointing down Witmer is pretty awesome.


detail


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[Lomara]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

'Building 15' is visible in this photograph dated June 16, 1946.


http://mashable.com/2015/08/21/howar.../#lSZr_TGtGkql

So the diagonal (zig-zag) strips of wood on the exterior of the building are covered up now, right?

Yep, the whole building is covered now.

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Hoss, what does this tall smokestack belong to?


detail / Originally posted by HossC

update: Ok, I decided to check google_maps myself. (I was being lazy )

It was probably attached to Good Samaritan Hospital, right?

I eventually found a better view of the chimney. Maybe the building to its left is the historical-cultural monument I mentioned earlier. Near the bottom-left is the building with the Teris Hotel sign on the roof, and near the top-right is the Teris Hotel. This image is from 1968.


Detail of picture in USC Digital Library

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by HossC

This Julius Shulman set has a very similar name to the one I've been posting from for the last few days, but this one only contains a single image. This is "Job 763: Miscellaneous buildings, 1950". There's a note in the description crediting architect Richard Neutra, but I don't know which building he was meant to have designed. Maybe the two-story one on the right.



Here's a larger view. The sign for the Teris Hotel narrowed down my search, and I found the Junior Realty Company at 1301 Wilshire Boulevard, which is the corner of Witmer Street.

Seen in the billboard at the left is the musical....Miss Liberty. It was a 1949-50 production.

[GaylordWilshire]

Seeing this stretch of Wilshire Boulevard again made me want to see if an urban artifact is still in place. Seems it is, at least as of May 2016:




More here: http://bit.ly/1RoVBmw

[ethereal_reality]

GW, I had forgotten about the fabulous mansions that Good Samaritan replaced. Damn, these two were real beauties!


http://losangeleshistory.blogspot.co...o-see-our.html

GaylordWilshire writes:

'The wall extended west to Witmer Street past the Orson Thomas Johnson house built at 1221 Orange (in some records addressed 1219)
alongside in time and place the Shatto residence. On the square bounded by Orange, Lucas, Shatto, and Witmer since 1911, Good Samaritan
managed to acquire the entire block in early 1922 with the purchase of the Shatto house (in later years owned by John William Botsford)
and of 1221 from Johnson's widow."

Be sure to visit
http://losangeleshistory.blogspot.co...o-see-our.html

[ethereal_reality]

'mystery' location.

I just found a plethora of vintage billboard photographs in the Duke University archives.
Many of the photographs lack a specific location, so I'm hoping we can figure some of them out here on NLA.

Here's the first example.


"Street corner in Los Angeles, 1940s."


http://library.duke.edu/







The best clue is no doubt the Baker Hotel sign with the arrow....somewhat similar to Hoss's Teris Hotel sign that we saw earlier today.


detail




Now let's take a closer look at the 'Buy War Bonds' billboard and the Pathfinder Gasoline station. (I'm unfamiliar with Pathfinder)


detail





And here's the shed with the 'Fight Infantile Paralysis' ad. Polio must have scared the Bejeezus out of people back then.


detail

I'm not sure what is stacked up next to the shed.





Lastly, here's a glimpse at the left side of the street. (highly magnified)


detail


I plan to post a billboard a day from the Duke archive, until I run out of billboards.

Should be fun!
__




Ok, I wasn't going to mention this, but the person walking in front of the 'War Bonds' billboard reminded of a long-legged elf.





Then it dawned on me the person resembles a Palmer Cox 'Brownie'. lol


http://www.gnomesandfairies.com/palmercox.html

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[Lomara]

Originally Posted by HossC

Thanks for the extra information, jbange.


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Today's Julius Shulman post shows an industrial building. The pictures come with no additional information. This is "Job 2768: Pioneer Plastics Corp., 1959". Maybe the mountains will help us find it.



Here's a closer view of the loading dock ...



... and the pedestrian entrance.



All from Getty Research Institute

Although quite a few of the Shulman pictures I'm finding at the moment are outside of Los Angeles, this matchbook proves that Pioneer Plastics Corp had a base in LA. The building above doesn't seem to match either of the drawings below.


eBay

The 1956 CD lists Pioneer Plastics Corp at 2133 E 38th Street, but I think the Shulman pictures from three years later show a new building. That's the only mention of the Pioneer Plastics Corp in the CDs - I'm assuming that the Pacific Pioneer Plastic Co is a different organization (none of their addresses appear to match the building above anyway).

This one was so familiar to me that I went on a hunt this evening. I scoured all of the industrial areas I am familiar with. (Vernon & Commerce mostly), but I think I may have found it in Pico Rivera. I don't know how to pull permits and all of that, so someone else will need to QA this guy for me.

ETA: I did look up the address on the LA County assessor website and the building was built in 1958, added on in 1960 (or 1963?), and sold in 1983. I couldn't figure out how to verify original owner or architects.

I was so sure those mountains were the San Gabriels that I focused on areas that would be able to see those mountains from that angle in the photograph.

The building I found is at 7735 Paramount Blvd, Pico Rivera. The space is now occupied by Cintas, and the google street view shows they've been in the building since at least 2007.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/77...!4d-118.111883

I used to work in the old Fox Photo building near the corner of Paramount & Slauson back in the mid 80's.

All of the trees in front of the property make getting clear images from google street view a challenge.

Views that appear to match up:

Loading Dock:


Cintas 1 by Kimberly, on Flickr

Office entry and steps and wall:


Cintas 2 by Kimberly, on Flickr

Vertical bars and screen over office windows, and wall at north end:


Cintas 3 by Kimberly, on Flickr

Divider in the street matches!:


Cintas 4 by Kimberly, on Flickr

Google earth aerial view:


Cintas 5 by Kimberly, on Flickr

[Beaudry]

Here's a slide I just picked up, makes an interesting Then-n-Now, esp. as we were talking about the Cathay Bank recently, which was designed by Eugene Kinn Choy. (More on Choy here, here, here, here.)

So, the New Moon Cafe:



Actually, note how the New Moon Cafe is off to the far right in the old building (which apparently opened in 1956—something I learned from their website, as they're still in business). The modern restaurant and cocktails was built in 1959 (as seen in this slide from July 1964). Its address is 912 S San Pedro, and here's the particulars from the LA Times, November 15, 1959:



Coolest place I've ever seen. And here she is today in all her glory:



Note the vertical lines along the top to get your bearing, and the telephone pole to the right. The "old" New Moon was replaced with that taller building in 1968.

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by Beaudry

New Moon Cafe, 912 S. San Pedro St.



Coolest place I've ever seen.

I agree Beaudry, what a great looking place! (I see you could dine al fresco on the left)

I wonder who the young man is.....were there any hints when you bought the slide (or for that matter, were there additional slides?)

-pardon my questions...my hyper-curiosity can get the best of me sometimes )
___


Here's a matchbook to go along with your slide.



http://www.ebay.com/itm/Matchbook-Co...YAAOSwAYtWJ0sH

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[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

'mystery' location.

"Street corner in Los Angeles, 1940s."


http://library.duke.edu/

The best clue is no doubt the Baker Hotel sign with the arrow....somewhat similar to Hoss's Teris Hotel sign that we saw earlier today.

We've visited the Barker Hotel at 2000 Miramar Street a couple of times before. A sign for it appears in the photo below.

Originally Posted by HossC

Detail from photo at USC Digital Library

A follow-up by e_r quotes an earlier post by Los Angeles Past which shows the hotel.

The photo above shows S Alvarado Street, so I looked for another street close enough to have a sign to the Barker Hotel. S Burlington Avenue looks too narrow, and W 3rd Street doesn't look right either. My guess would be that we're looking east on Beverly Boulevard near S Mountain View Avenue. That would mean the Barker Hotel sign is pointing down S Westlake Avenue, which is still lined with palms. I can't see any surviving buildings from the original picture.


GSV

[BifRayRock]

1914 Pleasure Cars are at Pico and Hill Streets!



1913 - Structure on left (advertising the arrival of 1914 Dorris Pleasure Cars) is 200 W Pico and houses Carpenter & Co. Cars.

http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/single...coll2/id/13842



GooStreetView










Curious mismatch of rear hard rubber. Artistic leaf springs.

"Hip Hip Hurrah"

[HossC]

Thanks for tracking down the Pioneer Plastics Corp building, Lomara. Apart from the addition of a few windows and some trees, it's hardly changed at all.


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I know this Julius Shulman subject isn't new to the thread, but we haven't seen the Richfield Building or its annex for a while. This is "Job 1769: Richfield Oil Company Building, Annex, 1954".



Getty Research Institute

Beaudry posted some pictures of the annex in post #2098. Here is another USC image.


USC Digital Library

I was hoping to answer Beaudry's question about the architect of the annex. Not knowing if the annex had a separate address, I checked building permits for 555 S Flower Street. It's the first time I've seen the results have a "Next 1000" navigation button. I think there are about 7,000 records all together, but I failed find the new build permit for the annex.