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Originally Posted by Lorendoc
S Main Street
GSV
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That's the one I figured would be the hardest to find. Were you able to locate it by its name,
Lorendoc?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lorendoc
#1 - Auricon building. This company made video cameras that recorded sound right on the film. CDs, newspaper ads, aerials, and building permits hint that this may have been at Romaine and N Mansfield in Hollywood. It appears to have been demolished c. 2005.
#2 The Burbank Bowl (bowling alley, not concert venue) was at 430 S. San Fernando, Burbank. It burned down in October 1985 per the LAT, accounting for its dilapidated state in Scott's photo. Nothing there now.
#3 The Giant Penny was at Broadway and 3rd, building is extant.
#4 No idea as yet; perhaps knowing the name of the Bakery on the left (looks like a Spanish name "La E......") would help. There are several "Play Rooms" in the CDs, but most are way out in the 'burbs.
#5 is a Texaco station downtown (you can see the Library Tower in the middle distance). There were about 40+ Texaco stations in LA in the late 80s, with the closest one to the Library Tower being Hahn's Texaco at 504 W Olympic. The "since 1923" is puzzling as the CDs from back then don't seem to list any Texaco stations.
#6, with a "now" posted above, I'm pretty sure is 827-9 S Main.
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1. Correct! The Auricon building was on the southwest corner of Romaine and Mansfield (and within a block of all the old major photo labs and rental joints, like A&I, Photo Impact, and PRS).
2. Correct! It was burned down by the time I discovered it.
3. Correct! I was really sad when they got rid of the old Giant Penny signs. I have some vague idea that the signs still exist, or did I dream that?
4. - - -
5. I knew you guys would spot the Library Tower back there!
No more specific idea of the Texaco’s location, though? Anyone?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Beaudry
I'm sure we've talked about this gal before, right there at that funny little jog at Third and Main
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Correct! To be honest, I think the building lost a ton of its charm when they remodeled it. Though most of the structure was left intact, I feel like the building lost most of its identity.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Beaudry
Your slides are fantastic, btw. I wish I'd driven around taking nighttime shots in the 80s. The Pan American/Giant Penny is especially evocative.
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Thanks,
Beaudry! I’m kind of an odd duck, so I would routinely drive around downtown at night, listening to music. If it was raining (like in the Giant Penny shot), even better! The wet ground would give you interesting reflections, instead of the otherwise boring foreground of the dry pavement.
On rare occasions, I would take select friends and girlfriends on my rides with me. They must have thought I was crazy! Some would freak out by the time you got in merely as deep as the Bradbury Building - I had one 6'6" lifelong martial artist friend who completely freaked out at that point, hysterically demanding we leave because were "about to get murdered". We never made it to fourth street! But I did discover some really cool, interesting girlfriends in the process. If a girl started freaking out, I knew she was not for me, but if she started shouting "Pull over!
Check out that old clock!", then I knew I had a winner.
Downtown has changed so much since then, it literally used to be a total ghost town at night. You wouldn’t even see homeless people really, other than on skid row. That’s all changed now.