noirish Los Angeles

[Lorendoc]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

'mystery' location [two views]

#2

ebay

It all looks new, except for the Union 76 gas station.

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

....while we're in Beverly Hills snooping around rocks

take a look at this wonderfully noirish photograph of an "electric color fountain".



It's at Wilshire & Santa Monica Blvd. (Thanks Hoss!)

This one is located at Doheny & Santa Monica Blvd.


gsv
_______________________________________________________________

Since the fountain at Santa Monica Blvd. and Doheny plus the Electric Color Fountain at Santa Monica Blvd. and Wilshire were brought up yesterday (with a boulder sculpture in-between), I thought I'd mention that as of two weeks ago, The Santa Monica Blvd. Reconstruction Project has begun which exactly covers Santa Monica Blvd. from fountain to fountain.


From the City's webpage:

The Project will reconstruct a segment of Santa Monica Boulevard extending from Wilshire Boulevard to Doheny Drive in the City of Beverly Hills. The project will reconstruct the deteriorating roadway; upgrade the storm drain system, replace curb and gutters; upgrade access ramps to American with Disability Access (ADA) standards; and install new LED street lights. Enhancements to the roadway include the installation of grass bioswales on the north side, landscaping improvements, and widening the south side between Canon Drive and Wilshire Boulevard by 2'4". The project will take approximately 18 months to complete and will begin on January 11th.


Grass bioswales?

http://beverlyhills.org/living/const...ionactivities/

It was delayed right at the start to January 17th because of inclement weather. Meaning rain. It's also raining today!

[Martin Pal]

I don't believe we've seen this P.E. car photo before because I know the location and might have remembered it.

Caption: This subway terminal car from Beverly Hills is at the intersection of Santa Monica Boulevard, Holloway Drive (west) and Olive Drive (north), Croft Ave. (to the south), blocking a view of Barney’s Beanery. It is heading east toward downtown Los Angeles through Hollywood, Silverlake and Echo Park, 1955. (Photo courtesy of Metropolitan Transportation Administration Library and Archive)


WeHoVille

A commenter disputes the date. Another source labels it c.1953.

The building on the left of the P.E. Car was demolished at some point. It's now a hotel of some sort. The building on the right of the car might still be there, with modifications. I believe it's currently empty. It's always seemed out of place, design wise, and am surprised it was there as far back as the 50's at least. (Olive Dr. is to the right of that building and across Olive is the former Bekins storage building.)


Here's a driver of the times, 1955. (Is this a bus or a P.E. Car?)

WeHoVille

[Martin Pal]

This is a view of that building, in the P.E. Car photo, at 8445 Santa Monica Blvd. at Olive Dr.




Info from the HISTORIC ARCHITECTURE SURVEY DATABASE:

Ritts Company

Construction date
1947*
*Date source: Los Angeles County Office of the Assessor

Architect
Harry Harrison

Builder
Unknown

Style
Mid-Century Modern

Significant Owner(s)
Herb Ritts Senior
(So I'm guessing this is the famous photographer's father?)

Status of Historic Designation
Not currently designated at national, state, or local level

Theme
Postwar West Hollywood

Period of Significance
1946 - 1965

Significance
From at least 1948 to 1987 the building was occupied by the Ritts Company, which was founded by Herbert Ritts Sr. and gained notoriety for their rattan style furniture. In the second half of the 20th century, West Hollywood emerged as the center of the interior design industry for the West Coast. Ritts was a progenitor of the design community that developed further south around La Cienega Boulevard and Beverly Boulevard in the postwar period.

[HossC]

We're still in Beverly Hills for today's Julius Shulman post. It's "Job 68: Burton Schutt, Joseph Salon Shoes (Beverly Hills, Calif.), 1947".



I've never seen a sidewalk display quite like this.



There are a lot of couches inside, but not many shoes!



This must be the back of the store. There are several other images of the interior in the set, but I've left them out.



All from Getty Research Institute

I haven't found a definite address for the store above, but the 1956 CD lists Joseph Salon Shoes at 323 N Rodeo Drive. That site has been redeveloped since the first GSV image, and even that didn't show the 1947 building by Burton Schutt.

The picture below is dated "circa 1957", and shows the interior of the Joseph Salon Shoes store located at "Roxbury and Wilshire". This one was designed by Welton Becket & Associates. The 1960 CD gives the address as 9700 Wilshire Boulevard, which is now the site of Neiman Marcus.


Huntington Digital Library

If the name Joseph Salon Shoes sounds familiar, we covered the Long Beach branch just over two years ago. My post, which includes a couple of newspaper clippings, can be found here.

[ethereal_reality]

So much fun to see those interiors Hoss!



'mystery' location

"Original Negatives Los Angeles CA PDQ Petrol Gas Station / Attendant"

Neg. #1

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Los-Angeles-...UAAOSwnHZYcnfb




A closer look at the very cool PDQ sign. (with a grinning pelican wearing a turtle-neck)

detail





The car being serviced.

detail






Neg. #2


The happy attendant.


I wasn't sure if there were PDQ stations in Los Angeles, but I found four different addresses in the 1942 city directory.


lapl













I haven't had time to check them out yet.


__

[Wenders]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

This is a view of that building, in the P.E. Car photo, at 8445 Santa Monica Blvd. at Olive Dr.




Info from the HISTORIC ARCHITECTURE SURVEY DATABASE:

Ritts Company

Construction date
1947*
*Date source: Los Angeles County Office of the Assessor

Architect
Harry Harrison

Builder
Unknown

Style
Mid-Century Modern

Significant Owner(s)
Herb Ritts Senior
(So I'm guessing this is the famous photographer's father?)

Status of Historic Designation
Not currently designated at national, state, or local level

Theme
Postwar West Hollywood

Period of Significance
1946 - 1965

Significance
From at least 1948 to 1987 the building was occupied by the Ritts Company, which was founded by Herbert Ritts Sr. and gained notoriety for their rattan style furniture. In the second half of the 20th century, West Hollywood emerged as the center of the interior design industry for the West Coast. Ritts was a progenitor of the design community that developed further south around La Cienega Boulevard and Beverly Boulevard in the postwar period.

This building can be seen quite well in the original/first Lethal Weapon movie.
If I don't remember wrong, Danny Glover and Mel Gibson go actually inside of it to have a "serious talk" right after Gibson's character approaches a "jumper" on roof of the warehouse next door and jumps with him.

[HossC]

Originally Posted by Wenders

This building can be seen quite well in the original/first Lethal Weapon movie.
If I don't remember wrong, Danny Glover and Mel Gibson go actually inside of it to have a "serious talk" right after Gibson's character approaches a "jumper" on roof of the warehouse next door and jumps with him.

The talk after the jump does take place in the Ritts building, but you don't see much of it. Here are the two leads outside the building before the jump.


Warner Bros

And here's Ritts from on top of the old Bekins storage building.


Warner Bros

[Blaster]

They're overlooking Olive Drive. I lived up that block a few buildings north circa 1978. I walked past the Ritts building every day but it never registered on me as anything more than a "furniture store." (And no, I was not on my way to Flipper's Roller Disco.)

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

So much fun to see those interiors Hoss!
The car being serviced.

detail
nice butt.

__

When I was 16 years old [Los Angeles County], I didn't realize how spoiled we were. In those days we sat in our car while someone pumped the gas and washed the windshield.
I even complained about the outrageous price of gas....$.42 cents* a gallon at my local Union Oil station.

*$3.45 in 2017 dollars. [$2.56 per gallon at my local station in 2017]

[Earl Boebert]

I don't know if it was a state law or a local ordinance, but in my home town (Albany, CA) and I believe in Berkeley and Oakland, self-service gas stations were illegal in the 1950s.

Cheers,

Earl

[Blaster]

You can't pump your own gas in New Jersey. An attendant does it. That's the law.

[ethereal_reality]

Missing Pasadena Scion, 1936.

William H. Hart with his wife at a night club, 5-15-36


http://www.ebay.com/itm/1936-Press-P...0AAOSwn7JYCu6h

"Fears of kidnapping or foul play spurred police in Southern California cities in their search for William H. Hart, 23-year-old scion
of a wealthy Pasadena, Calif. family, who has been missing since May 11, when he had in his possession $3,000 in travelers' checks.

The kidnap theory was bolstered by the fact that several of the checks have been cashed, carrying endorsements of gamblers known to police."


reverse



I haven't had any luck in finding additional information. All my 'googles' lead me to William S. Hart, the silent film actor.

I'm curious to find out if he really was kidnapped, and if he was.....was he found alive?

__

[GaylordWilshire]

:previoud:


Soon after the wedding (LAT 1-7-1934); 5-17-1936; 9-2-1938





Martha remains gay but with a perhaps bigger and more financially dependable fish than Bill (LAT 1-2-1938)



Was this Howard Huntington one of "the" Huntingtons? I believe there was a Howard in the family...

[ethereal_reality]

Thanks GW! But it's a bit confusing.

Did the forgeries come before or after the supposed kidnapping?

Did the kidnapping end up being a hoax?

__

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by Lorendoc

These evocative photos from the Daily News don't have a location, but likely were taken in Gardena, Hawthorne, Monterey Park or Long Beach in 1937.








(all from UCLA Special Collections)

Amazing photographs Lorendoc.

I believe this is a photograph of the exterior of the building!


https://calisphere.org/item/ark:/21198/zz0027zb8h/

I hope this helps in identifying the location. I'm really curious about this set of photographs.


That said, the third picture down in Lorendoc's group of four might be of a different location.
The lighting fixtures are different and the walls are bare.

# # # # #


update:

I just realized there are two photographs of the exterior. They're just slightly different.


https://calisphere.org/item/ark:/21198/zz0027zb8h/

You see a bit more along the left edge in this 2nd photograph.
__

[ethereal_reality]

I just found this.


It's from the same group of photographs...but the more I look at it, I believe it's a different location than the 2 exterior photos I posted above.



https://calisphere.org/item/ark:/21198/zz0027zbgm/

Perhaps this matches the third photograph in Lorendoc's group.



__

[HenryHuntington]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

Here's a driver of the times, 1955. (Is this a bus or a P.E. Car?)

WeHoVille

GM bus.

[HenryHuntington]

Originally Posted by Lorendoc

These evocative photos from the Daily News don't have a location, but likely were taken in Gardena, Hawthorne, Monterey Park or Long Beach in 1937.








(all from UCLA Special Collections)

FWIW (likely not much), I grew up mostly in Monterey Park 1954-73, and I don't remember any public space that resembled those pictured in these photos or in e-r's subsequent contributions.

[HenryHuntington]

Originally Posted by Blaster

You can't pump your own gas in New Jersey. An attendant does it. That's the law.

Ditto Oregon. Have visited both states within the last couple of years. Really awkward because I kept forgetting the protocol.