noirish Los Angeles

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by Fab Fifties Fan

I absolutely agree e_r! I love Dr. Demento and Freddy Martin (Felix Figueroa) AND Ann Miller!!!!

Who else here remembers Ann Miller dancing on a soup can?

~Jon Paul

Was Ann Miller the cross-your-heart-bra lady?

Oh wait, I think that was Jane Russell.

[Those Who Squirm!]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

And over 56 tons.

Great photos, ethereal, I really like them.

Yeah, 5 cent hamburgers-- and 5 cent root beers too? I never understood the prices on menus of that era. Often it'll be like 10 cents for coffee, and then only 25 cents for a burger... whereas today it'll be like 2 bucks for a soda and nearly 5 bucks for a burger. Was a penny really worth all that much back then?

Both the burger and the coffee would have been a lot smaller than what you'd get today. When hamburgers first appeared they were sometimes marketed as "beef cookies", which gives you an idea of the size. IIRC from watching a documentary about this, these burgers were probably about like the smallest and cheapest at McD's today. The coffee would have been served in some variant of a traditional cup and saucer setup, so it would have been a lot less than the smallest size at a Starbucks' today.

But yeah--a penny really was worth a lot more, like maybe close to a quarter today. It's astonishing to realize how nearly worthless all that heavy metal is that we carry around or accumulate in jars, and yet how reluctant Americans are to have it changed. My favorite illustration is this: if you had a complete collection of the 50 state quarters, you'd have $12.50, not even enough to buy burgers, fries, and sodas for three people.

Sorry for the hijack, but this gets me every time people talk about it.

[rick m]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

Was Ann Miller the cross-your-heart-bra lady?

Oh wait, I think that was Jane Russell.

My sister was Anne's regular masseuse in Sedona in the Eighties - got to see how atrociously Anne would treat her personal assistants at every opportunity --

[Handsome Stranger]

Here's Ann Miller's infamous soup commercial, crafted by the great Stan Freberg.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jU2pl7bqKg" target="_blank">Video Link

And from 1937, here's 14-year-old Ann Miller with Ginger Rogers and Adolphe Menjou in a scene from Stage Door. (Ann lied about her age and obtained a fake birth certificate in order to be cast in this movie.)

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZSRnSHJsWg" target="_blank">Video Link

[Those Who Squirm!]

nm

[unihikid]

Originally Posted by Those Who Squirm

You can just make out the Dan-Dee Shoe Repair Shop at the far right. Amazingly, it's still there, or at least it was into the mid-2000's when I drove by there the last time.

sadly it burned down a few(at least 2 )years ago,it is now....a parking lot,i want to say before it burned it was a strip joint.

[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by rick m

My sister was Anne's regular masseuse in Sedona in the Eighties - got to see how atrociously Anne would treat her personal assistants at every opportunity --

Say it isn't so! Although perhaps it's not so surprising that behind the goody-two-shoes bit, the big smile, the relentless cheerfulness and all, might have beat the heart of a diva....


LAPL
June 7, 1949: The diva and noir-era mayor Fletcher Bowron, just beginning his fourth
term, draw the first "Lucky Names" in a new game being conducted by the Los
Angeles Evening Herald-Express.

[Fab Fifties Fan]

It has taken quite a bit of time and digging but I finally found the right Packard Geek to ask about the car. Here is what he just sent me in an e-mail.

"I did locate on of the articles on a vehicle that initially looks like the one in your photograph, it's in this club's quarterly publication The Packard Cormorant, Spring 2010 (#138). I believe that back issues are still available - check the main website for information. If not, I had an article published in that same issue and probably have an extra copy somewhere. The car was also the subject of a letter in the same publication in the Summer 1975 issue - at that time the original tail lamps had been removed and replaced with those from a post-1950 model.

BUT, the vehicle in that article, strikingly similar in appearance to yours, would appear to perhaps NOT be the same car. Based on the hood side trim It's on the "160" or Super Eight chassis whereas your pictures clearly shows the world "One Twenty" on the hood side trim which would be "junior" or lesser 8-cylinder model. Of course it's possible that at one point or another over the years some badge-engineering was done, the identifying trim altered to indicate a different chassis - vehicle and engine numbers would help establish that.

The car in the article is rather unique in that it has 3 side doors, two on the right side and only 1 on the left side, and double, center-opening rear doors, these details appear to be the same on the car you pictured. That two such cars, one on the 120 and one on the 160 chassis, were built would seem very remote indeed. The article states the car was built for opera singer John Charles Thomas with the coachwork done by Standard Carriage Works of Los Angeles. At some point it was sold to a Mr. William Harris. It was displayed at the 1999 Packard Centennial in Warren OH and subsequently sold to a private museum on Long Island, according to the article."

Here is a photo of the car, taken in 1975, that accompanied the article he is referencing.


So the car was a one off just like we expected and it appears it is still extant and being treasured on Long Island. Great news!!!

~Jon Paul

Originally Posted by Fab Fifties Fan

That is a mystery as the body style is quite different from the 1945-46's. The script says One Twenty, believe me its hard to read even close up!

I will let you know what I find out from the Packard Geeks.

~F3

[Los Angeles Past]

Originally Posted by Fab Fifties Fan

It has taken quite a bit of time and digging but I finally found the right Packard Geek to ask about the car. Here is what he just sent me in an e-mail.

That's amazing, Jon Paul! Thanks so much for your investigation! ^^

-Scott

[Fab Fifties Fan]

Originally Posted by Los Angeles Past

That's amazing, Jon Paul! Thanks so much for your investigation! ^^

-Scott

You're very welcome Scott, it was actually a lot of fun! I was absolutely floored when he wrote about Mr. Thomas being the original owner. I had said nothing about that in my original e-mail.

~Jon Paul

[Those Who Squirm!]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

I believe that intersection in the middle top of the photo is where Sunset, La Cienega and Miller Drive all intersect on the Sunset Strip.

You are correct, sir. The large apartment complex and the ovoid pool around which it wraps are still there.

[Those Who Squirm!]

Originally Posted by gsjansen

The El Centenario Cafe, 1920's
A corner of Old Los Angeles that no longer exists today. Does anybody know where it is?

now we do!

the image you posted showing the hall of justice would be at the NW corner of Spring and Aliso today.

excellent work!

I could be wrong, but I'm almost positive I saw El Centenario in a book about "forgotten L.A.". The book itself must have been published fifty or sixty years ago, and even then they didn't know what it was--understandably so, given all the street realignments and disappearances, and the destruction of most of the neighborhood.

The only other thing I can remember about the book is that it was the size of a small coffee table book and the illustrations looked like charcoal drawings that had been printed in sepia-colored ink.

[FredH]

We had several large photo murals of Los Angeles on the studio walls
where I worked at Modernage. Before we left the building, one of
the photographers took pictures of them. The original murals were sent
over to the Los Angeles Public Library, where I envision them being
stashed in a large warehouse like the Ark of the Covenant
in Raiders of the Lost Ark. The good news is that they were
photographed and scanned by professionals, the bad news is that
they are second generation photos and will never be as good
as the originals. Anyway, they are a lot better than nothing,
so here goes.

I think this one is from the early 1960's or late 1950's:

Earl Witscher, Modernage Photo Servive Inc.

Down in the lower left hand corner, you will see our old friend, the Brew 102 plant squeezing the 101 Freeway into the train station.



Question: When was this overpass on the freeway removed? Was it just a pedestrian crossing? I can't tell.




I am also interested in the Taix French Restaurant, which you can see here on the photo:


Earl Witscher, Modernage Photo Service Inc.

The Taix Restaurant was located at 321 Commercial Street. A photo from the LAPL is here:


LAPL

In 1962, the Taix french Restaurant moved out to 1911 Sunst Blvd. , where it now looks like this:


Google Street View

According to the Taix website, the history of the restaurant includes this statement:

"In 1912 Marius Taix Sr. built a hotel called the Champ d'Or in downtown Los Angeles' French quarter. In 1927,
Marius Taix Jr. opened Taix French restaurant within the
hotel serving chicken dinners for 50 cents at long "family-style" tables.
Diners could choose private booth service for an extra quarter. Taix's novel food, unique service and affordable
prices make it a Los Angeles institution."

Have any of you ever heard of a "French quarter" in downtown Los Angeles?

[Those Who Squirm!]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I used to drive up to the Doheny Mansion for peace and quiet.
Are the grounds still open to the public?

They certainly are. I took some pictures in the grounds about two years ago, and if it isn't too far off topic I'll be glad to post them here.

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by FredH

Question: When was this overpass on the freeway removed? Was it just a pedestrian crossing? I can't tell.


Earl Witscher, Modernage Photo Servive Inc.

I believe it was a rail crossing, but as far as I can remember, I had never seen it used; it always had the closed chain link fences on both ends. I believe it was removed some time in the early or mid-90s.

Originally Posted by FredH

According to the Taix website, the history of the restaurant includes this statement:

"In 1912 Marius Taix Sr. built a hotel called the Champ d'Or in downtown Los Angeles' French quarter. In 1927,
Marius Taix Jr. opened Taix French restaurant within the
hotel serving chicken dinners for 50 cents at long "family-style" tables.
Diners could choose private booth service for an extra quarter. Taix's novel food, unique service and affordable
prices make it a Los Angeles institution."

Have any of you ever heard of a "French quarter" in downtown Los Angeles?

Yes, I have. Vignes Street is named after after Jean-Louis Vignes, a Frenchman who settled in LA in the 1830s and owned a vineyard. The area of his vineyard attracted other French settlers and a little "French quarter" developed. And, today in Chinatown, what is now known as the Pacific Alliance Medical Center used to be called the French Hospital. There's even a statue of Joan of Arc in front of it.

[FredH]

Thanks sopas ej. I remember the French Hospital in Chinatown and always wondered about it. I had never heard anything about the French quarter in L.A.

[FredH]

This is another photo mural. Little Tokyo in the early 1980's, I think.


Earl Witscher, Modernage Photo Service

To sopas ej: Do you remember Beverly's fast food joint and George's Garage on Second Street?


Earl Witscher, Modernage Photo Service

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by Those Who Squirm

They certainly are. I took some pictures in the grounds about two years ago, and if it isn't too far off topic I'll be glad to post them here.

Please post 'Those Who Squirm'.

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by FredH

I am also interested in the Taix French Restaurant, which you can see here on the photo:


Earl Witscher, Modernage Photo Service Inc.

The Taix Restaurant was located at 321 Commercial Street. A photo from the LAPL is here:


LAPL

below: FredH here is a photograph of the Taix restaurant circa 1954.


LAPL



below: I am a bit confused by this photograph from 1964. The Taix sign is there as well as Eddies.


LAPL



below: This is more of a 'Where's Waldo' photo.
If you look closely you can see the tail end of the sign 'Taix French Restaurant' down the street.
I believe this view is looking east on Commercial Street from Los Angeles Street.



LAPL

above: The prominent building in the foreground is the Heinsch Building dating from 1869.

_________

[Those Who Squirm!]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Oops...not quite big enough to read. Here it is larger.

Did that really say parking lots?! In Downtown L.A.? My goodness! Somebody pinch me.