noirish Los Angeles

[Scott Charles]

Here are a pair of quite noirish, mystery locations.

As I mentioned a page or two back, the movie Barfly (1987) begins and ends with a montage sequence of divey bars. The two below are the only ones I couldn't identify.

Every other bar in the montage is either in downtown, Hollywood, or somewhere in-between. Click on the image below to see it full-sized.



Virtually all of the signs are in Spanish, so the bar was probably in a mostly Mexican-populated part of town.

The white sign with the cocktail glass says "CLUB Oasis". I did find listings for an old jazz club called Club Oasis at 3801 S Western Ave, but that still-standing building, seen here on Google street view, doesn't seem to match at all. It's also in Exposition Park, which puts it outside of the area where all the other bars in the movie are. In short, I don't think it's the same Club Oasis.

If you combine the two signs in the above photo, they appear to say "Alvarado Clothing":



The address on one of the doorways appears to say "738", unfortunately it's partially obscured and hard to read. It might also say "7368"?


Here is the second mystery location. Click on the image below to see it full-sized.



The signs say "Catalina", "COCKTAILS", and "Yoshiko's Catalina". The smaller signs, with white letters on a dark red background, say "BIKINI DANCERS". I can't see an address, or any other identifying features. "Yoshiko" is a Japanese name, perhaps this was in or around Little Tokyo?

Does anyone have any idea where these two bars might have been?

Photo credit: American Zoetrope

[HossC]

The 1987 CD lists the Oasis Tavern at 736 S Alvarado Street, with Alvarado Clothing at 738 S Alvarado Street. That address is now part of the Alvarado Plaza.

The same CD lists a Catalina Cafe at 4002 Beverly Boulevard (the corner of N Catalina Street). I'm looking for a vintage photo or other evidence.

[Handsome Stranger]

Welp...I may have figured out where our Tension house is located. If I'm correct, we're not in Culver City. We're in the nearby neighborhood of Mar Vista.



I think we're looking north along the 3500 block of Meier Street.



What about that white house on top of the hillside? Could be 12761 Palms Blvd. The right-hand window and the foundation vents appear to match.



The house with the V-shaped roof support is interesting. 3508 Meier Street, perchance?





So what's the address of our mystery house? If I'm correct, it is 3530 Meier Street.





While we're here, let's also look at the house directly across the way. Looks very much like 3531 Meier Street to me.





So...do I win a prize?

[image sources: WB Home Video and Bing Maps StreetSide]

"It's even got a garbage disposal!"

[Noir_Noir]

Originally Posted by Handsome Stranger

Welp...I may have figured out where our Tension house is located. If I'm correct, we're not in Culver City. We're in the nearby neighborhood of Mar Vista.



So what's the address of our mystery house? If I'm correct, it is 3530 Meier Street.







So...do I win a prize?

[image sources: WB Home Video and Bing Maps StreetSide]

"It's even got a garbage disposal!"

Brilliant detective work.

I think a fitting prize would be your very own

[HusBy]

This house is part of the well-preserved and lovely Gregory Ain Mar Vista Tract, stretching from Meier street to Beethoven Ave. More information here:

http://marvistatract.org/

[Scott Charles]

Originally Posted by HossC

The 1987 CD lists the Oasis Tavern at 736 S Alvarado Street, with Alvarado Clothing at 738 S Alvarado Street. That address is now part of the Alvarado Plaza.

Very cool, HossC! A perfect match! Thank-you!



Armed with the above information, I went looking for a vintage photo - unfortunately, this is the best I could find:

LAPL.ORG
Alvarado Street, looking north, from between 8th and 7th streets.

The photo above was taken during the LA riots, on April 30, 1992 (note the stream of a firehose on the left of the image). The yellow and blue buildings are still standing, but all the buildings between them have been demolished since this photo was taken. The marquee of the Midtown Motel is visible, which would place the Oasis Tavern somewhere in the green area, just south of the motel.

I sure wish that the LAPL images were zoomable!

Originally Posted by HossC

The same CD lists a Catalina Cafe at 4002 Beverly Boulevard (the corner of N Catalina Street). I'm looking for a vintage photo or other evidence.

That could be it, but it would seem odd to list a dive bar as a cafe. I drove the Googlemobile to every major intersection with Catalina Street, but couldn't find anything that resembles Yoshiko's Catalina.

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by Handsome Stranger

So what's the address of our mystery house? If I'm correct, it is 3530 Meier Street.

Excellent discovery Handsome Stranger! In all honesty, I wasn't expecting anyone to find the house.
(the screengrab of the street Hoss posted no doubt helped)

Originally Posted by Handsome Stranger

So...do I win a prize?

p.s. Why did Noir Noir give you a rubberband?

Originally Posted by HusBy

This house is part of the well-preserved and lovely Gregory Ain Mar Vista Tract, stretching from Meier street to Beethoven Ave.

Thanks for the link HusBy. It led me down all kinds of rabbit holes this afternoon.

The Gregory Ain Mar Vista Tract is a group of 52 homes that was built in 1948
by famous modern architect Gregory Ain and landscape architect Garrett Eckbo.


Advertised as MODERNIQUE HOMES


esotericsurvey

COZY

esotericsurvey

"The subdivision was marketed as “Modernique” Homes. Sales started slowly, and sold out after one year.
Originally the developers had planned on two phases that would contain 100 houses on 60 acres,
however only the first phase of 52 homes was realized. Even with Ain’s best effort to keep costs down,
these houses were more expensive than comparable size tract homes in the area.

The average size of the houses was 1,060 square feet, exclusive of the double garage. The sales price of the homes was about $12,000,
considerably higher than the contractor-inspired houses around nearby Venice Blvd. that were then selling for about $5,000.
The main selling points were the convertible features, the ultra-modern design, and colors. " JASON COLIN CAMPBELL




archpaper / Julius Shulman

"The main selling points were the convertible features, the ultra-modern design, and colors.

Through the use of a folding wooden panel separating the living room from an additional space that was designed to be used as a master bedroom or extension to the living room, Ain achieved an adaptable space for any size family. Similarly, a sliding panel divided a large single bedroom into two areas in the rear of the house. The idea was that the resident could have one to three bedrooms, depending on the needs of the family at any given time."

"The houses were each painted in different color combinations, using the Plochere Color system, an ink-mixing system developed in 1948 by one of Southern California’s earliest color consultants. Subtle color blending of the interior space was designed to create an “atmosphere of spaciousness and relaxation.” Interestingly, the palette was much richer and more colorful than the white sometimes associated with Modern design. Rather, it followed in the footsteps of Le Corbusier's harmonic color concepts. The exteriors were rich in color, and the interior of each house had a color scheme matching its exterior color. All rooms used this color scheme, and each wall was a different shade of the theme color." from MARVISTATRACT.ORG



Lastly, I'll include 3530 Meier Street from Tension [1949]


screengrab MGM



__

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by odinthor

By horse drawn stage coach, they meant that this is in actuality a drawing of a stage coach executed by horses.

Because stage coaches are behind horses, they don't know what they really look like, so the horses mistakenly sketched a wagon.
This is the sort of thing that happens all too often when we leave the production of Art to animals, and why we only rarely see equine exhibitions at the Louvre.

I think I found the culprit odinthor.


ETSY

[ethereal_reality]

When I saw this on ebay, I wondered..

"Did they really call dope 'DOPE' back then?"


EBAY


then I read a bit further...

"Dope" was a trade term for thin lacquer based paint used on silk span covered balsa framed model airplanes."

How many of you knew this? (I didn't)

_

[Noir_Noir]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

p.s. Why did Noir Noir give you a rubberband?

https://streamable.com/20e2i

[ethereal_reality]

Noir Noir, I should have watched the damn movie before I made the posts.
I'm a bit embarrassed.
__



We have seen 'big catches' on nla, but this big catch is under a make-shift tent to slow down the rotting process.

Santa Monica 1906

ebay

...or on second thought, maybe the people had to pay to see the shark. (hence the tent)

As you can see, the sign says it's a basking shark. (I'm unable read what is written on the far right---->

reverse

[Bristolian]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

When I saw this on ebay, I wondered..

"Did they really call dope 'DOPE' back then?"


EBAY


then I read a bit further...

"Dope" was a trade term for thin lacquer based paint used on silk span covered balsa framed model airplanes."

How many of you knew this?

_

I had to have my memory jogged but I had heard of it. When I was a kid my dad was telling me about the model airplanes he used to make when he was young and how they brushed dope on them. I looked at him kind of funny and he said "Not that kind of dope"
Some things stick with me.

[Noir_Noir]

The thread has been taut with Tension these last few days. One more tense post won't go amiss.

Originally Posted by HossC

This looks like an actual Culver City location. Warren Quimby (Richard Basehart) tries to relax here when his wife walks out.

All I could find on Culver City Recreation was this -


https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c3/95...39f1a2c5ba.jpg

[ethereal_reality]

'MYSTERY' STREET


EBAY

a couple things:

#1 What's on top of the pole.................?

I SEE THIS

pinterest


#2 I recognize the PAN-GAS sign....but why does it look like it's floating in mid-air?


_

[Otis Criblecoblis]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

"Dope" was a trade term for thin lacquer based paint used on silk span covered balsa framed model airplanes."

How many of you knew this? (I didn't)

_

It's still called that, as far as I know. My friend has built a number of radio-controlled airplanes, and he still calls it that.

Also, liquid pipe thread compound, used to seal threaded plumbing joints when teflon tape is not used, is still called, at least colloquially, "pipe dope."

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

'MYSTERY' STREET


EBAY

a couple things:

#1 What's on top of the pole.................?

I SEE THIS

pinterest

#2 I recognize the PAN-GAS sign....but why does it look like it's floating in mid-air?

We're looking east on W Olympic Boulevard (quite possibly still W 10th Street at the time). The supports for the "PAN GAS" sign on the extant Petroleum Securities Building (714 W Olympic Boulevard) were very thin, and have simply bleached out in the eBay photo. Behind the pole is the Alco Hotel (shown as the Hotel Alco in the picture above) at 808 W Olympic Boulevard. The image below is circa 1938, showing the later "HYDRIL" sign.


LAPL

I have no idea what's on the pole.

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Noir Noir, if I knew the Tension posts were going to catch on, I would have watched the damn movie FIRST!

If you've got a spare 90 minutes, it's well worth a watch.

P.S. Thanks for tracking down Culver City Recreation, Noir_Noir.

P.P.S. Like Bristolian, I also needed my memory jogging to remind me that I'd heard of dope in an airplane context, although it's also used on full-size aircraft:

• Video Link

[odinthor]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I think I found the culprit odinthor.


ETSY

LOL, e_r!

His biggest rival in animal art was Vincent Van Goat...

[Tourmaline]

Originally Posted by HossC

We're looking east on W Olympic Boulevard (quite possibly still W 10th Street at the time). The supports for the "PAN GAS" sign on the extant Petroleum Securities Building (714 W Olympic Boulevard) were very thin, and have simply bleached out in the eBay photo. Behind the pole is the Alco Hotel (shown as the Hotel Alco in the picture above) at 808 W Olympic Boulevard. The image below is circa 1938, showing the later "HYDRIL" sign.


LAPL

I have no idea what's on the pole.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/922/RvTqYE.jpg




Could we be seeing more than one object? One seemingly superimposed upon the other?

My first reaction was a billboard featuring an object similar to the Ben Hur Coffee pot or a grecian urn shaped finial.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/a/img4...lshirelapl.jpg

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/10...g?v=1473628728


Assuming the "1920" date on the mystery image is fairly accurate, there were innumerable changes from '20 to '38, the date of your "HYDRIL" image. Among them the 1925 construction of the Petroleum Securities Bldg, loss of the Immanual Presbeterian Church ('29) and construction of the "spired" PanGas station. Many of the changes are captured in this NLA post > http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=35096








10th and Flower
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics46/00057751.jpg






http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...1.jpg~original http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=21037


http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...=1523194573400



It should also be mentioned that we have seen examples of incomplete street lighting. >>
http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/o...=1523197960200




Lamp maintenance
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8014/7...a3d388da_o.jpg


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8289/7...4c54486c_o.jpg



Surfridge
http://www.tresbohemes.com/wp-conten...amps-Today.jpg

[Hollywood Graham]

The object above the "Parking Sign" is the street lamp of which the globe appears broken or missing.

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by HossC

We're looking east on W Olympic Boulevard (quite possibly still W 10th Street at the time). The supports for the "PAN GAS" sign on the extant Petroleum Securities Building (714 W Olympic Boulevard) were very thin, and have simply bleached out in the eBay photo. Behind the pole is the Alco Hotel (shown as the Hotel Alco in the picture above) at 808 W Olympic Boulevard. The image below is circa 1938, showing the later "HYDRIL" sign.

Thanks once again Hoss!

I had forgotten about the beautifully painted blank wall on the Petroleum Securities Building.


Here is what we have in place of it.


lapl and GSV




I think I have the pole 'mystery' all wrapped up.


detail

Do I win a prize?


___