noirish Los Angeles

[Handsome Stranger]

Originally Posted by austlar1

Trying to get my bearings. Is clip taken (camera facing west) headed east from roughly the vicinity of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel towards Miracle Mile?

Correct. At one minute 21 seconds one can see the Wilshirmart grocery store (on the right) that stood at the southwest corner of Wilshire and Doheny Drive. At two minutes 20 seconds, the slight bend in the road is at Robertson Blvd.

Fascinating clip. But I find the colorization grotesque and off-putting. The footage would have a much greater impact without it, in my opinion.

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by Handsome Stranger

Correct. At one minute 21 seconds one can see the Wilshirmart grocery store (on the right) that stood at the southwest corner of Wilshire and Doheny Drive. At two minutes 20 seconds, the slight bend in the road is at Robertson Blvd.

Fascinating clip. But I find the colorization grotesque and off-putting. The footage would have a much greater impact without it, in my opinion.

It could have been colorized better. Primary bright colors instead of washed out. Properly colorized clips make the past come alive. I have a few youtube L.A. technicolor clips from the late 1920s and early 1930s that I will post. The technicolor film "The King Of Jazz" (1929) is worth watching. Gershwin at the piano playing "Rhapsody in Blue", Bing Crosby and his Rhythm Boys singing "I'veGot Happy Feet". Wonderful 1920s nonsense in living color.

[HossC]

Originally Posted by Handsome Stranger

Fascinating clip. But I find the colorization grotesque and off-putting. The footage would have a much greater impact without it, in my opinion.

The original black & white video was posted back in 2015 and is available at resolutions up to 720p. I think this version is slightly faster, because although the videos are of similar length, this one has an extra video about Broken Egg Spring tacked on at the end.

Originally Posted by Matt Maxwell

• Video Link

Billed as driving down Wilshire in 1935. Not sure if this has been posted before, but just found it and couldn't pass it up. Hopefully I get the code right.

Yes, I'm still working my way through. This might take forever.

[Snix]

Thank you Flyingwedge. Looks like they didn't have any kids. Amazing how little info there is on him.

Originally Posted by Flyingwedge

I couldn't find an obituary either, Snix, but here are some random facts I uncovered:

After poking around Ancestry.com, I find there is a Leonardo Del Sonno who left his hometown of Osara di Puglia, Italy,
to travel to Naples where on September 18, 1920, he sailed on the SS Canada and arrived in New York (Ellis Island)
on October 4 with $16 in his pocket. He is listed as a 15-year-old peasant who spoke Italian (duh), could read and write,
and was on his way to Philadelphia, where his brother Pasquale lived at 810 Montrose Street. His health condition was listed
as "Good," and he was not a polygamist or anarchist (yes, those questions are on the form).

There is a Leonard Del Sonno living at 712 League Street in Philadelphia on February 16, 1942, according to his draft registration.
Birthdate is May 18, 1904, and his contact person at the same address is Mrs. Jean Del Sonno (not his mother). He works as
a painter for Angelo Guirico at 330 Noble Street in Philadelphia. He has a scar on his right cheek and is 5'6", 135 lbs.

Leonard married the former Josephine Tierno on July 2, 1946, but the location is not listed other than somewhere in
California. In 1950, he and Josephine are registered to vote at 1308 Glendale Blvd. in Los Angeles. By 1956-58, they lived
at 1330-1/2 Allesandro Street.

The August 4, 1961, The Citizen News shows Leonard owed delinquent assessments of $8.88 on each of two parcels
(Lots 22 and 23, Tract 5036) in the Hollywood Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard Lighting District. If he didn't pay
by September 5, his properties would be sold. Perhaps the building in your 1973 photo sat on those two lots?

There is a Josephine Delsonno (b. Feb 18 1916) who died in Delaware County, PA, on August 26, 2003. Her Philly.com
obituary on August 28 describes her as "beloved wife of the late Leonard."

Leonard does appear to have passed on April 7, 1981, in Los Angeles zip code 90026.

Does any of that help? I know none of it is lamp-related . . . .

[Snix]

FOUND IT!

The great and powerful Marc Wanamaker of Bison Archives took this photo of Tiny Naylor's drive-in at Sunset and La Brea in 1984 and captured the short-lived Tiny Naylor's steak house (under the Don Rickles billboard) shorn of its googie I-beam and encrusted with some artificial stone in the background at 7127 Sunset Boulevard.

It lasted for about one year in 1954 before becoming Art Williams' Eldorado Club.

LATimes 6/15/57
Then it becomes The Purple Lion

LATimes 6/28/72

8/3/73 Van Nuys News shows it as Ali Baba's, which it remained until demolition in 1984.

Performer Kamala Almanzar at Ali Baba's
https://wonderland1981.com/2015/11/0...lub-ali-babas/
when it was owned by...(back to noir) Eddie Nash.
"Former Hollywood nightclub owner Eddie Nash pleaded guilty Monday to federal racketeering charges, abruptly ending his 20-year cat-and-mouse game with authorities who have long believed he played the lead role in one of Southern California’s more lurid murder mysteries...."
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-...553-story.html

Originally Posted by Snix

I was unfamiliar with the Eddie Arcaro restaurant on Melrose, but I've long been curious about his collaborations with Tiny Naylor - and specifically about the incredible googie style restaurant below photographed by Julius Shulman. Shulman dates these 1954 and credits them to architects Jones and Emmons, but according to the clippings, the Arcaro/Naylor restaurant(s) opened in 1958 and were designed by Armet & Davis. This looks much more of an A&D design than a Jones and Emmons design. It does NOT appear to be one of these:

1. "House of Naylor" somewhere on La Cienega

2. Tiny Naylor's coffee shop 14 N. La Cienega, Beverly Hills

3. "Eddie Arcaro's Winner's Circle" 8620 S. Western Ave.
This is described as the second collaboration with an interior "styled after an English tavern." Clearly not the one in the Shulman photos.



Julius Shulman © J. Paul Getty Trust. Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (2004.R.10)


Julius Shulman © J. Paul Getty Trust. Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (2004.R.10)


Julius Shulman © J. Paul Getty Trust. Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (2004.R.10)


Julius Shulman © J. Paul Getty Trust. Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (2004.R.10)


Julius Shulman © J. Paul Getty Trust. Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (2004.R.10)


Los Angeles Times 5/26/58


Los Angeles Times 6/29/58


Los Angeles Times 11/23/58

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthoped...los-1982215299
"House of Naylor" on Tiny Naylor's menu from Worthpoint

Tiny Naylor's at 14 N. La Cienega (at Wilshire) in Beverly Hills

Photo; Armet & Davis, via Los Angeles magazine
https://www.lamag.com/askchris/belov...er-demolished/

Getty Images: Eddie Arcaro Wearing Chef Hat While Cooking
(Original Caption) Jockey Eddie Arcaro trades in his riding silks for a chef's hat and prepares a steak in the new restaurant he has an interest in here. Arcaro has entered into a partnership with the famous restaurateur Tiny Naylor, and the pair announced that they will open a Winner's Circle Room in the House of Naylor on La Cienga's restaurant row.
https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/e...t=best#license

House of Naylor sign by David Sutton at MPTV
https://www.mptvimages.com/images/15...8-david-sutton

[MartinTurnbull]

I was recently contacted by a woman whose grandparents were the caretakers of the Getty mansion used as exteriors for Norma Desmond’s home in “Sunset Boulevard” and asked me if would I like to see some family photos of their time there. I was expecting a 3 or 4 shots, but she sent me 25, all of which appear to have been taken when “Sunset Boulevard” was being filmed. You can see the rest of them on my website: https://wp.me/p5XK3w-5H5

[Martin Pal]

Interesting photos! Thanks!

[Martin Pal]

AMPAS has announced the Oscars are going to be held at Union Station!



According to Metro, the April 25 Oscars will be held in the building’s
Historic Ticketing Hall, the Grand Waiting Room, the main entrance
along Alameda Street and on the north and south patios.

Should be interesting!

[Lorendoc]

Here is a c. 1910 photo from Calisphere with no location specified beyond DTLA:


calisphere.org

At first glance I thought the large building in the background was the Continental Building at 408 S Spring but looking closely at it, the windows don't quite match. But still, this is a really substantial building for 1910 so maybe remodeled?


Google Earth Pro

There are some partial clues:



Stephenson Avenue east of the LA River was renamed Whittier Boulevard in 1921. The Baist atlases show that the name also existed west of the river, roughly along what today is Traction Avenue and 2nd St. Since the placard says "cemeteries" it looks like the car is outbound.

There are some business names visible in this enlargement:




T. Coblentz ran a grocery store at 727 S Grand in 1910; Thos. Varney was a signmaker; idk if the Coblentz sign here was the store itself or just some randomnly placed billboard.

I suspect some here will identify the tall buildings in the background, which would help locating this intersection:

[HenryHuntington]

Originally Posted by Lorendoc

There are some partial clues:



Stephenson Avenue east of the LA River was renamed Whittier Boulevard in 1921. The Baist atlases show that the name also existed west of the river, roughly along what today is Traction Avenue and 2nd St. Since the placard says "cemeteries" it looks like the car is outbound.

]

________________

Lorendoc, dunno if this will help, but this stretcar line had the following outbound routing in that era:

From 7th & Hope Sts. via 7th, Boyle Ave. and Stephenson Ave. to Cemeteries. Total distance was 5.41 miles.

Stephenson Ave. was renamed Whittier Blvd. after 1919.

Consulting LARy track maps (albeit from the 1930s), the only intersection I can find with that precise arrangement (a double-track junction diverging from westboud to southbound) is at W. 7th St. and Grand Ave. Beginning in 1915, the corner of interest in your photo was occupied by Robinson's Department Store. At that time, Robinson's was using the entire frontage along 7th from Grand to Hope St. and widened out into a fat L-shape along Hope. If its predecessor was a one-story structure, the building shown in your first photo would appear to match that footprint as far as we can tell.

Good luck with your search.

[Sakhal Nakhash]

I'm actually more interested in that square tower or turret.
I thought for a moment that it looked kind of like the one on the 3rd L.A. Times building, but it doesn't match. It also bares a passing resemblance to the old clock tower on the old courthouse, but again, too different.
I tried looking up schools and churches, and was still unable to find an exact match.
The tall square building looks a lot like the Barclay Hotel. But I see some differences that make me doubt that's what it is.
It also looks a lot like the Cahuenga Building (Hollywood Blvd. and Cahuenga).

[rick m]

Originally Posted by Sakhal Nakhash

I'm actually more interested in that square tower or turret.
I thought for a moment that it looked kind of like the one on the 3rd L.A. Times building, but it doesn't match. It also bares a passing resemblance to the old clock tower on the old courthouse, but again, too different.
I tried looking up schools and churches, and was still unable to find an exact match.
The tall square building looks a lot like the Barclay Hotel. But I see some differences that make me doubt that's what it is.
It also looks a lot like the Cahuenga Building (Hollywood Blvd. and Cahuenga).

I believe it is the Pacific Electric Building on 6th-- so southward looking north the image perhaps originates at 11th//Olympic-----

[Sakhal Nakhash]

Originally Posted by rick m

I believe it is the Pacific Electric Building on 6th-- so southward looking north the image perhaps originates at 11th//Olympic-----

No, it's not the P.E. building. Or, that is to say that I don't think they are the same building.
The top windows are not the same.
On this building, it looks like the top two floor's windows are set into recessed arches. With a wider set in the middle.
It looks a lot like a John Parkinson building to me.

The arches on the P.E. building are only 1 floor, and don't have sets.
Not to mention the number of windows.

[Lorendoc]

Thanks Sakhal Nakhash, rick_m, and HenryHuntington for your ideas. HH's comment about the route of the Stephenson Ave. line led me to look at the Sanborn of 7th/Grand and vicinity. There was an oddly shaped building which got my curiousity (circled). It is labelled "Simpson's Auditorium":


lapl.org

The LAPL has a picture of this:


lapl.org

...so yay the turret matches. The tallest finial is at the NW corner of the turret, so it appears that the original photo was taken from a vantage point NE of the Auditorium. And so the Coblentz sign probably represented the actual grocery store and not just a billboard. Also the tall windowed building is not the Continental Bldg. because it would be out of frame of the original picture.

[HossC]

So, our mystery building with the arches is the YMCA building at 715 S Hope Street. It was demolished around 1970.


LAPL

[Lorendoc]

Originally Posted by HossC

So, our mystery building with the arches is the YMCA building at 715 S Hope Street. It was demolished around 1970.

Thanks HossC for the YMCA Building. So going back to the original photo:


calisphere.org

...it looks like this is the sw corner of Grand and 7th.

[HossC]

Yes, it's 7th and Grand. The building in the foreground was a post office:

Photograph of an exterior view of the Los Angeles Post office on the southwest corner of Seventh Street and Grand Avenue, 1910-1920. The single-story post office is at center and is made of brick with stone trim. Several pedestrians can be seen on the sidewalk around the building, while bicycles and vendor carts are parked in the unpaved street. Several sets of tracks are visible in the road, and a line of utility poles runs parallel to them on the curb. The post office moved to this location in November 1904 and moved away in September 1910 to Main and Winston Streets. This was the site of a former cable house, and later the site of J. W. Robinson Company Department Store.


USC Digital Library

[Flyingwedge]

That structure was originally built as a cable railroad powerhouse. There is a photo of the building, decorated for opening day,
in the March 1890 edition of The Street Railway Journal.

According to an article in the January 23, 1939, Los Angeles Times, the old cable powerhouse was the main LA post office
for a few years just before the 1910 Federal Building/Post Office opened at the NW corner of Temple and Main.

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by Handsome Stranger

Correct. At one minute 21 seconds one can see the Wilshirmart grocery store (on the right) that stood at the southwest corner of Wilshire and Doheny Drive. At two minutes 20 seconds, the slight bend in the road is at Robertson Blvd.

Fascinating clip. But I find the colorization grotesque and off-putting.[/U] The footage would have a much greater impact without it, in my opinion.

Be careful Stranger, ER posted a very scolding comment to me when I didn't like something on his thread. But usually ER and I are good friends and admire each other's comments.

[Sakhal Nakhash]

lapl.org

What a gorgeous building. I wouldn't have guessed based on it's appearance alone that it was an auditorium. It looks more like a church to me.