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  #4641  
Old Posted Sep 13, 2011, 12:11 PM
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GaylordWilshire GaylordWilshire is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sopas ej View Post
One of the buildings destroyed to build the AT&T building was the old T.W. Mather Company department store building, a local Pasadena department store. You can see part of it here in this 1936 photo, the ornate building left of center:

USC Archive

GREAT survey, sopas. I've forgotten now exactly why I saved these shots from the February 1920 Western Architect. Designed by John Parkinson--





The church behind was apparently either replaced or enlarged.
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  #4642  
Old Posted Sep 13, 2011, 12:13 PM
malumot malumot is offline
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1. Agreed. An epic post, Sopas.

2. Pasadena "redevelopment" - It coulda been worse, I guess.

3. "Building shaving" to accommodate Colorado widening - prior to this board I was unaware of this practice. The Shaving of the Rex (The side of an entire nine-story building!) still stands as one of the most amazing things I've ever run across.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Los Angeles Past View Post
sopas, I have to tell you that I think this is one of the most epic posts in this whole thread. Apparently, a lot of downtown Pasadena was lost to history, too, just like a lot of downtown Los Angeles was. Thank you so much for sharing all those old photos with us. I especially liked that old color image of Bullock's! When I visit the L.A. area again next week, I'm going to make a point of going to see that grand old building again. I don't think I'll go inside, though. I really want to remember it as it was, when I was only a tiny tot...

Thank you again,
-Scott
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  #4643  
Old Posted Sep 13, 2011, 4:15 PM
Fab Fifties Fan Fab Fifties Fan is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Los Angeles Past View Post
What a great story! I mean, like, what happened to you was terrible, awful, traumatic, but it's amazing that you can recall all that happened on that one single day as young as you were (and recalling the exact date, to boot)! Thank you so much for sharing those memories. It's nice to know I'm not alone in remembering Bullock's with such clarity, even though it was more than a half-century ago...

-S
Thanks Scott I probably would have not remebered as much detail as I do if the tale hadn't been retold at every single family function for the ensuing thirtysome years. As the youngest child and only grandson on both sides, my having been a very adventurous and precocious child created many tales for the family to tell. My sister always referred to them as "The never ending adventures of life with Jon Paul"

The immediate family, including my sister, are all gone now, so now I'm actually enjoying being the one telling the stories!!!

Last edited by Fab Fifties Fan; Sep 13, 2011 at 4:31 PM.
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  #4644  
Old Posted Sep 13, 2011, 4:23 PM
transitfan transitfan is offline
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Great Pasadena coverage!

I enjoyed the Colorado/Fair Oaks posts, as that location was my vantage point for viewing 3 of the 4 Rose Parades that I attended during the time that I lived in Southern California. Saw the 1977,1979 and 1991 parades there (the location was by virtue of the fact that I rode the RTD 483 from dontown LA to the parade). The other parade I attended (1989), I caught the 485 instead of the 483, so I watched from Lake/Colorado. Of course nowadays, I would take the Metro Gold Line.

The Bullock's Pasadena posts were also of interest to me, as I worked part-time as a Sales Associate at Bullock's for 2 1/2 years in the 80s (supplementing my somewhat meager income at my full-time job at USC). I did not work at the Pasadena store, but worked for a year at the Del Amo store, then a year and a half at Manhattan Beach. Back then, Bullock's assigned store numbers to each store, one or two digits, which I believe were issued in the order that the stores had originally opened. Pasadena was the lowest numbered store in the chain at the time (store 03) (I suspect store 1 was the downtown L. A. store on 7th St, but it had already closed by the time I started working for Bullock's). Del Amo was store 12 (opened 1966), and Manhattan Beach was store 28 (opened 1982).

Anyway, in the summer of 1986, I was on vacation from my USC job, and at that time, I only worked weekends at Bullocks, so I decided to tour as many of the Bullocks stores in the area as I could. I did not have a car at that time, so I was limited to the ones that I could reach by bus (which surpringsly was most of them). I found the Pasadena store to be quite nice inside.
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  #4645  
Old Posted Sep 13, 2011, 4:30 PM
Fab Fifties Fan Fab Fifties Fan is offline
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Incredible post sopas ej!!! Thank you!

As an adult, Pasadena has always been one of my favorite places in that even though some of its history has been wiped away, so much still remains!

In the mid to late 80's, my other half and I had a dealer space at Holly Street Antique Mall. We would make monthly trips up from San Diego to restock, etc. and would then walk all around downtown looking at the great old buildings. It was very seedy then, but we always had hope that they would be saved and brought back to life.

Its really great that they have been!
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  #4646  
Old Posted Sep 13, 2011, 9:03 PM
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GaylordWilshire GaylordWilshire is offline
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Serious question: In many old directories--1900s and 1910s--an address on some streets with both a North and a South are often given without the directional, even when there were, say, both a 501 North and a 501 South Windsor. It's probably unanswerable, but at what point did the North and South directionals became "standard"? Some streets don't go above 1st Street and therefore technically don't have a "North" but are today in some cases frequently listed as simply (for example) "Lorraine Blvd" , while Victoria, which stops near 9th street at its north end is designated "South Victoria." Who's in charge at the LA dept of streets? Well, now that I've confused myself and gotten into a dither about nothing, I'll shut my mouth and just put up the pictures I intended to post in the first place (old residential LA, my thing):


Thens and nows of the Irwin J. Muma house by Arthur Kelly at 542 S. Windsor:









I'd like to register a complaint. LA homeowners should be required to cut all this vegetation down. It is very annoying to architecture buffs.


First two pics: The Western Architect
Second two: Google Street/Satellite View
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  #4647  
Old Posted Sep 13, 2011, 9:29 PM
JeffDiego JeffDiego is offline
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I know you're half-kidding, Gaylord, but REALLY... such a nice-looking house and only the roof is visible from behind that jungle of overgrown bushes and trees. The owners might as well build a ten-foot wall around it.
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  #4648  
Old Posted Sep 13, 2011, 11:45 PM
MikeD MikeD is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire View Post
Across from Hattie McDaniels's house is the William J. Washburn house at 2200 S Harvard. Here are some thens and nows:


Btw, exteriors of the house at right have been used in numerous movies and tv shows, but this youtube video of Robert
Plant and Alison Krause's "Please Read the Letter" has moody interior shots--worth putting up with the annoying ad.
(I think I might have posted this before, but think it bears repeating.)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3Xi5gvZ7Kk










Which house across the street is Hattie McDaniel's?
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  #4649  
Old Posted Sep 14, 2011, 12:50 AM
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sopas ej sopas ej is offline
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Thanks for the comments! Rereading my post, I see I was kind of redundant with some things--I'll admit, I had a bout of insomnia last night and had half a bottle of wine to help put me to sleep, so I wasn't entirely sober when I posted all of that.

Gaylord, cool picture of the T.W. Mather building. I like!

Edit:

OK after rereading it yet again, I did some editing on my Evolution of Pasadena's Old Town post, taking away some of the redundancy in my statements, and even correcting some captioning on the photos (I had labeled some pics as being "northeast" instead of "northwest." Doh!).
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Last edited by sopas ej; Sep 17, 2011 at 1:55 PM.
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  #4650  
Old Posted Sep 14, 2011, 1:54 AM
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GaylordWilshire GaylordWilshire is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeD View Post
Which house across the street is Hattie McDaniel's?



2203 S Harvard-- Hattie McDaniel was instrumental in helping get restrictive housing covenants banned by the Supreme
Court in 1948. Here's an older post about her house: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=1194

And another: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=3283
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  #4651  
Old Posted Sep 14, 2011, 5:12 AM
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ethereal_reality ethereal_reality is offline
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Sopas_ej....you have outdone yourself with your latest post.
I noticed you positioned yourself atop a building to achieve one of the before/after photos. Did you sneak up there??....was it exciting?

____

I have to say Fab_Fifties_Fan...I thoroughly enjoyed reading about your traumatic day at Bullock's Pasadena.

So was your infamous leash something like this?





This contraption could certainly scar a young lad for life. Kudos to your father for putting his foot down.

________


below: The cosmetic gallery at Bullock's Pasadena, circa 1947.


davethewave





below: The boy's clothing department at Bullock's Pasadena, circa 1947.
Notice the sailor outfits on the rack at lower left.


davethewave



below: Bullock's Pasadena China & Glass Department, circa 1947.


davethewave




below: Bullock's Pasadena dining room, circa 1947.


davethewave





below: Bullock's Pasadena women's casual wear, circa 1947.


davethewave





below: Bullock's Pasadena 1947.


davethewave




below: Bullock's Pasadena with lawn jockys (sp).



davethewave




below: Bullock's Pasadena furniture dept. circa 1947. I'm searching for you Jon Paul.


davethewave





below: A building before it's time. The futuristic (in 1940s terms) Bullock's Pasadena.


davethewave

Last edited by ethereal_reality; Sep 14, 2011 at 5:39 AM.
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  #4652  
Old Posted Sep 14, 2011, 6:01 AM
Dogsbollox Dogsbollox is offline
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Looking for a photo of Simon's Drive-In on Ventura Boulevard

First of all, I'd like to thank everyone for such a wonderful thread.

I am researching for a TV series set in Los Angeles during the 1930's and this forum has been a fountain of inspiration.

I heard that there was a Simon's Drive-In located on Ventura Boulevard near Laurel Canyon.... Does anyone have any info on the exact location and any links to photos?

Thanks in advance.
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  #4653  
Old Posted Sep 14, 2011, 6:28 AM
Fab Fifties Fan Fab Fifties Fan is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ethereal_reality View Post
Sopas_ej....you have outdone yourself with your latest post.
I noticed you positioned yourself atop a building to achieve one of the before/after photos. Did you sneak up there??....was it exciting?

____

I have to say Fab_Fifties_Fan...I thoroughly enjoyed reading about your traumatic day at Bullock's Pasadena.

So was your infamous leash something like this?





This contraption could certainly scar a young lad for life. Kudos to your father for putting his foot down.

________


below: The cosmetic gallery at Bullock's Pasadena, circa 1947.


davethewave





below: The boy's clothing department at Bullock's Pasadena, circa 1947.
Notice the sailor outfits on the rack at lower left.


davethewave



below: Bullock's Pasadena China & Glass Department, circa 1947.


davethewave




below: Bullock's Pasadena dining room, circa 1947.


davethewave





below: Bullock's Pasadena women's casual wear, circa 1947.


davethewave





below: Bullock's Pasadena 1947.


davethewave




below: Bullock's Pasadena with lawn jockys (sp).



davethewave




below: Bullock's Pasadena furniture dept. circa 1947. I'm searching for you Jon Paul.


davethewave





below: A building before it's time. The futuristic (in 1940s terms) Bullock's Pasadena.


davethewave
Many kudos to you ethereal_reality!!

Just returned home from a fabulous evening on the San Diego bay sitting on a friend's yacht, sipping wine and watching Diana Ross in concert (wore my fedora too!). I log on, see your post and I am just cracking up!!!

I must admit that my torture contraption was a bit flashier than that one. Maybe it was just Bullocks vs. Montgomery Wards. Regardless, I am so saving those pictures! I do find the rather banal name of Zip-a-babe, for something so wrong, a bit hysterical.

The various pictures of the Bullocks departments are another memory jogger, especially the Women's, Boy's and Tea Room! I am sure I was drug through all the rest on the way to and from the Ladies Room. I wonder if the lawn jockeys () were still there?

As for the Furniture Department, if it had still been there I am certain I would have chosen that sofa over the orange one, especially with that cocktail table in front of it! That has Jon Paul the Fab Fifties Fan written all over it!!!!

Thanks for the laughs topping off a great evening

Last edited by Fab Fifties Fan; Sep 14, 2011 at 2:45 PM.
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  #4654  
Old Posted Sep 14, 2011, 10:49 AM
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gsjansen gsjansen is offline
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Wow! it's like christmas everyday! the images of north bunker hill keep coming, and they are all amazing. so many buildings i had never seen before!.

north west corner of hope and 1st. 101 n. hope, (or 703 w. 1st depending on which entry you used)


Source: LAPL

looking south west on grand between between 1st and court.


Source: LAPL

looking south across temple street just west of hope street


Source: LAPL

Christina.............
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  #4655  
Old Posted Sep 14, 2011, 1:04 PM
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GaylordWilshire GaylordWilshire is offline
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For some reason I never noticed the Savoy before-- 601 W Sixth



All LAPL
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  #4656  
Old Posted Sep 14, 2011, 4:24 PM
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gsjansen gsjansen is offline
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebboO52In1w
" target="_blank">Video Link
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  #4657  
Old Posted Sep 14, 2011, 5:40 PM
jg6544 jg6544 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ethereal_reality View Post
Sopas_ej....you have outdone yourself with your latest post.
I noticed you positioned yourself atop a building to achieve one of the before/after photos. Did you sneak up there??....was it exciting?

____

I have to say Fab_Fifties_Fan...I thoroughly enjoyed reading about your traumatic day at Bullock's Pasadena.

So was your infamous leash something like this?





This contraption could certainly scar a young lad for life. Kudos to your father for putting his foot down.

________


below: The cosmetic gallery at Bullock's Pasadena, circa 1947.


davethewave





below: The boy's clothing department at Bullock's Pasadena, circa 1947.
Notice the sailor outfits on the rack at lower left.


davethewave



below: Bullock's Pasadena China & Glass Department, circa 1947.


davethewave




below: Bullock's Pasadena dining room, circa 1947.


davethewave





below: Bullock's Pasadena women's casual wear, circa 1947.


davethewave





below: Bullock's Pasadena 1947.


davethewave




below: Bullock's Pasadena with lawn jockys (sp).



davethewave




below: Bullock's Pasadena furniture dept. circa 1947. I'm searching for you Jon Paul.


davethewave





below: A building before it's time. The futuristic (in 1940s terms) Bullock's Pasadena.


davethewave
The pictures of Bullock's Pasadena store are fantastic! Where did you find them? I'm a member of a Flickr group on specialty and department stores and I'd love to see you post them there.
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  #4658  
Old Posted Sep 14, 2011, 7:12 PM
rbpjr rbpjr is offline
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Maybe someone has posted this question before...why are all the pictures in a "set" repeated when someone posts a "quote"...just curious?
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  #4659  
Old Posted Sep 14, 2011, 7:57 PM
Fab Fifties Fan Fab Fifties Fan is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rbpjr View Post
Maybe someone has posted this question before...why are all the pictures in a "set" repeated when someone posts a "quote"...just curious?
Hey rbpjr,

When you do a quote it quotes the entire post, including pictures, but you can remove what you don't want to repeat in the quote. If you do a "quick reply" (far right option), nothing from the post you're quoting repeats.

~F3
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  #4660  
Old Posted Sep 14, 2011, 8:11 PM
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Handsome Stranger Handsome Stranger is offline
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Originally Posted by Dogsbollox View Post
I heard that there was a Simon's Drive-In located on Ventura Boulevard near Laurel Canyon.... Does anyone have any info on the exact location and any links to photos?
I wonder if it could have been another branch of Simon's Sandwiches? Photos of two different Simon's locations have been posted previously in this forum. I don't have time now to locate those posts, and instead of reposting the photos I'll link to copies on Flickr.

One location was at Wilshire and Hoover Street and another was at Wilshire and Fairfax.

An additional view of Simon's Sandwiches at Wilshire and Fairfax can be seen here.

Both buildings on Wilshire appeared nearly identical, so if there were an additional location on Ventura Blvd. I wouldn't be surprised if it looked much the same.

Speaking of Wilshire and Fairfax, here's an odd little anecdote about something that nearly happened in 1951 on the same corner where Simon's once stood. I've transcribed this from an episode of a BBC documentary called The RKO Story: Tales of Hollywood that first aired in 1987. It concerns a promotion for a movie called His Kind of Woman.

MARIO ZAMPARELLI, graphic artist employed by Howard Hughes:

The painting that I did, he just enjoyed very very much. And then one day I was told that a brilliant idea had come up and I asked what this was about. They said, "Well, we're going to do something very special." So at the RKO lot...I didn't see this being constructed, but I saw it being moved at 2:00 in the morning...and this was to a site at the corner of Fairfax and Wilshire Boulevard, directly across from the May Company. There was a large parking lot there and a restaurant which no longer exists. And they put on that corner a huge gilded frame, like a masterpiece if you will. This was all framed, gold-leafed. And the center was going to house my painting, twenty, thirty the size of the original, if not a hundred times the size. It was enormous!

While that was going on, people were passing by, cars were going by and they were monitoring how many vehicles would pass the corner. Mr. Hughes had an idea that to emphasize the concept of the hottest combination ever to hit the screen, that they would have two or three or four large gas jets throw flames up into the air about twenty or thirty feet high. Now everybody thought this was marvelous, and that it would be an exciting event to have this happen. And these gas jets would go up...they would be programmed every so many minutes to flame up.

I was there; I saw all the gas people come and all the pipes were being put up and all the tests being made with short gas jets and all the publicity people were there. While all of that was going on, a phone call came. And it was, "Stop everything."

Well it seemed that there was something on the docket that we were not aware of, it came out in the newspapers later. Some kind of dealings with Hughes and the city fathers. And [we were] advised that they would have been very irate that this was going on, and the possibility that those jets going up into the air were prone for accidents from motorists passing by who wouldn't expect that thing to occur.


And here's the BBC's recreation of what it might have looked like:


[source: BBC]


[source: BBC]


[source: BBC]

Since Johnie's Coffee Shop wasn't built until 1955 (according to the L.A. Times), I wonder if the "restaurant which no longer exists" Zamparelli refers to would have been Simon's?

Last edited by Handsome Stranger; Sep 14, 2011 at 8:21 PM.
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