noirish Los Angeles

[HossC]

Just to lighten the tone, here's a picture that's definitely from Los Angeles (there's even a sign outside the window that says "Los Angeles"!). It's a screengrab from "Weird Al" Yankovic's latest video, "Tacky", a parody of Pharrell's "Happy". The first half of the video was shot in the empty loft space at the top of the Palace Theater on S Broadway. It then progresses down a nice old elevator, through some of the theater, and finally out the stage door at ground level (with several cameos along the way). The loft was apparently used as Maude's studio in "The Big Lebowski", but it's not very often that you get to see places like this with nothing in them.


YouTube

BTW, Pharrell's original video for "Happy" also makes use of many locations around LA.

[Tourmaline]

Originally Posted by Flyingwedge

Posting the photo taken in Florida of a car that looks like a car in a photo taken in Los Angeles is supposed to provoke "further discovery leading to an LA-noir-nexus and an LA-noir image"?

Sorry, but the location of where the Cadillac-La Salle concept car photo was taken was never established. I don't recognize it as being LA, but anything is possible, especially with the palm trees. If the location remained unknown, would that have made the photo more relevant or less objectionable?

Lead to further discovery? In delving into that car's history I discovered that it was part of a traveling show, "Motorama," that visited LA on March 5-13, 1955. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_Motorama One or two of the NLA posters may have even attended that show. There have been many automobile posts on NLA, including those from various Pan Pacific Auto Shows, and, for all I know, the car can be found in one of them, or in an image that has not yet seen the NLA light of day. (See e.g., http://skyscraperpage.com/forum/show...ostcount=19200 ; http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=14185 ; http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/newr...eply&p=5831389 ; http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=21882 Per the LATimes, that car, or a prototype just like it, was reportedly in the process of restoration. http://articles.latimes.com/2010/aug...tcars-20100823

The pictured Motorama concept car was one of Harley Earl's designs or inspired by him. http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1940s-...cept-cars1.htm (Influential Earl grew up in LA, as has been discussed on NLA several times. E.g., http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=21929) Since there was a photo of Don Lee's LA Cadillac/La Salle dealership as part of the same post, it might be argued that the car had something to do with Lee. I just don't know. But since the post also included a picture of the rather futuristic deco Hillcrest Cadillac dealer, the concept car may have represented a mix between the "old" Lee and the "new" Hillcrest. The post began featuring a Moon automobile. It had what looks like a California license tag and a reference to Pasadena on the spare tire cover. The location of the vehicle is assumed to be local, although it may not have been. Moons' connection with LA is unclear and almost as attenuated as a concept car that once visited the city in 1955. We are also informed that Disney owned a similar Moon model and that he advertised it in the LA Times. I find it interesting, but the image of a Moon at an unknown location does not necessarily connect with Disney or LA. Or maybe it does.

I like this thread because I like many aspects of LA's history and growth. I don't follow this thread for the cars, and not all NLA posts interest me nor have I found them all directly relevant to LA. However, occasionally even the less-interesting posts and their "unrelated" content has caused me to turn to a reference I would have otherwise never looked, resulting in more welcome LA information. This is generally a good thing


http://imageshack.us/a/img442/6126/aapanpacificsnap.jpg http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=9876



100 truck caravan.

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

100 truck caravan visits Los Angeles March 5 to 13, 1955.


http://viewlinerltd.blogspot.com/



The 'Golden Sahara' at the 1955 Los Angeles Motorama.


http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Main_Page




Preparing the 'Golden Sahara' for the show. Is that a mini bar?


http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Main_Page



Look at those tail-lights.


http://www.kustomrama.com/index.php?title=Main_Page
__

[pwrof3]

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

When it comes to vanished L.A. neighborhoods, my personal favorite is Berkeley Square, written of here in a number of posts by gsjansen, myself and others. Briefly, Berkeley Square was a private, gated street in the West Adams district approximately parallel to 22nd Street between Western and Gramercy. Successful downtown businessmen, lawyers, doctors, etc, commissioned top architects to build sizeable houses of all sorts of designs. Among the designers were Alfred Rosenheim, Myron Hunt, Elmer Grey, Robert Farquhar, Merl Lee Barker, Arthur B. Benton, and no less than the Greene brothers. It began in 1904, with a few original families remaining until the (very) bitter end ca. 1962, when, after at least a decade of decline, the 10 came through. As these photos reveal, the 10 itself really only took out the houses on north side of the street, although those along the south side went along for the ride into oblivion by being demolished for a school, all this destruction leaving behind only a possible bit of curbing toward the Gramercy end. Pictures of the street and the individual houses are hard to come by. There are a few aerial shots around, but now that I know about historicaerials.com, thanks to Mr Downtown, we can have good side-by-side then-and-later comparisons of Berkeley Square, perhaps even more dramatic than the shots of Bunker Hill below. (I've chosen 1954 and 1972 for comparison because the images are the clearest.)



1954: Berkeley Square is the wide street at center



1954/1972



1972/1954


1972: I am actually amazed to see that the Lee Phillips house at #4 (right center below the ".COM") was still standing in 1972. Phillips was a Los Angeles lawyer who also built the house in Beverly Hills that became Pickfair. Subsequent owners included Haig Marquis Prince, an owner of downtown and Hollywood office buildings whose secretary once slapped him with a paternity suit. The last owner was Bishop "Sweet Daddy" Grace. The picture below is only the tip of an iceberg of amusements when it comes to the bishop--Sister Aimee was a shy nun compared to him. He's worth Googling.


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2597/...d1d12e7bdd.jpg


Top four photos historicaerials.com

I've lived in LA my entire life and yet, I loathe freeways. Especially after I see how they destroyed communities and basically turned LA into a free for all. We would not have the population density problem if it weren't for the freeways. Just my two cents.
And for the record, I only drive on freeways when I have no other choice. Most times I take old highways and scenic routes. Less traffic and much better scenery!

[Albany NY]

Originally Posted by Flyingwedge

This forum is called Noirish Los Angeles. Photos taken in Florida, San Diego, and New York are not germane to what we discuss here.

Dear Flying Wedge,
Perhaps my comments here aren't welcome as I am not from Los Angeles. But the photos of clocks from other parts of the country are interesting to many of us. I, for example, wondered if any street clocks in LA were inspired by the creator's possible exposure to clocks shown in other parts of the country, including the Saratoga Springs clock, which is only 30 miles from me. For your information, Los Angeles is NOT an island unto itself. As a newer city, it's history is made up from the lives and experiences of people from many diverse locations. Some of the people who shaped the look and feel of "Noirish" Los Angeles brought their own history and style with them, whether from New York or Kentucky or Barcelona. As much as I enjoy this forum, I find it exhausting (at times) to read the posts of people who think that they are the only ones allowed to decide the confines of topics. True, some posts are off-topic, but even those posts sometimes shed a new light, or a new point of view, on other, more relevant, posts. My daily struggle with work, heartache, and chemotherapy are all unimportant to anyone else but myself. But I have always found a hour or so of refuge every day in the community which is this forum. In my opinion, EVERYONE'S contribution is important and worthy. OK, so it's not very "noirish" sometimes, so what? If you want to get angry about "off-topic" posts, here's one just for you. Here's a picture of a person dressed like a banana, eating a banana. (But wait....it MIGHT have been shot in LA).

[pwrof3]

Originally Posted by Beaudry

Surf Motel, full-tile showers, vented wall heat, radios.

An update: The Surf Motel (now Beach Plaza Hotel) is not long for this world.
http://www.presstelegram.com/busines...boutique-hotel
It was saved from becoming a boutique monster hotel, but the current owner still plans on demolition this Fall.

[sopas ej]

After many years on the internet going through Los Angeles area historic photos, I knew it was bound to happen: I found an old pic of the street I live on in South Pasadena!

Here it is, circa 1950s:

South Pasadena Public Library

I like the forlorn tricycle.

Back then this would've been a newer neighborhood of South Pas, being that my apartment building was built in 1947-1948. I live in the 2-story complex of buildings on the right.

[ethereal_reality]

Pretty cool find sopas.


As most of you know, I pretty much pulled 'noirish' out of thin air when I named the thread over four years ago.
(the first images I discovered at USC were dark and foreboding....hence noirish)
The thread immediately expanded beyond the smallish niche of noir, and began exploring the general history of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County.

I'm surprised most of you are raking Flyingwedge over the coals for his understandable concern about non L.A. images,
(yet no one took the time to thank him or comment on his immensely interesting post on the Rookwood, Whitmarsh-from a few days ago)
It was one of my favorite recent posts.

I'm curious, what's the consensus here on posting on Orange County (Anaheim, Laguna Beach etc)? -or Ventura County for that matter..
My experience with Los Angeles certainly includes these areas.
Recently I've been tempted to post on Palms Springs because of it's close association with Hollywood stars and the 'Two Hour Rule'.
(see below).


classicdriver.com



classicdriver.com

So what do you think, is Palm Springs fair game?
__

Sad about the demise of the Surf Motel.

[ethereal_reality]

We've seen so many art deco drive-ins they're all jumbled up in my mind. Have we seen this one?

Los Angeles area/no specific address

ebay



detail/there's a portion of a sign visible at right.


__

[ethereal_reality]

-mystery construction, Los Angeles.


ebay


There are some clues to it's location in the upper left corner/here's a detail





nice car

[Tourmaline]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Pretty cool find sopas.


As most of you know, I pretty much pulled 'noirish' out of thin air when I named the thread five years ago.
(the first images I discovered at USC were dark and foreboding)
The thread immediately expanded beyond the smallish niche of noir, and began exploring the general history of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County.

I'm surprised most of you are raking Flyingwedge over the coals for his understandable concern about non L.A. images,
yet no one took the time to thank him or comment on his immensely interesting post on the Rookwood, Whitmarsh, etc. from a few days ago.
It was one of my favorite recent posts.

I'm curious, what's the consensus here on posting on Orange County (Anaheim, Laguna Beach etc)? -or Ventura County for that matter..
My experience with Los Angeles certainly includes these areas.
Recently I've been tempted to post on Palms Springs because of it's close association with Hollywood stars and the Two Hour Rule.

Is Palm Springs fair game?
__

Yes.


I would like to acknowledge publicly FW's scholarly and thoughtful contributions to this thread. Same goes for all of the frequent posters including you and GW, HossC, Albany, CBD and many others - including the poster FW singled out. Most of those posts take considerable thought and effort, even if it is not always evident in the final product. The fact remains that the vast majority of posts still concern LA - even if a few are not based in LA. Taking exception to a handful of images considering the 1000's that are directly on point is trite. As Albany succinctly noted, LA is not an island to itself. A lot of what transpired in LA was inspired by events and people outside of SoCal. For that reason alone, I would err on the side of inclusion rather than exclusion. Since we do not all see things through the same eyes, some of us may find relevance in images that others overlook.


Regarding geographical parameters, I think the thread is fine just the way it is. Let me remind you of a post that provided evidence that until 1889, Orange County was once part of LA County. So, some of those images of Santa Ana and Anaheim are absolutely germane to this thread. Recall the posts about the wooden highway in the desert. My recollection is that some photos did not identify the location although they were most probably the desert east of San Diego. Should those informative and entertaining posts be purged from the thread? What about those images that were erroneously labeled LA but are not? A simple correction should suffice, while leaving the earlier post to set the record straight. Regarding areas north of LA, I would still leave it to the discretion of the poster. Like it or not, many neighboring communities had a commonality of interests with LA. From what I have read, some LA Courts once exercised jurisdiction over Ventura County. Likewise, Mulholland's activities in the Owens Valley and areas southward had a definite impact on LA. What about posts concerning the Eastern Sierra's (e.g., Manzanar), where many LA residents spent time during WW2, or Lone Pine which functioned as a set for countless LA-based film-TV businesses and their LA resident employees? There was a recent post of a California tagged Packard at Boulder Dam, where some of LA's electricity is produced. The photo was evidently related to Earle C. Anthony. Depending upon your point of view, because the iconic image depicts something that occurred in another State its relevance to this thread is questionable.

As Albany noted, some posts concern pioneers who came from outside of LA. Should we place blinders on about where these pioneers came from and what may have influenced them? Or how about LA's influence on the rest of the world? I recently found a post card of a "famous" Brown Derby in Texas. There is little doubt what Wilshire Blvd. was being emulated. I now am guessing it is probably not the proper subject of a post here. Well forgive me for noting the genie may be out of his bottle.


PS. God's speed Albany! Some of us have been there or been there with others similarly situated.



Tyler Texas. Reportedly opened 1935 and closed 1953
http://www.tylertexasonline.com/imag...yler-texas.jpg

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Pretty cool find sopas.


As most of you know, I pretty much pulled 'noirish' out of thin air when I named the thread over four years ago.
(the first images I discovered at USC were dark and foreboding....hence noirish)
The thread immediately expanded beyond the smallish niche of noir, and began exploring the general history of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County.

I'm surprised most of you are raking Flyingwedge over the coals for his understandable concern about non L.A. images,
(yet no one took the time to thank him or comment on his immensely interesting post on the Rookwood, Whitmarsh-from a few days ago)
It was one of my favorite recent posts.

I'm curious, what's the consensus here on posting on Orange County (Anaheim, Laguna Beach etc)? -or Ventura County for that matter..
My experience with Los Angeles certainly includes these areas.
Recently I've been tempted to post on Palms Springs because of it's close association with Hollywood stars and the 'Two Hour Rule'.
(see below).


classicdriver.com



classicdriver.com

So what do you think, is Palm Springs fair game?
__

Sad about the demise of the Surf Motel.

Sure, I think we should include Palm Springs and other areas within a two hour drive of Noirish LA.


personal files

[Wig-Wag]

[QUOTE=ethereal_reality;6656363] Pretty cool find sopas.


As most of you know, I pretty much pulled 'noirish' out of thin air when I named the thread over four years ago.
(the first images I discovered at USC were dark and foreboding....hence noirish)
The thread immediately expanded beyond the smallish niche of noir, and began exploring the general history of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County.

I'm surprised most of you are raking Flyingwedge over the coals for his understandable concern about non L.A. images,
(yet no one took the time to thank him or comment on his immensely interesting post on the Rookwood, Whitmarsh-from a few days ago)
It was one of my favorite recent posts.

I'm curious, what's the consensus here on posting on Orange County (Anaheim, Laguna Beach etc)? -or Ventura County for that matter..
My experience with Los Angeles certainly includes these areas.
Recently I've been tempted to post on Palms Springs because of it's close association with Hollywood stars and the 'Two Hour Rule'.
(see below).

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/imag.../menupop.gif:D
So what do you think, is Palm Springs fair game?

I agree with Tourmaline. Anything within a two hour driving radius. However, that could be problematical if era, automobile year and type and maximum speed, roads and ever increasing roads speeds are taken into account.

Cheers,
Jack

[HossC]

I can understand Flyingwedge's concerns about going off-topic, but don't feel that the infrequent non-LA material gives cause to worry. Personally I think that pictures and posts should be related to Los Angeles (and its environs), but that doesn't exclude outside information. As an example, when we discussed the lost mural in the NBC foyer it was pointed out that Ed Turnbull also painted a mural in the Chrysler Building in NYC - I think that sort of reference is perfectly acceptable. FWIW, when Chuckaluck was asking yesterday if Los Angeles has any clocks embedded in the sidewalk, I couldn't immediately picture what that meant. I found the picture, albeit from NYC, to be very helpful.

I would also like to thank everyone who contributes to NLA. I have read so many interesting posts here, some even on topics which don't particularly interest me! The main strength of this thread lies in the diversity of the people who post here. Different members can tackle the same subject from completely different angles, each bringing something new to the debate. Vive la différence.

[Tourmaline]

Originally Posted by HossC

I can understand Flyingwedge's concerns about going off-topic, but don't feel that the infrequent non-LA material gives cause to worry. Personally I think that pictures and posts should be related to Los Angeles (and its environs), but that doesn't exclude outside information. As an example, when we discussed the lost mural in the NBC foyer it was pointed out that Ed Turnbull also painted a mural in the Chrysler Building in NYC - I think that sort of reference is perfectly acceptable. FWIW, when Chuckaluck was asking yesterday if Los Angeles has any clocks embedded in the sidewalk, I couldn't immediately picture what that meant. I found the picture, albeit from NYC, to be very helpful.

I would also like to thank everyone who contributes to NLA. I have read so many interesting posts here, some even on topics which don't particularly interest me! The main strength of this thread lies in the diversity of the people who post here. Different members can tackle the same subject from completely different angles, each bringing something new to the debate. Vive la différence.

Well said..


A picture is worth how many words?
The clock-in-sidewalk inquiry led me to this interesting primer on LA's "Concrete Parkings." http://articles.latimes.com/1997-02-...s-neighborhood The subject of sidewalk markings has been mentioned before on NLA, but typically, I am unable to locate it.

By 1905, sidewalks were advertised items. The space between your lot and the street was known as 'concrete parkings' and their width often indicated an area's amount of prestige.

Sidewalk construction helped make two of the city's earliest concrete contractors, Daniel Murphy and Carl Leonardt, wealthy men. Both lived in mansions in the upscale--and sidewalk-lined--West Adams district.

Contractors' practice of stamping their names on concrete streets, alleys and sidewalks curbs apparently started in Los Angeles' post-World War I building frenzy.

For most builders, it was free advertising. But imprints were required of contractors handling federal WPA sidewalk projects in the 1930s. That allowed officials to verify their work, according to Les Henderson, a city street engineer.

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...h_I2kof4fNac6A


http://www.seraphicpress.com/wp-cont...dewalk1926.jpg


https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...T2dPgWc7DkI3nN


http://livingnewdeal.berkeley.edu/ln...9-16.14.39.jpg


http://livingnewdeal.berkeley.edu/ln...andBridge3.jpg

[GaylordWilshire]

Don't know if we've seen any of these before, but here are some great random shots from https://twitter.com/lostla01

[jg6544]

[QUOTE=Wig-Wag;6656548]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Pretty cool find sopas.


As most of you know, I pretty much pulled 'noirish' out of thin air when I named the thread over four years ago.
(the first images I discovered at USC were dark and foreboding....hence noirish)
The thread immediately expanded beyond the smallish niche of noir, and began exploring the general history of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County.

I'm surprised most of you are raking Flyingwedge over the coals for his understandable concern about non L.A. images,
(yet no one took the time to thank him or comment on his immensely interesting post on the Rookwood, Whitmarsh-from a few days ago)
It was one of my favorite recent posts.

I'm curious, what's the consensus here on posting on Orange County (Anaheim, Laguna Beach etc)? -or Ventura County for that matter..
My experience with Los Angeles certainly includes these areas.
Recently I've been tempted to post on Palms Springs because of it's close association with Hollywood stars and the 'Two Hour Rule'.
(see below).

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/imag.../menupop.gif:D
So what do you think, is Palm Springs fair game?

I agree with Tourmaline. Anything within a two hour driving radius. However, that could be problematical if era, automobile year and type and maximum speed, roads and ever increasing roads speeds are taken into account.

Cheers,
Jack

Maybe I'm unique, but if I'm not interested in the subject matter of a picture or series of pictures, I just skip over them. I think that, generally speaking, stuff posted here should have an L.A. tie-in, even if it's by way of a comparison with another city, but I don't find pictures of other cities any more irritating than, say, yet another series of posts about monkey island or old Bunker Hill (which should have been torn down by the time it was, IMHO).

[Martin Pal]

nice, GW!

...and jg6544, skip over the next sentence:

To each his own, I guess. No Bunker Hill? No Monkey Island?

As for the topic of seeing any sidewalk clocks in Los Angeles the only one I’ve ever seen is the one on Hollywood Blvd., in front of what used to be Stromberg Jewelers and next door to the Warner Theatre.

Ken McIntyre

Currently:

Dowtowngal

According to an article about this clock, from May of this year, on Only in Hollywood:

The clock is now one of only three remaining street clocks in the Los Angeles area, (the other two, also once advertising jewelry stores, are in Lincoln Heights and Alhambra). It was designated #316 in the list of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments after being nominated by Kris Dennison, a friend of the Stromberg family. At the time, he noted it was enclosed by a metal fence because, “it has been hit by a bus a couple of times.” Although only half of the clock’s neon still shines, and the Stromberg store façade is covered up, we’re glad the clock made it through to remind us of a more elegant time.

[GaylordWilshire]

As you can see, there was a street clock at Seventh & Hope. I thought I'd posted something about it on NLA a few years ago--I have a reference to it in the story of 9 Berkeley Square (http://bit.ly/1ww6kN4) with the information that its works were recently (i.e., ca 2010) sold on Ebay... but I am not near my source materials until after Labor Day, so can't check my notes on it. (Also not finding it in completed Ebay listings.) Maybe someone can dig up some scoop on it in the meantime.

UPDATE:
Just refound this info on the Ebay sale: http://boingboing.net/2010/07/21/eno...tique-tow.html

[Martin Pal]

I knew that the El Capitan Theater on Hollywood Blvd. was a legitimate (stage) theater when it opened in 1926 and turned to showing films as the Paramount Theatre about 1941 when Citizen Kane premiered there. I thought that’s when it was remodeled, but I found that it was still called the El Capitan when Citizen Kane premiered there in 1941 and was remodeled in 1942 in time for the premiere of “Reap the Wild Wind” and that’s when it became the Paramount. (Of course, it was remodeled by Disney and is now the El Capitan once again.)

I can’t say that I’ve ever seen these photos before…don’t believe they’ve been previously posted:

(1942 – the Masonic Temple to the right is where Jimmy Kimmel’s show is currently broadcast from)
all photos H.P./Torrence

An article in Box Office described the remodel:

...the redesign of the front of the theatre is completely spectacular through the application of neon grill fluted fins above a graceful marquee. Unusual attraction boards were provided and the entrance lobby is surrounded by glass cases employing a new method of display. The boxoffice and marble lobby are festooned with growing plants.



A couple interiors:





(1944 – looking toward the Hollywood Hotel at Hollywood & Highland)


(1958)


(1973 – false advertising, “final chapter?”)


(1976 – Hollywood Hotel is long gone. I think the marquee says “All the President’s Men.” You can see “TOFF’S” in the lower right corner.)

[jg6544]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

nice, GW!

...and jg6544, skip over the next sentence:

To each his own, I guess. No Bunker Hill? No Monkey Island?

I think both topics have already been beaten beyond rigor mortis.