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  #27941  
Old Posted Apr 24, 2015, 5:43 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ethereal_reality View Post

I recently found this in an old file of mine...it appears to me a scene from a movie. (recognize it?)

I have it captioned as "looking down Hill Street toward Fourth."


'mystery' scene

I'm curious about the metal 'gate' in the foreground along the curb (bottom center).
Does anyone know what this might be?
It doesn't help to answer the question, but here's another angle on the Subway Terminal Building. This one is dated 1955. A lot of the signage seems to match the picture above, but instead of a "metal 'gate'", there's a more boxy construction (shoe-shiner or newspaper vendor?). Maybe the 'gate' was just somewhere to place adverts to catch the attention of passengers/workers exiting the building.


Detail of picture in USC Digital Library
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  #27942  
Old Posted Apr 24, 2015, 6:11 PM
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Alameda

Quote:
Originally Posted by ethereal_reality View Post
'mystery' location.


"Steam train going down street in Los Angeles Calif."


eBay

why is this large passenger train going down the street? ...and what street would be?
_
It is Alameda Street (maybe Central Avenue if it had tracks).
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  #27943  
Old Posted Apr 24, 2015, 6:15 PM
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I found this postcard titled "Los Angeles Glittering at Dusk" on eBay last night. We've seen similar views dating back to the opening of City Hall, but I don't recall seeing it at night.


eBay

The picture above gives us a good look at the elevated section of Grand Avenue (don't forget to scroll right). The sides have now been filled in with many buildings, and it's easy to
forget that there's a roadway underneath. The 1982 image below gives a good view along the barrier before construction of California Plaza and the Museum of Contemporary Art.


USC Digital Library
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  #27944  
Old Posted Apr 24, 2015, 6:21 PM
Martin Pal Martin Pal is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ethereal_reality View Post
We can't forget Arch Rock along the coastline north of Santa Monica near Topanga Canyon.
[...]
Today, the Rock Arch site is the location of the Chart House restaurant. (I'm not sure why it says Mastro's Ocean Club on the aerial...recent name change?)


google_earth
__

From a couple posts last August:

Quote:
Originally Posted by FredH View Post
Arch Rock was located at the current site of the Chart House restaurant in Malibu (now closed, I understand).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin Pal View Post
From a January 28 article this year: [2014]

According to [Chart House] employees, the seafood-oriented Mastro's will replace Chart House right by Topanga Canyon, which occupies a print pot of beachfront property. [I'm assuming they mean "prime spot."] Mastro's was just recently acquired by Landry's, which owns Chart House, so this all makes sense. Mastro's Ocean Club Malibu is looking to launch in April.

Another search says that Mastro's Ocean Club opened August 7th. Of this month.[August, 2014]
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  #27945  
Old Posted Apr 24, 2015, 6:29 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ethereal_reality View Post
I recently found this in an old file of mine...it appears to me a scene from a movie. (recognize it?)

I have it captioned as "looking down Hill Street toward Fourth."


'mystery' scene

I'm curious about the metal 'gate' in the foreground along the curb (bottom center).
Does anyone know what this might be?
__
Yep, your caption is right. This is the PE Subway Building on the left with the Wright & Callender Building up ahead behind the .25 cent parking sign. Beyond it is the Black Building (which is white, of course) and across the street we have the Hotel Sherman with the round corner turret which has by this time lost it's top. The temporary metal rail is a feature of downtown in the fifties trying to restrict pedestrian traffic from some potentially unseen hazard. Hard to say what was afoot here although the PE Hill Street Station is directly behind the camera.
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  #27946  
Old Posted Apr 24, 2015, 6:38 PM
Martin Pal Martin Pal is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug View Post
Martin:
I used to know a woman [Joanie] in 1972 who worked at an X-rated photo studio that was located in the Crossroads of the World building on Sunset Blvd.. They took photos of people who were interested in nude modeling and acting in X-rated films. They always gave the patrons wine and then took nude photos of them. They always had an endless supply of male and female models. Its Hollywood so there's no surprise there.

I don't remember the name of the studio but the year was around 1972.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rick m View Post
Look into both : Johnny Johnson - and Tommy Powers Modeling Agencies- LAT articles and Free Press adverts out there--- most notorious---
This is interestng, but if you see the film [Model Shop] this isn't quite the idea of the "shop" in the movie. In the film the patrons come in, select a model and go off to a room and for a period of time can take photos of the model they've selected. (In the film no one is nude, if I recall.) The shop makes money for renting the room, and cameras and film. It's not an agency of any kind. I was wondering if anyone had heard of one of these "Model Shop's" or any such set-ups like this before? In any city. It's quite intriguing.

Of course nowadays it's all selfies!
___

P.S.: I keep forgetting to mention, Don Draper goes to see this movie in one
of last year's Season 7/Part 1, Mad Men episodes.

Last edited by Martin Pal; Apr 24, 2015 at 6:51 PM. Reason: P.S.
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  #27947  
Old Posted Apr 24, 2015, 6:45 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ethereal_reality View Post
'mystery' location.


"Steam train going down street in Los Angeles Calif."


eBay

why is this large passenger train going down the street? ...and what street would be?
_
May be The Lark. This is Alameda between 2nd Street (behind the camera) and 1st Street (up ahead). This little rail cut-out on the left serves the warehouses and is not a street. The train is on SP trackage and likely headed into the Arcade railhead at 4th Street.

Last edited by MichaelRyerson; Apr 24, 2015 at 6:56 PM.
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  #27948  
Old Posted Apr 24, 2015, 6:54 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HossC View Post
It doesn't help to answer the question, but here's another angle on the Subway Terminal Building. This one is dated 1955. A lot of the signage seems to match the picture above, but instead of a "metal 'gate'", there's a more boxy construction (shoe-shiner or newspaper vendor?). Maybe the 'gate' was just somewhere to place adverts to catch the attention of passengers/workers exiting the building.


Detail of picture in USC Digital Library
I think that may be a elevator, with a guy in a white shirt standing on it, in it's up-and-locked position. Just my impression.
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  #27949  
Old Posted Apr 24, 2015, 6:55 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ethereal_reality View Post
I recently found this in an old file of mine...it appears to me a scene from a movie. (recognize it?)

I have it captioned as "looking down Hill Street toward Fourth."


'mystery' scene
__
Per Dear Old Hollywood, this is from a 1954 movie called Down Three Dark Streets. Check the link to see several more location shots from this movie.
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  #27950  
Old Posted Apr 24, 2015, 7:49 PM
tovangar2 tovangar2 is offline
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The Crossroads of the World

Quote:
Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug View Post
I used to know a woman [Joanie] in 1972 who worked at an X-rated photo studio that was located in the Crossroads of the World building on Sunset Blvd.. They took photos of people who were interested in nude modeling and acting in X-rated films. They always gave the patrons wine and then took nude photos of them. They always had an endless supply of male and female models. Its Hollywood so there's no surprise there.

I don't remember the name of the studio but the year was around 1972.



HollywoodLocations

I dunno what was going on in 1972, but Crossroads of the World has a bit of a noiry backstory:

Racketeering crime Boss Charles Crawford, "The Wolf of Spring Street", had many underworld connections. In 1921, he and his associate, Kent Kane Parrot, chose lawyer George Cryer to be candidate for mayor to defeat "reform" incumbent Meredeth Snyder. Parrot ran Cryer's campaign, and, on election, became shadow mayor, giving Crawford's "City Hall Gang" firm control of the city government from 1921 until 1929, with particular control over the LAPD. This politicians/cops/criminals racketeering arrangement was known as "The Combination" and by some as "The System". Business leaders (even those not on the take) and the newspapers enthusiastically supported this because the City Hall Gang gave full rein to the LAPD's vicious "Red Squad", keeping LA union-free.

Eventually, even the newspapers had had enough of graft and corruption and promoted John C Porter, a senior Klan member, for mayor. On Porter's election in 1929 (which didn't slow down the Red Squad one tiny bit), without Parrot's and Cryer's protection and after narrowly escaping conviction in the Julian Oil scandal (the indictment was dismissed at the last minute), Crawford tried to go straight. Charlie opened a real estate office in a bungalow he'd had built in 1924 on Sunset Boulevard (next to Blessed Sacrament RC church) and started a periodical, "Critic of Critics", run by newspaperman Herbert Spencer, to harry his opponents. Charlie also made seeming efforts to act like a family man. Here he is with wife Ella and daughters Joan and Eleanor:

LMB Couture

However, Charlie could not escape his past. In May 1931 Crawford and Spencer were gunned down in the bungalow. David H "Debonair Dave" Clark, prosecutor and candidate for judge confessed to the killings, claiming self-defense. Clark's first trial resulted in a hung jury (the one "Guilty" holdout juror found a bomb on his front lawn the next day). Unsurprisingly, Clark was acquitted of all charges at the retrial, but went downhill from there, killing again.

The scene of the crime (before Crossroads of the World) 6665 Sunset Blvd, circa 1929-1935:

uscdl (detail)

Clark's run for judge was interrupted by his indictment
on double homicide charges:

deranged crimes

It's what sells newspapers:

crossroadsoftheworld

The widows, Ella Crawford and Frances Spencer, at Clark's trial (LAT 8/6/1931):

kcet

Clark and his wife Nancy in court, 1931. She looks like she has her doubts. (Nancy divorced Clark in 1939):

lapl (detail)

Mayor Cryer left office a millionaire, living to 87. He had a massive funeral, his body lying in state in the rotunda of City Hall accompanied by an Honor Guard of LAPD officers.

Kent Kane Parrot died in bed at 73, a rich and unrepentant man.

For more info see here, here, here, here, here and, of course, here


Meanwhile, after the murders (and a disastrous, but brief, second marriage), Crawford's widow, Ella Crawford, left with two young children, needed an income. She invested her extremely ill-gotten inheritance in a shopping center and office complex, the Crossroads of the World, on the site of her husband's murder, hiring architect Robert V Derrah (who concurrently worked on his Coca-Cola building):


onlyinhollywood

Heralding the 29 October 1936 opening:

thecrossroadsoftheworld (previously posted by Martin Pal)

The 57 shops and 36 offices were charming. Alfred Hitchcock and The Screen Actor's Guild moved in. In 1955 the complex was converted to offices only, except for the Sunset Blvd frontage.

Some of the initial shops:

kcet

The complex in 1936 when it opened:

Ella Crawford and an unnamed companion celebrate the opening:




The tower of the First Baptist church in the background:










The tower on the left was the one originally built for Blessed Sacrament. Both the church and tower were later replaced:


Pix above from a total of 19 at the Crossroads of the World site via Jim Heimann (Taschen Publishing is a CotW tenant)

Ella Crawford, her marriages behind her, looking happy at last, in her Crossroads of the World office circa 1935-36:

LMB Couture

Neon close-ups:

experiencingLA (previously posted by Martin Pal)


crossroadsoftheworld


crossroadsoftheworld

The Derrah proposal:

crossroadsoftheworld

As built (the building on the right covers the footprint of the bungalow where the slayings took place):

gsv




Martin Pal's taken us down this road before: http://www.skyscraperpage.com/forum/...ostcount=19705

Last edited by tovangar2; Nov 17, 2015 at 6:48 PM. Reason: add photos
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  #27951  
Old Posted Apr 24, 2015, 8:27 PM
CityBoyDoug CityBoyDoug is offline
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Mystery sidewalk object.

Quote:
Originally Posted by HossC View Post
It doesn't help to answer the question, but here's another angle on the Subway Terminal Building. This one is dated 1955. A lot of the signage seems to match the picture above, but instead of a "metal 'gate'", there's a more boxy construction (shoe-shiner or newspaper vendor?). Maybe the 'gate' was just somewhere to place adverts to catch the attention of passengers/workers exiting the building.


Detail of picture in USC Digital Library
In my enlargement below, we see the sidewalk elevator with the orange arrow at the top. These were rather large and had access to the building's basements.

The object at the bottom with the blue arrow seems to be too small for an elevator. Also see the two boxes on either side.
Is someone selling something? Objects appear to be hanging on the side. I'm not sure what it is. Any ideas?


previous photo enlargement

Tovangar: My mother used to live in the Orphanage next door to Blessed Sacrament Church, on Sunset Blvd.. This is 1930 and the Depression was happening. I think she lived there two years. Her father couldn't pay the fee, so he moved her to Church Home For Children in Glendale [?].

Yes, that Crossroads did have a checkered history.

Last edited by CityBoyDoug; Apr 24, 2015 at 8:38 PM.
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  #27952  
Old Posted Apr 24, 2015, 8:32 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug View Post
In my enlargement below, we see the sidewalk elevator with the orange arrow at the top. These were rather large and had access to the building's basements.

The object at the bottom with the blue arrow seems to be too small for an elevator. Also see the two boxes on either side.
Is someone selling something? Objects appear to be hanging on the side. I'm not sure what it is. Any ideas?


previous photo enlargement
Yep, in your enlargement it looks like a newsstand.
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  #27953  
Old Posted Apr 24, 2015, 9:29 PM
CityBoyDoug CityBoyDoug is offline
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Originally Posted by MichaelRyerson View Post
Yep, in your enlargement it looks like a newsstand.
A newsstand does make sense as there's a lot of sidewalk traffic. The boxes are probably to hold the hot off the press editions.
Thanks...Mike.
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  #27954  
Old Posted Apr 24, 2015, 9:44 PM
Ed Workman Ed Workman is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ethereal_reality View Post
'mystery' location.


"Steam train going down street in Los Angeles Calif."


eBay

why is this large passenger train going down the street? ...and what street would be?
_
The train is headed south on Alameda Street to Central Station. Central replaced the Arcade Depot at substantially the same site in 1915 , in time for Panama Canal opening festivities. In turn Central was replaced by Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal in 1939. It also replaced Santa Fe's La Grande station. Central was also used by Union PAcific , after its Salt LAke depot on the east bank of the LA River burned. Moving the RRs to LAUPT, and thus getting passenger trains off Alameda took years of wrangling and lawsuits. Central Station fronted on Central Avenue and the station grounds extended to Alameda. Look south of 8th ST to find the location on old maps
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  #27955  
Old Posted Apr 24, 2015, 9:49 PM
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I appreciate the extra information Ed_Workman.


Quote:
Originally Posted by MichaelRyerson View Post
The temporary metal rail is a feature of downtown in the fifties trying to restrict pedestrian traffic from some potentially unseen hazard.
Hard to say what was afoot here although the PE Hill Street Station is directly behind the camera.
I didn't know this. Thanks M_R.
__

I looked to see if I could find evidence of that rail spur between 1st and 2nd streets on Alameda....but everything in that vintage photo has disappeared.


google_earth
__

I didn't notice that open elevator in HossC's photograph, until you pointed it out CityBoyDoug.

I had to snicker at the little box with side panels...it looks like someone is setting up a magic show.


Last edited by ethereal_reality; Apr 24, 2015 at 10:37 PM.
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  #27956  
Old Posted Apr 24, 2015, 9:52 PM
Ed Workman Ed Workman is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ethereal_reality View Post
...and here's another.


eBay

This looks like an earlier engine (less streamlined).
_
This is a fantrip on the Pacific Electric, after the wires to San Bernardino were removed. It is headed west, crossing over the Santa Fe tracks .Santa Fe's San Bernardino "B"yard is to the right. The road now goes over the Santa Fe-oops Burlington Northern Santa Fe on an Overpass and the PE and bridge are gone. The Locomotive? UN-streamlined Southern PAcific , probably 4-6-0, from roughly 1910, but I can't read the number.
Mid 1950s

Last edited by Ed Workman; Apr 24, 2015 at 9:56 PM. Reason: forgot location
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  #27957  
Old Posted Apr 24, 2015, 10:09 PM
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Thanks again Ed! I really appreciate the info.

Street scenes from a 1929 tourist photo album. I believe they were all taken in Hollywood.




eBay

Note the interesting diamond-patterned sidewalk......eventually covered up by the Hollywood Walk of Fame.



we get a big thumb in this one.



eBay
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  #27958  
Old Posted Apr 24, 2015, 10:13 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ethereal_reality View Post

I looked to see if I could find evidence of that rail spur between 1st and 2nd streets on Alameda....but everything in that vintage photo has disappeared.


google_earth
I think you can just still make out the route of the rail spur to the west of Central Avenue, even though the building on the corner of 2nd Street wasn't built until sometime after 1994.

Here's the area on the 1921 Baist map. Alameda is the street with "Southern Pacific" written along it. Follow Alameda to the right and that's north on this map.


www.historicmapworks.com

The spur route is still easy to see on this 1948 aerial.


Historic Aerials
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  #27959  
Old Posted Apr 24, 2015, 10:19 PM
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That's great Hoss! -you took my hint.

...and two more from the same photo album.

A fine look at the Roosevelt Hotel and the one-story shops along the south side of Hollywood Boulevard.

scroll right---> to see Grauman's blade sign, circa 1929


eBay






eBay

This looks like lunch hour to me. ( is that Homer Bedloe?)
__

Last edited by ethereal_reality; Apr 24, 2015 at 10:36 PM.
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  #27960  
Old Posted Apr 24, 2015, 10:23 PM
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You previously posted these 1929 images (and one more) in post #17222, e_r. In response to your question about "the diamond shapes in the sidewalk", I posted the picture below.

Quote:
Originally Posted by HossC View Post

The sidewalk is now part of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but I found this picture from around 1934 which shows the diamonds.


USC Digital Library
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