noirish Los Angeles - Page 669

MichaelRyerson · #**13361** Posted **Mar 17, 2013, 4:27 PM**

Exterior view of the second Los Angeles High School, Fort Moore Hill, Los Angeles, 1908

Photograph of the exterior view of the second Los Angeles High School, Fort Moore Hill, Los Angeles, 1908. The four-story brick building features a square clock tower, steep gables, dormer windows, and arched windows. Two entries are visible in this perspective -- one with a square portico at left and one under an arch at right. Trees sparsely surround the school. A wooden fence separates the school from the empty lot to the left. A large three-story building, Commercial High School, is adjacent to the school. Hill Street runs along the front of the school at right, while utility poles line the street. Three men are conversing on the sidewalk near the clock tower at left. And my favorite street light swings silently above the intersection waiting for twilight.

USC digital archive/Title Insurance and Trust, and C.C. Pierce Photography Collection, 1860-1960

BifRayRock · #**13362** Posted **Mar 17, 2013, 9:20 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

This photo was captioned, "A view of downtown from the Chamber of Commerce 1930."

It doesn't help much, since there have been about 8 different locations for the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce.
I believe the Herald-Examiner Building to the extreme lower right.

usc digital library

I spy a good location for two potential entertainment venues (Mayan & Belasco) next to the parking lot.

CalStLib

The "1930" photo date is probably at least four years late. See above image and http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=13287

BifRayRock · #**13363** Posted **Mar 17, 2013, 9:31 PM**

Fascinating images originally posted by ER and Beaudry, notably containing the "PAN GAS" or "HY DRIL" advertising. http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...&postcount=928

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...&postcount=928

So many details from the above photographs. (Still working on taking best advantage USC's reformat. Time consuming. Enlargements are translating poorly to host site.)

Finkel Arms - 912 S. Figueroa

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/si...23466/rec/2225

USC Digital http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=9393

1941

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/si.../id/1467/rec/5

Don Lee Cadillac

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/si...23466/rec/2225

Pep Boys and Felix Chevrolet had their cartoon representatives. Western Auto Supply had its own: "Saving Sam." Wonder if the character was based upon a real person. Could it have been based on Western Auto's long-time founder and President, George Pepperdine? Doubtful, . . . different hairline (?)

George Pepperdine is also the founder of Pepperdine University, started in 1937. He had a residence on Adams (below). Pepperdine's Western Auto Supply also had many small retail outlets, including the noteworthy example on the Miracle Mile. Wonder if he liked griddle cakes?

1100 Grand Ave - Pre '26.

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/si...id/22360/rec/6

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/si...23466/rec/2225

[/url]http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/co...5/id/933/rec/1

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/co...5/id/933/rec/1

Circa 1929 - Western Auto Supply, Second and C Street, (San Diego - sorry)

http://cdn.calisphere.org/affiliates...i-res/9144.jpg

Circa 1937 - George Pepperdine Mansion, 3320 West Adams Blvd. (Demolished in '50s)

Lapl

BifRayRock · #**13364** Posted **Mar 17, 2013, 9:37 PM**

Circa 1933 - Western Auto Supply on Wilshire and Hauser. 5651 Wilshire. Dig those derricks. Wonder if the exterior was as equally impressive in color? Per GW's previous post, building went through several incarnations and is currently serving pancakes (bottom).

http://catalog.library.ca.gov/F/LJLD...002&format=999

http://catalog.library.ca.gov/F/LJLD...003&format=999

http://skyscraperpage.com/forum/show...postcount=6845

BifRayRock · #**13365** Posted **Mar 17, 2013, 11:06 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

The ghost of Dr. Brinkley... (as I post this, I wonder if we've seen this before...anyway...)

GSV

I became curious about Dr. L. A. Brinkley and his signs...not much turned up on him--but I did find more info on Dr. John R. Brinkley, discovered by BRR in connection with goat-nutter Dr. Wheeler (see prior post here). Here's a bit more of his story, excerpted from Wikipedia (boldface is mine):

"In 1922, Brinkley traveled to Los Angeles at the invitation of Harry Chandler, owner of the Los Angeles Times, who challenged Brinkley to transplant goat testicles into one of his editors. If the operation was a success, Chandler wrote, he would make Brinkley the 'most famous surgeon in America,' and if not then he should consider himself 'damned.' California didn't recognize Brinkley's license to practice medicine from the Eclectic Medical University, but Chandler pulled some strings and got him a 30-day permit. The operation was judged a success, and Brinkley received his promised attention in Chandler's paper, which sent many new customers Brinkley's way, including some Hollywood film stars. Brinkley was so taken with the city—and all the money it represented in the form of potential patients—that he began making plans to relocate his clinic there. But his hopes were dashed when the California medical board denied his application for a permanent license to practice medicine, having found his resume 'riddled with lies and discrepancies'.... Brinkley returned to Kansas.... Brinkley's activities inspired the film industry term 'goat gland' — the grafting of talkie sequences onto silent films to make them marketable."

Gotta love 'ole Harry making one of his editors a guinea pig...

Attention drawn to the street light globe ^^^^^. Possible optical illusion, but it looks unusual.

Flickr

Secondarily, unable to decide which is more disturbing, certain decidedly noirish practices, allegedly performed in the name of medical science - OR another post: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=8017 ?

-

Could they somehow be related?

ProphetM · #**13366** Posted **Mar 18, 2013, 12:15 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality:
This photo was captioned, "A view of downtown from the Chamber of Commerce 1930."

It doesn't help much, since there have been about 8 different locations for the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce.
I believe the Herald-Examiner Building to the extreme lower right.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BifRayRock

I spy a good location for two potential entertainment venues (Mayan & Belasco) next to the parking lot.

CalStLib

The "1930" photo date is probably at least four years late. See above image and http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=13287

They appear to be pictures from virtually the exact same time. Aside from cars I'm having trouble finding any differences at all - the theatre site is in the same condition, including the temporary stuff built at the front of the property to cover the sidewalk. It might even be the same day - even the pattern of open windows on the Examiner building looks the same.

John Drake · #**13367** Posted **Mar 18, 2013, 1:14 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by tovangar2

http://foreignpolicyblogs.com

Necessary to paint the skyline in so one knows it's LA, probably unrecognizable in the unretouched photo. But I'd agree it was seriously inept, but sort of adorably hokey, which is why I picked it.

P.S. What is that pagoda in the middle ground?

Finally one that I can answer!
I'm a long-time lurker here who really appreciates this thread and its many contributors.
The pagoda is Hop Louie's in New Chinatown. This photo was taken on N. Hill street looking North just about where the current Hill St. exit from the southbound 110 descends into Chinatown.

Here is a clearer photo from a recent eBay auction:

belmont bob · #**13368** Posted **Mar 18, 2013, 2:04 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Drake

Finally one that I can answer!
I'm a long-time lurker here who really appreciates this thread and its many contributors.
The pagoda is Hop Louie's in New Chinatown. This photo was taken on N. Hill street looking North just about where the current Hill St. exit from the southbound 110 descends into Chinatown.

Here is a clearer photo from a recent eBay auction:

These photos demonstrate what life was like in the late 40’s and 50’s…. I have clear memories of finishing up gym class and sitting down wheezing for a breath of air other than the smog…do we still have smog today..yeah some, but it’s a breeze of fresh ocean air by comparison. oh, and John your
use of "cleared photo" was not refering to the air...lol

BifRayRock · #**13369** Posted **Mar 18, 2013, 3:24 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ProphetM

They appear to be pictures from virtually the exact same time. Aside from cars I'm having trouble finding any differences at all - the theatre site is in the same condition, including the temporary stuff built at the front of the property to cover the sidewalk. It might even be the same day - even the pattern of open windows on the Examiner building looks the same.

Another minor observation. No trace of any comfort station on a certain traffic island.

Find the nearest saloon? Wait, Prohibition is still in full swing.

This image is also dated 1930, and for obvious reasons, looks the part.

Belasco completed

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/si...id/3790/rec/12

rick m · #**13370** Posted **Mar 18, 2013, 3:28 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by belmont bob

Well we know that the school system had a Polytechnic HS as well as a later Manual Arts HS so I guess it’s not unreasonable to have a commercial HS which just so happens to be built next to the original HS. If memory serves me, Poly was opened around 1905. So a big question would be – when the new LA HS was opened in 1917, did the commercial HS remain open as a HS up into c1925 as the LAPL picture asserts or was it really a predecessor Jr. High to the later Central JHS.
And does anyone know when the tower building was abandoned and eventually raised? Did the district quit using it in 1917 or was it still in use for some other purpose?
There are so many potential questions about the school, but also the site. We have seen many photos were the tower building stands out along with the Normal School, Court House and old City Hall so it was a prominent structure. I don’t know how much this whole subject rises to the level of noirish, but I find it to be an important aspect of the city’s development in particular that of the greater Bunker Hill area.

Following S.F.'s 1906 quake the tower was shortened by more than a third (to roofline height) as was decreed for our students safety- Proquest does have a Times article on structure's final removal and remodeling of the trade school in the 20s. Spence and Fairchild airphotos reveal such changes.

JScott · #**13371** Posted **Mar 18, 2013, 5:21 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BifRayRock

Another minor observation. No trace of any comfort station on a certain traffic island.

The only traffic island I can see here is the one at Broadway Place. The comfort station was at the junction of Spring, Main and 9th, and is obscured in this view.

MichaelRyerson · #**13372** Posted **Mar 18, 2013, 12:07 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by JScott

The only traffic island I can see here is the one at Broadway Place. The comfort station was at the junction of Spring, Main and 9th, and is obscured in this view.

Jesus. I've been looking for it in the wrong place. sometimes, I amaze even me.

MichaelRyerson · #**13373** Posted **Mar 18, 2013, 5:52 PM**

View from the Richfield Tower, Dick Whittington, 1930

A view of the Richfield Tower not frequently seen.

USC digital archive/Dick Whittington Photography Collection, 1924-1987

View from the Richfield Tower, Dick Whittington, 1930 (2)

A man (Dick Whittington?) gazes out at 1930's Los Angeles from atop the Richfield Tower.

USC digital archive/Dick Whittington Photography Collection, 1924-1987

kznyc2k · #**13374** Posted **Mar 18, 2013, 6:58 PM**

Cary Grant's signed slab of concrete from Earl Carroll's old club is up for sale on eBay. Opening bid is a cool $5,000.

Link to eBay auction

Short article over at the Daily Mirror

ethereal_reality · #**13375** Posted **Mar 18, 2013, 9:24 PM**

Here are some earlier posts on the J.W. Robinson House and our initial confusion about Teed Street (including old MAPS)

ethereal_reality · #**13376** Posted **Mar 18, 2013, 10:01 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichaelRyerson

View from the Richfield Tower, Dick Whittington, 1930

A view of the Richfield Tower not frequently seen.

USC digital archive/Dick Whittington Photography Collection, 1924-1987

A M A Z I N G ! thanks for posting MichaelRyerson

MichaelRyerson · #**13377** Posted **Mar 18, 2013, 10:37 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Here are some earlier posts on the J.W. Robinson House and our initial confusion about Teed Street (including old MAPS)

Not to put too fine a point on it but reviewing all of these old posts what had escaped us, I think, was that Teed Street never actually existed beyond the map entries. Try as we might, we have yet to come up with a clear picture of Teed Street in the flesh. Just lines on a map or the graphic illustration of the birdseye maps. Even the Robinson mansion was ultimately given a N. Hill Street address as was the Villa Cabrini, Regina Coeli orphanage. As an aside, someone, rickm, I think, mentioned the other day that the Robinson mansion was torn down to make way for the orphanage but strictly speaking that isn't right. Here's a picture taken from the south side of Sunset showing both the ginger-bread of the Robinson mansion and the brick of the Villa Cabrini.

412sunset-1920 (2)

Photograph of a dilapidated adobe built by Francisco Manza on the west side at the north end of the Broadway Tunnel, Los Angeles, 1920. A collapsing picket fence leans in towards the property of the adobe at the right, leading to the main house which is partially obscured by a hill in the foreground. The adobes have plank veneers along their walls, and the adobe at the far left has a wash basin attached to its side. Several metal poles, which appear to be supports for unused clotheslines, hang in towards the adobes. In the background, telephone poles and across Sunset Boulevard up on the hill can be seen what's left of the J.W. Robinson mansion and just behind it the Villa Cabrini orphanage.

USC digital archive/California Historical Society Collection, 1860-1960/Title Insurance and Trust, and C.C. Pierce Photography Collection, 1860-1960

And, while we're at it, does anyone know what, if anything, the hill upon which the Robinson mansion was built was called? Did it have a name? Presumably Fort Moore Hill did not extend above Sunset. Any guesses? Suggestions for source material? Also, yesterday I ran across a reference to a Sugarloaf Hill. Any guesses on that?

ethereal_reality · #**13378** Posted **Mar 18, 2013, 11:06 PM**

slide, circa 1954 -ebay

pool/1954 -ebay

It's still there....pretty much unchanged (except for the shrubbery and trees of course)

gvs

gvs

aerial

google
__

GaylordWilshire · #**13379** Posted **Mar 18, 2013, 11:49 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BifRayRock

Circa 1937 - George Pepperdine Mansion, 3320 West Adams Blvd. (Demolished in '50s)

Lapl

The rags-to-riches-to not exactly rags story of George Pepperdine began in Kansas... the full story of his Los Angeles life is here:
http://adamsboulevardlosangeles.blog...ease-also.html

As it turns out, all of the Pepperdine houses in Los Angeles aside from 3320 West Adams still stand.
UPDATE: A BP for the demolition of 1201 N Las Palmas was issued on Apr 10, 2012

GSV
1201 N Las Palmas (ca. 1916-17) Jan 2011--demolished the next year

GSV
762 N Edgemont (ca. 1918-22)

Pepperdine

Front and rear of 157 N Catalina soon after completion. (Gotta love the gazing ball--it has been replaced with a house, but the two palms remain.) Its lines looks remarkably modern for 1924--the "now" shot reveals a house that could have been built in any recent ordinary SoCal subdivision.

As for 3320 West Adams Boulevard...

LAT July 12, 1908

Here's where I complain about the research in the book Images of America: West Adams (again; see this post). The book describes the house as having been built by the Pepperdines, but, as you can see above, it was built by George F Winter (in 1908), father of the builder of another interesting Winter house, the story of which is here. (Notice that the drawing is by Elmer Grey himself; at the time, before a major street renumbering program by the city, 3320 was numbered 2550.) Images of America: West Adams goes on to describe the tragedy of the "next occupants," the Carl Molines. The Molines were actually living with the Pepperdines at 3320 as employees in 1930 and were, as the book does mention, both were killed by a vehicle just in front of the house.

It wasn't as though George Pepperdine wound up on Skid Row; he died at the commodious 1614 Wellington Road:

GSV

Chuckaluck · #**13380** Posted **Mar 19, 2013, 1:16 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by JScott

The only traffic island I can see here is the one at Broadway Place. The comfort station was at the junction of Spring, Main and 9th, and is obscured in this view.

To some of us, every traffic island is a comfort station in the making!

You are, of course, correct in your observation; however, the prior observation may have been tongue-in-cheek-correct in noting no evidence of any comfort station (even if it would have been in the wrong location!)

I do not believe it has been covered before, but the stretch of Broadway Place near Olympic is apparently no longer a public thoroughfare. A 2010-article addresses this issue. http://blogdowntown.com/2010/08/5567...broadway-place Although your post should dispel further confusion, excepting the Main and 9th island, are there any other triangular-shaped traffic islands in the area? (This could prove helpful to those feeling the need, and prefer avoiding saloons.)

Similarly, are there other confirmed and fully-functional former “comfort stations?” GW’s articles focus on the 9th and Main station, but more were contemplated: “The budget for next year will probably contain an appropriation for moderately-priced comfort stations for various points.” http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show....php?p=6045384

Finally, if I read the 2010-article correctly, the city did not undertake control and maintenance of the subject stretch of Broadway Place until 1919. Could there have been a private-for-hire comfort station there, unknown to the general public? :lol:

BTW, congratulations on your excellent blog! http://losangelespast.blogspot.com/

Circa 1922 - The Case Hotel is under construction and the text describes "a traffic cop stand[ing] on a small 'island' in the middle of the street where Broadway turns slightly westward past Broadway Place." Unfortunately, the image is too small for me to determine whether the traffic cop is on the island to direct traffic or seek comfort.

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics46/00072714.jpg