noirish Los Angeles

[robeach11]

Hoss...
I do believe you've found the Holy Grail.
Can't thank you guys enough.
As soon as I figure out how everything works, I hope to be a valuable contributor to Noirish.

[oldstuff]

Originally Posted by Scott Charles

Aww, the poor little thing!



Many thanks, Hoss!

that area where the little stub of the street is where we discussed some of the original brick paving being located a while back

[Scott Charles]

I’ve always loved this 1937 photo of the intersection of Fig and First:

USC

If you zoom all the way in, you can see Foy’s service station:



Sadly, I think Sam Kee’s is obscured by the hill in the foreground.

[oldstuff]

Originally Posted by Godzilla

As ubiquitous as refrigerators are today, this was not always the case. When first introduced, refrigerators were not the most affordable appliances and often bought on credit. Exactly when they became "affordable" and "mainstream" is blurry, similar to the practical extinction of daily horse and buggy use. Not that I disagree with your guess, but one of the set pieces on the early '50s Honeymooners sitcom was . . . an icebox. This prompted the question of Los Angeles' last commercial ice delivery service. Considering that ice is still commercially available today, albeit in bags, one supposes that there may be an icebox still in use along with a swamp cooler and crystal radio set. Somewhat related, I recall seeing a 1930 advertisement for an apartment that was equipped with a central refrigeration unit and presume that was a "built-in" feature.




Circa 1937
LAPL




LAPL

I have some very nice ice tongs if anyone needs to borrow them!! I used them when I got ice in big blocks for camping and people at the ice dispensing machine marveled at them and asked where they could get some as if they were new and amazing. I told them to try antique stores

[oldstuff]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Thanks for finding the location Orth's Mayflower Warehouse Henry_Huntington and Noir Noir. I really appreciate it.


While snooping around in Pasadena I happened upon two things.



#1 Hub Cap Annie

I spotted this Quonset hut at 1446 E. Walnut St.

I imagine this is one of the hundreds of thousands of surplus Quonsets the government sold after World War II.

The V on front of the Qounset stands for Vapemastaz

GSV

"By the end of WWII, an estimated 150,000 units had been built around the world. Designed to serve 86 official uses, two basic sizes were offered:
the 20 and the 40. The 20 measured twenty feet by forty-eight feet, while the 40 (also called the “Elephant Hut”) stood forty feet wide by one-hundred feet long."
from DAHP



This particular Qounset previously housed Hub Cap Annie.

Here it is in 2009.


gooddayla.blogspot

and again, in 2011.


gsv

I'm snoopy curious, did any of you fine Pasadenians ever buy a hub cap from Annie?



#2 'Ghost Spur'

I couldn't help but notice a distinctive angle running southeast from the Hub Cap Annie Qounset. (it's quite short...pretty much ending at Marion Ave.)


google_earth

Does anyone know if this was, in fact, a rail spur? ...and if it was [a spur], what R.R. used it?

__

It does not appear to have been a spur. there are a number of early 20th century houses on the angled property so it appears that someone bought a funky shaped piece of land which may have previously been farmland and put houses in line with the angle. The houses also may have been there in relation to a farm or ranch. There does not appear have been a creek there, but who knows?

There is a faint line on some maps which follows the line this one and may have been an original boundary of someone's land.

[goodj037]

Originally Posted by oldstuff

It does not appear to have been a spur. there are a number of early 20th century houses on the angled property so it appears that someone bought a funky shaped piece of land which may have previously been farmland and put houses in line with the angle. The houses also may have been there in relation to a farm or ranch. There does not appear have been a creek there, but who knows?

There is a faint line on some maps which follows the line this one and may have been an original boundary of someone's land.

(loooongtime lurker, first time poster)

This was nagging at me so I looked at the 1931 Sanborn Map and it was still just a bunch of funky property lines. I went back to the 1910 map and it appears that there was a dry creek that ran through this area.

picture host
1931 Sanborn Map, LAPL


Not necessarily related, but this is very close to the original main line of the railroad, that later became a spur to service the lumberyards and other businesses in the 1960's after the main line was diverted to the middle of the 210 Freeway. That one definitely left a scar! There is some good info about the spur here http://www.abandonedrails.com/Second_District


Google Maps

[Barstowboy]

The big ice machine: I remember those from when I was a little kid. Now, it's my sick, twisted noirish-nature, but what a great scene for someone to expect a block of ice to slide out and a head or other body part slides out instead!

I'll go take my meds now...

[Scott Charles]

Originally Posted by goodj037

(loooongtime lurker, first time poster)

This was nagging at me so I looked at the 1931 Sanborn Map and it was still just a bunch of funky property lines. I went back to the 1910 map and it appears that there was a dry creek that ran through this area.

1931 Sanborn Map, LAPL

Hello goodj037, and welcome to posting!

If I may ask you a question… is it possible to view the Sanborn maps online?

If I go to the LAPL website here…



… and click on the link above, I get this:



When I click on ENTER, the page just refreshes but never lets me in, no matter how many times I try.

If I try clicking on the link directly from the Research and Homework page, the exact same thing happens.

PS: I know as a fact that the numbers I enter ARE valid, I use my library card on other sections of the LAPL website and it works perfectly.

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by HossC

I think that robeach has the right place, but just made a couple of typos.
21922 S Main Street does have a "rusted and faded" sign, but it's by the parking lot, not on the building.


gsv

Another typo was the name. It was actually Henri's Lariat.

Thank you for the correction Hoss.

I issued myself a demerit.









_

[Scott Charles]

Originally Posted by Godzilla

As ubiquitous as refrigerators are today, this was not always the case. When first introduced, refrigerators were not the most affordable appliances and often bought on credit. Exactly when they became "affordable" and "mainstream" is blurry, similar to the practical extinction of daily horse and buggy use. Not that I disagree with your guess, but one of the set pieces on the early '50s Honeymooners sitcom was . . . an icebox. This prompted the question of Los Angeles' last commercial ice delivery service. Considering that ice is still commercially available today, albeit in bags, one supposes that there may be an icebox still in use along with a swamp cooler and crystal radio set. Somewhat related, I recall seeing a 1930 advertisement for an apartment that was equipped with a central refrigeration unit and presume that was a "built-in" feature.

Circa 1937
LAPL LAPL

The house I live in (built in 1946) still has a swamp cooler. No crystal radio, though.

- - -

There used to be a similar ice dispenser to the one above in my parents’ neighborhood, in nearby Burbank, specifically here (Google Maps).

It was finally removed sometime in the 90s. It was still in use, I’d see people getting ice out of it.

Here’s a photo I took of it, sometime in the mid to late 80s:



I wonder when this one was built. You can’t really tell from the photo, but it was old. Perhaps the 1950s?

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

Well, ER, it seems that Betty Danko lived at 6522 La Mirada all those years, next door to 6526.

I appreciate the correction GW. (not really)

I was going by what I read in the [unreliable] Movieland Directory







Betty Danko as listed in the Los Angeles City Directory. (is this how you found Betty's correct address GW?)







P.S. When Ms. Danko was grievously injured on the 'Wizard of Oz' set you'd think it would have been reported in the local newspapers, especially because
it was the second serious accident! ("She was in the hospital for two weeks and her legs were disfigured & scarred for life.")
I'm curious, has anyone found the Danko incident mentioned in the Los Angeles Times from that time period?
I'm beginning to think MGM covered it up. If I remember correctly, MGM employed a person just for that reason....but I can't think of his name at the moment.
__

[odinthor]

e_r: In re: Betty Danko--Alas, I find nothing in the Los Angeles Times files on Betty Danko and her adventures with The Wizard of Oz. In 1988/1990, an Elizabeth Danko gets some column space; but it is about a furniture manufactury in Maryland. MGM's husher really earned his paycheck!

[ethereal_reality]

Early postcard "Taken in Los Angeles California" (written on reverse)


old file / possibly ebay

This handsome young man is obviously wearing a sailor suit but his hat is civilian, right?
I've been trying figure out a date by the style of his sailor's uniform. (any help would be appreciated)



Addressed to "Pal Andy Bartko, Toledo Ohio" (no postmark)




.

[ethereal_reality]

odinthor, I believe you'll like this post. (although maybe not as much as the previous post )

"Controversial Eucalyptus Tree"



lapl

This massive eucalyptus, pictured in 1928, once grew on Preuss Road near Beverly Hills.

"This magnificent eucalyptus tree estimated at fifty years of age and considered the finest example of its species in the state, stands on Pruess Rd. (Robertson Blvd.), near Beverly Hils. Its owner, Alfred H. Whitworth, has resisted all efforts by real estate interests to have it cut down. Celebrities, like Cecil B. DeMille have offered to purchase it and present it to the city rather than see it cut down."
from lapl

I had no idea Robertson Blvd. used to be called Preuss Road.

__

[Bristolian]

Originally Posted by Scott Charles

The house I live in (built in 1946) still has a swamp cooler. No crystal radio, though.

- - -

There used to be a similar ice dispenser to the one above in my parents’ neighborhood, in nearby Burbank, specifically here (Google Maps).

It was finally removed sometime in the 90s. It was still in use, I’d see people getting ice out of it.

Here’s a photo I took of it, sometime in the mid to late 80s:



I wonder when this one was built. You can’t really tell from the photo, but it was old. Perhaps the 1950s?

There are a couple of ice dispensers still in operation in Gardena.

This coin operated version is on 162nd Street.
GSV

And this full service operation is not too far away on Normandie Ave at 166th Street.
GSV

Is it possible that someone in Gardena is holding out and still using the old ice box?

[ChazFromCali]

Originally Posted by Bristolian

There are a couple of ice dispensers still in operation in Gardena.......

I remember seeing several of those of the type in your first photo in the San Jose, CA area, even into the late 80's. Usually outside a liquor store. I recall one specifically on Tully Ave. on the eastside.

Amazing that some are still in use.

[ProphetM]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Thanks for giving it a shot odinthor. I appreciate it.



Early postcard "Taken in Los Angeles California"


old file / possibly ebay

This handsome young man is obviously wearing a sailor suit but his hat is civilian, right?
I've been trying figure out a date by the style of his sailor's uniform. (any help would be appreciated)


Here's the reverse of the postcard. (so frustrating that there isn't a postmark)



to "Pal Andy Bartko, Toledo Ohio"

_

One way to date postcards such as these is to use the stamp box. The patterns changed over the years and there is some information online about various manufacturers.

https://www.playle.com/realphoto/index.php

It's not complete but it can often give you a decently specific time period. This site has an example PMC stamp box from 1907 that matches your postcard - diamonds in each of the 4 corners of the stamp box.

[ProphetM]

Originally Posted by Bristolian

There are a couple of ice dispensers still in operation in Gardena.

This coin operated version is on 162nd Street.
GSV

That streamline moderne sign proclaiming "Norm's Ice House" is delightful. It's lovelier than it has any right to be.

After cruising by in the Googlemobile, I see that it matches the chiropractor next door.
https://goo.gl/maps/QvhD3dq9wj12

Edit:
AND all the businesses in the strip mall facing Western, that the ice house and chiropractor are behind:
https://goo.gl/maps/2E7WJHAcex22

[ScottyB]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

gsv

I'm snoopy curious, did any of you fine Pasadenians ever buy a hub cap from Annie?




__

Yes, for our '62 Buick Special. Hub Cap Annie was a fixture for so many years.

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Thanks for giving it a shot odinthor. I appreciate it.



Early postcard "Taken in Los Angeles California"


old file / possibly ebay

This handsome young man is obviously wearing a sailor suit but his hat is civilian, right?
I've been trying figure out a date by the style of his sailor's uniform. (any help would be appreciated)


Here's the reverse of the postcard. (so frustrating that there isn't a postmark)



to "Pal Andy Bartko, Toledo Ohio"

_

The style of his tie appears to be pre-WWII. Hair is not regulation and obviously the cap is a wack job. Maybe he's an actor or its for Halloween.