noirish Los Angeles

[FredH]

OK - Slightly irrelevant Big Boy facts.




Back in the Cleveland area in the 1960's, the Big Boy restaurants were all owned by the Manners family and called Manner's Big Boys instead of Bob's.

The weird thing about this is that the secret sauce was white colored (mayonnaise based, I think) instead of the reddish colored relish type sauce you get at Bob's out here.

I think the double deckers were about 45 cents.

[oldstuff]

Originally Posted by HenryHuntington

Even though I can't spend more time wrestling the Googlemobile into place to get a clean screenshot, I can vouch that CityBoyDoug is spot on. The photo was taken from the alley behind the Bob's on Riverside Drive, and the ridge contours line up perfectly. Also, we can all do a happy dance that Bob's remains there.

And while I'm here, thanks also to GaylordWilshire for the definitive follow-up on e_r's Limit Heights Buildings post. Hope things are OK with e_r's mom.

That is most positively Bob's in Toluca Lake. The picture is actually taken from Rose Street, which dead ends about 200 feet behind the camera at the 101 freeway. Other places of note are the original IHOP which is now something else but still a restaurant, to the right of the camera, out of view. Directly across Riverside Drive from the IHOP location is what was once Papoo's Hot Dog Show, now Unami Burger. Papoos was a fixture in Burbank for 62 years, closing in 2011.

You can see the top of the CHINA TRADER in the background. Musician/actor Bobby Troup played piano at the China Trader for many years.

Bob's more recently had a drive through window in the back, but they started closing it at 3:00 in the afternoon so I can no longer get a "Big Boy" hamburger fix on my way home from work. BOO

[John Maddox Roberts]

Originally Posted by FredH

OK - Slightly irrelevant Big Boy facts.




Back in the Cleveland area in the 1960's, the Big Boy restaurants were all owned by the Manners family and called Manner's Big Boys instead of Bob's.

The weird thing about this is that the secret sauce was white colored (mayonnaise based, I think) instead of the reddish colored relish type sauce you get at Bob's out here.

I think the double deckers were about 45 cents.

In Texas in the 60s the chain was called Kip's Big Boy. In New Mexico it was Vip's. They all used the fat boy in checkered overalls mascot. I have no idea why the name changes in different locales since they were all clearly of the same chain. The Texas restaurant was famous for its hot fudge sundaes.

[santamonicadesign]

DB Discount Shoe Store at Wilshire and Euclid in Santa Monica went out of business a few months ago and the store remained vacant until this past August when there was suddenly a swarm of workers dismantling the facade. I was walking to the post office across the street when I happened to notice what was suddenly revealed underneath - an old art-deco structure with matching letters advertising something-"mart" furniture. If you look closely, you can see a deco-style curve down from the top to the "n" in furniture.
And then just as quickly as it appeared, it was gone a week later - covered up with a new facade. The google street shot is before the old front was torn down.

[HossC]

It looks like the business at 1234 Wilshire Boulevard, Santa Monica was just called the Mart Furniture Co Of Westchester. My search for pictures continues ...

(If Photobucket ever finish their maintenance, I may even be able to post them!)

[Martin Pal]

We've covered Beverly Park (aka Beverly Park and Playland, Bradley's Beverly Park for Children, Kiddieland and the adjacent Beverly Ponyland) previously, but I don't believe we've seen this photo before.


Photo is from the Water and Power Associates site via the Vintage Los Angeles - Attractions and Amusement Parks Facebook page.

This photo, dated 1970, is looking west from La Cienega Blvd., just south of Beverly Blvd. It's where the Beverly Center is currently located. The Rexall Drugstore sign is at bottom. (Now a CVS.) You can see "Smokey Joe's Cafe" on the bottom right. A note says it had just suffered a fire. You can see the sign for Beverly Park in reverse. A locksmith. An ad for Bobby Darin playing at the Hilton in Las Vegas. The white structure behind the tree at upper-left is an enclosed oil well.

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by oldstuff

That is most positively Bob's Big Boy in Toluca Lake.

I believe I've been there a couple other times, but a friend and I stopped off for lunch there on a Sunday when we were in the valley last fall. It was jam packed with people. This location celebrates their history in there with items and mementos of the past. (Isn't there also a Marie Callendar's restaurant on Riverside Drive?)

Bob got "winded" during a storm in 2014. Although I don't remember having any real storms since 2009, myself.

L.A. Curbed

Originally Posted by oldstuff

Other places of note are the original IHOP which is now something else but still a restaurant, to the right of the camera, out of view. Directly across Riverside Drive from the IHOP location is what was once Papoo's Hot Dog Show, now Unami Burger. Papoos was a fixture in Burbank for 62 years, closing in 2011.

I remember a Papoo's post or two on NLA sometime back. Here's a short video of this area from the 1950's.

A post on the video page offers this info: Comparing to modern maps, it looks like the video starts on Alameda Avenue as it crosses Pass Avenue, travels down Riverside Drive and ends at a red light at Riverside Drive and Mariota Avenue. Very cool.

• Video Link

Another person writes: That IHOP you see on the left across from Bob's was the first International House of pancakes in existence.

Another person mentions seeing Papoo's, but I can't make it out myself.

Some other places I could make out are:

Elliott's Maple Shoppe
Food Giant
Toluca Drugs
Kings Arms (This is a large neon on a shield; not sure if that's what it says.)
Gaby's Coffee House
(a building under construction)
Alphonse's (? - this is the last stop on the video at the left. Not sure it says this, either, but it's what came to mind.)

Anyone make out any other of the neon signs?

Here's a video posted a couple months ago called: "Old-Timers at Bob's Big Boy."

• Video Link

It describes itself as a pilot for "a chat show profiling comedy veterans with in-depth conversations on location at Bob's Big Boy in Burbank, California. Hosted by comedy nerd, Dave Ciaccio."

The first minute has great outdoor shots of Bob's Big Boy and the whole program is all filmed in noirish black and white.

[Martin Pal]

I was trying to look up the location/address of Bob's Big Boy on La Cienega where I'd eaten once, but never went back.

It was too creepy for me to return.

This happened:

Bloodbath at Bob’s Big Boy, Part 1



"It was 2:05 a.m. on Sunday, December 14, 1980, and the Bob’s Big Boy restaurant on La Cienega near Sawyer, just north of the Santa Monica Freeway, was closed for the night. There were still eleven people inside, two customers preparing to leave, and nine employees."

"Two black men entered the restaurant through the front door. The late comers could have been customers who had not realized the restaurant was closed except that each them was brandishing a sawed-off shotgun, and one of them was armed with a revolver."

The eleven people, 9 employees and two customers, were hurdled into the cooler, made to lie down and were all shot.

"The [incident] at Bob’s ended the fourth highest weekend of murder on record in Los Angeles with a total of 32 people slain. It was an appalling statistic. [...] Citizens were terrified, and no wonder."

The story continues in the link. I remember that month. Another incident concerning the slayings mentioned was at another restaurant where several patrons were taken in the back and shot. When the Bob's incident happened people wondered if it was the same perpetrators. People were afraid to go out and eat. Fears multiplied when gunmen entered a restaurant on Melrose and made everyone give them their valuables. Everyone in the restaurant thought they were going to be shot. Turned out these robbers were just capitalizing on the fear to rob the patrons, but were not related to the other crimes.

The rest of the story:

Bloodbath at Bob’s Big Boy, Part 2
Bloodbath at Bob’s Big Boy, Conclusion

On "Yahoo Answers" someone posted the question: "Does anybody remember the Bob's Big Boy massacre in Los Angeles? Can you provide details?"

There are five interesting replies with degrees of separation from the event.

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/i...9121622AAmFfdG

[oldstuff]

[QUOTE=Martin Pal;7602435]I believe I've been there a couple other times, but a friend and I stopped off for lunch there on a Sunday when we were in the valley last fall. It was jam packed with people. This location celebrates their history in there with items and mementos of the past. (Isn't there also a Marie Callendar's restaurant on Riverside Drive?)


There was a Marie Callendars on Riverside on the same side of the street as Papoo's but it has been gone for a couple of years. We once had two in Burbank and one in Glendale but now have to go clear to Sherman Oaks for Marie's pies!!

Bob's is usually a madhouse, especially on Friday nights when they have the car show in the back. Avoid the place then, unless you are one of the car people.

[HossC]

Originally Posted by John Maddox Roberts

In Texas in the 60s the chain was called Kip's Big Boy. In New Mexico it was Vip's. They all used the fat boy in checkered overalls mascot. I have no idea why the name changes in different locales since they were all clearly of the same chain. The Texas restaurant was famous for its hot fudge sundaes.

Looking at the Wikipedia page for Big Boy Restaurants, there were many other logos used.


Wikipedia

The "fat boy in checkered overalls" also changed over the years.


Wikipedia

[oldstuff]

Some other places I could make out are:

Elliott's Maple Shoppe
Food Giant
Toluca Drugs
Kings Arms (This is a large neon on a shield; not sure if that's what it says.)
Gary's Coffee House
(a building under construction)
Alphonse's (? - this is the last stop on the video at the left. Not sure it says this, either, but it's what came to mind.)

Anyone make out any other of the neon signs?

The one that you have as Gary's Coffee house was actually Gaby's. I remember going there often as a child. It has since turned to Paty's but is essentially the same.

The Marie Callendar's also mentioned previously has been torn down and replaced by a bank. Personally I liked pie better.

The pharmacy is now also a bank.


Here's a video posted a couple months ago called: "Old-Timers at Bob's Big Boy."

• Video Link

[HossC]

Thanks for all the follow-ups on Bob's Big Boy. Without an address, I wasn't able verify the photo I posted. Does anyone have a picture of Bob's Big Boy in Pasadena?


---------------


Another single image from Julius Shulman today. This is "Job 247: Stiles Oliver Clements, Avon Cosmetics (Pasadena, Calif.), 1948".



Getty Research Institute

A quick search of NLA found this postcard posted by e_r back in 2013. I'm not sure if the question at the bottom was ever answered.

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I actually like this mid-century modern (international style?) AVON building in Pasadena.


http://www.cardcow.com/search4.php?s...avon&x=30&y=20


reverse

The trouble is, there's NO address. I really want to see if it has survived or how it looks today if it has survived.

Can anyone help with an address?

I can reveal that the building has survived (at least some of it), and it's standing at 2940 E Foothill Boulevard, Pasadena. The main part of the building in the foreground looks virtually unchanged, but the portion to the right has definitely been altered. It's also lost the writing on the roof, even though it's listed as Avon's distribution center.


GSV

As you can see from the comparison below, the building came close to being wiped out by the Foothill Freeway. Looking at the 1952 image on the left, I think that the wall projecting into the bottom of the Shulman image belonged to the bridge over Eaton Wash.


Historic Aerials/Google Maps

[BifRayRock]

3257 Wilshire Boulevard. The former Chesterfield Furniture Building had many many owners.[/I]


The relief says "Chesterfield" and Urban Diachrony tells us that the Chesterfield Furniture of NY leased the structure. https://urbandiachrony.wordpress.com...nue-1931-2013/ A June 18, 1929 Permit for Awnings declares the Chesterfield Fur[niture] Co. as "owner." GW, notes that Chesterfield was absorbed by Barker Brothers in 1931. http://wilshireboulevardhouses.blogs...lease-see.html


Have not located a copy of original building permit. Edit: GW noted that the 1928CD contains an erroneous listing for 3257 Wilshire. It should have read "3275." "The" Chesterfield Bldg. is referenced in June '29 building permit as being owned by a Chesterfield Furn Co. A March 1930 permit lists an individual as owner. (Name is virtually illegible.) Barkers was in by '31. By 1935, Barker Bros. was out and replaced by "Interior Decorators Exhibit." Ownership seemed to keep changing every two-three years thereafter. Tecate Imports and Life Insurance Company etc.




As GW, correctly notes, in 1931, the structure was known as the Chesterfield Building, when the Barker Brothers owned it.


1932CD




LACountyPermits


December 1932
http://digitallibrary.californiahistoricalsociety.org/islandora/object/islandora%3A1224?solr_nav[id]=344d99aa607e1a65a285&solr_nav[page]=0&solr_nav[offset]=7


A bus bench that looks more stylish than comfortable.





Need a chef, call Herbinson's





The Barkers appear to be discounting unsold Chesterfield inventory. There does not appear to be any listing for Chesterfield furniture (not Chesterfield Beds). Was Chesterfield's a victim of the '29 crash? Or normal attrition?

Originally Posted by Godzilla

3257 Wilshire - Chesterfield's - is another overlooked gem, destroyed in the early '70s. Many similarities to Bullocks Wilshire down the street. (Brief write up: http://urbandiachrony.wordpress.com/...nue-1931-2013/ ) Interesting how new construction seems to mimic some of the fluted columns found in this and other buildings, notably, Bullock's Wilshire. Curious about the interior.

Originally Posted by HossC

We've seen the subject of this Julius Shulman photoset before. It's referred to here as the Lucien Lelong Building, but you can see its earlier incarnation as Chesterfield's Furniture Company courtesy of Godzilla and BifRayRock in post #19190. This is "Job 11: Spaulding and Rex, Lucien Lelong Building (Los Angeles, Calif.),1947".



On the other side of New Hampshire is the tiled Texaco station which we've also seen before. On the right are the Town House and Bullocks.



The final shot shows the Gaylord just along Wilshire and the Wiltern in the distance.



All from Getty Research Institute

By coincidence, I found that the demo permit is dated exactly 45 years ago today. The Mirae Bank now occupies the northwest corner of Wilshire and New Hampshire.


GSV

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by oldstuff

The one that you have as Gary's Coffee house was actually Gaby's. I remember going there often as a child. It has since turned to Paty's but is essentially the same.

Thanks, OldStuff, I corrected my post!

Originally Posted by oldstuff

The Marie Callendar's also mentioned previously has been torn down and replaced by a bank. Personally I liked pie better.

Oh, I didn't know that.

[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by BifRayRock

[COLOR="Indigo"][SIZE="3"][FONT="Tahoma"]



3257 Wilshire Boulevard. The former Chesterfield Furniture Building, or The L[ouis]. H. Rosenberry Building, or the Barker Brothers' Building?


The relief says "Chesterfield" and Urban Diachrony tells us that the Chesterfield Furniture of NY leased the structure. https://urbandiachrony.wordpress.com...nue-1931-2013/ A June 18, 1929 Permit for Awnings declares the Chesterfield Fur[niture] Co. as "owner." GW, notes that Chesterfield was absorbed by Barker Brothers in 1931. http://wilshireboulevardhouses.blogs...lease-see.html


Have not located a copy of original building permit. In 1928, the building at 3257 Wilshire (temporary or otherwise) apparently bore the name of a banker, LH Rosenberry. Unclear if this is a preexisting structure or "The" Chesterfield Bldg. referenced in June '29 building permit. A March 1930 permit lists an individual as owner. (Name is virtually illegible.) Barkers was in by '31. By 1935, Barker Bros. was out and replaced by "Interior Decorators Exhibit." Ownership seemed to keep changing every two-three years thereafter. Tecate Imports and Life Insurance Company etc.




As GW, correctly notes, in 1931, the structure was known as the Chesterfield Building, when the Barker Brothers owned it.

Phew, that's a lot of pictures to digest all at once, and why all the space before and after?

Anyway, the city directory listing you show for the L H Roseberry Building contains a typo-- it was 3275 Wilshire rather than 3257; this building and the Chesterfield were two entirely different buildings. The Roseberry still stands--its original BP was issued June 29, 1926:

[BifRayRock]

Looking north on Highland (late '40s). Notice Muntz TV, far right. No listing available. Can anyone place the exact address?

W&P


Hollywood High to the left.
GoogleSV



Muntz was a fascinating character. He is alleged to have coined the name "TV." In addition to lending his name to cars, various home electronics and zany sales promotions, he also pushed the envelope for future homes during post-WW2's housing shortage.


1947 - Earl "Madman" Muntz (on right) and model home featured at Wilshire and Highland Exhibit (4950 Wilshire). (Previously featured on NLA.) Muntz's homes were reputed to have used (termite resistant ) aluminum.
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics25/00047260.jpg

See http://laist.com/2009/02/07/laistory...se.php#photo-1







http://www.scripophily.com/webcart/vigs/muntztvvig.jpg





http://www.earlytelevision.org/image...z_17A3A-hd.jpg





Muntz TV in (noirish) Miami FLorida
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/wp-...35206694_n.jpg



Muntz TV commercial. 1952
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0h5z_Fflsbs



Brief Muntz documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69yXg9EkD-g

[BifRayRock]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Scrivner's Drive-In at the corner of Western & Imperial HWY.




http://www.flickr.com/photos/ponyroj...7628243326263/




http://www.flickr.com/photos/ponyroj...7628243326263/

Go for higher ground?

1951 Wilshire and Fairfax [wet] Bus Bench.
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/co...ll44/id/25792/

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by BifRayRock

[COLOR="Indigo"][SIZE="3"][FONT="Tahoma"]

Muntz was a fascinating character. He is alleged to have coined the name "TV." In addition to lending his name to cars, various home electronics and zany sales promotions, he also pushed the envelope for future homes during post-WW2's housing shortage.


1947 - Earl "Madman" Muntz (on right) and model home featured at Wilshire and Highland Exhibit (4950 Wilshire). (Previously featured on NLA.) Muntz's homes were reputed to have used (termite resistant ) aluminum.
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics25/00047260.jpg

See http://laist.com/2009/02/07/laistory...se.php#photo-1

Here's a Muntz car from the 1950s. His car had a very narrow market. He sold about 400 cars total and then folded. It was supposed to be a hot sports car, had a Cadillac engine and cost almost $6000, which was a lot of money in those days.


The wild car had a wet-bar in the backseat. This was before drinking and driving became a rather sensitive subject.
Personal file

[GaylordWilshire]

Previous Madman Muntz:



http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=3088


And this post, with a missing picture of a Scriver's location...maybe someone can find the pic again or another of the location
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=10580

[BifRayRock]

MartinP: Re: Beverly Park, that view is familiar. Or maybe its because Halloween is near that it conjures up visions of ER's "Scary Man" at Beverly Park post. Can't find the source, but I believe Blaster suggested it was Comedian, Stan Ross.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HMTwY50E4B...22.52%2BPM.jpg

Originally Posted by Chuckaluck

8801 Sunset - The building pictured was a Dolores Drive-in Restaurant from the '40s, and later replaced by another restaurant, "Jacks on the Strip" followed by Mad Man Muntz. http://www.wehoville.com/2013/03/27/...-in-the-world/ But prior to that . . . could it have started out as the Moscow Inn? An unsubstantiated rumor.

My attention is drawn to the dark markings on the street at the 8:00 o'clock position on your red dial. Hill side tree shadows seem unlikely. WW: Don't think it's dirty pea gravel!


Edit: just discovered a discussion on the history of the Tower Records Location:



http://www.wehoville.com/wp-content/...5602854_n1.jpg


http://www.wehoville.com/wp-content/...untz-store.jpg

8531 Wilshire - GONE

'78
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00090/00090578.jpg

http://jpg1.lapl.org/00090/00090579.jpg

Before Delores at Le Doux (and Wilshire), there was Carpenters




October 1932
http://digitallibrary.californiahistoricalsociety.org/islandora/object/islandora%3A1096?solr_nav[id]=b1299257cd043ff233c4&solr_nav[page]=0&solr_nav[offset]=2










In the background (east) we see the familiar market at Wilshire and Hamilton

October 1932
http://digitallibrary.californiahistoricalsociety.org/islandora/object/islandora%3A1084?solr_nav[id]=b1299257cd043ff233c4&solr_nav[page]=0&solr_nav[offset]=1



Milk paint - and a clock made out of cottage cheese and buttermilk?









Could one of those derricks (far left) be in the middle of La Cienega?






2016
GoogleSV