noirish Los Angeles

[minkykat]

That on this night, 65 years ago, one of the biggest and most enduring murder mysteries in the city of the fallen angels began. A young woman named Elizabeth Short walked out of the Biltmore Hotel never to be seen alive again.

RIP, Elizabeth.

[3940dxer]

All of these are from the early 1930's.


http://dbase1.lapl.org/images/menus/...ntation_ad.jpg


http://dbase1.lapl.org/images/menus/...ells_front.jpg

http://dbase1.lapl.org/images/menus/...lls_inside.jpg





Salad Beaudry?

http://dbase1.lapl.org/images/menus/...4848-cover.jpg
http://dbase1.lapl.org/images/menus/...5139-front.jpg
http://dbase1.lapl.org/images/menus/...139-inside.jpg


http://dbase1.lapl.org/images/menus/...ingCafe_Ad.jpg

And to close, an anthropomorphic (finally I get to use that word) menu. "Bicarbonate of soda and hot water, free!" I'd love to see a photo of Ken's Kennel. This place seems expensive, though...the Dag-Dog cost more than a 3 course lunch in many sit down restaurants back then. Odd.






http://dbase1.lapl.org/dbtw-wpd/exec...=&MF=&MQ=&TI=0

[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by 3940dxer

http://dbase1.lapl.org/images/menus/...ells_front.jpg

Not only is O'Dells--the building, at least--still there, but it seems to have inspired the Casa de Angeles next door....

Google Street View

Google Street View

Google Street View


I thought we'd had some posts on the Plantation and its connection to Fatty Arbuckle, but I couldn't find any.

Sony Pictures Museum

The club was short-lived...the building is gone (I wonder how long it lasted?). more here: http://laist.com/2009/04/11/laistory...plantation.php


Fishzilla: Welcome to the thread and congratulations on identifying the seal at city hall. Now be sure to send me the receipt from Leon & Eddie's, and I'll direct my banker and great friend Isais Hellman to send you a check.

[3940dxer]

The Odell's sign reminded me of a question I'd often wondered about: what exactly is a "Chili Size" (a term often seen in L.A. chili and burger joints), and where did that phrase come from? http://www.lincolnheightsla.com/bitsnpieces/ seems to have the answer:

"...Ptomaine Tommy's invented the chili size, a burger patty smothered in chili (chili burger), in the 1920s. His real name was Tommy DeForest, and from 1913 to 1958, he was the major-domo of local burgerdom. More than likely, DeForest, who claimed Mae West, Mary Pickford, and Dorothy Lamour as regulars, was the restaurateur who popularized the ladling of a masa-thickened, beanless chili on a burger.

Ptomaine Tommy, once proprietor of the largest and best known chili parlor in the city. Ptomaine Tommy served straight chili and a Southwestern variation, a hamburger smothered with chili. He had two ladles, a large and a small. When a customer ordered straight chili, he got out the large ladle. When he wanted the other, he usually said “Hamburger size.” So Ptomaine Tommy put up one sign that read HAMBURGER SIZE 15¢, and another that read CHILI SIZE 20¢. Other chili joints followed suit and before long chili was known throughout Los Angeles as “size”. They'd say, “Just gimme a bowl of size.”


http://forum.ebaumsworld.com/showthr...=342975&page=2








http://www.lincolnheightsla.com/bitsnpieces/

Now of course, L.A. has loads of burger places called Toms, Tommy's, Tommies, etc. To me the "real deal" joint is "Original Tommy's" at Beverly and Rampart. They never close and I can't resist going there every once in a while. (They actually have TWO stands, one on each side of the parking lot. One of the great things about this place is that the cooks prepare your burger -- exactly the way you want it -- as you order it, and hand it to you the moment you're done speaking!) Tommy's has been there for ages but I've been unable to find any old photos (damn!)

This topic -- old burger joints -- is rife with Noirness and L.A. history, and has only been touched on a few times in our thread. "Dive" (Barfly) bars is another one that's loaded with potential and on my wish list.

[Handsome Stranger]

Looking east along Wilshire Blvd. from the Dominguez-Wilshire Building, 1932.


[source: USC Digital Library]


Looking east along Wilshire Blvd. from the Dominguez-Wilshire Building, 2012.


[source: Handsome Stranger]

[Fab Fifties Fan]

Paulais Hollywood Blvd. 1925

[url]http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/search/controller/view/chs-m30478.html?x=1326316400369[url]


http://dbase1.lapl.org/images/menus/...lais_front.jpg


http://dbase1.lapl.org/images/menus/...is_inside1.jpg

http://dbase1.lapl.org/images/menus/...is_inside2.jpg
[/QUOTE]

~Jon Paul

[Steve Hoffman]

I would really like to know what (on the Paulais menu) is meant by:

Malt Drinks:

Scotch Brew 25 cents
Budweiser 25 cents
East Side 15 cents

Anyone know?

Sounds intriguing..

[GaylordWilshire]

LAPL

Beer, I guess.

[cleats]

Originally Posted by Steve Hoffman

I would really like to know what (on the Paulais menu) is meant by:

Malt Drinks:

Scotch Brew 25 cents
Budweiser 25 cents
East Side 15 cents

Anyone know?

Sounds intriguing..

My Aunt was a waitress at Paulais and met her lousy husband there who was the salad boy...

Eastside Old Tap was an LA institution, surpassing Brew 102 as a local favorite...http://articles.latimes.com/1997/sep/07/local/me-29791
They used to serve it on-tap at the famous Joe Josts in Long Beach in schooners...good beer too Don't know about Scotch Brew

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by cleats

My Aunt was a waitress at Paulais and met her lousy husband there who was the salad boy...

This could be a line from a Raymond Chandler novel.

____

[Steve Hoffman]

Originally Posted by cleats

My Aunt was a waitress at Paulais and met her lousy husband there who was the salad boy...

Eastside Old Tap was an LA institution, surpassing Brew 102 as a local favorite...http://articles.latimes.com/1997/sep/07/local/me-29791
They used to serve it on-tap at the famous Joe Josts in Long Beach in schooners...good beer too Don't know about Scotch Brew

So there was no prohibition at Paulais? I'm corn-fused.. Or is this menu pre 1920?

[Those Who Squirm!]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

I imagine that many of the cities in Europe have essentially stayed the same for a long time, well, in the sense that many buildings were allowed to remain over many centuries, while of course new buildings are also built.

I think Germany is where you see the biggest contrast between America and Europe after the war. While we were decimating and depopulating our downtowns, Germany was rebuilding its Innenstädte which had been devastated during the war. It is true that the modern replacements didn't always have all the architectural and historic charm of what had been destroyed, but even if they were limited to clean, simple, modern lines, the architects created buildings that blend well with what historic structures that did manage to survive the war. And moreover, these spaces were and remain generally inviting for the average person.

[Bilbo]

It is interesting to see some of the old menu's - but what an interesting address - "1815 1/2 Central Avenue" ?

BTW - any menu's from any of Billy Wilkerson's restaurants or cafes ?

Bilbo

[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by Steve Hoffman

So there was no prohibition at Paulais? I'm corn-fused.. Or is this menu pre 1920?

It looks like the Eastside offered at Paulais may have been a near-beer during Prohibition: rustycans.com


LAPL

rustycans.com
Los Angeles Brewing Company (aka Eastside Beverage Co.) 1897-1920; Zesto Beverage Co.
1920-1926; Los Angeles Brewing Company (aka Eastside Brewing, aka Mission Brewing Co.)
1933-1953; Pabst Brewing Company 1953-1979. The original brick buildings were replaced,
probably in in '30s...

Google Street View

Google Street View
Beer was still being made on the site until fairly recently, it seems. Angel City beer is now made here in the Roebling
building on S. Alameda:

Originally Posted by Horthos

Arts District...Angel City Brewery...Corner of Traction Ave. and Rose St.

[Steve Hoffman]

Ah, I see. Near Beer.

Strange thing to serve at a soda fountain!

[cleats]

Originally Posted by Steve Hoffman

So there was no prohibition at Paulais? I'm corn-fused.. Or is this menu pre 1920?

The menu is from 1925 so that is smack dab in the middle of that terrible time.
The Eastside Old Tap in my memory is from the 50's on, at first on the breath of the fathers in my neighborhood and then in the unsteady hands of teenagers in the 60's. This Eastside Old Tap was fully-leaded and pretty good on a hot day. I think they sold it at Wrigley Field also...

[SeanR]

Originally Posted by FredH

James Lileks has posted some pages from a 1941 Los Angeles pamphlet. Here are some apartment addresses. (sorry, no Q to Z)


www.lileks.com


www.lileks.com


www.lileks.com

Here is a nice place:

www.lileks.com

And its still around!

Google Street View

It looks like they "upgraded" at one point to the crappy horizontal-slide single-pane windows in every crappy LA apartment building I've ever lived in.

[ethereal_reality]

Snapshots of the Hagenbeck & Wallace Circus in Los Angeles, circa 1938.


ebay

above: I wonder if this is the same location as the 1929 auto show fire? Also notice the line of elephants on the street.




ebay

above: On the left you can see the poster is advertising the circus in Los Angeles (all you see is eles). Above eles is one-third of a G,TON and STS. I'm drawing blanks for the complete name...is it WASHINGTON something? It's probably something quite obvious and I'll be embarrassed when I learn the answer (from one you sleuths).





ebay

above: After last month's brouhaha over 'race'....I'm not going anywhere near BLACAMAN.







ebay

above: The 'Annex of Oddities'.





ebay






ebay

above: This looks more like the plains of North Dakota....but it was included with this Los Angeles group.







ebay

above: There's Blacaman again.







ebay

above: The Hagenbeck Wallace Advertising Department.
____


The Clyde Beatty Circus in Los Angeles circa 1948 (ten yrs. later than the other snapshots).
Los Angeles is written on the small tent in the center...other information is written on two other larger tents.


ebay

above: This also looks like the same location as the auto show fire.

___

[3940dxer]

Some of my contributions here haven been a little off topic but I think this one is bona fide noir.

Robert Mitchum is well known but I'd hadn't heard of Lila Leeds until digging into this story. She was really something. Before getting into the the meat of this story here she is in her bungalow, at play. (Steve Hoffman, I know you'll be pained by this photo...such a hottie, yet so careless with her records. Wouldn't we love to know the titles?)

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/phot...ystery_pix.jpg

In 1948, Lila paid a $5 fine for stopping traffic. Looks like more than $5 worth of publicity, especially with those rocket breasts!

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/phot..._1208_crop.jpg

The bust. Bob was an early adopter of weed; a huge fan! September 2, 1948.




"An enterprising Mirror photographer took this picture through a window, showing two crime scene investigators at Lila Leeds' home, Jan. 8, 1949."

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/phot...107_police.jpg

"Deputy Marjorie Kellog, left, escorts Lila Leeds and Robert Mitchum to jail after their sentencing to 90 days for marijuana, Feb. 9, 1949."

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/phot...ds_mitchum.jpg

The pot bust was exploited, it spawned a movie and even a live show!

http://thisbookisforyou.blogspot.com...1_archive.html

Robert Mitchum, sentence served, heading home. He quipped that jail was "just like a weekend in Palm Springs…only you meet a better class of people."

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics17/00028131.jpg

Though Mitchum had other run ins with the law, his career prospered.

"Copy of the driver's license of actor Robert Mitchum, who left it with a policeman who cited him for speeding December 2, 1953. Mitchum sped away and later accused the officer of stealing his license. The incident occurred in West Los Angeles."


But in the years to come the years went on, things didn't go well for Lila Leeds.

"Lila Leeds appears with her two unidentified attorneys after being charged in Chicago with soliciting, Jan. 25, 1956. She denied the charges, was convicted and fined $10."


"Lila Leeds in 1961, 13 years later, showing newspaper clippings about her relationsip with Erwin "Bud" Arvey, the son of Illinois Democratic leader Jake Arvey. She was trying to get child support payments from the Erwin Arvey, saying that he was the father of her son."


By 1974, Leeds had become a minister with a Hollywood group called Spiritual Mission, Inc., Laymen's Evangelist or SMILE, which operated a church on Western Avenue. In 1976, she was making personal appearances to promote one of Richard Lamparski's "Whatever Became of..." books. According to imdb, she died in 1999. Apparently, neither The Times nor any other major newspaper published an obituary on her.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thed...?cid=125202120

8443 Ridpath today. "It's so feminine". Photos by me.

[SeanR]

Originally Posted by 3940dxer

OK, how's this for a then and now...

Tiburcio Vasquez was a notorious Mexican bandit who in the mid 1800's had many adventures, robberies, arrests, and escapes all over California. After being caught for caught rustling horses in 1856, he was jailed at San Quentin. After his release he returned to crime in Sonoma County, was arrested yet again in Petaluma, and spent 3 more years in prison.

In 1870 he organized a new bandit gang, was arrested, and then escaped. When California offered a $15,000 reward for his capture he eluded posses and worked his way south towards Los Angeles. He wound up at the house of "Greek George", located just south of the present corner of Kings Road and Santa Monica Blvd. in West Hollywood. On May 14, 1874, he was captured at the house by 6 armed men and taken to City Hall on Spring Street. He was convicted at trial in San Jose and was executed on March 19, 1875 at age 39. Vásquez was asked just before his execution, "Do you believe in an afterlife?" He replied, "I hope so... for then soon I shall see all my old sweethearts again". The only word he spoke on the gallows was "pronto" (quickly).

(In the late 1970's I lived in a penthouse at 1200 N. Flores St., just one short block from where Vasquez was captured. I knew there was plenty of interesting L.A. history just beyond my door -- more on this later -- but never had a clue that a notorious bandit had been caught a hundred years prior, right around the corner!)

The Vasquez hideout (Greek George's house) in West Hollywood is from Remi Nadeau's City-Makers. "Now" is a Google Street View.

Looks like the building survived...