noirish Los Angeles

[srk1941]

The Pasadena Winter Garden was developed by Cliff and Phil Henderson, who built the Pan-Pacific Auditorium too.

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

CityBoyDoug, you just solved a mystery for me!


gsv

I've been wondering what this building used to be; now thanks to CBD I know it was the Pasadena Winter Garden!

I first came across this building a month or so ago while driving the google_mobile; at the time I thought it looked like a Pasadena-version of the Pan-Pacific Auditorium.
(I had planned to post about it and seek additional information)


Here's a closer look at the front entrance. (now fenced off)


gsv




__

[tovangar2]

Why, thank you e_r.

The Mesnager stone barn is a long way up there. The Mesnagers owned a waystation down on Glendale Blvd to rest and water the horses before starting up the hill. Louis Mesnager planted fifty deodar cedar trees (native to India) for shade on the grounds. A few, not lost to the 1933 and 2009 fires, still stand.

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

gsv

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by unihikid

Since we're in Pasadena (and I figured out that I have the photobucket app on my phone, now I can upload more of vintage LA)...Last year I went to a play about Zora Neale Hurston... it was pretty fun ,my friend's mother is a volunteer at the Pasadena Playhouse and she mentioned to the cast that my grandfather was married to Zola for a few years back in the Twenties....

either way I got to meet the cast and even sat next to TV stars of my youth (a few cast members of " It's A Different World"), but on the way to the playhouse we came across this cool building that I thought was an antique store but saw that they sell new furniture, it caught my eye and I snapped a picture of it..when I got home I looked at the pic and was surprised to see the mosaic! anyways I can't think of what street it was on but I know its on the same street as the play house.

[IMG][/IMG]

So which Caddy Dealership was this?

Ah yes, that is the Jacob Maarse Florist on the northwest corner of Green and El Molino. A very shi-shi (chi-chi?) florist, from what I've heard.

It used to be the Don Lee Cadillac/La Salle dealer:

LAPL

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

'mystery' location.

Pea-size hail along Hollywood Boulevard, April 15, 1949.



eBay

Does anyone know what building once housed the Blue Palm Café/Cocktails?
__

According to a CRALA form I discovered, which I believe stands for Community Redevelopment Area Los Angeles, and was filled out by Hollywood Heritage
in September of 1984, the address for the Blue Palm Cafe was 6126 Hollywood Blvd. The building it is located in housed a theatre:

From the report:

Although this theatre has been remodeled, it continues to play a role as part of the
Hollywood Boulevard theatre district. Originally built in 1927 as a legitimate theatre
specializing in musical comedy, the Music Box, as it was known, was owned by the
Beveridge estate, heirs of Daieda Wilcox, wife of Hollywood's founder. When not used
for stage productions, it became a broadcast facility. A tiny restaurant, the Blue Palm
Cafe, occupied the storefront at 6126 during the 40's and 50's, and was a popular tourist
spot. Located just two blocks east of Vine Street, the Music Box was one of 5 significant
legitimate theatres, along with the Palace, Huntington Hartford, and the El Capitan, which
provided theatre goers with Live dramatic productions, and often featuring film stars. These
houses, along with the flamboyant movie palaces of Hollywood Blvd., formed an entertain-
ment district of exceptional quality and diversity in the 1920's, 30's. and 40's. The theatre
district was popular with,tourists and residents alike. Most of the theatres remain today,
although several, like the Pix, have been converted to movie houses.

The report, a pdf file, can be downloaded HERE.

If you do, this info is located on pages 31-32. This report, labeled Part 1, is 125 pages long. I didn't read it all, but it discusses numerous buildings that might
be deemed of historic interest along Hollywood Blvd. and all reports seem to have been written and or filed in the late 70's to early 80's. Many have xeroxed
photos and/or hand drawn map locations attached. Might be worth browsing for some undiscovered information we haven't covered before. Like the "Blue Palm Cafe!"

So, when built, the building housed the Carter DeHaven Music Box Theatre,
named for the father of movie star Gloria De Haven. The report above says it
was built in 1927. The Cinema Treasures website says it had an opening date
of October 20, 1926.

Here it is in 1928.

Bruce Torrence

Looking east.
Bruce Torrence

In 1931. Great roof signage, which I believe says:

Hollywood
Music Box
Revue of Revues
The Pick of the World in Girls

Bruce Torrence

"Women Go On Forever" starring Bessie Barriscale
Bruce Torrence
No word if that's Bessie in the photograph.

It looks like the Blue Palm Cafe would eventually be located on the right side of the building here.

Theatre Entrance:
Bruce Torrence

A couple interiors:
Bruce Torrence

Bruce Torrence

This photo indicates it is a movie scene being filmed in the theatre:
Bruce Torrence

Undated: (Fanni ? - Brice?)

http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/493/photos/23993
"Chicago" was probably referring to the 1926 stage play on which the musical is based. There was also a fantastic
silent film version (1928) that I've seen on screen before. In 1942, another film version starred Ginger Rogers
and was titled Roxie Hart.

This theatre has had a lot of name changes and various uses over the years:
It opened (above) as a legit theatre. In 1936 it became a radio studio theatre.
It returned to a legit theatre in the early 40's and later on reopened as a movie
theatre. It's shown all kinds of films from premieres, to first run to revival. It's
shown x-rated films and spanish language films. It returned as a legit theatre,
again as the Henry Fonda and has since had special performances, been rented
out for various activities and shown live dance concerts.

In 2007, a restoration was begun to bring it back to its 1926 appearance, and it was renamed The Music Box @ Fonda.
In 2010, it reverted back to its original Music Box Theatre name. It was closed suddenly in early-January 2012, but
by April 2014 has since re-opened as the Fonda Theatre.

The names, in order, according to Cinema Treasure, have been:

Carter DeHaven Music Box Theatre
Fox Theatre*
Pix Theatre
Guild Theatre
Henry Fonda Music Box Theatre
The Music Box @ Fonda
Music Box Theatre
Fonda Theatre

*not to be confused with the Fox Theatre at Hollywood Boulevard
and Wilcox Avenue, which was the old Iris Theatre

Information above compiled from Cinema Treasures.

Here are some various other photos of it over the years:

This 1958 LP cover was taken in front of the Music Box.
Image credit Capitol Records.

Footage (0:58) of the Pix Theatre from the 1968 film, "The Kiss Off".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eCK3n7kUbA

1972 Pix Theatre (X-rated "Africa Uncensored" (?) open 'til 4am!)
Bruce Torrence
And a used Fiat dealer next door. too!

[In 1975, "The Pix" was one of the first release theatres for JAWS, 40 years ago, on June 20, 1975.]

The Pix in January, 1983. Great shot of it's colorful neon sign.
Terry Guy/Flickr

1987, as the Henry Fonda Theater.
Bruce Torrence

Now: The Fonda


I originally started out hoping to find another pic or two of the Blue Palm Cafe
and, alas, I did not. (Nor any photos of the theatre with the "Fox" or "Guild" names.)
But to come full circle a bit, look what I noticed in the pic above; this blue sign!


http://gustla.com/wp-content/uploads...epalmsEXT.jpeg

There's another Blue Palm named establishment here! Co-incidence or not?
On their website I emailed them and asked if they'd known another place called
the Blue Palms Cafe was at that address. If they reply I will let you know.

[BDiH]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

I originally started out hoping to find another pic or two of the Blue Palm Cafe
and, alas, I did not. (Nor any photos of the theatre with the "Fox" or "Guild" names.)
But to come full circle a bit, look what I noticed in the pic above; this blue sign!

http://gustla.com/wp-content/uploads...epalmsEXT.jpeg

There's another Blue Palm named establishment here! Co-incidence or not?
On their website I emailed them and asked if they'd known another place called
the Blue Palms Cafe was at that address. If they reply I will let you know.

The more recent Blue Palms was originally on La Cienega and moved to the Henry Fonda location later.

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

On their website I emailed them and asked if they'd known another place called
the Blue Palms Cafe was at that address. If they reply I will let you know.

A few back and forth emails finds that the owner (?) manager (Brian Lenzo)
does know about the Blue Palm Cafe originally at that location. He says he
has pictures of it. They are not online and he doesn't seem to want to go
any further than that.

But...now we know there's some other pictures of it around somewhere.

[tovangar2]

Thanks Martin for the history of the Music Box. I knew it as the Pix. The signage was gorgeous.

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

The Pix in January, 1983. Great shot of it's colorful neon sign.
Terry Guy/Flickr

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

"Women Go On Forever" starring Bessie Barriscale
Bruce Torrence
No word if that's Bessie in the photograph.

Could be Ms Barriscale:

fanpix

Barriscale was at star at Kay-Bee for Thomas Ince in the early days, known for her expressive eyes.

She was a producer as well as an actress: https://wfpp.cdrs.columbia.edu/pione...ie-barriscale/.

Barriscale left films in 1921 and returned to the stage.

Priceless:

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

This photo indicates it is a movie scene being filmed in the theatre:
Bruce Torrence

[Krell58]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Are you thinking of this Krell58?

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=26000


__

Thanks, ER. That was the water tank I was thinking of, but I've seen the boxing photo before, perhaps on the Twitter account called Classic Pics.

[ethereal_reality]

Martin_Pal wrote:
Look what I noticed in the pic above; this blue sign!


http://gustla.com/wp-content/uploads...epalmsEXT.jpeg

There's another Blue Palm named establishment here! Co-incidence or not?

Good sleuthing Martin_Pal. I think that's more than a coincidence.

...but in the vintage photograph (detail below), the Blue Palm Café appears to be on a corner.


detail

So wouldn't it have been located in the building next to the 'Fonda' theater?
(the 'burnt umber-colored' building on the corner)


gsv

but that begs the question; what happened to the second floor!?

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

CityBoyDoug, you just solved a mystery for me!


gsv

I've been wondering what this building used to be; now I know it was the Pasadena Winter Garden!

I first came across this building a month or so ago while driving the google_mobile; at the time I thought it looked like a Pasadena-version of the Pan-Pacific Auditorium.
(I had planned to post about it and seek additional information)
__

Thanks srk 1941 for the history!

That's great ER. We're like one happy family...each helping the other somehow.
After it closed I did notice that the building became not a Post office but a Post Office Sorting Center for a while.

Oh yeah the ice skating day. I had to drive home and change my Levi's for cord pants as those were...excuse me, more acceptable..
I learned ice skating at the University of Illinois, Champaign.
Here I am at in Campus Town - Champaign, Illinois....that's snow still on the ground in April.

[MichaelRyerson]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

No; the Arroyo Seco Parkway crosses the LA River northeast of Chavez Ravine/Elysian Park. The Arroyo Seco is a completely different waterway---a tributary, actually, to the LA River.

Thanks. I'd be embarrassed to tell you what I thought the 'Arroyo Seco' was.

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Good sleuthing Martin_Pal. I think that's more than a coincidence.

...but in the vintage photograph (detail below), the Blue Palm Café appears to be on a corner.


detail

So wouldn't it have been located in the building next to the 'Fonda' theater?

I also enjoyed your post on the Music Box/Pix/Fonda etc. Theater, Martin_Pal, but like e_r, I'm also having trouble with the apparent corner location. The 1956 CD agrees with the 6124 Hollywood Boulevard address, as does a list of 1946 eateries on a Black Dahlia website. The theater is at 6126 Hollywood Boulevard, so the Blue Palm should be on the east side (on the left of pictures looking at the front of the theater). The cafe in e_r's picture has a traffic signal on the right, which must mean it's on an intersection. Even if the cafe was on the corner, the theater should still be visible to its left, but there appears to be a white picket fence to the left of the palm tree.

In the full eBay image (below), it looks like there's an arrowed sign in the top right corner that's pointing to 6064 Hollywood, which would put us east of Gower. On the left is a store selling furs, but in 1949, that doesn't narrow the search much.


eBay

To conclude: I can't find any other Blue Palm Cafes on Hollywood Boulevard, but I'm not convinced that this one was at 6124. The description (below) definitely says it's Hollywood Boulevard.


eBay

This piece about the Blue Palm Cafe from Billboard dates back to October 24, 1942. I can see "Meat Balls" advertised in the original photo, but no mention of dancing or entertainment.


books.google.com

[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

That's great ER. We're like one happy family...each helping the other somehow.
After it closed I did notice that the building became not a Post office but a Post Office Sorting Center for a while.

Oh yeah the ice skating day. I had to drive home and change my Levi's for cord pants as those were...excuse me, more acceptable..
I learned ice skating at the University of Illinois, Champagne.
Here I am at in Campus Town - Champagne, Illinois....that's snow still on the ground in April.

Isn't it Champaign?


Two more shots of the Winter Garden:


Bothsquareone.org



Times Dec 6, 1966

[oldstuff]

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

AmericarTheBeautiful

Pistol street signs always catch my eye, and it's great to find them still in place-- And sometimes you find them together with a newer model.... Mission Hills:

GSV

I also like pistol street signs for another reason: They are two sided with a space in the center which is often inhabited by house sparrows. There is one on the northeast corner of Wilshire and St. Paul, which I walk by every day, and it is always "cheeping" at passersby since there are babies in the nest right now. Not very noirish I know, but...

[ethereal_reality]

Here's an exceptionally good photograph of the Union Station Post Office Annex.



eBay




eBay

Working space is provided for 1,800 people! -the two corner towers rise to 70ft. This building is much larger than I thought

Also..."Three penthouses have been built on the roof." What's that all about?
__

[ethereal_reality]

I just found this in an old file of mine.




Does anyone know, where in highland Park this was located?



old file / eBay (?)

The architecture is highly unusual, especially for an American school; It wouldn't be out of place in the Russian countryside.
__

[GaylordWilshire]

6262 Sunset Blvd, 1960 & today



Vintage Los Angeles-Richard Wojcik/GSV

[ethereal_reality]

I like that 'before & after' GW. So Morgan Camera is still in business?



This is a rather nice look at the giant gas-meter(s) that once stood along the Los Angeles River, downtown.


eBay

and that Santa Fe train engine is pretty cool looking too. The seller thought the slide was taken in the 1950s.

__

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

...but in the vintage photograph (detail below), the Blue Palm Café appears to be on a corner.


detail

E_R and HossC, I too, had the same thoughts as you both, but decided not to mention them in the initial post to see if anyone else might notice and/or have an opinion or that I could come up with something else myself.

My first thought is that the photos I have found, so far, of this building are from the late 20's and early 30's and then, except for the album cover, which doesn't help a great deal, the next ones are from 1968 to present. Except for the initial photo E_R posted, assuming it is the same address, we don't have any photos of the building from the late 30's to the late 60's. The Guild Theater and Fox Theater incarnations, for example. That's 30 years or more. (There's a clue in there somewhere!)

Now, take the following photo I posted and compare it to the one above.

Looking east.


The one thing that matches exactly in both photos is the street lamp in both shape/style and location to the building.

But there are many ponderables.

1.) The second floor has no windows in the 1928 photo. But the front windows in the 1949 photo are very different than the 1928 windows, but remodeling could account for it. In later incarnations there are "no" second story windows at all.

2.) We see there's a parking lot through there. If, for any reason, the building next to it was not there for some period of years and it was a larger parking lot entrance, that might account for a traffic signal there in the 1949 photo. There is just such a situation a few blocks from me on Santa Monica Blvd. at present. (And there was a Fiat car dealership there in the 1972 photo I posted.)

3.) Maybe means nothing, but there are very large trunked palm trees on both sides of the street.

4.) Did the CAFE blade sign use the Music Box blade sign? They're in the same location.

5.) HossC, in your post you wrote: "This piece about the Blue Palm Cafe from Billboard dates back to October 24, 1942. I can see "Meat Balls" advertised in the original photo, but no mention of dancing or entertainment."
In the 1949 photo where you see the two-lighted signal, behind that, painted on the wall of the building, might that say CONTINUOUS ENTERTAINMENT?

6.) If it is Hollywood Blvd. in the 1949 photo, are there P.E. car tracks in the road? I can't tell if they are there or not.

7.) Here's another 1931 photo of the building at an angle, showing the Cafe might have been on the corner of it, the way it's configured and the ample space next to it.

Bruce Torrence

Still questions out there, for sure.

[HossC]

We've seen Wilshire's Miracle Mile many times before, but here's the "Golden Mile".


eBay

If it was still standing when the picture above was taken (it's difficult to tell), I think the Cavalier Hotel would have been between the third and fourth large buildings on the right.


eBay

Here's a better look at the pool.


laist.com

I decided to look at Historic Aerials to see how long the Cavalier Hotel lasted. In 1947, this part of Wilshire was mainly empty lots.


Historic Aerials

Wilshire had filled in considerably by 1952. The Cavalier is the hollow square building just below the center.


Historic Aerials

It's still there in 1972, as its neighbors continue to grow in height.


Historic Aerials

Gone by 1980. It looks like the site was used as a temporary parking lot before the next building went up.


Historic Aerials

Today you'll find the Park Wilshire condos at 10724 Wilshire Boulevard. From what I've found, I think they were built around 1989.


GSV