noirish Los Angeles

[HossC]

Here are a couple of references to "boat on the roof" from the '80s. It's listed in the Variety Arts Center's 1983 nomination for the National Register of Historic Places:

The rear (east) elevation is a solid concrete wall, broken only at the top story by windows. The most striking feature of the sides is the 52 foot scale model of the Italian luxury liner Contessa di Conte, built by MGM Studios in 1947, which is docked on the roof, visible from the parking lot abutting the north side.

It's also mentioned in this 1987 LAT article. Notice that this time it's referred to as "the USS Variety Club" rather than "Queen minnie":

Through one window loomed a 52-foot scale model of the Italian cruise ship Contessa di Conte, which M.G.M. used in the 1947 movie "Luxury Liner." Larsen bought it at the M.G.M. auction, renamed it the USS Variety Club and had it raised to a dry dock on the building's roof. It is said to be the biggest model ever built and it probably is the world's biggest toy, unless you count Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose as a toy.

[Handsome Stranger]

Here's how the model looked in the 1948 MGM musical Luxury Liner:







I found these images at Modelshipsinthecinema.com. They have an interesting page about the ship.

[Noir_Noir]

Originally Posted by Scott Charles

According to the above image, the building was bought by Paul Sehdeva in 1989. This means that the ship was on the roof from roughly 1971 to 1989 - disappearing nearly 30 years ago.

The text on this link - https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/175186628/ has this on when the ship went skyward -

Los Angeles Times - October 4, 1990 - Page 258

"Every once in awhile, someone asks Milt Larsen about the whereabouts of the Queen Minny. It was Larsen who engineered the hoisting of the 50-foot, 2-ton model of an Italian ocean liner onto the roof of his four-story Variety Arts Center in 1980."

There's also a picture of the hoisting on there if you're signed up.


Here are excerpts of a permit application from 1982 for the model boat as a sign.

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by Handsome Stranger

Here's how the model looked in the 1948 MGM musical Luxury Liner:







I found these images at Modelshipsinthecinema.com. They have an interesting page about the ship.

Let's note that the Art Director of that film was Cedric Gibbons....can't get any more First Class than him for that era.

r

[Flyingwedge]

Originally Posted by riichkay

Thanks for the screen shots, riichkay!


In the screen shot above, the sign for the Strand Coffee Shop is hard to read but is left of center, below the building's blade sign.
The 1926 LACD says the Strand Coffee Shop was at 729 S. Union Avenue.


Here's roughly the same view:



Dec 2017 GSV

[Scott Charles]

It seems that a lot of conflicting information is flying around about this rooftop ship.

The name of the real-life ship the model was based on:

Contessa diConte - according to the poster on bigorangelandmarks.
Countessa DeConte - according to the model's owner Milt Larsen.
Conte di Savioa - according to both posters at modelshipsinthecinema (in Handsome Stranger's post).

I did a Google search for these names. The first two provide zero results, but the third - Conte di Savioa - leads to literally hundreds of photos. As these photos exactly match the model ship on the rooftop in paint scheme, design details, etc, I'm assuming that Conte di Savioa is the correct name - especially since IMDB says that the name Conte di Savioa is momentarily visible on the ship in the movie.

Next, the name of the model:

Queen Minnie - the name of the model according to Milt Larsen (he should know, he named it!).
USS Variety Club - the name of the model according to the LA Times, in HossC’s post.
Queen Minny - the name of the model according to the LA Times, in Noir_Noir's post.

Next, the height of the Variety Arts Building:

four-story - according to the LA Times, in Noir_Noir's post.
6−story - according to Wikipedia.

Finally, the year the ship was installed on the roof:

The sixties - according to owner Milt Larsen.
1971 - according to Big Orange Landmarks.
1980 - according to the LA Times, in Noir_Noir's post.
1982 - according to permit application, in Noir_Noir's post.

[ethereal_reality]

I've never heard of a fireman's "business card."

"LOS ANGELES FIRE DEPARTMENT PHOTO BUSINESS CARD 1910s FIREMAN"


EBAY


it was stuck in a photo album.




225 E. 5th St. is the address of the Engine 23 Firehouse.


GSV

What a mess! Does anyone know what's going on with the building?
_

for search purposes:

J. Bernard
Engine Co. #23 L.A.F.D.
225 E. 5th St.
Los Angeles

[Flyingwedge]

This photo looks west down Beverly Blvd. from Lake St. It's dated c. 1929-37, but I'd narrow it down to c. 1934-35
(I believe that's a '34 Oldsmobile next to the streetcar). Pacific Auto Finishing is at 2217 Beverly:



UCLA/Islandora -- Los Angeles Times Photo Collection


Here is about the same view in January 2017. It's not obvious at first glance, but 2217 Beverly is still standing:



GSV


A closer look at 2217 Beverly; the structural integrity of the east wall seems to be in doubt:



December 2017 GSV


Here's the front:



December 2017 GSV


In this close-up from the c. 1934-35 photo, you can see that only the entrance and the area directly above it
look the same as now. You can also tell where the top of the building got chopped off:





This is the billboard we see part of in the previous shot:





Did you notice the partial view of the large building with PROPH on the side in the upper right corner of the c. 1934-35 photo?
At lower left below there's a sign that says GRACE TABERNACLE, which was just one of the structure's many names:




That building had originally been built by the Church of Philadelphia, which began in Glendale. The church was led by
Gladwyn Nichols, Aimee Semple McPherson's Musical Director (and announcer at her radio station, KFSG). Nichols
left McPherson because he objected to her materialism (e.g., fancy gowns and bobbed hair), and he may not have
believed her story about being kidnapped.


The May 2, 1927, Los Angeles Times says Nichols was dismissed, rather than he resigned:



ProQuest via LAPL


The man himself, Gladwyn Nichols, 1927:



00021679 @ LAPL


Anyway, the "permanent" HQ on West 6th Street announced on May 2 didn't last long. This June 29, 1927, building permit
is for a "platform for church services in a tent" at 123-27-31 N. Lake Street:



LADBS


The building permit for the Church of Philadelphia -- at 127 N. Lake -- appears to be dated May 5, 1928. Many of the
church's neighbors must have been anxious for the construction to be completed:



August 22, 1928, Los Angeles Times @ ProQuest via LAPL


Gladwyn Nichols later returned to McPherson, which may have been the end of the Church of Philadelphia. Its building,
now renumbered 123 N. Lake, went through several names:



December 17, 1932, Los Angeles Times @ ProQuest via LAPL


As previously mentioned, Grace Tabernacle was a name used for a while. I don't know if the building was long
enough to have PROPHETIC LECTURES on its side, but the ad below would explain the PROPH on the side of the
building in the c. 1934-35 photo:



May 5, 1934, Los Angeles Times @ ProQuest via LAPL


By 1936, 123 N. Lake was the Observatory Auditorium, but the next year it was the Beverly Auditorium. By 1950, it
was the Calvary Temple:



1950 Sanborn Map @ ProQuest via LAPL


The c. 1928 church at 123 N. Lake lasted until c. 2003 (below, at center); the 2004 aerial shows an empty lot on the site:



HistoricAerials

[ethereal_reality]

RE: 1908 PHOTOGRAPH ALBUM

Originally Posted by Beaudry

Not cheap, but boy I need that Cumberland pic. The Cumberland, which opened in the spring of '05, is by Marsh & Russell, who designed all the exotic architecture in Venice.

Beaudry, I'm a bit confused. Was the Cumberland initially named the Fairmount?










from the Los Angeles Herald, Oct. 2 1904

_

[Otis Criblecoblis]

Originally Posted by Scott Charles

That's it, Noir_Noir! How on earth did you find it?

The Variety Arts Club was a wonderful place! When I started working Downtown in 1985, I parked at 8th and Flower, and used to hang out at the fourth-floor bar there while I waited for traffic to subside. That floor had a high ceiling--16 to 20 feet high.

I recall having long conversations with a fascinating man, an archivist, from whom I learned a great deal about silent films and the like. Hanging in the bar were many of the signed concrete plaques that once hung on the wall at Earl Carroll's, the famous neon sign may have been there as well, but don't quote me. Adjacent to the bar was an classic nightclub of the type one sees in Thirties films, with tables surrounding a sunken dance floor and a proscenium bandstand.

On the first floor was a theater--about 1000 seats in size, with a balcony--that was quite well-suited to vaudeville, although in those says it was mostly used for rock acts. I saw The Smithereens there during that time.

I never visited the second and third floors; if I recall correctly, they held an archive, a library, and other Variety Arts Club facilities that were for club members only.

It was a marvelous place. I last visited it in about 1994, I think, and I grieved when it closed.

[BillinGlendaleCA]

Originally Posted by Scott Charles

LINK

Small world, I worked with Robert J. Reed(aka Roberto) for about 15 years at ARCO and I think we may have gone to the Variety Arts Club for drinks.

[AlvaroLegido]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

[SIZE="1"]

At last, a credible source to learn where was the top of Bunker Hill. On Olive between Second and Third Streets. I thought previously it was at Hope and Third.

[Beaudry]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

RE: 1908 PHOTOGRAPH ALBUM

Beaudry, I'm a bit confused. Was the Cumberland initially named the Fairmount?




from the Los Angeles Herald, Oct. 2 1904

_

Yes and I'm not sure why it changed—but between October '04 and February '05 it changes names. It was constructed by Elizabeth Gordon (or maybe Mrs C A Richie), to be leased by Mrs D A Ritchie/C A Richie, and perhaps one of them was from NW England and wanted to call it that after their ancestral lands.

Feb 5, 1905 LA Times

[ethereal_reality]

Thanks for the explanation Beaudry.




mystery street & mystery dog, Pasadena California [c.1910]


EBAY



A closer look at the boulevard.


detail

_______







Here are some of the other photographs found in the photograph album.







Touring car.



Is that a huge bulldog next to the lady?






Harvy Fredrichs(?) Eva Vance Ida Roder Roland Hill



San Gabriel Mtns. (hiking guides?)









the hike





Picnic on a hike.



Some very interesting looking people.


All from this 1910 PHOTO ALBUM

_

[ethereal_reality]

I almost forgot this one.

It's dated later than the others. (1918)



May 1918 near Seal Beach

[HossC]

Re: The Cumberland Hotel

The Richeys are listed as running the Cumberland in the 1905 CD. Elizabeth Y Gordon was boarding at 4811 Pasadena Avenue, but no connection to the Cumberland is mentioned.


LAPL

There don't seem to be that many pictures of the Cumberland, although I did find it in this panorama.

Originally Posted by AlvaroLegido

At last, a credible source to learn where was the top of Bunker Hill. On Olive between Second and Third Streets. I thought previously it was at Hope and Third.

So, here's the full image - was it the top of Bunker Hill? I'm afraid it doesn't go further left.


USC Digital Library

The demo permit for 243 S Olive was issued in 1962.

[ethereal_reality]

After all that SEPIA how 'bout some COLOR.



taken out the back window. (mystery car trailing behind)


EBAY

Kodachrome slide [undated]

[HossC]

Looks like a Morris Minor to me. The horizontal slat grille was first fitted in late 1954.

[rick m]

Originally Posted by HossC

Re: The Cumberland Hotel

The Richeys are listed as running the Cumberland in the 1905 CD. Elizabeth Y Gordon was boarding at 4811 Pasadena Avenue, but no connection to the Cumberland is mentioned.


LAPL

There don't seem to be that many pictures of the Cumberland, although I did find it in this panorama.





So, here's the full image - was it the top of Bunker Hill? I'm afraid it doesn't go further left.


USC Digital Library

The demo permit for 243 S Olive was issued in 1962.

But the actual street running as the spine of much of the hill was along Bunker Hill Ave. Certainly not 3rd and Hope which was at a considerable drop below (like the equal to the height of a 10 story building at that intersection!)

[rick m]

!940 aerial here shows the newly constructed/opened Hollywood Library-- AND the actual walled backyard where New Years Eve 1929 Jimmy's hosted it's 300 tuxedoed all male crowd per Harry Hay's reminiscences. (In Stuart Timmon's book on Harry-later founder of Mattachine Society..