noirish Los Angeles

[ethereal_reality]

'mystery' location

This is from the group of billboard photographs I happened upon in the Duke University archives.(sorry that I've been slow posting them)


Placement Company: Foster & Kleiser

Title: WAR BONDS / "Buy Defense Bonds Stamps"

Company: Citizens National Trust and Savings Bank of Los Angeles

Location: None given



'Two Harry's Cocktail Lounge......very cool....very noirish.



-note the 'Seaside' service station, among other clues---->





I'm pretty sure this guy parked in the alley is delivering ice to 'Two Harry's'.


detail





Can anyone figure out what it says on this old truck?


detail


Go here if you want to explore the photograph for yourself: (you can slide the bar to make it HUGE)
http://library.duke.edu/digitalcolle...hives_AAA8053/

Have fun!
__

[ethereal_reality]

Here's one more (for tonight) wartime billboard from the archive at Duke.


Placement Company: Foster & Kleiser

Title: Build the Cruiser "Los Angeles"--Buy an Extra War Bond in July.

Date: July 1, 1943

Location: Los Angeles
______________________


There's a duplicate 'Cruiser' billboard for Brown's Dept. Store, 824 So. Broadway.
http://library.duke.edu/digitalcolle...hives_AAA6894/
__

[FredH]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

'mystery' location

This is from the group of billboard photographs I happened upon in the Duke University archives.(sorry that I've been slow posting them)


Placement Company: Foster & Kleiser

Title: WAR BONDS / "Buy Defense Bonds Stamps"

Company: Citizens National Trust and Savings Bank of Los Angeles

Location: None given



'Two Harry's Cocktail Lounge......very cool....very noirish.



-note the 'Seaside' service station, among other clues---->





I'm pretty sure this guy parked in the alley is delivering ice to 'Two Harry's'.


detail





Can anyone figure out what it says on this old truck?


detail


Go here if you want to explore the photograph for yourself: (you can slide the bar to make it HUGE)
http://library.duke.edu/digitalcolle...hives_AAA8053/

Have fun!
__

ER - There is a good clue in the photo:




I think I am pointing in the right direction.


Google Street View

Is the Two Harry's building still there?

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I have to confess, I got a little behind with this conversation.

So why isn't 9236 the correct address?

The Sphinx building in the video matched the building in the Chanteclair photograph, right?

And now Hoss' matchbook (which is a very cool find by the way) has the address as 9236 Sunset Blvd.

Is it just because the Chanteclair is missing from the J.H. Graham list?

__

No, E_R, there are several reasons:

--The first is that the photos we have of Chanteclair and the color photo of The Sphinx Club are unmistakably the same building.

--The 9236 Sunset Blvd. address, shown in the photo in my post as Henri's, does not at all look like the Chanteclair and Sphinx Club photos we have that match, specifically because Henri's is set back from the sidewalk. The buildings in the other photos are not.

--Also, in the b&w photo of Chanteclair, the numbers on the awning, which I assume is the address, aren't totally legible, but the second number is definitely a "1" which matches none of the addresses we have so far. [EDIT: Apparently it isn't a "1" -- see HossC's subsequent post locating it at 8572 Sunset Blvd. -- but it sure doesn't look like "5" in that photo to me!]

--Also, there was more than one Sphinx Club. The J.H. Graham article states "In 1940 it [the 9236 Sunset Blvd. address] operated briefly as The Sphinx Club run by George Goldie, a gambler once associated with the Clover Club at 8477 Sunset, which had once been known as The Sphinx Club itself."

--But, the 8477 location also does not match the Chanteclair/Sphinx Club photos, either.

It is interesting, though, that a place we've never heard of before is being found quite a bit mentioned in books and ads and such.

[HossC]

Originally Posted by HossC

The Chanteclair Restaurant was on Sunset Boulevard, although finding an address has proved difficult.

...

I'd nearly given up when I remembered some screengrabs I posted of 1940s restaurants in post #17699. Sadly, the video now appears to be private, so I can't go back for a larger image. Take a look at the Sphinx Club in the top-right - it appears to be the same building.

After a good bit of searching, I found the missing video in the Producers Library. Here's a larger screengrab of the Sphinx Club.


www.producerslibrary.com

That revealed the number on the awning to be 8572. The only appearances of 8572 Sunset in the CDs is for the Crescendo Club in 1956 and 1960. We've seen this picture of the Crescendo Club a couple of times before (see post #1680 and post #36125). The Interlude was upstairs. It's the same building as the Sphinx and the Chanteclair with a different paint scheme.


hollywoodphotographs.com

This view, also from 1957, shows the other side of the building.


hollywoodphotographs.com

Finally, here's a 1955 night view.


hollywoodphotographs.com

The 1964 image at Historic Aerials in unclear, but the site was definitely a parking lot by 1972.

[ethereal_reality]

Ah, it was the old Crescendo Club. Great sleuthing Hoss!

Originally Posted by FredH

ER - There is a good clue in the photo:

I was so busy looking at everything else I missed the street sign. *embarrassing*

[ethereal_reality]

FredH, I just spent the last half hour snooping around Stearns Drive and Pico.


Duke archives





Two Harry's is now 'The Mint'.


gsv

note that the sign says "established 1937".....




All the buildings to the left of Two Harry's are newer than the 1940s billboard pic.


below: The red rectangle is where the War Bonds billboard was located.


google_aerial

The red arrow points to the building in the alley where the ice man cometh. (below)



detail



Surprisingly, Mr. Google-Moble driver ventured down the alley to give us a close-up look at the small brick apartment(?) which still stands.


gsv_alley cam

It's directly behind Two Harry's/The Mint. You can see the back of the bar at far right---->

The ice man's ice wagon would have been parked right there in front of the steps.
___






One last look.



I wonder if the manager of the bar lives in this little brick building with the orange tree? Maybe that has been the situation for 80 years.

__

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

The U.S.S. Los Angeles in San Pedro for Harbor Day, May 25, 1952.


http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/co...id/38540/rec/1



Aqua-maidens skiing past the U.S.S. Los Angeles on Harbor Day 1952.


http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/co...id/38540/rec/1



Remember these models?


http://www.oldmodelkits.com/index.php?detail=18481

As a kid I'd place Black Cat firecrackers on my model ships and send them drifting down the creek behind my house.

ka-boom! & then I'd repair the model and do it again........and again.........and again.
__

[HossC]

Today's Julius Shulman post includes a small selection from the 26 images in the set. The building is another AC Martin design. This is "Job 2874: Orthopaedic Hospital, 1959". Does anyone know if those stairs were ever enclosed?



Here's a closer view of the entrance.



At the rear there was a patio and garden area.



This eye-catching stained glass was just inside the entrance on the right.



Somewhere to buy gifts, cards and something to eat.



There are many other interior pictures showing wards, labs, lecture theaters etc, but I'll make do with this one which looks like a classroom.



All from Getty Research Institute

The Orthopaedic Hospital stood at 2400 S Flower Street. Here's a picture of its construction from a year earlier.


USC Digital Library

The 2007 GSV images from the nearby freeway show the building still standing, but it was demolished soon afterwards. The only part of the hospital complex that survives is now known as the Orthopaedic Institute for Children (this image is from a couple of years ago). It even has its own Metro station. The style looks very similar to the building above. The building is surrounded by another of those faux-Italianate monstrosities which I've done my best to crop out.


GSV

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Duke archives

Surprisingly, Mr. Google-Moble driver ventured down the alley to give us a close-up look at the small brick apartment(?) which still stands.


gsv_alley cam

It's directly behind Two Harry's/The Mint.

I wonder if the manager of the bar lives in this little brick building with the orange tree? Maybe that has been the situation for 80 years.

According to the 1942 CD, the eponymous two Harrys of the Two Harrys Club were Harry W Chapson and Harry C Hooven. Both were listed as residing at 6010 W Pico Boulevard, which is the same address as the restaurant, so maybe they did live out the back.

[odinthor]

Originally Posted by HossC

According to the 1942 CD, the eponymous two Harrys of the Two Harrys Club were Harry W Chapson and Harry C Hooven. Both were listed as residing at 6010 W Pico Boulevard, which is the same address as the restaurant, so maybe they did live out the back.

One door for each Harry.

For our botanical note: That appears to be a young Prickly-Pear in the square container, likely replacing something like a rose bush that had died. The orange tree and the prickly-pear--that's kind of poignant, their being what they are where they are. The scent from the orange blossoms would waft in the nearby window.

[Mstimc]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

The U.S.S. Los Angeles in San Pedro for Harbor Day, May 25, 1952.


http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/co...id/38540/rec/1



Aqua-maidens skiing past the U.S.S. Los Angeles on Harbor Day 1952.


http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/co...id/38540/rec/1



Remember these models?


http://www.oldmodelkits.com/index.php?detail=18481

As a kid I'd place Black Cat firecrackers on my model ships and send them drifting down the creek behind my house.

ka-boom! & then I'd repair model and do it again........and again.........and again.
__

I did the same thing at the lake in the park at the end of my block!

I see the Los Angeles was a Baltimore-class heavy cruiser. My old man served on her sister ship, the USS Columbus, on his way back to the states after serving as part of the occupation force in Japan. Not a fun billet.

[FredH]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Ah, it was the old Crescendo Club. Great sleuthing Hoss!


I was so busy looking at everything else I missed the street sign. *embarrassing*

ER - I would like to take credit for some clever sleuthing, but dumb luck is closer
to the mark.

[VictorAtomic]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

1940s

ebay


today

GSV

Oh my, the owners added decorative wrought iron onto the house to match the fence.
(maybe the fence co. persuaded them to do it...God only knows)





-here's a closer look. It's awful.

GSV

__

More recently the home was photoshopped with Rapper Iggy Azalea standing in front of it.

[HossC]

The location of today's Julius Shulman subject is a mystery. It may or may not be in LA. It's "Job Lee-T: Savoy Theatre, Terrace Theatre, 1942".



Unusually, the interior shot shows a full house.



Should I know any of these people? I'm afraid that celebrities of the 1940s are a long way out of my comfort zone.



All from Getty Research Institute

The reason I think that it may have been in LA is the architect is listed as S Charles Lee, who designed many theaters in the area. We have two names to go on. I found a Savoy Theatre at 5326 S Central Avenue, but that was built in 1913, and there don't seem to be any pictures of it. Then there's the City Terrace Cinema (below) at 3945 City Terrace Drive, but that doesn't look right either.


cinematreasures.org (slightly enlarged from the original)

So, does anyone recognize the Savoy/Terrace Theatre?

[Blaster]

The two ladies in uniform... the blond bears a resemblence to Constance Bennett and the dark haired lady looks a bit like Kay Francis.

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by Mstimc

I did the same thing at the lake in the park at the end of my block!

Sounds like we would have been pals Mstimc.

I made longer (and slower) fuses out of the papery 'string' that held the firecrackers together,
that way the ship had a nice little trip before it blew up.


fireworks.com
_________________



I've had these two early photographs of a man and a woman playing tennis for quite sometime.

If I remember correctly, the only information the seller included was....

"Tennis Players, Los Angeles, 1910"


eBay



#2

eBay



I didn't have a clue to the location, until I lightened the second photo (see below)


duplicate

The minute I lightened it.....it dawned on me that it's the Ambassador Hotel.

Do you think that's correct?
__

[ethereal_reality]

'mystery' cut-rate drug store

I found this in a file on an old computer of mine. (the information that went along with it is gone....the whole is missing the info )





There's a pretty good clue because we have the street number above the door '1098'

and there's a view of some neighboring buildings in the reflection on the right---->



Here's the reflection enlarged for your convenience (it's flipped in order to read the blade signs)


detail

but I couldn't read the signs.


_

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Sounds like we would have been pals Mstimc.



duplicate

The minute I lightened it.....it dawned on me that it's the Ambassador Hotel.

Do you think that's correct?
__

Good question ER. Doesn't look like either Huntington or Ambassador. The roof is very steep and there appears to be two building wings....quite close together. Need some more research.
[Is it actually ''Los Angeles".]

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I've had these two early photographs of a man and a woman playing tennis for quite sometime.

If I remember correctly, the only information the seller included was....

"Tennis Players, Los Angeles, 1910"


eBay

#2

eBay

The minute I lightened it.....it dawned on me that it's the Ambassador Hotel.

Do you think that's correct?

Definitely not the Ambassador Hotel if the 1910 date is correct. I did a quick search and found this article which appeared in the 19 February, 1910 edition of the Los Angeles Herald. NB. I've rearranged the layout to make it more screen-friendly.


California Digital Newspaper Collection

Here's a postcard showing some seating set up on the right.

Hotel Virginia, Long Beach, California Postcard. ca. 1915-1930.


www.gettyimages.com

This photograph shows the detail of the building a little better.

Hotel Virginia in Long Beach, California, 1905.


www.vintag.es