noirish Los Angeles

[Retired_in_Texas]

Originally Posted by Godzilla

Interesting photo on several levels. As you know, the Beverly Hills Track was also called the Los Angeles Speedway and its last race was in March of '24. Doubts are laid to rest given the barely legible handwritten notes: "Culver City" and "December 24" (the date of the first race.) The large building in the background toward the left of the track is probably the newly erected Culver Hotel (September '24).

Not surprisingly Culver was home to a cottage racing industry. An informative article >> http://culvercityhistoricalsociety.org/?p=977 lists a number of players and their former addresses. To those familiar with flat head Fords most of these pioneers are household names.

Cam grinder Ed Winfield, first located at 5977 Washington Boulevard.

Karl and Veda Orr, (land speed racers) had a shop at 11140 Washington Place.

Jesse Sanford “Sandy” Belond opened his own shop at 11039 Washington Boulevard.

George Newnam's Norden Machine Works (racing parts manufacture) at 5453 West Washington Boulevard.

Ted Halibrand established Halibrand Engineering on Marilyn Avenue.

Edward “Isky” Iskenderian, who learned the cam-grinding business from Ed Winfield, first located at 5977 Washington Boulevard in Culver City before building on a vacant lot at 6338 West Slauson Avenue.






Ed Winfield in his car at Ascot Park, 1928
http://i687.photobucket.com/albums/v...v/scan0006.jpg


Karl and Veda

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_i_AovfzNXg...acing%252B.jpg





http://blog.hemmings.com/wp-content/...rr_01_1000.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...ndVedaOrr2.jpg


http://blog.hemmings.com/wp-content/...rr_03_1000.jpg


"Taix" restaurant. (Mentioned several times on this thread)




Anyone know of a car wash close to the Cinerama Dome on Sunset? http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=6724
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_i_AovfzNXg...acing%252B.jpg




Ted Halibrand and his magnesium castings, "mags."
http://assets.hemmings.com/story_ima...88-0.jpg?rev=2



Ed Iskendarian - no address or date, but it sure looks like it was on the Helms bakery route!
http://www.myrideisme.com/Blog/wp-co...t-roadster.JPG

Wow, these photos of the "Princes" of Hot Rodding really bring back memories. Most people have no idea of the contributions these guys made to the automobile industry as they chased performance and speed.

For example: Ed Iskendarian invented and patented the hydraulic roller lifter and flat lobe cams in the mid 1950s. Products commonly used from that point forward by Drag Racers but totally ignored by the American automobile industry until the late 1980s. Today there probably isn't an automobile engine produced anywhere that doesn't utilize those innovative designs.

A few years ago when restoring a 1958 Mercury I decided to put an Isky roller cam into its 430 c.i. MEL block engine and had a number of conversations with Ed's son Ron, who personally ground the cam I needed for the engine. Long story on getting him to do it since they hadn't produced a cam for the specific engine type for over thirty years. For the non motor head guys, the affect of the cam, lifters, etc.; boosted the horsepower from 375 to 650 and increased fuel efficiency. And now you know the reason why today's smaller engines produce huge amounts of horsepower and use less fuel.

[Noircitydame]

Hi everyone,
I was taking pictures in downtown LA Wednesday and got this one of the Charnock Bl. shell from inside the Rosslyn - shocking! Looks like the building next door to the south is also a shell-only.


Tho it has probably been discussed here before (?) it was news to me that the building at 3rd & Main, which had been built by/for Al Levy for his first cafe in 1906 is actually a remnant of the old Levy building - another one that had been chopped down from 3 stories. I'd assumed it was a 50s replacement. I think there was a dance hall in the 3rd street side of this building in the mid-30s, but the address doesn't quite match up with the Baist maps.

Today:


c. 1938, already minus the cupola that had housed Levy's old oyster pushcart (img from USC digital):


Today with a lot of the tile and some ceiling features intact:




The noirish alley veiw:

[GaylordWilshire]

Fantastic shots, NCD

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

the complex seems to have been built around this house on Ingraham. (note the Commodore sign between the eaves)

GSV

Can you imagine the noirish stories associated with this sprawling place from the turn of the century?
(I'd love to explore in it's various basements...and attics)
__

Looks like it could be older, but it was taken in 1994 (per the LAPL.


Apparently a resident of 1140 Ingraham Street circa 1910 was Sophia Knowles Murdock and her arty family...not sure how she came to be living there after, it seems, having built a much nicer house at 4219 N. Figueroa (HCM #778) in 1903 (see http://historian4hire.com/murdock.html).


But then it looks like there was a windfall (from the Times, Feb 14, 1911):






Maybe with some of the money the Murdocks converted their house into an apartment building...according to Baist maps, the conversion appears to have occurred between 1910 and 1914.

On the 'round-the-world trip mentioned in the article, Sophia died in Moscow on May 31, 1913, of complications from diabetes.


Note: Hope the article comes out legibly--doing this on a small pad while waiting in an airport.

LAT

[revheavyg]

http://instagram.com/revheavygilnoir
Check out my Instagram Page Ive taken Hundreds of Photos with my Iphone of the most Beautiful old Buildings In Los Angeles with tons of NOIRish qualities! I love NOIRis Los Angeles Hope you guys follow me on Instagram. Thanks!

[Retired_in_Texas]

[QUOTE=Flyingwedge;6207655]This is a view of an apartment living room. The seams in the carpet are fairly obvious (e.g., right foreground); not sure what's up with that:

Huntington Digital Library -- http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/single.../id/2786/rec/7

I would say that the obvious seams are a carpet layers screw up. Took more than a roll's width and they somehow managed to get the nap of the two pieces running in opposite directions in trying to match the pattern up without wasting carpet. The circumstance wasn't helped a whole lot with all the different pattern angles involved.

[HossC]

Here's another postcard I found on Ebay recently, although this establishment is definitely no longer there. I've searched the thread, and can't see any previous mentions of Patmar's Motel ... Cafe ... Cocktail Lounge. In the brief bits of info I can find online, it seems to have been a popular hang-out for Douglas Aircraft company employees and hipsters alike in the '40s and '50s. The motel had "14 De Luxe Units".


Ebay

Menu and stationery:


Ebay

Some of the specials. Hot and cold drinks were mainly 10 cents, soup 15 cents, and desserts 17 cents.


Ebay

Matchbooks:



coltera on Flickr (rotated and cropped)


Frank Kelsey/ussiwojima on Flickr

Sugar cubes:


Frank Kelsey/ussiwojima on Flickr (contrast adjusted)

I only found a single, small photograph of Patmar's Motel/Drive-In, but the aerial on the left below proves its existence on the southwest corner of Sepulveda and Imperial at the southern edge of Los Angeles International Airport/LAX in 1953. Note the empty lots that surrounded it. The one on the right shows what's there now.


HistoricAerials/Google Maps

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by Chuckaluck

At first I mistook the snow for sand, something reminiscent of Manhattan Beaches' sand dunes (bottom) or somewhere in the desert. But the'32 date as the first recorded snowfall - throws me. No doubt '32 was a memorable winter, but pictures of Chaplin Studio's snow-covered frontage are dated '21, preceding the "first" allegedly recorded snowfall by 12 years. One might expect that snow on La Brea probably meant a few flakes nearby Hollywood? The LATimes reported that on January 15, 1932 downtown received 2" snowfall for the first time in 50 years. http://articles.latimes.com/2005/mar...surroundings10

I love the Los Angeles "snow pictures" Chuckaluck and E_R!

The 1932 date IS puzzling. I looked up this site:
http://www.laalmanac.com/weather/we17.htm

Under "Snow in Los Angeles County" it has this item:
Since records were first kept in 1921, snow has fallen on downtown Los Angeles only ten times.

The information is from the National Weather Service and lists these dates:

Year Month & Amount of Snowfall
1922 January (trace), March (trace)
1935 December (trace)
1947 December (trace)
1949 January (slightly more than 0.3 inches)
1950 April (0.2 inches)
1951 February (trace), March (trace)
1952 January (trace), March (trace), December (trace)
1954 January (0.3 inches), February (trace)
1957 January (trace)
1962 January (trace)

It curiously doesn't even list 1932--?

It also says: "...on January 17, 2007, an extremely rare light dusting of snow fell in the Malibu area and in West Los Angeles", but I guess that doesn't rate a mention in the statistics...so I am confused.

I had seen some great photos of the snow in 1949, but all I could find at the moment was this newspaper headline:


http://www.awalkerinla.com/LAT

One of those article headlines states there's snow in Catalina!

If anyone finds any L.A. snow pictures (or Catalina!) and loves them as much as I do, please post!

[HossC]

View of the corner of Hollywood Boulevard slushy with snow and water, January 21, 1912:


USC Digital Library

Snow-covered Pico Boulevard east from Union Avenue, January 9, 1930, 5:00 PM:


USC Digital Library

View of South Broadway from Twelfth Street during a snow and hail storm, February 20, 1944:


USC Digital Library

Some more posts with snow pictures:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=1576 - 1950
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=3326 - 1944. Looks to be from the same set as the 1944 picture above.
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=6635 (third picture)

[belmont bob]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

I love the Los Angeles "snow pictures" Chuckaluck and E_R!

The 1932 date IS puzzling. I looked up this site:
http://www.laalmanac.com/weather/we17.htm

Under "Snow in Los Angeles County" it has this item:
Since records were first kept in 1921, snow has fallen on downtown Los Angeles only ten times.

The information is from the National Weather Service and lists these dates:

Year Month & Amount of Snowfall
1922 January (trace), March (trace)
1935 December (trace)
1947 December (trace)
1949 January (slightly more than 0.3 inches)
1950 April (0.2 inches)
1951 February (trace), March (trace)
1952 January (trace), March (trace), December (trace)
1954 January (0.3 inches), February (trace)
1957 January (trace)
1962 January (trace)

It curiously doesn't even list 1932--?

It also says: "...on January 17, 2007, an extremely rare light dusting of snow fell in the Malibu area and in West Los Angeles", but I guess that doesn't rate a mention in the statistics...so I am confused.

I had seen some great photos of the snow in 1949, but all I could find at the moment was this newspaper headline:


http://www.awalkerinla.com/LAT

One of those article headlines states there's snow in Catalina!

If anyone finds any L.A. snow pictures (or Catalina!) and loves them as much as I do, please post!

January 1949… I was about 8 n half…my brother came running in and said getup and look outside. We lived on a hill in the Echo Park area and everything was white…what a treat it was. Unfortunately by the time we got to Logan Street School, most of it was just slush quickly turning to water. We only got one night though, but for an LA city kid it’s one of those memories I’ll take to the grave…
To add, I remember a little about later times where a little snow was found, but nothing to equal that morning in 1949.

[Flyingwedge]

Originally Posted by HossC

Here's another postcard I found on Ebay recently, although this establishment is definitely no longer there. I've searched the thread, and can't see any previous mentions of Patmar's Motel ... Cafe ... Cocktail Lounge. In the brief bits of info I can find online, it seems to have been a popular hang-out for Douglas Aircraft company employees and hipsters alike in the '40s and '50s. The motel had "14 De Luxe Units".


Ebay

I only found a single, small photograph of Patmar's Motel/Drive-In, but the aerial on the left below proves its existence on the southwest corner of Sepulveda and Imperial at the southern edge of Los Angeles International Airport/LAX in 1953. Note the empty lots that surrounded it. The one on the right shows what's there now.


HistoricAerials/Google Maps

The roundish cafe building enjoyed a second life as part of the clubhouse for the El Segundo golf course, about a mile south on Sepulveda Blvd. I think it lasted until around '93, when it was replaced. I couldn't find a ground-level photo, but this 1980 aerial shows the former cafe building at the golf course:


Historic Aerials.com -- http://www.historicaerials.com/

[HossC]

Originally Posted by Flyingwedge

The roundish cafe building enjoyed a second life as part of the clubhouse for the El Segundo golf course, about a mile south on Sepulveda Blvd. I think it lasted until around '93, when it was replaced. I couldn't find a ground-level photo, but this 1980 aerial shows the former cafe building at the golf course:

What a great piece of extra info, Flyingwedge. I tried to find the clubhouse on Google Earth's historic view, but it only went back to 1994 in that area. I wonder why the building was so camera shy.

[GaylordWilshire]

http://memoriastoica.tumblr.com/


This great station once stood on the site of strip-mall at the southwest corner of Washington and 8th... apparently the "Specification Motoroil System" was a national chain. I wondered if we've seen this building here before, but nothing comes up using the seriously lame search function... anyway, the curious grid looks a little familiar--is it some sort of motor-oil automat?


LAPL

Not sure how long it lasted as a Specification station--no listing for that name in the '32 and later CDs. Maybe it was taken over by another oil company.

LAT Aug 3, 1930


PS Can't quite figure out what's going on with the trees at right in the top picture... looks like they're on a hill to the west, but there is no hill there now....

[Martin Pal]

Thanks for the new photos, links and personal reminiscence about snow falling in Los Angeles and environs everyone.
From the dates of some of the photos, there seems to be some question as to why the "official" records don't indicate some of those years, like 1944, for example? In any case, the photos are wonderful!

Here's one I found: Hollywood & Vine, 1923 (no indication of who the people are)

http://hollywoodhistoricphotos.com90_103

And here's a large (sorry) scan of a January 16, 1932 Los Angeles Times page covering a snowfall event from the day before, January 15, 1932.
The photos are not clear, but they cover so many areas frequently talked about in this thread that I thought it worth posting.

LAT
http://carole-and-co.journal.com/67549.html

[Martin Pal]

All photos from the Los Angeles snowfall in 1949:

These photos were under the heading of "Los Angeles People See Snow for the First Time."
(Lol, Los Angeles people!)









Above photos: George Silk/LIFE
http://images.google.com/hosted/life...bcab5a4a2.html

"Swimming Lessons must go on in the San Fernando Valley!"
LIFE
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/

A church on Hollywood Way in Burbank:
Mike McDaniel
http://wesclark.com/burbank/snow.html

Caption: "My first car, a 1930 Chevie sedan, is shown parked in front of the Dodson home on the corner of Orchard Dr. and Tulare St."
Sylvia Dodson Novak
http://wesclark.com/burbank/snow.html

January 11, 1949 in the San Fernando Valley; Foothill Blvd. at Commerce Ave., looking southeast, with Arnold Krabbe's Texaco station on the right.

http://www.pedimentbooks.com/store/p...ough-our-eyes/

Snow noir 1949
LAT
http://latimesphoto.files/fa_816_49

City Hall (1949)

http://www.flickriver.com/photos/g_cliser/5449023559/

[ethereal_reality]

-this pc intrigues me.

Bonaventura Hotel, postmarked 1984
ebay

Where was this un-manicured lawn with all the dandelions?
__

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Where was this un-manicured 'field' with all the dandelions?

You answered your own question back in 2011 .

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

The Bonaventure Hotel under construction in 1977.


"Above Los Angeles"

I would love to see how these so called 'plazas' have evolved over the years.
The 'plaza' on the left appears to be the roof of a parking garage.
I wonder if a pedestrian bridge was eventually built to connect it to the Bonaventure Hotel.


This is a good example of the banality that replaced downtown Los Angeles' vibrant street life.

[ethereal_reality]

So the landscape 'architect(s)' went with a precise grid of trees surrounded by unkempt lawns with dandelions(!?!)
-calling Frederick Law Olmsted.

[ethereal_reality]

beautiful home, but no address (notice the shingles 'traveling' over the dormer on the left, amazing)
ebay

-beautiful Betty

http://googleberry.tumblr.com/post/3...on-a-very-good


quite a looker (i had no idea..her name reminds me of a schoolmarm)

ifim2
__

[ethereal_reality]

...and speaking of shingles
ebay

I know we've seen numerous photographs of Van-de-Kamp bakeries/restaurants, but I believe this might be a new photograph
to the thread.



-here's the reverse (in reverse).


lol, I meant (in German)
__

[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

beautiful home, but no address (notice the shingles 'traveling' over the dormer on the left, amazing)
ebay
__

This house


is now this house

901 North Camden, Beverly Hills


According to My Love of Old Hollywood, Charles Ray's house was later Betty Compson's, as you might assume....


BUT, according to the esteemed and extremely accurate Steve Vaught at Paradise Leased, the Ray house was NOT Compson's.... "Most people assume quite reasonably that Charles Ray and Betty Compson lived in the same house, but its not true. These are postcards of two entirely separate houses! Charles Ray’s house was located at 901 North Camden Drive in Beverly Hills and Betty’s was all the way over in Hollywood at 7315 Hollywood Boulevard. Now that’s a lazy architect! The house so nice they built it twice. Charles Ray’s home still stands, in altered form, but Betty’s, which was later rented by Sam Goldwyn, has gone the way of the Dodo."

Check out Steve, Dora and Nellie's story here: http://paradiseleased.wordpress.com/...-card-mystery/