noirish Los Angeles

[ethereal_reality]

I just happened across this view.


In this photograph you can see the Carnation 'stand alone' building that housed the ice cream shop and cafe. (with it's sloping roof)


pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/twitter/

[Bristolian]

Anyone know what this little 'machine' does? -is it a music selector


detail

Originally Posted by Those Who Squirm

Almost certainly it is. I've seen much the same sort of setup at Cafe 50's, (all of those, probably), where they have a main jukebox in addition to the tabletop devices that accept money and offer a subset of the main jukebox. All the tabletop devices "communicate" with the main system by some sort of pre-computer electromechanical system.

It makes me miss the last days of real jukeboxes, when vinyl was replaced by CDs, and the machines could say a lot about the culture of a given bar or pub. The jukebox at the bar where I used to hang out at in the early 1990s had King Crimson and pretty much anything else that was progressive, alternative, psychedelic, or from the better kinds of classic rock.

Since the advent of internet-based jukeboxes we've lost that kind of individuality.

I am a bit of a jukebox afficianado and this had me baffled for a while. It didn't look like a wallbox from any of the major jukebox makers, at least not any I was familiar with, but it appears to be a Packard Pla Mor. It has a unique design and differs from the more common units by Seeburg, Wurlitzer etc.

From eBay

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I just happened across this view.


In this photograph you can see the Carnation 'stand alone' building that housed the ice cream shop and cafe. (with it's sloping roof)


pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/twitter/

The movie Quo Vadis [seen at the right] was released December 25, 1951 (USA)...which may date the photo.

[Flyingwedge]

Originally Posted by Noircitydame

in Marion's day

Here is an earlier, undated view of the beach house. I don't believe it's been posted here before;
I apologize if it has. Anyway, the house looks fairly new. It's lacking those two curved staircases
on the north side:

C. C. Pierce/Islandora/UCLA -- http://lit250v.library.ucla.edu/isla...rcephoto%3A213

[ethereal_reality]

I never noticed the twin curved stairs before FW. -Good eye
They're missing in this photograph as well.




beachgal at https://www.pinterest.com/beachgal2/

The two "cupolas" above the dormer windows have been added and the windows beneath have been paneled over (two small oval windows were added in their place)
in this photo.




-here's a close-up of what I am struggling to explain.


detail

I wonder if Marion was requesting changes? I have to say, it looked better before.





Here's FW's photo a little larger, showing the missing "cupolas".



C.C. Pierce/ucla

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[Flyingwedge]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

The two "cupolas" above the dormer windows have been added and the windows beneath have been paneled over (two small oval windows were added in their place)
in this photo.


detail

I wonder if Marion was requesting changes? I have to say, it looked better before.

Here's FW's photo a little larger, showing the missing "cupolas".



C.C. Pierce/ucla

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It looks like she wanted to block off access to those two long decks atop the roof.

[ethereal_reality]

I see what you mean. -for safety reasons.....that hadn't occurred to me.
I wonder if she was afraid of being kidnapped- or was she thinking of her jewels?
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I just happened across this original slide that shows remnants of Bunker Hills. (late 1960s or early 1970s)


here:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/SCRTD-LOS-AN...gAAOSwo3pWddNb

[Lwize]

Originally Posted by Those Who Squirm

I know Overland used to be narrow about from Venice up to the bottom of the hill just south of the I-10 (We are talking about that hill, right?); I think this section was widened around 1990 from two lanes to four.

Do you mean that the section that runs up and over the hill also used to be narrow in the same way?

Yes.

The hill was narrow, two lanes and about 20' steeper. Exposed retaining walls for existing apartments are visible on the east side of the lower peak.

[Jeff Clark]

Before the 1950s factories were the notorious source for poisonous smokes. By the 1940s refineries were appreciated as a killer threat. Most toxic sources were seen as a local threat. The old solution was very tall smokestacks that would dilute the problem as smoke blew down wind and spread. LA didn't have flow-through ventilation like other parts of the country. The prevailing breeze from the ocean backs up against the San Gabriel Mountains and is prevented from flowing over the top by the air inversion layer. (One of my environmental science professors compared pollution in the basin to a fire in a jug. Big fire or little fire that jug would fill with smoke due to the very small opening.) The brute force old school solution was monstrously tall smoke stacks (as shown in this plan). It would sort of work if you could blow the smoke up to the jet stream. The other suggestion was to use nuclear explosives to blow passes through the mountains (fans optional as the on-shore breezes would naturally flow through these channels). It is amazing that we ever managed to reduce pollution production to levels that allows LA to be habitable.

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Thanks Those_Who_Squirm. Yea, I'm still a bit confused about the location as well.

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Has anyone heard of this 1954 proposal for an air sanitation system that would suck all the smog out of Los Angeles and deposit it in the hinterlands?




And all to the tune of $200-300 million dollars (in 1954!)
I wonder how they planned to tackle all the car exhaust? Elastic hoses?


found at:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1954-Newspap...YAAOSw5VFWKn7n
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[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I never noticed the twin curved stairs before FW. -Good eye
They're missing in this photograph as well.




beachgal at https://www.pinterest.com/beachgal2/

The two "cupolas" above the dormer windows have been added and the windows beneath have been paneled over (two small oval windows were added in their place)
in this photo.


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The elegant and ornate interior of the Davies' beach house, 1934.



Photoplay

[Flyingwedge]

We've seen the City Hall on Broadway many times, shown below c. 1890:

USCDL -- http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/re...coll65/id/2696

But I don't believe we've ever noticed the Los Angeles Natatorium next door:

Closeup of above

A similar but slightly wider photo, c. 1895:

LAPL -- http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics17/00018257.jpg

Here's another shot from a few years earlier, showing the same two natatorium signs:

Huntington Digital Library -- http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/single.../id/3468/rec/2

The Los Angeles Natatorium opened September 29, 1888. Capitain and Burton were the architects. Obviously,
there were buildings in town with baths prior to this, but with bathtubs, not anything like what we would call a
swimming pool:

September 30, 1888 Los Angeles Times @ LAPL

According to the rest of the article, the pool was made of brick and lined with cement. The water was meant to be
heated to 79 degrees by means of "steam pipes running under it" (under the brick?), but the water was reported
not to have been even lukewarm. The shallow end was just two feet deep, and the deep end 12 feet. There was a
railing all around the pool, just above the water.

In addition to the rings over the pool (pictured in the ad below), there were two diving boards plus a chute/slide.
This ad has the tank slightly larger than the article on the pool's opening day:

October 10, 1888 Los Angeles Herald @ LOC -- http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lc...arRange&page=1

By early the next year the problem with the water temperature seems to have been fixed:

February 24, 1889 Los Angeles Times @ LAPL

The 1894 LA City Directory shows that the Natatorium was operated by the Cook Brothers, so this ad is probably c. 1894:



GPF.2730 at Seaver Center

Here's the photo a little bigger:




October 7, 1895 Los Angeles Herald:

CDNC/UCR -- http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d...torium-------1

Eventually, as seen in this c. 1897 photo, a building was built on the lot in front of the Natatorium, but the
Natatorium was still accessed from right next to City Hall. The sign on the left side of the building next to
the City Hall says "Hot Baths" (plus other stuff):

2000-0012 @ CA State Library

This c. 1894 photo is the best I could find of the Natatorium building; it's the one with the peaked black roof,
in front of the Woodbury Business College building:

USCDL -- http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/re...coll65/id/1751

The 1894 Sanborn Map shows the Natatorium, the building in front of it, and the building behind it on
Spring Street with a saloon and restaurant on the ground floor:

LAPL

Near the end of the Natatorium's run, it was operated by Charles Bauer and Julius A. Kelly, who also operated
a bar on Spring Street that was accessed through the Natatorium:

March 13, 1897 The Capital @ HathiTrust -- http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?i...ew=1up;seq=250


April 29, 1897 Los Angeles Herald @ LOC -- http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lc...arRange&page=2

Unfortunately, Bauer and Kelly had financial problems, and they dissolved their partnership:

May 8, 1897 Los Angeles Herald @ LOC -- http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lc...08/ed-1/seq-1/

I hope Julius Kelly's mother did not read the Herald:

May 11, 1897 Los Angeles Herald @ LOC -- http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lc...11/ed-1/seq-3/

There was another tragedy to come. The first public pool also saw the first accidental drowning in a public pool:

July 2, 1898 Los Angeles Times @ LAPL

This ad from October 7, 1898, is the last I could find. The Natatorium seems to have closed not long after
that (an April 13, 1899, Times article stated that the Natatorium had been open "until recently"):

LOC -- http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lc...arRange&page=2

Lawyers got involved (in addition, Kelly's widow sued Bauer and his wife for $1,000):

January 22, 1899 Los Angeles Times @ LAPL

The 1906 Sanborn Map shows the old Natatorium Building as the Imperial Restaurant. The 1910 Baist Map
shows a new building covering the entire lot.

[Graybeard]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Wow! -great pics Hoss.





That must be the Carnation "ice cream shop/cafe" next door. Would this explain the same street number? (5075).





Now let's take a look inside the Carnation Building, circa 1949.





I've been trying to find the patio area in exterior photos, but I haven't located it yet.
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Could this be the patio area?

[ethereal_reality]

Yes, I think that could be it! Thanks Graybeard.
I was looking for it at the top near the Carnation sign.


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[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by Flyingwedge

But I don't believe we've ever noticed the Los Angeles Natatorium next door:

Closeup

Oh my, how did all of us at NLA miss this!? Amazing find Flyingwedge.

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[ethereal_reality]

We've seen this view before, but not in color and without the street car.



eBay

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

Ocean Blvd., Long Beach

the pike dot com

color slide at
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pacific-Elec...wAAOSw9N1V1yXl

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[CityBoyDoug]

This 5-acre pleasure palace was built in the late 1920s by newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst, for cutie Miss Davies, with whom he was having a long-term affair.
During the 1920s and 1930s the madcap duo would host many of their lavish Hollywood celebrity parties at this 110-room mansion.

Be it known that Mr. Hearst was very much married and with seven children. His wife Millicent, being Catholic, would not grant Mr. Hearst a divorce.
But that didn't stop the aging roué from linking up with his Hollywood gal pal Marion for the rest of his life.

All built with Hearst's millions. Only the Guest House, at the far left survives. Pacific Coast Highway, Santa Monica, CA.
The pool has been rebuilt. Photo: 1930s

DOHollywood

[ethereal_reality]

Interesting aerial CBD.

I've never noticed that round area (tiled pathway) with what looks like a fountain in the middle. (to the right of the main house)
The aerial also gives you a good look at the bridge spanning the swimming pool.





eBay http://www.ebay.com/itm/orig-1949-2-...QAAOSwZ1lWcKL3



reverse



Even with the above coordinates I haven't been able to find the same location via the google-mobile.

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[ethereal_reality]

Somehow I missed half a page of posts from a couple days ago.

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

A few things seen in this video are still with us: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5FZi734A2Y





Another great video I don't know if we've seen: https://www.facebook.com/philip.mers...6522015096852/

The above videos are great GW. Thanks for the links.

I can't believe how fast they're driving in that second video. What a ride!

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[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

eBay http://www.ebay.com/itm/orig-1949-2-...QAAOSwZ1lWcKL3

Even with the above coordinates I haven't been able to find the same location via the google-mobile.

Looking at Historic Aerials, I'd say the picture was probably taken on what-is-now N Soto Street, roughly level with the top of Lincoln Park. The 1948 image below shows how the PE tracks and the roadway split apart at this location.


Historic Aerials

The view below was taken with the Googlemobile near Multnomah Street. If I'm right about the location, the hill on the left is the one in the vintage picture, although very little else is recognizable.


GSV

[ethereal_reality]

I think you nailed it. Thanks Hoss.



If wasn't all that long ago we were discussing whether or not the Statler Hilton had a heli-pad.

http://skyscraperpage.com/forum/show...ostcount=25751

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=27053


I just found this amazing slide from 1962 on eBay.

It was taken from a helicopter as it was coming in for a landing.


eBay http://www.ebay.com/itm/1962-35mm-ph...AAAOSw5ZBWQ4rP

It looks like the helicopter leaks a lot of oil!

-also note the Washington Hotel down below.



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