noirish Los Angeles

[Chuckaluck]

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

http://www.flickr.com/photos/33455118@N08/

rick m--is that you lurking at the newsstand?

1972
http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...JGYXK9JUR4.jpg

[Chuckaluck]

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

LAPL

LAPL

Speaking of "White Spots," here's a restaurant I noticed listed on the aforementioned ailing latimemachines.

latimemachines.

The location above is, of course, given away by the Wilshire Specials....


5467 Wilshire (at Dunsmuir) still stands, though pretty much ruined by alterations:
Googel Street View

Can't tell if 7266 Beverly Blvd is the same building, but it could be.

From Ebay:

Although there is no address on the matchbook, the logos on it and the building sign match....

Interestingly, Wikipedia mentions the White Spot, though only as the inspiration for the name of a Canadian restaurant chain:

"The [Canadian] restaurant was founded on June 16, 1928, by Nat Bailey. His first idea for a name for the eatery had been Granville Barbecue, but Nat instead took the advice of a friend who suggested he call it White Spot after a restaurant on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, California—in part because the name sounded spotless and clean."

An interior shot of the White Spot. Reserve your booth early!

1937 - 5467 Wilshire Blvd.
http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...PESQ2TQP76.jpg

[ethereal_reality]

That interior photograph is a great find Chuckaluck. I love the ceiling with it's indirect lighting.

I'm still trying to locate that lonely high window in the exterior photographs.

[Chuckaluck]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

In the early 1900s, Casa Verdugo was an independent settlement in what is now northwest Glendale.

In 1904 L.C. Brand brought the Pacific Electric Railway out to the 'netherlands' of Casa Verdugo. At the end of the line, the railway company
turned an old adobe into a restaurant, hoping to entice visitors to take the scenic ride. The property was leased to Piedad Yorba de Sowl,
and was an immediate success.



The Sanchez/Sepulveda Adobe as the Casa Verdugo restaurant.

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/si.../id/5712/rec/2




http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/si.../id/5726/rec/8


http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/se.../order/nosort?



http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/se.../order/nosort?
__




After a falling out with the railway co. big-wigs, Piedad de Sowl opened a second Casa Verdugo in her residence
a few yards away from the original.


http://www.glendalehistorical.org/landmark.html


The 2nd Casa Verdugo, 1235 N. Louise Street at Randolph Street, Glendale

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/si.../id/5731/rec/6



It still stands today (as a residence once again)

GSV



GSV



-this aerial helps to understand the layout

google_earth

It must be very beautiful inside. -one area resembles a central knave. -perhaps this was added later.
__



postscript:
The Casa Verdugo in the Mack Sennett silent, The Manicured Lady 1911.

http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/M...eLady1911.html


http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/M...eLady1911.html


http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/M...eLady1911.html

Imagine living in a home that appeared in a Mack Sennett silent over a hundred years ago!
__

Casa Verdugo, mas:


http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...7Q65RYNKU4.jpg


http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...EDDIJ8XE5E.jpg


http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...TLVLG8FE5Q.jpg

[Chuckaluck]

Anyone familiar with this LA Building? Location unknown, but I recognize the windows, or at least I think I recognize them.


1977
http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...C621P44SRV.jpg

[HossC]

Originally Posted by Chuckaluck

Recent salt water excursions made me wonder about San Pedro's legendary place for top-flight entertainment, Shipwreck Joey's. Sources claim it started out as the Bayview Drive-in, sometime in the '30s and evolved into a nightclub. There should be photos of the original deco signage?

1989 (Corner of B and Figueroa Streets, Wilmington)
http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...5MJS2SQH28.jpg

1999 - Same building clad in new paint and neon for movie, Fight Club
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_SdLJCHnjTV...LousTavern.JPG

I haven't found any photos of the original deco signage, but here are some more pictures of Shipwreck Joey's. The first is from 'To Live & Die In L.A.'.


www.seeing-stars.com

This one is dated 1979/80.


Smithsonian American Art Museum/John Humble

Aerial from 1980 showing Shipwreck Joey's in the center.


Historic Aerials

The site is now on the south-west corner of Wilmington Waterfront Park (formerly known as the Harry Bridges Boulevard Buffer Project). The picture below is looking west, so Shipwreck Joey's was in the top left corner of the green area.


www.portoflosangeles.org

A couple of LA Times articles about Shipwreck Joey's:

Wilmington's Topless Bar May Bottom Out Through Land Sale - September 16, 1988

Topless Bar Loses Its Shirt to a Truck Stop - September 06, 1990

A couple of previous posts featuring John Humble pictures:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=6733

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=13937

[ethereal_reality]

I've never seen a checking cashing place like this one! (the seller says this is Los Angeles, with ? mark)

Can you imagine how HOT it would get inside that metal contraption.

ebay

-man endorsing his check on the side as instructed.

ebay


The business next door appears to be Walter middle initial 'B-something' Pie Co.

ebay

-also coffee cakes (hmmm...that's odd, 'coffee cakes' is missing in the previous photo) I had presumed these were all taken on the same day. ??


ebay
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[Sonny☼LA]

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

Where is Roman Polanski when you need him?

I was surprised to see that there was no more commentary here on "Mob City" today...and then I sat down to watch it on DVR, and perhaps now understand the silence. Reviews in the NY Times and elsewhere seemed to be positive, claiming the show to be superior to Gangster Squad (which would hardly seem difficult) and even somehow closer in quality to Chinatown—an absurd notion. Aside from the huge number of commercials, annoying even when easily fast-forwarded through on DVR, "Mob City" starts off dully and darkly—in an inauthentic backlot New York. There is very little to suggest Los Angeles...at some point there are more street scenes, these supposedly in L.A., that look like the same NY backlot sets, with Eastern urban basement row housing, vaguely set off by a neon sign reading "Los Angeles Hotel." The vaguest attempt was made to have City Hall appear under construction in a scene marked "1927", but the thing just never seemed to take hold, and seems full of clichés—nightclub singers by the dozen, for one thing. Not a single thing to suggest Los Angeles, 1947. The art director is completely clueless.

Some excellent points there, yes. I laugh at Chinatown comparisons, certainly. However, keep in mind that shooting on a backlot does not necessarily mean it is without history:

“We shot on Hennessey Street on the Universal back lot, and that was a thrill because they probably shot half of their noir B pictures on that street,” chuckles Darabont.

The first scene flashbacks seem to be the formula for each episode and they are a bit heavy-handed. However I love the 'dullness and darkness' of the rest of the show. It's depressing and it should be. I think the acting is suitably understated and the slow jazz excellent. Location-wise, they showed too much of that backlot street, historic or not, in the second episode. But they do get out in the real LA occasionally - Baldwin Hills and the craftsman neighborhoods. The Union Station shots killed me though - top floors of the MTA building visible in the background, yuck.

[BifRayRock]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

^^^Take your time sopas_ej.....and have fun. I wish I were in L.A. to tag along.

below: Another great building that has survived in downtown Los Angeles..
The Bendix Aviation Corporation at Maple and 12th Street.
The tower on top was a nighttime aid for aviation.
The tower stands 150 ft. The letter B is 25 feet tall and 16 feet wide.


usc digital archives

below: A contemporary photograph of the tower.

ax2groin

below: A contemporary photograph with 'noirish' qualities.

James Herman

I can just imagine a murder taking place in one of the lighted windows.

Bendix Aviation, the Bendix Trophy and the Bendix Building.



https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/i...EwwJ7HAHDM2adg

http://www.wvi.com/~sr71webmaster/80...dix_Trophy.jpg








1930 - Bendix Building - 1206 Maple Ave
http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...4EXY1SSJA6.jpg


http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...7R48JMJXIA.jpg


http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...99321TIAFS.jpg


http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...7DEL74X5ST.jpg


1977
http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...BMQIBL8XCQ.jpg



http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/re...oll44/id/91429









http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8282/7...476edc2d_o.jpg




Bendix in South Bend Indiana. Not LA, but very nice.
http://www.monon.monon.org/sobendpixs2/bendix1.jpg

[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

The business next door appears to be Walter middle initial 'B-something' Pie Co.

ebay

-also coffee cakes (that's odd, 'coffee cakes' is missing in the previous photo) I had presumed these were all taken on the same day.

ebay
__

This was the Walter B. Bowie Pie Company, wholesale bakers. Main offices were at 4607 S. Main from at least the mid-'30s into the '40s (the man himself died in 1950). Looks like the firm might have had some retail shops elsewhere--the address of the human oven looks like 1139--for some reason the lampposts suggest to me perhaps Pasadena or other eastern suburb--or maybe somewhere in the CMD, near a factory.

[westcork]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I've never seen a checking cashing place like this one! (the seller says this is Los Angeles, with ? mark)

Can you imagine how HOT it would get inside that metal contraption.
__

So where was the Walter B Bowie Pie Company?
Edit: nevermind... GW already found it!

[FredH]

I was cruising down the 5 Freeway the other day when I spotted this gem up on North Broadway:


Google Street View


Google Street View


Google Street View

This may be what happens when your brother-in-law convinces you that he is an architect

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

This was the Walter B. Bowie Pie Company, wholesale bakers. Main offices were at 4607 S. Main from at least the mid-'30s into the '40s (the man himself died in 1950). Looks like the firm might have had some retail shops elsewhere--the address of the human oven looks like 1139--for some reason the lampposts suggest to me perhaps Pasadena or other eastern suburb--or maybe somewhere in the CMD, near a factory.

-That's a great start Gaylord_Wilshire! -thanks so much.

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I just found this tonight on ebay! Life is good.



__

[Those Who Squirm!]

Originally Posted by GatoVerde

This appears to have been shot from close to the Merced Theater. I see a Plaza Street. Is that the street that lead to Beaudry's house?

No, you would have taken a right on Republic Street, and found the Beaudry house on New High Street, across from where Republic ends. For many years the El Centenerio cafe occupied the ground floor; on the other side of New High were a couple of civic buildings that lasted into the 1970s and 80s. The short stub of New High that cut into the block here from Spring Street was one of the last vestiges of the old, Ord Survey street layout in which the entire grid was "squeezed" from east to west. Republic Street, which is also labeled Hayes Alley on some maps, and the first piece of New High are likely about to be lost and forgotten due to the realignment and consolidation of the sprawling parking area. Really, these days the Plaza Church and Brunswig buildings remind one of a big box store, silent upon the shore of a vast asphalt sea.

ETA: Republic is visible here a few steps further down Main, just beyond the parked VW Beetle.

[GaylordWilshire]

Thought maybe we should see Prudent's house once again:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Does anyone know where the El Centenario Cafe was located?
Obviously the number is 501....but I don't know the street.



usc digital archive

(from April 12, 2010--broken link to original pic, fixed here)


And more:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=1132

[GaylordWilshire]

Vintage Los Angeles

[ethereal_reality]

I had all but forgotten this amazing photo GW. -thanks for the link back in time.

The Hall of Justice looking down on New High Street. (Beaudry's home/later El Centario Cafe at extreme left with lettering on wall)

[oldstuff]

Originally Posted by westcork

So where was the Walter B Bowie Pie Company?
Edit: nevermind... GW already found it!

Some background on Walter Bowie: Walter Blair Bowie was born on January 16, 1885 in Rockford, Illinois. He was apparently a member of a prominent manufacturing family in that city. He got married to an Elsie Bell Walker of Los Angeles in April of 1910 and according to an article about their wedding in the Los Angeles Herald of that year, they returned to Rockford after their honeymoon.

He was back in Los Angeles in 1916 when he appears in a city directory and his WWI draft registration indicates that he is living in Los Angeles and is a baker. Later directories show him as a wholesale baker. None of them give addresses for the business.

On E-Bay there was a program from "Midget Racing" held in Balboa Stadium in San Diego in 1946, that supposedly had an ad for the Baking Company on the back but this was sold in 2011 and there was no picture of the back.

Walter Bowie did die in 1950 and is buried in Forest Lawn Glendale.

[HossC]

Information and pictures of the Walter B Bowie Pie Co. seem surprisingly elusive. The 1932 CD has an address of 1119 W 25th for W B Bowie, wholesale bakers. The 1936 CD lists 19 salesmen and a baker working for Walter B Bowie, which now has "(pastry)" after its listing under "Bakers - Wholesale". By then they had moved to the 4607 S. Main address posted earlier by GW.

A factory type building appears on the S. Main Street site in the 1948 image on Historic Aerials, and remains there (with variations) until the last I could find, which is a 1994 image on Google Earth (below).


Google Earth

The site is now occupied by the Junipero Serra Library.


Google Earth

I also managed to find a Bowie pie dish on etsy.com. Their description says:

"Vintage 9" (22.9 cm) aluminum pie pan, with "Bowie" stamped on the bottom. Bowie Pie Company was located in California in the 1940s and 1950s. A deposit would be added to the cost of the pie when purchased and refunded when the pan was returned--hence the inscribed company name.

There are four holes in the bottom, which let the steam escape when baking to create a crisper crust."


etsystatic.com

I case it helps, one of e_r's pictures has a De Soto/Plymouth dealer in the background. There's a list of De Soto dealers here (PDF file).