Sopas_ej....you have outdone yourself with your latest post.
I noticed you positioned yourself atop a building to achieve one of the before/after photos. Did you sneak up there??....was it exciting? :)

____

I have to say Fab_Fifties_Fan...I thoroughly enjoyed reading about your traumatic day at Bullock's Pasadena.

So was your infamous leash something like this?

http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/5...ildziphuge.jpg

http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/7...ldzip2huge.jpg

This contraption could certainly scar a young lad for life. Kudos to your father for putting his foot down.

________


below: The cosmetic gallery at Bullock's Pasadena, circa 1947.

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/553...ena1947dav.jpg
davethewave





below: The boy's clothing department at Bullock's Pasadena, circa 1947.
Notice the sailor outfits on the rack at lower left.

http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/5...enaboysclo.jpg
davethewave



below: Bullock's Pasadena China & Glass Department, circa 1947.

http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/645...enachinagl.jpg
davethewave




below: Bullock's Pasadena dining room, circa 1947.

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/136...enadiningr.jpg
davethewave





below: Bullock's Pasadena women's casual wear, circa 1947.

http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/2...ena1947n1d.jpg
davethewave





below: Bullock's Pasadena 1947.

http://img545.imageshack.us/img545/9...adena1947b.jpg
davethewave




below: Bullock's Pasadena with lawn jockys (sp).


http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/6...ena1947ada.jpg
davethewave




below: Bullock's Pasadena furniture dept. circa 1947. I'm searching for you Jon Paul.

http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/8...enafurnitu.jpg
davethewave





below: A building before it's time. The futuristic (in 1940s terms) Bullock's Pasadena.

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/5...ena1947dav.jpg
davethewave

Looking for a photo of Simon's Drive-In on Ventura Boulevard
 

First of all, I'd like to thank everyone for such a wonderful thread.

I am researching for a TV series set in Los Angeles during the 1930's and this forum has been a fountain of inspiration.

I heard that there was a Simon's Drive-In located on Ventura Boulevard near Laurel Canyon.... Does anyone have any info on the exact location and any links to photos?

Thanks in advance.

Many kudos to you ethereal_reality!!

Just returned home from a fabulous evening on the San Diego bay sitting on a friend's yacht, sipping wine and watching Diana Ross in concert (wore my fedora too!). I log on, see your post and I am just cracking up!!!

I must admit that my torture contraption was a bit flashier than that one. Maybe it was just Bullocks vs. Montgomery Wards. Regardless, I am so saving those pictures! I do find the rather banal name of Zip-a-babe, for something so wrong, a bit hysterical.

The various pictures of the Bullocks departments are another memory jogger, especially the Women's, Boy's and Tea Room! I am sure I was drug through all the rest on the way to and from the Ladies Room. I wonder if the lawn jockeys (:yuck:) were still there?

As for the Furniture Department, if it had still been there I am certain I would have chosen that sofa over the orange one, especially with that cocktail table in front of it! That has Jon Paul the Fab Fifties Fan written all over it!!!!

Thanks for the laughs topping off a great evening:haha:

Wow! it's like christmas everyday! the images of north bunker hill keep coming, and they are all amazing. so many buildings i had never seen before!.

north west corner of hope and 1st. 101 n. hope, (or 703 w. 1st depending on which entry you used)

http://jpg1.lapl.org/00091/00091476.jpg
Source: LAPL

looking south west on grand between between 1st and court.

http://jpg1.lapl.org/00091/00091472.jpg
Source: LAPL

looking south across temple street just west of hope street

http://jpg1.lapl.org/00091/00091477.jpg
Source: LAPL

Christina.............:worship:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-6...2520AM.bmp.jpg

http://jpg1.lapl.org/spnb01/00007325.jpg


http://http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics35/00067401.jpg


http://jpg1.lapl.org/00085/00085750.jpg


For some reason I never noticed the Savoy before-- 601 W Sixth



All LAPL

The pictures of Bullock's Pasadena store are fantastic! Where did you find them? I'm a member of a Flickr group on specialty and department stores and I'd love to see you post them there.

Maybe someone has posted this question before...why are all the pictures in a "set" repeated when someone posts a "quote"...just curious?

Hey rbpjr,

When you do a quote it quotes the entire post, including pictures, but you can remove what you don't want to repeat in the quote. If you do a "quick reply" (far right option), nothing from the post you're quoting repeats.

~F3

I wonder if it could have been another branch of Simon's Sandwiches? Photos of two different Simon's locations have been posted previously in this forum. I don't have time now to locate those posts, and instead of reposting the photos I'll link to copies on Flickr.

One location was at Wilshire and Hoover Street and another was at Wilshire and Fairfax.

An additional view of Simon's Sandwiches at Wilshire and Fairfax can be seen here.

Both buildings on Wilshire appeared nearly identical, so if there were an additional location on Ventura Blvd. I wouldn't be surprised if it looked much the same.

Speaking of Wilshire and Fairfax, here's an odd little anecdote about something that nearly happened in 1951 on the same corner where Simon's once stood. I've transcribed this from an episode of a BBC documentary called The RKO Story: Tales of Hollywood that first aired in 1987. It concerns a promotion for a movie called His Kind of Woman.

MARIO ZAMPARELLI, graphic artist employed by Howard Hughes:

The painting that I did, he just enjoyed very very much. And then one day I was told that a brilliant idea had come up and I asked what this was about. They said, "Well, we're going to do something very special." So at the RKO lot...I didn't see this being constructed, but I saw it being moved at 2:00 in the morning...and this was to a site at the corner of Fairfax and Wilshire Boulevard, directly across from the May Company. There was a large parking lot there and a restaurant which no longer exists. And they put on that corner a huge gilded frame, like a masterpiece if you will. This was all framed, gold-leafed. And the center was going to house my painting, twenty, thirty the size of the original, if not a hundred times the size. It was enormous!

While that was going on, people were passing by, cars were going by and they were monitoring how many vehicles would pass the corner. Mr. Hughes had an idea that to emphasize the concept of the hottest combination ever to hit the screen, that they would have two or three or four large gas jets throw flames up into the air about twenty or thirty feet high. Now everybody thought this was marvelous, and that it would be an exciting event to have this happen. And these gas jets would go up...they would be programmed every so many minutes to flame up.

I was there; I saw all the gas people come and all the pipes were being put up and all the tests being made with short gas jets and all the publicity people were there. While all of that was going on, a phone call came. And it was, "Stop everything."

Well it seemed that there was something on the docket that we were not aware of, it came out in the newspapers later. Some kind of dealings with Hughes and the city fathers. And [we were] advised that they would have been very irate that this was going on, and the possibility that those jets going up into the air were prone for accidents from motorists passing by who wouldn't expect that thing to occur.

And here's the BBC's recreation of what it might have looked like:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Q...SA4/HKOW01.jpg
[source: BBC]

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-G...eOQ/HKOW02.jpg
[source: BBC]

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-G...zYw/HKOW03.jpg
[source: BBC]

Since Johnie's Coffee Shop wasn't built until 1955 (according to the L.A. Times), I wonder if the "restaurant which no longer exists" Zamparelli refers to would have been Simon's?

Thanks for the reply info...just hit that option...we'll see what happens.

The Bullocks stuff is awsome,ive been trying to get a hold of someone connected with the Candy family for a few months.My grandmother was a maid/travel companion for The Candy's ,Mr.Candy was the president of Bullocks,and when he passed away in the mid 70s,granny and Mrs Candy became best friends,they traveled all over the world and when Mrs Candy died granny got most of her belongings.Long story short,im in the process of cleaning out grannys garage and you would not belive how much Bullocks stuff we have,at lease 100 dresses(both bullocks and i-magine),awards presented to Mr Candy,Bullocks envelopes,family photos of Winnet and Candy,and the best thing i found was the luggage,Louis Vuttion Luggage from the Candy's to Granny with a note that says "Seasons Greetings Quinny,Lets Have A Ball In China!" and of course the tags inside tell you where they bought the luggage...Bullocks Wilshire,Ill try and post some pics when i get a chance.

Hehe, I actually went to the very top level of a parking structure to take that photo. If only the parking structure were a block north, I could've more closely gotten the perspective of the older photo. I literally sat myself up on the upper parapet of the parking structure, really close to the edge; I'm usually not afraid of heights but I was actually kind of nervous doing it.

Excellent photos, ethereal, of the Bullock's Pasadena interior! As you can see from them, the place is very compartmentalized, not like a modern department store which would have a more open sales floor. Again, Bullock's Pasadena is not a convenient store to get around, but it definitely has charm and character. If I'm allowed to, maybe I'll take some pictures of the interior some time-- even if I'm not allowed to, maybe I'll sneak some photos. Maybe. ;)

Thanks for that info! on Hattie McDaniel's

Found this photo of a beautiful apartment building that was at 1133 S. Figueroa (now the back of the Staples Center).

The photo is dated 1889 and it amazes me that it is so sharp and clear! I recall seeing similar photos of smaller apartment houses, on this same block of Figueroa, earlier in the thread. As I remember, ethereal_reality posted those.

http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/4...gueroa1889.jpg
USC Digital Images

That's one hungry building!
 

Wow, what a cool building! Looks almost like a cute little house being swallowed by a bigger building. It makes you wonder what the architect's inspiration was. Just a note, though....there seem to be a lot of power lines in front of the building for 1889. Could it have been later?

History Pin
 

Have I missed discussion about http://www.historypin.com/? It's a new site where you can link photos to points on a Google map. I think it's going to change the way this thread does business.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-z...4%252520AM.jpg
I love this house--NW corner 23rd & Park Grove--complete with shotgun. Also nice that the owner is keeping a new roof on it.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-w...2520AM.bmp.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-V...2520AM.bmp.jpg

and the LAPL hits keep on coming. some great images that center around the st. angelo which was at 237 n. grand just south of temple street

the rarely if ever seen southwest corner of temple and grand. you can see the st. angelo poking out at the left, (which is the reason why this corner rarely if ever was photographed, they would use up their film on the st. angelo)

http://jpg1.lapl.org/00091/00091480.jpg
Source: LAPL

and right next to it at the south east corner of bunker hill and temple was the jewish welfare organization office. st. angelo poking it's head over top

http://jpg1.lapl.org/00091/00091481.jpg
Source: LAPL

cool shot of the st. angelo looking southwest from temple

http://jpg1.lapl.org/00091/00091478.jpg
Source: LAPL

and here's a building that i know was never photographed. this is 240 n. bunker hill avenue. the building backside that you see behind it is.............the never photographed rear side of the st. angelo! holy mackerel!

http://jpg1.lapl.org/00091/00091479.jpg
Source: LAPL


ok....ok....breathe...........breathe..........breathe.........

[QUOTE=GaylordWilshire;5411921]https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-z...4%252520AM.jpg
I love this house--NW corner 23rd & Park Grove--complete with shotgun. Also nice that the owner is keeping a new roof on it.

In the architectural sense, what is a "shotgun" please?

:previous:

I was referring to the old-style street sign in the picture, which is often referred to as the shotgun-- a shotgun house is something else, of course. We've discussed the evolution of LA street signs here before--also the Militant Angeleno did some posts a while back with a very good history of them. Searching for "shotgun" on either site should bring up the posts.

some then and now's utilizing some of the latest lapl north bunker hill assessor's office photographs

view looking at the north west corner intersection of grand avenue and 1st street 1955 and now

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6197/...6935732c_b.jpg


view looking at the south west corner intersection of hope and 1st 1955 and now

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6083/...468a0d32_b.jpg


view looking at the south west corner intersection of grand and temple 1955 and now

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6185/...d5dca247_b.jpg


view looking north west towards the intersection of hope street and 1st street 1955 and now

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6210/...ae8e3e7b_b.jpg


view looking at the south east corner intersection of hope street and court street 1955 and now

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6194/...893cde96_b.jpg

TY GS--

Who would have thought that something so prosaic as 60 year old Assessor's photos would bring so much joy to so many!:tup:

(I still maintain I like the old-school look of buildings that rise straight up from the sidewalk's edge.

You want trees go to the park. LOL)

well......going in, we knew that certainly not all of these north bunker hill images were going to be a joy to view

419/421 2nd street being demolished......................sigh

the argyle is visible to the left at the corner of olive and 2nd. (note the discolored square on the right, east side of the building)

http://jpg1.lapl.org/00091/00091518.jpg
Source: LAPL

back in better times just a few years before.......(note the golden gloves and brew 102 billboards)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3273/...de33091a_o.gif
Source: onbunkerhill.org via cushman collection

sigh. obviously the argyle is not long for the world when this was taken

http://jpg1.lapl.org/00091/00091516.jpg
Source: LAPL


this one however, i love! it's across 2nd on the south side of the street. it's 508 2nd street. this has got to be the only photograph in the world that was taken oh so close to 512 2nd street, (it's actually poking into the frame on the right side of the photo), yet focuses on the building next door! as nathan had commented on the george mann photographs at on bunker hill, everyone photographs 512!...no one however photographed 508 so prominently....(at least that i know of) .

http://jpg1.lapl.org/00091/00091523.jpg
Source: LAPL


and another gem.......the Firmanal Apartments at 238 s. olive. the blackstone apartments are on the right. you can see a bit of the lovejoy apartments off in the distance to the left. this photograph was taken from in front of the astoria................(nobody ever shot the west side of olive between 2nd and third....what with the astoria, hillcrest and angels flight all on the east side of the street!)

http://jpg1.lapl.org/00091/00091522.jpg
Source: LAPL

another rarely seen view on the east side of olive between 2nd and 3rd, the may apartments at 209 s. olive....(actually, until these new images showed up on LAPL. one rarely had to use the street direction of "n" and "s" when posting about bunker hill......everything was pretty much "S").......the mission apartments which were at the corner of 2nd and olive is visible at the right. the frontenac apartments, located at 212-218 S. grand avenue is visible on the left.

http://jpg1.lapl.org/00091/00091526.jpg
Source: LAPL

whew! i'm exhausted

:previous: Great before & afters gsjansen....also love that last photo of the May Hotel.



below: Unidentified building at 4032 something.

http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/1...iedbuildin.jpg
LAPL

Does anyone recognize this building?


_________

General Cleaners and DeLuxe Super Market at 8360 Beverly Boulevard.


http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/4...ermarketon.jpg
LAPL




below: General Cleaners and Deluxe Super Market building today.

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/8...ermarketto.jpg
google street views

the Seymour Apartments, located at 502 W. First Street. this is the south west corner of 1st and olive

http://jpg1.lapl.org/00091/00091519.jpg
Source: LAPL


and what does this corner look like today.............................

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6184/...90978360_b.jpg

Wow, somehow I missed this photo before! I remember Barker Brothers now, too, though not by name until this very moment. One of my earliest memories is seeing a very elegantly-dressed young lady trip and fall flat on her face while exiting the back entrance of Barker Brothers – the red-carpeted, canopied entrance which led to the parking lot behind the store. Three- or four-year-old Me had never seen anyone hurt like that before.

And again, Blum's! I still remember peeling the wax paper off my slice of Chantilly cake and digging in to its cool, chocolately goodness! That cake yet remains one of the most sumptuous things I've ever tasted.

-Scott

:previous: The grand staircase in Haggarty's Pasadena (shown in the photo above).

http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/8295/spasadena.jpg
davethewave

Two more photos of Bullock's Pasadena that I failed to include in my earlier post from a few days ago.

below: The entrance to ladies shoes.

http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/4...enadeuxent.jpg
davethewave




below: The front entrance to Bullock's Pasadena.

http://img833.imageshack.us/img833/1...adenadeux1.jpg
davethewave

A 1947 postcard image of the brand new Bullock's Pasadena.

http://img844.imageshack.us/img844/3...ena1adavet.jpg
davethewave

http://www.flickr.com/photos/6535985...57623813328648

below: Rear view of the Hotel Savoy among others.

http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/678...lifeamongo.jpg
usc digital archive

Unbelievable. That's the staircase I played on as a toddler, and when I made too much noise, my mom was asked to remove me from the store. Absolutely unreal to be able to see that again.

-Scott

Too bad there wasn't a picture of the fountain that was inside the parking garage-side entrance to Bullock's. It probably wasn't really as big as I remember it, but everything seems bigger when you're only knee-high.

-Scott[/QUOTE]

I have been looking all over the net for pictures of the fountain and have come up with nothing. I was hoping to jog my memory as mom always talked about my sister and I tossing coins in the fountain, when we first walked in the store, but I don't recall that.

I guess there is a limit on how much a four year old retains :D

~Jon Paul

True, true. As much time as Mom and I spent in Bullock's during my childhood years, I confess I don't recognize anything from those interior shots except the Boy's department with the globe map on the ceiling, and the corridor with the elevators. It's also a bit difficult for me to imagine all that vast interior space fitting inside a building which doesn't look nearly that vast from the outside. It's truly a masterpiece of space and design.

I would really like to know who the architect was. I know it wasn't a Frank Lloyd Wright building, but it looks like something that could have come out of Wright's Taliesin school of architects.

-Scott

While searching around for a photo of the fountain, I did find that it was designed by Wurdeman & Becket. They were not only the architects of the structure itself but the designers for all interiors including wall paper, murals, floor coverings and displays.

It seems that they were also the architect/designers of the Pan Pacific Auditorium and Capitol Records building among many, many others.

I don't remember reading any connection between either of them and Taliesen, but I'm also sure that they were Wright admirers (at the very least).

~Jon Paul

Oooooops
 

Sorry for posting twice. Guess I'm not the sharpest tool in the crayon box.:koko:

Looks like we hit submit right at the same time AlbanyNY. Thanks for the additonal info!

~Jon Paul

The Architects of Bullock's Pasadena
 

"I would really like to know who the architect was. I know it wasn't a Frank Lloyd Wright building, but it looks like something that could have come out of Wright's Taliesin school of architects."

-Scott[/QUOTE]

Scott,
I came across an article called LAistory: The Post-War House & The Home of Tomorrow, by Lindsay William-Ross on laist.com. ( http://laist.com/2009/02/07/laistory...-war_house.php ), about the architects of Bullock's Pasadena. It is actually an article about the Post-War "House of Tomorrow" at the corner of Wilshire and Highland, but mentions Bullock's as well.
"Fritz B. Burns of the the Marlow-Burns Development Company paired up with J. Paul Campbell, and commissioned architects Walter Wurdeman and Welton Becket to design the "Post-War House". The pair was a very logical choice: Incorporated as Wurdeman and Becket in 1939 [...] the firm prospered and expanded during the World War II era, completing public housing and defense projects and positioning themselves well for the region's post-war construction boom. Now focused on larger commercial projects, Wurdeman and Becket's work of the mid- to late 1940s took on aspects of the Late Moderne and International styles. Their best known commissions included Bullock's Department Store in Pasadena (1944)."
The firm also designed the Capitol Records Building, the Cinerama Dome, and the Beverly Hilton, among others. I hope this helps.
---Garry

Is this the Bullock's Pasadena fountain?

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/4...ercyflickr.jpg
patricksmercy flickr

This apparently did not make it into Macy's 2008 restoration of the building; this area is now more retail space with counters.

I snuck these with my cell phone camera (hence the poor quality) the other night inside Bullock's er Macy's er Bullock's:

http://img846.imageshack.us/img846/6979/0914111909.jpg

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/4349/0914111912.jpg

http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/8003/0914111916.jpg

http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/8286/09141119171.jpg

I wanted to take more pictures but I knew they wouldn't come out well, my cell phone camera being so crappy. I wish I had taken pics of the elevator corridors, though.

It almost has to be, but I think years before my time (my earliest memories of Bullock's were from when the store was already 10 years old; this may have been what it originally looked like). The room I remember the fountain being in was not as elegantly decorated as this one, though, so it might have been remodeled by the time I first would have remembered it circa 1957. (Maybe they did a remodel of the south entry when the parking garage was added?) But yes, the fountain was oval in shape, and there was only one fountain in the store, so this is almost certainly it. More amazingness! Thanks!

-S

EDIT: Thanks, also, for the recent photos! I'm so glad the interiors still look so much like they used to! The former Boy's department looks like it's still for kids! And the globe ceiling mural is still there. Cool! ^^

Thanks Garry and Jon!

Speaking of Frank Lloyd Wright, are there any of Wright's Prairie-style houses in Los Angeles, or were they all of the Usonian/Mayan Block types? I seem to recall two Wright houses being posted about on this thread: one, of course, being the Ennis-Brown House – used in the greatest modern-era L.A. noir film of all (IMHO, that being Blade Runner) – which utilized the Mayan Block motif, but I don't recall the style of the other. I don't think it was Prairie, though. Anyway, just curious.

-Scott

Frank Lloyd Wright in Los Angeles
 

By pure definition, no. Wright designed five Mayan Revival houses in the Los Angeles area. Most experts consider Hollyhock House (the Aline Barnsdall house that was discussed briefly in this thread) to be a combination of Prarie-style and mayan block. That was his first LA house and it is felt that he was "dipping his toe" into the textile block design by, in effect, using it as a modernization of and augmentation to his most noted design style.

Hollyhock House
http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/3...yhockhouse.jpg

Entrance
http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/9...seentrance.jpg

Living Room
http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/2239/hollyhocklr.jpg

Windows
http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/9...usewindows.png

Exterior Detail
http://img828.imageshack.us/img828/8...ousedetail.jpg

His Mayan revival/textile block designs were not well received and Wright abandoned the theme after Los Angeles. Interestingly though, his son LLoyd Wright continued using variations of Mayan Revival/textile block in many of his own designs for years afterwards.

Lloyd Wright's Snowden House
http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/627/snowdenhouse.jpg
activerain.com

~Jon Paul

All other images courtesy Hollyhock House Foundation

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-z...2520PM.bmp.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Rs53-MPsJa...broe.583.1.jpg
LAPL

Ah, the SOWDEN house again--now we're talking noir. Once the home of creepy Dr. Hodel, one of many Dahlia suspects.

:previous:

Yes, Dr. Hodel was indeed creepy. He lived for a time in South Pasadena, in a huge house on Monterey Road. Makes me wanna read that book again, written by his son.

___________________________________________________________________


More Pasadena stuff.

Pasadena Athletic Club, 1926.
http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/2...ticclub192.jpg
USC Archive

It was demolished in the late 1970s in the name of "redevelopment." Some credit this particular building's demolition for the movement in Pasadena to save its old buildings.
http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/9...eingdemoli.jpg
Huntington Library Collection

In its place, this was built. It opened in 1980. This photo is from 1986.
http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/8...resscombro.jpg
rapidtransit-press.com

The Broadway anchored the eastern end of the enclosed Plaza Pasadena shopping mall. The mall was a success for a bit, but by the mid-1990s, it became a dead mall. Around 1999, the mall was mostly demolished, redeveloped as an open air shopping mall, with residences on the upper floors, and renamed Paseo Colorado, which opened in 2001. But for some reason, the eastern anchor department store, now a Macy's, was left untouched on the outside (the interior was somewhat updated to look like every other Macy's branch); it basically looks the same as the day it opened.
http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/991...2010907aan.jpg
Andrew Novak, 2007

When the then-new Broadway opened at the Plaza Pasadena, it was after the original Pasadena branch of the Broadway department store was closed and subsequently demolished. You can see it here in the left of this photo, from 1945:
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/3...sadena1945.jpg
USC Archive

This was Pasadena's newer business district, east of what is now Old Town, during this era. In the center is Pasadena's Spanish Baroque-style city hall, lovingly restored some years ago. It dates from the 1920s, when Pasadena's new civic center was created (Pasadena's previous city hall having been located in Old Town), along the vein of the City Beautiful movement, with the City Hall at the center of a 4-block north/south axis, the Pasadena Central Library anchoring the northern end and the Pasadena Civic Auditorium anchoring the southern end.

:previous: You're finding some gems sopas_ej! I especially like that last photo.
Pasadena City Hall looks so majestic.....and it's the first photo I've seen of that art deco Broadway Pasadena.

Your phone pics of the interior of Macy's (Bullocks Pasadena) was a pleasant surprise. The interior is still really impressive.
And you gotta love that the globe ceiling has survived!

below: Another photo of 'The Argyle', the oldest hotel on Bunker Hill built in the 1870s.

http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/889...ilt1870sol.jpg
lapl




below: Olive near 4th Street in 1965.

http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/1...ve1965lapl.jpg
lapl

Good Monday, everyone.
First, I'd like to thank all of you for a truly stunning collection of images and informative comments.
I've lived in the Arcadia/Sierra Madre cities for all my 60 years (61 tomorrow...ugh)
I'm a retired photographer.
I have a very small sampling of the tons of negatives from Tom Thompson who had photo studios in Los Angeles, Eagle Rock and Santa Monica over his many decades of photography.
His heyday was between 1925-1945. All his negatives are 8X10" and I still have glass plate negatives from even early, but they are of Ojai.
I'll see if I can get the scanner working. Unfortunately, some of which I have are of Santa Monica, not Los Angeles.
Mr. Thompson was moving from his studio on Beverly Blvd. in the Rampart area in 1972 and he filled two huge dumpsters with "all these old negatives". So I asked if I could get in the dumpster and rummage around. He said "take whatever you want to, kid". So I took about 100 or so.
Good grief.......we can only guess at what gems were discarded that weekend.....horrors to think about today.

These are of the Merle Norman Cosmetics storefront, location unknown to me. It must have been in the Los Angeles area as this was Mr. Thompson's hometown. I took the originals of these to the Nethercutt Museum in Sylmar when I went to visit it recently and gave them to the archivist. She had never seen them before.
The Nethercutts were the owners of the cosmetics company and acquired an amazing collection of antique autos and mechanical musical instruments.
Upon their death, they made sure the trust would continue to make the collection open to the public and free of charge.
Soooo, anyone know the location here????

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z...bba20001-1.jpg

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z...sics/abba1.jpg

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z...abba0001-1.jpg

:previous:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-c...2520PM.bmp.jpgJalopy Journal

I found this picture online a few years ago and sent it to a friend of mine who spells her name exactly as name of this bakery does--I had an idea that the "S.M." on it stood for Santa Monica, and now I know that indeed it does, and now I know who Thompson is too. (Maybe you, SierraMadre, were the one who posted that pic on Jalopy Journal...?) Let's see your pics! As for the ones of Santa Monica, nothing "unfortunate" about that--after all, S.M. is Chandler's "Bay City," isn't it?

[QUOTE=ethereal_reality;5414216]Two more photos of Bullock's Pasadena that I failed to include in my earlier post from a few days ago.

below: The entrance to ladies shoes.

http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/4...enadeuxent.jpg
davethewave




Retail has an important metric: sales per square foot. Apple's retail brick-and-mortar stores had the highest at $5,626 per square foot of floor space.
Jewelry retailer Tiffany & Co. came in second with $2,974. (not clear if that's 2010 or four quarters 2010-2011) When I saw the ladies' shoe department I was awed at the vacant carpet. Unless the shoe prices were astronomical, how did management ever sign off on this design? I don't even see many shoes.:stunned: