"King of Norway, Sycamore Grove, Los Angeles 1939."


#1
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...923/QLdf8H.jpgebay


Hmmm....which one is he? I see him! He.s standing behind a short table covered in a white cloth with a dark strip... and he appears to have a flower in his lapel.
No, wait...I've changed my mind. The 'flower' is too low, so maybe it's a white kerchief in his breast pocket.




#2
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...924/ZabQWD.jpgebay

Norwegian dancing!







#3
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...922/8HEqHQ.jpgebay


I couldn't locate any evidence of King Haakon VII visiting Los Angeles....but Prince Olav, his son, (the future King of Norway) visited Los Angeles in 1939.


"In the spring of 1939, Prince Olav and Princess Martha went on a grand tour of the United States, to strengthen ties between Norway and the U.S. on the eve of World War II. The royal couple visited Los Angeles, where they met fellow countrywoman Sonja Henie (1912-1969), a figure skater who won gold medals in the 1928, 1932,
and 1936 Olympics. Henie had become a famous movie star, earning $2 million a year during in her heyday." from HISTORYLINK


Would someone look up some [spring 1939] issues of the Los Angeles Times (I don't have a library card), and see if Haakon VII visited Los Angeles as well.
If he didn't [visit], the ebay description is probably incorrect. Haakon was king in 1939 (the date of the snapshots)...Prince Olav didn't become king until 1957.

Thanks.

__

p.s. I found the pics quite some time ago. (more than a year, at least)

I searched the LA Times archives for all of 1939. There was no mention of King Haakon VII visiting Los Angeles. I only found articles about a three day visit from Norse royalty Crown Prince Olaf* and Crown Princess Martha.

*This is how the LA Times spelled his name in 1939.

Dang, HS beat me! By minutes, by minutes I tells ya! :cheers:


https://i.postimg.cc/hG0k1THX/Olav5-15-39.jpg
Los Angeles Times 5/15/1939 (I omit one paragraph of guests) via ProQuest via CSULB Library.

And now I have this song stuck in my head: "You ought a Hear Olaf Laff"

• Video Link

I'm guessing that the Santas were used for three of the WW2 Holiday Seasons (1942, 43, & 44). The Santas appear to be non-illuminated; the illuminated trees would not be appropriate for wartime dim-out and black-out conditions. Note that the tops of the lanterns have been painted out; normally the GE Form 18-B lanterns would have a clear top. Also MIA are the illuminated bells that would stretch across the Boulevard.

1941 would have been too early for the Santas; the illuminated trees would have already been in place when Pearl Harbor was attacked.

1920s "flappers" & Playboy Santa at the beach. Those were the days before the Crash & Depression, when there were Blue Skies and the future was bright.

Thanks, Acorn!

That makes a lot of sense and something I hadn't thought of before. (I guess because I had the image of lit Santa Claus's from the Spielberg film.) It also explains why I haven't seen any night shots, but there is a distinct lack of daytime photos as well.

I'm also now wondering, since both photos I've seen were facing west, were these made with Santa facing both ways? Probably, otherwise you'd just see Santa from behind.

(P.S.: I have corrected this in my original post, but "a bit west of Ivar" should "be a bit east of Ivar.")

Vintage Hollywood Christmas Pics
 

Vintage Hollywood Christmas Pics
The 1920s.....

[IMG][IMG][IMG]https://i0.wp.com/www.ifitshipitsher...25-1.jpg?w=562[/IMG][/IMG][/IMG]https://i0.wp.com/www.ifitshipitsher...-30s.jpg?w=800https://i2.wp.com/www.ifitshipitsher...eath.jpg?w=800https://i1.wp.com/www.ifitshipitsher...-Loy.jpg?w=793

Thanks for the pictures ifitshipitshere.com

Thanks for this link! From the list I chose to watch "Christmas Holiday" (1944) last night and enjoyed it a lot. Gene Kelly was surprisingly effective playing a psycho killer.

HossC, your historical images of decorated homes reminded me of a house in Manhattan Beach that used to put up an incredible display at Christmastime when I was a kid. Someone went to the trouble to create an entire village in miniature on their front lawn, including an ice pond in one corner with animated skaters that zipped around, and Santa and his reindeer flying overhead. Someone in the house sat by their front window every night to set Santa and crew in motion any time a car would slowly pass by.

I think the future was always a little brighter here The effects of the Great Depression were somewhat mitigated in Los Angeles, as the ascendant movie industry gave steady employment to a lot of people. Without that brightness, could noirishness even be possible? Yin and Yang.

Yes. It was a different day. Ironically it's the same era in which males routinely swam naked at countless YMCA pools across the country, and in public school pools too (in sex-segregated facilities, of course).

:previous:


Bring back wool swimsuits--so we can take them off

From diaryofamadinvalid.blogspot.com/2017/07/little-known-history-ymca-required-male.html. Nicely illustrated, as is http://www.frank-answers.com/frank-a...d-in-the-ymca/

"Within the YMCA, there was no national mandate, so each location decided for itself on its nude swimming policies. The tide began to shift in 1961 when Ervin Baugher, the general secretary of the Allentown, Pennsylvania, investigated.... YMCA reported to an executive YMCA conference that, basically, the reasons for nude swimming. Wool fibers and cleanliness no longer made sense for modern pools, which were then equipped with chlorine and powerful filtration systems. In fact, Baugher said the only rational reason to continue the tradition of nude swimming was 'encouraging a proper attitude toward the body.'” Absolutely.

Thanks Handsome Stranger and odinthor.


Here is Crown Prince Olav and Crown Princess Martha shortly after they arrived at the Biltmore Hotel on May 14, 1939.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...923/8rVIg4.jpg
historicimages





INFO.
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...921/V8hyMQ.jpg




Crown Prince Olav at Sycamore Grove, May 1939
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...923/QLdf8H.jpg
Delivering his speech in Norwegian.

__

Hey, Martin! I think Spielberg used the Santas because the script called for it. One of them falls on someone or something. I guess I'll have to watch the film again--something I thought I'd never do.

Until now, I never knew the Hollywood Blvd. Santas ever existed (outside of the film). I like the way that Santa appears to be holding the two lanterns of the street light!

:uhh: Can't believe someone was able to take this photo of me when I thought I'd drawn the curtains!

1959 -5000 block, Hollywood Blvd. looking west.
https://66.media.tumblr.com/d8c8f644...fo1_r1_500.jpghttps://66.media.tumblr.com/d8c8f644...fo1_r1_500.jpg

I remember driving down Hollywood Boulevard with my dad, when he pointed over to the Hawaii Theatre and said,

"Now, that makes me feel old!"

"What does?" I ask.

"I remember when they were building the Hawaii. Now, it's closing."

Now these many years later, I understand. I spent so many hours of the day and night in the Pix, the Marcal, the Apollo, the Iris, the Academy, the Oriental, the Clinton, the Hollywood, the Vogue, the Admiral, the Pacific and on and on. I remember when the Cinerama Dome was built, billed as the first new theater in Hollywood in 25 years. Tempus fugit, folks.

:previous:

Love the "Hawaii" blade sign, that must've been added at some point.

(BDiH, the Cinerama Dome opened the same year the Hawaii closed. The Hawaii had been open for 23 years; built in 1940.)

_______


I like that, too. Very clever design element!

This Warner Bros. backlot shot of a set from Spielberg's 1941 shows a couple of the Santa Claus decorations they used in the film.
In the film the Santas are lighted and Santa's arms are by his side and he's not holding up the lanterns.

http://cdn.mntm.me/2b/6f/43/5-Top-Be...ce5ed12ada.jpgPhoto by Alan Light

ANOTHER SANTA!

Looking around the internet at other Hawaii Theatre information because of Tourmaline's post,
I happened upon another personal photograph taken of one of the Hollywood Blvd. Santa Claus decorations!



This one is facing east at the Admiral Theater on Hollywood Blvd., right before Vine Street.

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-khjQiQHlw...areham-VLA.jpgJohnny Wareham

This was on a Facebook posting by Johnny Wareham. He writes:

From my mom's (Priscilla) old photo album. Written on back: "The little (green) arrow is pointing to where I worked during Xmas. [MP: The Broadway Department Store, I'm guessing.] Just up the street a little ways from the Taft building, still on Hollywood Blvd., is the 'Hitching Post.' Straight up from the Admiral theater, about 3 doors is 'Melody Lane' a quite well known restaurant."

The Admiral is showing "You Can't Get Away with Murder (released May 20, 1939) and "The Three Musketeers" (released February 17, 1939). The theatre showed double bills of second run films, so it's not entirely certain when this might be dated, but the earliest this photo could be dated is the holiday season of 1940 as the Admiral opened on May 16, 1940. [see next paragraph]

_______


The Los Angeles Theatres website, link HERE, has this to say about the Hitching Post location: "In late 1940 they weren't running newsreels but rather foreign films and advertising the theatre as the Tele View Revival. In 1941 it was renamed the Hitching Post." So perhaps the earliest the above photo could be dated is the holiday season of 1941. Anyone have access to L.A. Times or Examiner movie listings for the holidays in 1941? [see next paragraph]

_______


I found a color postcard and a Getty photo, link HERE, that have 1941 dated photos of Hollywood Blvd. with the lighted Christmas Trees, so we're narrowing down the "Santa Claus years" to what Acorn has surmised, they were installed during the blackout years of 1942, 1943 and 1944.

nzpetesmatteshot
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...923/dyXUXh.jpg

Filming '1941'..a pretty good look at one of the Spielberg Santas illuminated :previous:

just found this.
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...921/mkp6dO.jpg
from the movie 1941 nzpetesmatteshot

"1888 PHOTO...FAMILY BY HOUSE ON HILL ST, WAGON WITH SIGN, LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA." EBAY


https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...923/5z01gL.jpg
EBAY


"Original c.1888 cabinet card Boudoir size photograph ( 8 1/2" x 5 1/4" ) showing early view with W. S. Allen family posing by their home
on 1622 South Hill Street in Los Angeles California.There are wagons on left and one with sign on it side, but I can not make up this sign." ebay description







I especially LOVE the coach house.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...921/8WB2lX.jpg
DETAIL

The wagon with the 'sign' is to the right of the coach house (next to the tall gentleman with the beard)

:previous:

Here's the W S Allen house surrounded by greenery in a detail from a 1905 panorama.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...LAWSAllen1.jpg

I posted the full image in post #19318, some of which I've include below. The Allen house is near the center of the Baist map.

William S Allen had a wholesale and retail furniture and carpets business at 332-334 South Spring Street (per the 1891 CD). The same CD also lists Joseph W Barker, Josiah W Parker and Miss M Belle Parker living at 1622 South Hill Street. Miss Parker was W S Allen's bookkeeper. By 1893, a domestic named Miss Adele Glaser had also moved in (there's no mention of Mr Barker).

This circa 1898 image is the best picture of the business on Spring Street that I've found so far (you can see the name and number on the left).

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...LAWSAllen2.jpg
USC Digital Library

Going back through the CDs, it appears that W S Allen previously had a furniture, carpets and wallpaper business with O T Barker at 324 and 326 N Main Street (1883-84 CD). O T Barker's sons later founded the eponymous Barker Bros furniture business.

:previous:


Excellent, HossC. Here's a little more on the Allen house. It's unclear as to whether he was the builder, but he seems to have moved into it ca 1889--he'd been living at 36 Pine Street (not sure where that is or was). The first address was 1512 S Hill...the 1891 renumbering altered that to 1622. William S. Allen died on May 24, 1902, while still living at 1622. His widow, Eliza, appears to have moved out of the house by mid 1908 or so, but she retained it as a rental...until March 1923 when BPs were issued for its demolition and replacement--Mrs. Allen having hired Morgan Walls & Morgan to build the strip of stores that are on the site today.


https://i.postimg.cc/hv3csPYw/allenad-bmp.jpg
Allen ran this ad in the Herald frequently...


His obit:
https://i.postimg.cc/JhWmPFT1/allenobit-bmp.jpg
LAH May 25, 1902


https://i.postimg.cc/hjDnqdW6/allenstores-bmp.jpg

:previous:

I carried on looking, and found this undated drawing of the east side of Spring Street which shows W S Allen's furniture and carpets store on the right.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...LAWSAllen3.jpg
LAPL

There's also this partial view of the store looking north.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...LAWSAllen4.jpg
LAPL

Here's Pine Street on the 1890 Sanborn map. W Pine only ran between Grand and Main. It looks like E Pine also continued east of San Pedro Street. As far as I can tell, Pine had become 16th Street on the 1910 Baist map, but today's layout is so different, I'm not sure which street used to be Pine (16th between Grand and Main is now Venice Boulevard). Either way, it was very close to 1622 South Hill Street.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...St1890Map1.jpg
www.loc.gov

:previous:

A M A Z I N G.............SLEUTHING !
..................................HossC......................GaylordWilshire

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...923/5z01gL.jpg
1622 S. Hill Street

:previous:


Yep, every house has a story...found these items regarding the Allen household, which did not live happily ever after...well, I suppose Eliza did...


https://i.postimg.cc/VN7XP2J8/allendiv-bmp.jpg
LAH Oct 26, 1901

1622 S Hill St sat on Lots 22 & 24 in Block H of the Morris Vineyard Tract


"NOT A CENT FOR WIFE"...but 21 years later it would be her name on the building permits that redeveloped the parcel...

https://i.postimg.cc/VNNbg4DH/allendivart1-bmp.jpg
LAH May 28, 1902



As for Pine Street...the Herald mentioned its renaming to 16th on Sept 15, 1891--which would be around the time of the renumberings north and south of First St that year; I'm thinking that Allen's address of 36 Pine was attached to the same property that was later 1512/1622 S Hill.

I like the artwork on this old decal from the 1940s. [asking $74.99]

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...923/KZmst2.jpg
EBAY

But the bear reminds me of THIS. :(



search purposes: Los Angeles City College Cubs

Have we ever visited The Officers Club?

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...923/nuSGp1.pnghttps://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...921/r9NExx.png
Ebay

Hmmmmm...so what does SAMSO and AFCMD stand for?

__

AFCMD is Air Force Contract Management Division. No idea what SAMSO might be.

SAMSO = Space and Missile Systems Organization. Now known as Space and Missile Systems Center. It's another US Air Force operation.

• Video Link

"Mission: planning, developing and acquiring intercontinental ballistic missiles and military space systems essential to the national defense."

"SAMSO manages military space programs, spacecraft development, their launch vehicles, ground equipment and launch equipment, and operates the tracking stations to command and control these space travelers."

This was less than three miles from where I grew up. My age-mates and I were aware in the 1960s and 1970s that the US Air Force base in El Segundo was a top target of Russian nukes.

The 2nd one from top is lovely Louise Brooks of course. Is the star below her Gloria Swanson? "Sunset Blvd" from 1950 one of my fave LA noirs, along with Double Indemnity, both directed by Wilder. The star on top is a young Joan Crawford I believe, and the lower pic is Myrna Loy.

It's called Los Angeles Air Force Base, it's one of the few Air Force Bases without a runway(Lackland in San Antonio is another, but it's a BMT base).

Bacon, mayonnaise, and tomato? :shrug:

Looking up the address shows it as 5800 Arbor Vitae "St." and not "Ave." (?)

Heh, Basic Military Training(the kid was in the Air Force, so I had to learn all the abbreviations).

Ralphs Grocery refund tokens. Can anyone shed any light on when and under what circumstances these were issued? :shrug:

http://auction.tokencatalog.com/thum...h=500&sq=N&b=Y

:previous: What the heck is in the center?

It looks vaguely Arabic.

"R" for Ralphs?

We've seen examples of Street Car tokens, but there are also a surprising number of less common LA commerce tokens.


http://thumbs3.ebaystatic.com/d/l225...Af6mTk92Sw.jpghttp://thumbs3.ebaystatic.com/d/l225...Af6mTk92Sw.jpg

https://i.etsystatic.com/5863064/r/i....258719564.jpghttps://i.etsystatic.com/5863064/r/i....258719564.jpg



http://www.stockmarketsreview.com/st...2490558869.jpg http://www.stockmarketsreview.com/st...2490558869.jpg


https://www.picclickimg.com/d/l400/p...URNISHINGS.jpghttps://www.picclickimg.com/d/l400/p...URNISHINGS.jpg


https://i.etsystatic.com/9820397/r/i...50143_ih20.jpghttps://i.etsystatic.com/9820397/r/i...50143_ih20.jpg

https://www.picclickimg.com/d/l400/p...rdina-Good.jpghttps://www.picclickimg.com/d/l400/p...rdina-Good.jpg


https://historama.com/images/stories...t/0131060a.jpghttps://historama.com/images/stories...t/0131060a.jpg

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...923/nuSGp1.pnghttps://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...921/r9NExx.png

"The roots of the Space and Missile Systems Center and the Los Angeles Air Force Station date back to June 1954
at a former church and parish house on East Manchester Blvd. in Inglewood."


Some x-tra history:

Brigadier General Bernard Schriever put the whole operatio into motion when he began the Western Development Division on the site of an old parochial school
and parish church in nearby Inglewood on July 1, 1954. Its purpose: the development of strategic nuclear missiles for the defense effort, specifically the Atlas Intercontinental Ballistic Missile.

401 - 409 E. Manchester Blvd.
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...922/g0ebYU.jpg


The WDD found the revamped church and school [shown above] to be much too small, and moved to buildings on Arbor Vitae Street near LAX in 1955.

Development of military satellites was added to the WDD’s workload in 1955. The division also began developing rockets to launch satellites, redesigning Atlas,
Titan and Thor series missiles with extra stages that could carry satellites into orbit.

You can read the details HERE (it's rather confusing)

__


Any idea what the theater (rink?) is in the distance

This one
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...921/9s0qRI.jpg

I just found this pic.

"Los Angeles Air Force Base Area A in 1964"

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...921/3iLJSP.jpg
smcheritagefoundation

I believe this eventually became TRW.
___

LAAB, moved to Area B at ummmmm.....? (across the street...I think)

I told you it was confusing. :eeekk:




In 1961, the Air Force developed a plan to consolidate its Space Systems Division and the Research and Development (R&D) Center of The Aerospace Corporation, which had been created in 1960 to support Air Force space programs. The plan involved acquisition of two pieces of real estate adjoining the R&D Center. An aircraft plant owned by the Navy, at the northwest corner of Aviation and El Segundo Boulevards, was transferred to the Air Force in October 1962. Another site, at the southwest corner of the same intersection, was owned by a mining company. The Aerospace Corporation acquired that site in November 1962 and built its new headquarters there between February 1963 and April 1964. By April 10, 1964, the Air Force property at the intersection of Aviation and El Segundo Boulevards was designated as Los Angeles Air Force Station, which was re-designated Los Angeles Air Force Base in September 1987.

_

Im Pretty sure thats the Fox which is still with us.

I can't think of anything a grocery store would regularly issue refunds on other than glass soda pop bottles.

The "symbol" in the center looks fairly arbitrary. It appears to be a raised surface; maybe the purpose was to tell by touch (reaching into one's pocket or purse) that these were not coins.

TRW was a bit further south, at Aviation Blvd. and Marine Ave. (Aviation Blvd. is seen here stretching from the center right to the upper middle of the photo. We're looking south-ish, with the Palos Verdes peninsula looming in the distance.) The building in this photo remained part of the Air Force base until it was torn down to make way for the monotonous multifamily housing units that stand there now.

I love seeing how much open, undeveloped land there was in the South Bay area back then.

Those buildings were at the southeast corner of El Segundo and Aviation. Here's the 1985 aerial:

https://i.postimg.cc/L68DL7BQ/LAAFB-Area-A.jpgFrameFinder

The area is currently apartments:
https://i.postimg.cc/xTZvHddq/LAAFB-Area-A-today.jpgGoogle Maps

TRW(now Northrurp Grumman) is further south(Marine & Aviation), though they might have occupied those offices at some time.

I had TRW on my mind because of this paragraph from the Daily Breeze article.

"The WDD found the revamped church and school to be much too small, and moved to buildings on Arbor Vitae Street near LAX in 1955,
which also housed members of the Ramo-Wooldridge Corporation. (It would become TRW in 1958.) The firm provided technical support
for the missile operations."

"Ramo-Woolridge bought 40 acres of property at Aviation and El Segundo boulevards in El Segundo in order to expand its operations.
It called the site its Research and Development Center, or R&D Center for short."

__

I just found this.


RAMO-WOOLDRIDGE CORPORATION, 1956.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...924/sH2TgE.jpg
Calisphere


"Aerial view of the Ramo-Wooldridge Corp., located at 401-409 E. Manchester Boulevard* (horizontally, at forefront) in the city of Inglewood; view is undetermined. When WDD (Western Development Division) was established on July 1, 1954, it set up temporary headquarters in a former parochial school and parish church. In early 1955, WDD moved to El Segundo and housed Air Force and civil service personnel, along with personnel for The Ramo-Wooldridge Corporation, which supported WDD's missile programs. Photographed for Albert C. Martin & Associates (the architects and engineers for this project) on October 2, 1956."

:previous:I think this is mislabeled....because *401 -409 E. Manchester Boulevard was the address of the parochial school and parish house. :shrug:


THIS BIT OF INFORMATION WAS ALSO INCLUDED with this PHOTOGRAPH.

"The Ramo-Wooldridge Corporation's Guided Missile Research Division was renamed Space Technology Laboratories in 1957,
just before it moved into the R&D Center. Ramo-Wooldridge became Thompston-Ramo-Wooldridge (TRW) in 1958."
_____



TRW = Thompson-Ramo-Wooldrige. Interesting. Am I the only one that didn't know this?

:previous:

As a reminder, I posted a couple of pictures of the TRW building along with some information just over two years ago in post #37105. Here's some of that post:

Could the raised doodads on the tokens provide the color? See the reference in this wartime LAT ad of February 28, 1944...

https://i.postimg.cc/wBqSKXLN/ralph1-bmp.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/G29VtbMh/ralphs2-bmp.jpg

:previous:

The tokens only appear to be embossed/raised because the image has been flipped (check out the shadows). Here they are the right way up, showing a cutout logo.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...lpsTokens1.jpg

I think Tourmaline was right about it being "R" for Ralphs. I also found this color image.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...lpsTokens2.jpg