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ethereal_reality Sep 17, 2011 5:26 PM

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

ethereal_reality Sep 17, 2011 8:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire (Post 5410700)

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


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


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



All LAPL



below: Rear view of the Hotel Savoy among others.

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

Los Angeles Past Sep 17, 2011 8:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality (Post 5414202)
:previous: The grand staircase in Haggarty's Pasadena (shown in the photo above).

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



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

Fab Fifties Fan Sep 17, 2011 9:34 PM

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

Los Angeles Past Sep 17, 2011 10:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fab Fifties Fan (Post 5414422)
I guess there is a limit on how much a four year old retains :D

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

Fab Fifties Fan Sep 17, 2011 11:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Los Angeles Past (Post 5414466)
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

Albany NY Sep 17, 2011 11:31 PM

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

Fab Fifties Fan Sep 17, 2011 11:34 PM

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

~Jon Paul

Albany NY Sep 17, 2011 11:48 PM

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

sopas ej Sep 18, 2011 1:52 AM

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.

Los Angeles Past Sep 18, 2011 4:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sopas ej (Post 5414601)
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.


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! ^^

Los Angeles Past Sep 18, 2011 4:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Albany NY (Post 5414526)
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

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

Fab Fifties Fan Sep 18, 2011 8:51 AM

Frank Lloyd Wright in Los Angeles
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Los Angeles Past (Post 5414691)
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

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

GaylordWilshire Sep 18, 2011 8:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fab Fifties Fan (Post 5414808)
Lloyd Wright's Snowden House
http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/627/snowdenhouse.jpg
activerain.com


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.

sopas ej Sep 18, 2011 11:42 PM

: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.

ethereal_reality Sep 19, 2011 12:19 AM

: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!

ethereal_reality Sep 19, 2011 2:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gsjansen (Post 5413455)
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



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

SierraMadre Sep 19, 2011 5:32 PM

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

GaylordWilshire Sep 19, 2011 5:58 PM

: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?

Engineeral Sep 19, 2011 6:35 PM

[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:


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