Serenity now........serenity now.

Now, now ladies...
 

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_z...la-Parsons.jpg http://distributorcapny.blogspot.com...1_archive.html
...let's practice our smiles for the sake of
peace in Tinseltown....

LOL.....Agreed, Gaylord......Tho Tinseltown has been known for plenty of not so happy behavior too! :) LOL LOL.....

I'm sure we've all heard of The Battling Bogarts....

Mayo Methot (March 3, 1904 – June 9, 1951), also known as Mayo Methot Bogart, was an American film and theater actress.

Methot and Bogart became a couple of high-profile Hollywood celebrities, but it was not a smooth marriage. Both drank heavily, and Methot gained a reputation for her violent excesses when under the influence. They became known as "The Battling Bogarts," with Methot's nickname widely known, for her combativeness, as "Sluggy." Bogart later named his motor yacht Sluggy, in her honor.

PS - Dead at 47! See what that Green River bourbon will do to ya! LOL

http://s3.amazonaws.com/findagrave/p...hotmayobio.jpg

And speaking of Green River...how's this for an advertising slogan? As many of you have noticed, their billboards were all over Downtown.......guessing mostly in the 30s and 40s.

http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/...umot1/1213.jpg

And lest we forget
 

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_z...k/borgmerm.jpg http://blstb.msn.com/i/5C/1ACC6028C2...7695208010.jpg

Thirty-two days and a few Dutch Ovens later, they were history.


P.S., malumot: Clever bourbon ad. No one ever said the whiskey would have a headache....

I started this thread on June 06, 2009.......and over the years everyone has been extremely civil.

malumot, I've really enjoyed your posts and I hope you continue to participate in this thread.
MichaelRyerson: I think your recent involvement has been absolutely wonderful. In fact, I look forward to your posts daily.

(back to) malumot-
The heated rhetoric began when you replied, "Your words, not mine, Buster" to one of MichaelRyerson's posts.
This seems a bit rude and I can certainly see why MR was offended.
___________

This thread has been so great for so many people over the years.
I just want everyone to enjoy themselves and share their knowledge and love for the city of Los Angeles.

If you have a disagreement with someone and you begin to feel angry......
simply step away from the thread for a little while.

:) THANKS!

Here is great photo of the Pacific Mutual Building on the corner of 6th and Olive St.

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/467...st6thstand.jpg
usc digital archive



http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/3...tingpchuge.jpg
ebay

A doozy of a truck accident at 3127 Beverly Blvd. in 1951. I hope this poor guy had insurance.


http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/885...recrash195.jpg
usc digital archive



http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/8...recrash195.jpg
usc digital archive




http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/8...recrash195.jpg
usc digital archive





http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/4...recrash312.jpg
usc digital archive






below: A view from the roof of the damaged building. This photographer seems to be going beyond the call of duty.

http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/618...recrashfro.jpg
usc digital archive






http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/9...recrashint.jpg
usc digital archive

What is all that in the foreground?

At first glance I thought they were bricks that had tumbled down...

.....wait a minute! Those aren't bricks!

They're packages....packages that have been carefully wrapped with nondescript brown paper...

Why it's.......it's........

(All I can say is that if it was 2011 I'd be positive it was either bud or blow.) :D

lol, I thought the same thing malumot. It looks like kilo bricks of cocaine.

one more look at the southland

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...CHS-44029?v=hr
Source: USC Digital Archive http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...CHS-44029?v=hr

i know i would have remembered seeing this particular angled shot with the richfield so coolly/coyly hanging out on the right side of the photog.

i guess the boys at usc were adding to the archive, as well as putting copyright notices on all the images while the site was down this week

^^^And there's the Southland Hotel with it's cozy looking penthouse in the lower left hand corner.*

*oops! I just noticed that you mentioned the Southland in your post gsjansen.

everyone i'm sure will be relieved to find out that the building's been repaired

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5100/...1bb25996_b.jpg

i've never seen square grouper run so far inland before :cool:

And beyond, in the distance, one of my favorites ---

The brooding Rex Arms. Which by this time had the Harbor Freeway running through its backyard.

I've always liked the Rex Arms as well malumot.

http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/7646/aaarexarms.jpg
usc digital archives







http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/5720/aaarex.jpg
usc digital archive

What I also found interesting was the view catty-corner to this building:

http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/618...recrashfro.jpg
USC digital archive

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/5...verlyanddi.jpg
Google Earth

The little bungalow in the left of the pic still exists. I'm trying to figure out the structure with the tile roof next to it; is that the same structure in the older photo?

one more view of the rex across the construction site of the statler, (or is it the demolition site of the studebaker showroom)

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...G-STA-002?v=hr
Source: USC Digital Archive http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...G-STA-002?v=hr

sopas_ej
You have a great eye.
The gabled bungalow is definitely still there, but I can't decide about the corner building.

I believe the white building (Banner & Sign Factory) is the same building as in the 1951 photograph.
The dimensions seem identical.....but I have no idea why anyone would want to cover over those great windows.

Thank you thank you. I have been looking for a photo forever of the outside of the Paris Inn. My grandmother danced there in the '40s and then the new Paris Inn when it moved up to Broadway in the '50s. I have inside photos but never any outside ones. Thanks also for the wonderful site. Makes walking in LA so much more interesting.

Oh, THIS one. This one has been up for a while since it used to be my iBook desktop! Like a Choucroute Garnie, it basically has everything I love in it. I'm tempted to go down to USC and pay Dace Taub whatever she wants for a five-foot blowup.

I'm going to spend a couple nights in the "Wilshire Grand" (Statler/Hilton) this month, just to be able to say I did, but mostly because I'll be shooting lots of then-n-nowz against the photos from the opening day book they issued. Demolition commences, I'm told, in 45 days.

Here's something interesting about the Paris Inn: the color interior picture is from a postcard called "Take a Trip to Paris" and of the "street" -- the left side (or banke, if you will) was known as the "Bohemian Side" and the right side of the room was known as the "Formal Side."

I did not know that! Interesting. I wish my grandparents had taken more outside photos of LA. They got married after the war was over (my grandpa was a Marine). He would go watch her perform (she danced at a few places but Paris Inn the longest) and escort her home on the Red Car. They spent tons of time in downtown (and lived coincidentally a mile from where I am now in Silver Lake) and Hollywood. I'll have to get their photo albums to see if they have any interesting outside photos I can post.

malumot, thank you for that story of Bogie's first wife (or was she the first?). I had no idea who she was but I thought she looked an awful lot like an older, less attractive version of this woman:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6...5abe970c-800wi
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6...5abe970c-800wi

Now who could she be?:shrug: I think Bogie had a type:yes:

Purely conjecture -

But it looks like they simply removed the pumps, threw up three walls and enclosed it.

As to the window removal - Happens pretty much everywhere when a neighborhood goes on the shnide. If you look at Jansen's then-and-now of the "crash-victim" at Dillon and Beverly - almost all the first-floor windows have been plastered over there too. :(

Lastly ---that funny looking tree next door to The Rex..... I think it's a Bunya Bunya tree. Native to Australia, you see a few of them here and there. They have an interesting habit of dropping most of their lower limbs as the tree grows. Looks something like a Norfolk Island Pine, which you do see more of.

Remember you had a LOT of former Midwest farmers who came out here in late 1800s and early-mid 1900s. And you can imagine that, being farmers, they were geeked-stoked-amped-excited about the prospect of growing and experimenting with exotic plants and trees that wouldn't grow in Dubuque. (Think about how many gardens and arboretums and such were established during this time).

I can only recall seeing it in older neighborhoods. It's an ungainly bird, not at all currently favored by landscapers, and was probably planted more as a novelty than anything else.

PS...I went back and took a look at that pic of The Rex...with the vacant lot to its left. What was there before? I'm betting a house...but why was it cleared? That palm tree is +/-60 feet tall......and that pic was obviously taken in the 20s.....which means that palm tree dates from 1875 or thereabouts. (It takes them about 50 years to get that tall.) Who or what was at that south end of Bunker Hill back in the 1870s, I wonder? That was pretty much the end of town in the 1870s wasn't it?

The problem with this thread (if it is one): For every answer come two new questions. LOL

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=2814



http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_NjUov1-0Kn...s400/Bunya.jpg

http://www.biolib.cz/IMG/GAL/45301.jpg


http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=2814

:previous:
Speaking of landscaping, is it just me, or is anyone else noticing that lately, it seems that birds of paradise are making a comeback in landscaping in SoCal?

It of course is the official flower of the City of Los Angeles. Very apropos, then, for Union Station:

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/9...ionstation.jpg
ca.myphotoscout.com

Great point Sopas!

In a word - yes, I think so too. And what's even more odd/strange/fascinating is that it's not just the Bird of Paradise, but LOTS of landscape trees and shrubs......the fact they fall in and out of fashion. (I had no idea until I read something about this, and, sure enough, it made sense).

Here's one that used to be everywhere. Hollywood, or Twisting, Juniper. TONS of these were planted in the 50s and 60s. Lots of older ones are still around, but I almost never see these planted new. (If you wanted one from Home Depot you would have to special order it.)

http://www.monrovia.com/img/plants/1...-full-shot.jpg

yeek gads! 45 days??!!?.........sheeeeesh

i wonder who'll they'll have at the demolition commencement program. celeste holms was the choice for the groundbreaking ceremony back in 50

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...G-STA-003?v=hr
Source: USC Digital Archive http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...G-STA-003?v=hr

Conrad Hilton standing outside the statler after purchasing the chain in 1954

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5180/...cd6ed378_b.jpg

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...STA-034~1?v=hr
Source: USC Digital Archive http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...STA-034~1?v=hr

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...STA-035~1?v=hr
Source: USC Digital Archive http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...STA-035~1?v=hr

1951 and now

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4139/...609bf29a_b.jpg

paris inn on broadway
 

an image posted earlier in the thread of the paris inn when it was located on north broadway.

Andrea, i have to admit, it didn't even occur to me that this was the relocated location of the paris until you mentioned it in your post. Welcome to the thread!

******* i just realized *******

the paris inn did not get replaced by the gas station on market street, it's actually the building behind the gas station

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...CHS-41536?v=hr

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...CHS-12633?v=hr

1951 image of the paris inn taken my arnold Hylen

http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...QNSIUGIVNV.jpg
Source: California State Library http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...QNSIUGIVNV.jpg

More likely a view from Larissa Drive...
 

above Sunset, which you can see running across the bottom of the hill beyond the grille work of that beautiful automobile. When I was quite small we lived on Descanso Drive and my parents told the story of the day (mid-late '40's?) a garbage truck flipped over on its back while climbing Micheltorena. Folklore had it the steepest street in Los Angeles.

Wow, that was a great series! Thanks.
 

Really enjoyed your Ramona Parkway/Freeway series. Great leg work.

Dumpster Diving for Daddy
 

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics18/00018729.jpg
Michael Haering/LAPL http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics18/00018729.jpg

Simi Valley, August 2, 1970

Dinner at Romanoff's for the first person to identify the young lady on the left.

:previous:

lynette "squeaky" fromme

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...WO5mdhGy_A&t=1

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_A_GqkrLZKV...400/Inside.jpg

anyway, i'll have to pass on romanoff's, the repo men are hot on my trail, and since i'm about to lose my car, now i'll have to write. my agent tells me starvation is the best thing for creativity.....the big faker.....(and i'm sure that was indeed the "F" word mr. gillis meant to say........;) )

http://www.gonemovies.com/www/drama/...illisAgent.jpg

In addition to Norma telling Joe, "Own three blocks downtown, I've got oil in Bakersfield, pumping, pumping, pumping! What's it for but to buy us anything we want?" and others, one of my favorite Sunset Blvd lines accompanies your screenshot...

"No. He was hard at work in Bel-Air, making with the golf sticks."


Excellent Squeaky i.d., gs-- ok, don't blame you for passing on dinner at Mike's. The Battling Bogarts might be there. We'll do Schwab's with Artie and Betty sometime soon.

Some spectacular photos of the Statler Hotel (now the Wilshire Grand) under construction.


http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/3...hotelconst.jpg
usc digital archive




http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/3...hotelconst.jpg
usc digital archive




http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/3...hotelconst.jpg
usc digital archive






below: An aerial view of the finished product (the expansive white building to the right of the Harbor Freeway)

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/1...talerhotel.jpg
usc digital archive

Enjoy your stay Beaudry......take lots of interesting photos!

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/5...tatler1953.jpg
ebay

I found Hollywood Junipers at Home Depot about 15 years ago here on Long Island, NY. Bought three of them. I don't remember how much I paid, probably around 12 bucks each which would be a lot for me. I always liked the look of them on my trips to LA. Mine are still alive but a lot more spindly then the one in the picture.

And let me take this opportunity to thank whoever posted that link to 'Highway Patrol' on Hulu. It's great. I haven't seen it in probably 45 years. "Leave your blood at the Red Cross, not on the highway" cracks me up every time.

And Jansen - ........gotta love "the boy" Joe Gillis. I could (and have) watch that movie over and over and over.

There was an earlier "French Village" that got torn down, but it wasn't on sunset:

The Lost French Village of Hollywood

Complete story here:
http://paradiseleased.wordpress.com/...-of-hollywood/

The French Village, 1920, an enchanting little group of bungalows and artist’s studios, was designed by architects
Walter S. and F. Pierpont Davis (who also designed the Roman Gardens at 2000 North Highland Avenue 1926 and the
Court of the Fountains (today known as Villa D’Este) at 1355 North Laurel Avenue in West Hollywood 1928), and their
partner Henry F. Withey, on the corner of Cahuenga and Highland. Each of the cottages were completely unique in design
and personality. The French Village was intended for the transitory well-to-do and its construction led to ever more
elaborate apartment courts in Hollywood.

Original 1920 site plan for the French Village:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...illage-1a2.jpg

The Monkey House named for an elaborate and whimsical bas-relief carving of a group of monkeys cavorting over the home’s entrance.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...village-81.jpg
Minnie Sweet Muchmore, a well-known artist and interior decorator, was the first occupant of the Monkey House.

Tower House:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ower-house.jpg
Legendary designer Gilbert Adrian lived in the Tower House.

1925 modification for street widening.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...illage-2-2.jpg

House of Jonah & the Whale, House of the Virgin Mary and the House of Henry the Fourth studio:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...d-henry-iv.jpg
Prominent landscape architect Stuart Chisholm lived in the House of Henry the Fourth


French Pavilion with its elaborate tapestry brickwork:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...-pavillion.jpg
By 1930, the French Pavilion had been taken over by writer Cyril Hume and his wife, actress Helen Chandler.
Both were to achieve notable successes while living at the French Village, Hume as the screenwriter for
Tarzan of the Apes for MGM and Chandler as “Mina,” the object of Bela Lugosi’s unholy desires in Dracula (1931).

Throughout the 1930’s and 1940’s, the French Village continued to serve the artistic community
with a steady roster of actors, writers, costume designers, dance instructors and singing coaches
in residence. But that all came to an end with the construction of the Hollywood Freeway.

The site today.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...-highland1.jpg

Hollywood Freeway under construction 1952.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...04-0107vhr.jpg
uscdl

Caught word that the hotel isn't looking at wrecking balls til November. Which may be, but I'm not taking any chances.

mdiederi, amazing post on the french village. thank you so much!


GW, the continuing saga of trying to find additional info about berkley square.............................

i keep looking, but not a whole lot out there.

i did find a really nice 1908 security savings bank map of los angeles over at the david rumsey historical map site

below is a zoomed in portion of the map centered on berkley square

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5098/...7a6735af_b.jpg

the search continues..............................................

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/5...tatler1953.jpg

I don't know why I just now noticed, but the marquee announcing "The Incomparable Hildegarde" at the Terrace Room... My first thought was the German actress/singer Hildegard Knef of "Für Mich Solls Rote Rosen Regnen" fame, but I Googled "Incomparable Hildegarde" and apparently she was another singer; not as cool as Hildegard Knef in my opinion, but that's just my opinion.

BTW Hildegard Knef has her hand and footprints at Graumann's Chinese Theatre:
http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/3...degardknef.jpg
Photo by me

That's my foot there. I'm blocking the date but it's "13 Dec. 51." Her name is spelled the way she was billed in English-language films. According to Wikipedia, David Selznick invited her to Hollywood, but she refused to agree to the conditions of the contract which reportedly included changing her name to Gilda Christian and pretending to be Austrian rather than German. I'm not familiar with her songs from the 1950s, only the 1960s.

Here she is singing "Mackie Messer," the German version of "Mack the Knife," which, originally is a German song.
• Video Link

She also sang in English. I can't find it now, but on youtube there used to be a clip of her singing Burt Bacharach's "This Girl's in Love" live.

• Video Link

Is this where SNL got the idea for "Now's the time on 'Sprockets' vhen vi dahnce"?
• Video Link

Needless to say, there are also some German female impersonators of Hilde Knef.


Going back to the Statler, the Terrace Room and The Incomparable Hildegarde, here she is, I think:
• Video Link

Bah. I'd have rather seen Frau Knef at the Terrace Room.

What the hell is a PercussOwhirl?
 

:previous:


https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_z...degardlife.jpg http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...rdeobit01.html


https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_z...hildegarde.jpg http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/obituaries/2002413825_hildegardeobit01.html[/url]
The Incomparable Hildegarde, February 16,
1952--around the time of her Statler gig.


The Statler's Hildegarde died at 99 on July 29, 2005. A few choice items from her AP/Seattle Times obit:

"Born Hildegarde Loretta Sell in Adell, Wis., she was known for 70 years simply as 'The Incomparable Hildegarde,' a title bestowed on her by columnist Walter Winchell."

"'Hildegarde was perhaps the most famous supper-club entertainer who ever lived,' Liberace once said. 'I used to absorb all the things she was doing, all the showmanship she created. It was marvelous to watch her, wearing elegant gowns, surrounded with roses and playing with white gloves on. They used to literally roll out the red carpet for her.'"

"A noted flirt, Hildegarde wore long, white gloves — 'Miss Piggy stole the gloves idea from me,' she once said — and told risque anecdotes while parceling out long-stemmed roses to men in her audience."

"Revlon even introduced a Hildegarde shade of lipstick and nail polish."

"Wise investments and work as a pitchwoman for a bottled-water company, barley vitamins and bathtub device called the PercussOwhirl provided her with a comfortable income through the rock era.

:previous:

Well, after reading that, I guess the Incomparable Hildegarde isn't one to sneeze at.

Still, not really my cup of tea. I wonder who else headlined the Statler.

Great map, gs-- I practically consider myself the Rhodes Scholar of Berekely Square research, having compiled an entire notebook on the street--individual owners and their architects, etc. Imagine my dismay when the West Adams Heritage Association showed no interest in taking a look at it! (Humph, the Nerve, as one of the Three Stooges society matrons might have put it.) Anyway, it's interesting that Berkeley Square isn't yet labeled on a 1908 map (it was begun in 1904). Always find it interesting to see projected or former L.A. street names--Hermosa became part of the southerly extension of Gramercy; Lenox became Ardmore; Church became Kingsley. Other lost names include Grant, New Orleans, and Leoti....

here's a 1928 hills publishing corp map of los angeles centered on berkeley square .

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5176/...e0297347_b.jpg

Gramercy Park?!!!???

:previous:

That is odd--there is, of course, the vest-pocket Gramercy Park just below the site of Berkeley Square, but I'm not sure if the larger area including BS was ever referred to as "Gramercy Park"... could be... but I am surprised to again not see BS labeled, and 20 years later, yet.

I'd forgotten that there was once a Los Angeles Airways that shuttled pax between LAX and downtown, Disneyland and other SoCal destinations.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_z...uY%21~~0_1.jpgebay.com


http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r...0808/LAA02.jpg http://viewlinerltd.blogspot.com


Full story here:
http://viewlinerltd.blogspot.com/200...r-service.html

Don Carlos Apartments?
 

Just thought I might ask our little panel of experts here if anyone's ever heard of the Don Carlos Apartments? I've been curious where in L.A. this was. I think Mom worked as a secretary for Utter-McKinley Mortuary in Hollywood at the time, and that French-style building in the background also suggests Hollywood to me. I've never been able to come up with anything more specific than that in terms of location, though. Any ideas?

-Scott

http://i699.photobucket.com/albums/v...arlos_1138.jpg

Glad you enjoyed it! I sure had fun putting it all together.

-Scott :D

that is the french norman inspired Trianon apartments located at 1752 Serrano Avenue in hollywood.

when i did a google search for the don carlos apartments, an address of 5230 hollywood boulevard comes up. this is located at the intersection of harvard boulevard and hollywood. a block east, and then a block south of the Trianon.....exactly the location of where the photo was taken from scott.