I'm not retarted, just trying to get the hang of this posting pics. Please bare with me.

This great photo is simply labeled "Rain over Los Angeles 1955" in the USC Archive.
I believe it is a new image in their online catalog.

http://img848.imageshack.us/img848/5...angeles195.jpg
usc digital archive

Can anyone place the exact location?

Hmmmm. I'm not sure what you're doing wrong Ninja55.
I wish I could help but I'm not exactly the most computer savy person. :(

Anyone here have some useful tips for our new friend that has inspired so many interesting post?

_________

Stupid me wasn't enlarging the photo before pasting. I'm getting the hang of this.
That's my Grandma and my Dad. He was the manager of Lucca!!

http://cdn.cstatic.net/cache/gallery...53f59575_o.jpgGeorge Mann
525 W. 2nd St., about half a block up from the NW corner of 2nd and Olive.
The old houses are coming down! (With the Daily Planet building in the
background, ya gotta love the back end of the Lois Lane Rambler wagon at
left.)

Wow! You're spot on GaylordWilshire. Thanks for the info. :)

This is Universal City. The black modern building was known as the "Black Tower" and housed offices for many universal studio execs in the 60's, and the newly rising building is the Universal Sheraton Hotel, completed in 1968. The picture was taken most likely from a hillside above Cahuenga Blvd, south of the Hollywood Fwy, looking northeast with the mountains behind Burbank in the background.

I grew up in LA, born in '52. I LOVE this forum, and will try to add my 2 cents when I can. I have TONS of very good memories of 1950's LA. For starters, I saw the Carnation Sign on Wilshire from my bedroom balcony at night when I was 3, in 1955. I can still recall the elaborate sequence of red and white neon and flashing bulbs it cycled through.

This is Universal City in the Valley,1968 for sure
 

The Shearaton Universal Hotel is under construction(1968), and the black office building was called the "black tower" in the 60's, and housed many of the Universal Studios executives. Picture likely taken from hillside above Cahuenga Blvd across Hollywood Fwy, facing northeast, with Mountains above Burbank Area in the Background.
http://www.thestudiotour.com/ush/fro...mcatower.shtml

The groundbreaking for the hotel attended by Bobby Darin, Sandra Dee, Tippi Hedren and Ernest Borgnine:
http://www.efootage.com/stock-footag...iversal_Hotel/

Yeah, like I said at first, I had a suspicion this was the Valley, I just couldn't be sure. Thanks! I know exactly what I'm looking at now. ^^

-Scott

Go Acme!
 

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_z...32407%20PM.jpgHBO

Well, this detail looks promising, even though we are looking at a building on the SW corner of Madison
Avenue and 27th Street in New York.... While some scenes in the trailers look as though they may not
be satisfying individually, it does appear that the overall effect of the new Mildred Pierce could prove
to be.... OK, OK, I'll reserve judgment. HBO, Sunday, March 27, 9pm.

That picture appears to show the local headquarters for the Women's Christian Temperance Union. Their pro Prohibition billboard is eye catching. I guess these gals were kind of pissing in the wind by the time this photo was taken.

:previous:


https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_....bmp.jpg?gl=US
551 S. Kingsley


Actually, the girls are still at it, in new digs:

http://www.wctusocal.com/

If you liked that WCTU billboard you're going to love this one.

http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/9489/111maestro.jpg
usc digital archive

I originally posted this photo in June 2010.

The wctu building used to be 5 stories tall. There's a photo of it somewhere in the thread.....but I can't find it at the moment.

A Cushman Kodachrome I don't think we've seen before...
 

http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/ar...ull/P05742.jpg
February 24, 1952: "West 6th St.-4200 Block from Bronson Ave." Charles W. Cushman http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/cushman/index.jsp

59 years later:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_z...50048%20PM.jpg Google Street View

Gaylord's Car Crashes
 

I love the look of those cars -

but boy oh boy..they couldn't take a punch very well.

No wonder death and injury rates were stratospheric in those days.

Today's cars are superior in every way but one: Visual appeal. They look like clones of one another.

^^^very cool....great before/after GaylordWilshire.
It's wonderful that Indiana University put Cushman's photographs online.

_________

Ninja55, the Lucca photos are fantastic!!
I especially love the first one. The Lucca matchbook showed utility poles in the dining room and sure enough there they are!

_________



A 1937 photo of one of the Chili Bowls.
Notice the interesting neon over the door and elsewhere.

http://img863.imageshack.us/img863/8...acular1937.jpg
unkown


below: I found this snapshot on ebay the other day.

http://img571.imageshack.us/img571/6...irsmallish.jpg
ebay


close-up

http://img863.imageshack.us/img863/5...rsmallish1.jpg
ebay

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5215/...61b018b5_b.jpghttp://farm6.static.flickr.com/5215/...61b018b5_b.jpg


Joe Musso and his partner standing out in front on Wilshire blvd.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5137/...3f405777_b.jpghttp://farm6.static.flickr.com/5137/...3f405777_b.jpg


Inside Musso's

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5219/...629fb42b_b.jpghttp://farm6.static.flickr.com/5219/...629fb42b_b.jpg


Inside Musso's

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5255/...c61e677e_b.jpghttp://farm6.static.flickr.com/5255/...c61e677e_b.jpg


Joe Musso looking impressive outside his place.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5257/...02e7947d_b.jpghttp://farm6.static.flickr.com/5257/...02e7947d_b.jpg


One of my favorite pics of my Great Uncle Bert on the left and his good friend and brother in law Joe Musso on the right. Man in the middle is unkown. Classic!

:previous:
Those are all great photos, Ninja55.

___________________________________________

Currie's Ice Cream, circa 1946. Located at 457 W. Santa Barbara Avenue (now Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard), corner of Figueroa. It was on the first floor of the Coliseum Hotel.
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00088/00088706.jpg
LAPL

View of the same intersection, except looking south on Figueroa towards Santa Barbara Avenue, with the Coliseum Hotel to the left. Undated photo. Notice the brick gutter.
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics08/00013947.jpg
LAPL

Currie's Ice Cream
 

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Xj84QYCcFo...rries+1942.jpg
http://redcarproperty.blogspot.com/2...shop-1942.html
Photo: Bruce Wojcik, 1942. location is now the Corner of Riverside and Fletcher Drive


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2341/...e7199c4b_z.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dyingindowney/2373157778/
1950's Location in Downey,CA with trademark giant cone signage

My Question is: I remember going often to a Currie's with the giant cone signage
somewhere in the vicinity of LaBrea and San Vicente in the mid 50's,
but have never been able to find a picture or address of it. Anyone?

Curries Kid
 

(A personal photo I decided I'd rather not make public.)

An Abbreviated History of L.A. Ice Cream
 

I noticed in sopas's post below (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=3182) that Currie's replaced Chapman's as ice-cream purveyor in the Coliseum Hotel. Chapman's seeming to be the older company based on available pictures, I wondered if Currie's absorbed Chapman's at some point, but I couldn't find any info about it online.


https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_z...w/00078031.jpgLAPL
Chapman's on Lake Avenue, Pasadena, 1920s


http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics28/00063832.jpgLAPL
Ahren's Kitchen and a Chapman's at Larchmont and Beverly, mid-'30s. (Note what appear to be downtown-style street
signs on the lampposts.)



And some Currie's around the county:

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics44/00071548.jpgLAPL
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_z...13400%20PM.jpgLAPL
NE corner of Sunset and Highland; new lamps, more wires by the late '30s



http://jpg1.lapl.org/00088/00088411.jpgLAPL
1521 W. Whittier Blvd., Montebello

http://jpg1.lapl.org/00088/00088755.jpgLAPL
2401 E. Brooklyn Ave., Boyle Heights

http://jpg1.lapl.org/00088/00088413.jpgLAPL
2220 W. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank


https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_z...es%20plate.jpghttp://www.flickr.com/photos/33400108@N04/4134931466/



Was this woman a chain, or did she move around?
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics38/00068624.jpgLAPL

http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics45/00042123.jpgLAPL

http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics17/00008019.jpgLAPL



"The Freezer"... another chain? Two different addresses.... The name of the ice cream seems
to be "SP-something." Any ideas?
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics45/00042119.jpgLAPL

http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics17/00008006.jpgLAPL
3641 what?

The Freezer was on 3641 west Pico Blvd.
 

The apartments in the background of the freezer picture are on fourth ave just north of Pico and can be identified in Google street view
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=3641+W...EvtwBQX06qN3MQ

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5296/...91e66c7e_b.jpghttp://farm6.static.flickr.com/5296/...91e66c7e_b.jpg


The menu from the upstairs "Adam and Eve" bar at the Paris Inn.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5052/...544f3f14_z.jpghttp://farm6.static.flickr.com/5052/...544f3f14_z.jpg

My Great Uncle Bert Rovere and his favorite nephew Larry Rovere (my dad!)

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5057/...ffa0c97c_b.jpghttp://http://farm6.static.flickr.co...ffa0c97c_b.jpg

Dad started out as a bartender at the Paris Inn to eventual General Manager at Lucca's.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5257/...b5cc9aa1_b.jpghttp://farm6.static.flickr.com/5257/...b5cc9aa1_b.jpg


The upstairs "Adam and Eve" bar at the Paris Inn

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5171/...130a476b_b.jpghttp://farm6.static.flickr.com/5171/...130a476b_b.jpg


From 1950 when the Paris Inn moved to N. Broadway. The city used eminent domain to move them to build the police dept and jail.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5012/...1a411544_b.jpghttp://farm6.static.flickr.com/5012/...1a411544_b.jpg

Bert Rovere and his crew at the Paris Inn. They staged mini-operas for the crowd. All the waiters were classically trained opera singers.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5012/...4f3bf6d0_b.jpghttp://farm6.static.flickr.com/5012/...4f3bf6d0_b.jpg


Advertisement when Bert re-modeled and reopened at the 210 E. Market location

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5093/...ce8b8eed_b.jpghttp://farm6.static.flickr.com/5093/...ce8b8eed_b.jpg


Uncle Bert had a great voice. Years before he sang with the San Carlo Opera company.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5092/...a27243ac_b.jpghttp://farm6.static.flickr.com/5092/...a27243ac_b.jpg


Can you imagine.....Dinner and a floor show for $1.50 ???

Ran across this postcard...

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_HXhqoz3SfH...hfrenchlmu.jpgDoves Today


and thought the scene looked familiar:

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/1072/p1160219m.jpgimageshack.us
This is a shot sopas posted a while back of the Malibu beach house of the scion of an old
old Pasadena family, the late Mr. Monty Beragon. In a notorious noir-era crime, following
what was reportedly a romantic quarrel between the two, Beragon was shot to death by his
stepdaughter, Veda Pierce, a murder to which the girl's mother, Mrs. Beragon, initially
confessed. Prior to her marriage to Mr. Beragon, Mrs. Beragon founded the popular Southland
chain of Mildred's restaurants. After serving a five-year sentence at Tehachapi, Miss Pierce
attempted unsuccessfully to revive her career as a cabaret singer under the auspices of real
estate operator Wally Fay. Fay is said to have introduced her to reputed madame Brenda Allen,
through whom she became the protegee of Mickey Cohen, who eventually tired of her constant
demands for furs and Cadillacs. On August 6, 1960, her body, gagged and with hands tied behind
its back, was found at the base of the second "O" of the HOLLYWOOD sign. A love letter from
Theodore Forrester of Pasadena, to whom Miss Pierce was once briefly married, was found in
her clutch.

PS Fantastic pictures, Ninja