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ethereal_reality Sep 19, 2009 11:07 PM

And for good measure I'll throw in a Thrifty A&P. (no address)



http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/692/la0801thriftya.jpg
usc digital archives

sopas ej Sep 20, 2009 12:45 AM

:previous:
Hmm... to me, that looks curiously like the Rite-Aid (which used to be Thrifty's, of course) on Sunset and Fairfax. Just looking at the slight slope of the street on the left side of the pic, I'm guessing that's Fairfax. However the building that's there now is probably half that size, though the curved part on the corner still exists. It makes me wonder if part of the building was torn down some time ago, if it's even the same building. The DGA headquarters is next door to it, to the west.

Now I'm craving cheap Thrifty's ice cream...

ethereal_reality Sep 20, 2009 1:25 AM

Sopas_ej, I would have guessed Sunset as well.

I have vague memories of going there.
And I agree with you, the A&P portion to the right seems to be is long gone.
(although slicing a building in half seems a bit daunting.....and expensive)

sopas ej Sep 20, 2009 1:43 AM

It's funny how the Thrifty logo has basically stayed the same all those years; too bad they're no longer in business.

Here's a night shot of the Ralphs in Pasadena; courtesy of the LAPL; the building is from 1929, but the photo is probably from the late 1930s. Not an Art Deco Ralphs, but I think it has noirish qualities... An interesting place at night for someone to grab a loaf of bread and a pack of cigarettes. To paraphrase the Walter Neff character from Double Indemnity, "it was built in that California Spanish style that everyone was crazy about 10 or 15 years ago."

http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics31/00035290.jpg



Courtesy USC Archive, here's the Ralphs on Rodeo Rd. and Crenshaw Blvd., 1942. I dig the guy's outfit, full suit and tie and fedora. I can't imagine being dressed like that and shopping at Ralphs today; you'd be considered eccentric.

http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/3...nshawandro.jpg

ethereal_reality Sep 20, 2009 1:53 AM

^^^"bread and a pack of cigarettes" ; that reminds me of a story sopas_ej.

Once I was in a Ralphs (I think it was a Ralphs) in West Hollywood late one night/or even early in the wee hours of the morning.

There was this strange disheveled woman pushing her cart around. I was so intrigued I looked into her cart.
All she had in her cart were OREOS and CONDOMS.

That's when I decided....I wasn't in Illinois any more. :)

sopas ej Sep 20, 2009 2:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality (Post 4465014)
^^^"bread and a pack of cigarettes" ; that reminds me of a story sopas_ej.

Once I was in a Ralphs (I think it was a Ralphs) in West Hollywood
late one night/or even early in the wee hours of the morning.

There was this strange disheveled woman pushing her cart around.
I was so intrigued, I looked into her cart.
All she had in her cart were OREOS and CONDOMS.

That's when I decided....I wasn't in Illinois any more. :)

Hehe! That's classic.

I remember being in my early 20s and after clubbing or whatever, stopping at a 7-11 in Hollywood at 3am to grab a soda-- and not being fazed by one of the customers walking in, who looked like a homeless bum but was wearing a pink tutu; does that make me a true Angeleno? Only in LA. :) Hehe and yet if you were to wear the suit, tie and fedora to a 7-11, again, I'd think you were eccentric. Go figure.

ethereal_reality Sep 20, 2009 2:29 AM

^^^Sopas_ej, that is a GREAT quote from 'Double Indemnity' concerning the 'Spanish' architecture.

Did you add that line later? I swear I didn't see it before.

sopas ej Sep 20, 2009 2:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality (Post 4465043)
^^^Sopas_ej, that is a GREAT quote from 'Double Indemnity' concerning the 'Spanish' architecture.

Did you add that line later? I swear I didn't see it before.

Yeah I did add it later. :) I really love "Double Indemnity." And it's just so LA.

VivaLFuego Sep 20, 2009 4:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality (Post 4465014)
There was this strange disheveled woman pushing her cart around.
I was so intrigued, I looked into her cart.
All she had in her cart were OREOS and CONDOMS.

That's when I decided....I wasn't in Illinois any more. :)

Hey now, I take issue with that. Some years ago, overnight at the Meijer's (24-hour hypermarket) in Champaign, IL, I saw a woman checking out with nothing but (a) box of latex gloves, (b) 20 packets of dried brown gravy mix, and (c) KY Jelly.

By the way, loving these pics. How much of this phenomenal stock of Art Moderne / Streamline Moderne is left in LA? I've never had the good fortune to explore every nook and cranny of LA's older neighborhoods.

sopas ej Sep 20, 2009 7:30 PM

:previous:
You see Zigzag and Streamline Moderne structures here and there throughout older sections of LA. Depending on the neighborhood, you'll see former single-screen neighborhood Deco cinemas turned into churches or stores. Some have been remodeled beyond recognition.

ethereal_reality Sep 20, 2009 9:12 PM

LOL

VivaLFuego,
your latex gloves, ky jelly and gravy mix beats my oreos and condoms. ;)

ethereal_reality Sep 20, 2009 9:28 PM

Here's a great photo of a market on Hollywood Blvd. in 1938.


http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/2...odblvdmark.jpg
usc digital archive

ethereal_reality Sep 23, 2009 2:29 AM

A mystery.


http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/6537/...onalgraphi.jpg
usc digital archives

ethereal_reality Sep 23, 2009 2:33 AM

Model, after dope raid 1948.

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/204/l...afterdoper.jpg
usc digital archive

ethereal_reality Sep 23, 2009 2:35 AM

Branded 1947.


http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/674/l...anding1947.jpg
usc digital archive

ethereal_reality Sep 23, 2009 2:39 AM

Dead dog 1947.


http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/8567/...an191947la.jpg
usc digital archive

sopas ej Sep 23, 2009 4:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality (Post 4469489)
Model, after dope raid 1948.

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/204/l...afterdoper.jpg
usc digital archive

At first I thought this was a prostitute getting booked.

______________________________________________

Here's Spring Street between 4th and 5th in 1939, courtesy USC archive. I like the "Telegraph via RCA."
http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/195...en4thand5t.jpg

ethereal_reality Sep 23, 2009 11:57 PM

I agree sopas_ej, the TELEGRAPH Via RCA is very cool.
I love archaic signs like that, that haven't existed for decades.


One question, what is the impressive building?

sopas ej Sep 24, 2009 5:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality (Post 4471234)
I agree sopas_ej, the TELEGRAPH Via RCA is very cool.
I love archaic signs like that, that haven't existed for decades.


One question, what is the impressive building?

According to the caption, it's the Security First National Bank building, but for some reason I'm doubting that; I don't know why. I'll take it with a grain of salt.

ethereal_reality Sep 24, 2009 10:38 PM

Here are a couple of comparison shots I was finally able to piece together.




Below: The Baine Building at 6601-6609 Hollywood Blvd in the 1930s.
Looks like it was a B of A.


http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/775...dg66016609.jpg
usc digital library







Below: The Baine Building at 6601-6609 Hollywood Blvd. today.


http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/134...01hollywoo.jpg
unknown


I'd love to rent that little room at the top on the left hand side.

ethereal_reality Sep 24, 2009 10:43 PM

...be sure to see the comparison pics on the previous page.

Here's a couple more.



Below: NE corner of Hollywood and Las Palmas.
I wonder where the 'passageway' led to? A mystery for sopas_ej to solve perhaps.


http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/255...rhollywoon.jpg
usc digital library






Below: The NE corner of Hollywood and Las Palmas today.


http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/782...rhollywood.jpg
unknown




I lost the info for the contemporary photographs. Sorry.

sopas ej Sep 25, 2009 2:23 AM

Cool comparison pics, ethereal! And that mystery passageway fascinates me. I wonder what it was for... hmm...

ethereal_reality Sep 26, 2009 1:38 AM

Below: Wilshire at Western. Melody Lane


http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/3...lshiremelo.jpg
usc digital archive



http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/7...reatwester.jpg
unknown


Sopas_ej.......do you have any info on Melody Lane?
Cocktail Room WITH car service. That is VERY strange indeed.

sopas ej Sep 26, 2009 2:58 AM

Hey ethereal, great find on Melody Lane!

I'm not sure, but I think they were a chain of restaurants/coffee shops-cocktail lounges. Sounds very old school to me, you know, I'm sure they might exist in your area, ethereal, but here in LA there are some old coffee shops that have a separate "Lounge" room with its own entrance, and in there are booths and a bar. Some Denny's here have that set up. And in Pasadena near where I live, there's a place called Conrad's, which is a restaurant/coffee shop kind of place, but it's a total time-warp, it looks like it hasn't been remodeled since the 1970s, save for the reupholstery for the booths; but it has a separate cocktail lounge with its own entrance, but can also be accessed from the regular restaurant part.

sopas ej Sep 27, 2009 5:57 PM

Harry Mann Chevrolet, 1952. Funny name when said aloud.
http://img2.imageshack.us/img2/508/aaang6611.jpg
USC archive

Interesting to me that many old car dealerships had the showroom right up against the sidewalk. I wonder if this building still exists, and if it does, what it's being used as now. No address was given in the caption from the USC archive.

You see buildings similar to this throughout LA, many having been converted to other commercial uses, or being used as auto-body repair shops or garages.

ethereal_reality Sep 28, 2009 12:45 AM

cool pic.

Harry Mann....very hirsute. :)



Interesting information about the Denny's with a 'lounge'.
That is completely unheard of here in the midwest.

BrandonJXN Sep 29, 2009 11:02 PM

Wells Fargo Plaza
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics17/00018130.jpg
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics17/00018114.jpg

Cal Plaza 1
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics37/00068357.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...tion/la050.jpg
plinko

City National Plaza
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics46/00042797.jpg
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics41/00055357.jpg
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics26/00032546.jpg
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics26/00032541.jpg

200 Figueroa
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics22/00045851.jpg

611 Place
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics49/00044234.jpg

Department of Water and Power
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics23/00046316.jpg

Bank of America Plaza
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics49/00059393.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e2...3d76f481_o.jpg

AON Center
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics17/00008303.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e2...d257fae3_o.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e2...db974678_o.jpg

Gas Company Tower
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...tion/la002.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...tion/la022.jpg
plinko

550 S. Hope Street
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...tion/la003.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...tion/la021.jpg
plinko

Two California Plaza
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...tion/la005.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...tion/la019.jpg
plinko

Figueroa @ Wilshire & 777 Tower
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...tion/la068.jpg
plinko

US Bank Tower
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e2...98a4ab0cf2.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e2...One9805/us.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e2...805/usbank.jpg

ethereal_reality Sep 30, 2009 12:10 AM

^^^Great work 'ThreeHundred', very interesting photos.

ethereal_reality Oct 2, 2009 8:19 PM

Below: Flower Street near 7th Street in 1926.


http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/634...treetnear7.jpg
usc digital archive

What an odd little house.




Below: Fremont Hotel at 4th Street and Olive in 1920.


http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/584...hotelatfou.jpg
usc digital library

ethereal_reality Oct 2, 2009 8:34 PM

A couple more from the 1920s.


Below: Looking north along Hill Street in 1928.


http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/632...northalong.jpg
usc digital archive

Cool little gas station lower right.





Below: La Vista Terrace bungalow court.


http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/273...terracebun.jpg
usc digital archive


Anyone have a clue what that impressive building is behind La Vista Terrace? Sopas_ej?
It almost looks like two different photographs have been spliced together.

ethereal_reality Oct 2, 2009 8:52 PM

Below: Looking southeast from State Normal School in 1920


http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/823...southeastf.jpg
usc digital library

This one is confounding because I'm not sure where the Normal School was located.

Anyone know what that auditorium looking building with the two turrets is?
(center-right in the photograph)

sopas ej Oct 2, 2009 9:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality (Post 4486968)
Below: Looking southeast from State Normal School in 1920


http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/823...southeastf.jpg
usc digital library

This one is confounding because I'm not sure where the Normal School was located.

Anyone know what that auditorium looking building with the two turrets is?
(center-right in the photograph)

Really nice pics, ethereal!

The State Normal School was on the site that is now occupied by the main branch of the Los Angeles Public Library. The Normal School evolved into what became UCLA.

That auditorium-- my guess is that it's the back part of the now demolished Philharmonic Auditorium/Clune's Auditorium, which used to face Pershing Square. That site has been long vacant (since the mid-1980s); if the plans still haven't fallen through, it's the future site of the development called Park Fifth.

sopas ej Oct 2, 2009 9:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality (Post 4486928)
Anyone have a clue what that impressive building is behind La Vista Terrace? Sopas_ej?
It almost looks like two different photographs have been spliced together.

It does look like some splicing; when I get home I think I'll do some investigating...

ethereal_reality Oct 2, 2009 9:48 PM

.....sounds good to me sopas_ej. :)

sopas ej Oct 3, 2009 3:47 AM

Hmm, I looked up La Vista Terrace on the LAPL website and it doesn't give a street number, just that the location is Columbia Street. Looking through my Thomas Guide, though, there's no location of a Columbia Street in Los Angeles that I can see; there's a Columbia Place and Columbia Avenue in Echo Park, but I'm not sure if that's the same street. There's a Columbia Street in Pasadena and South Pasadena but I doubt this is the same location...

__________________________________

Here are some pics of the Philharmonic Auditorium. The LA Philharmonic played there until the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion opened in the mid 1960s.

This building replaced an older building called Hazard's Pavilion and was dedicated in 1906. For a while, silent films were shown there, and it was known as Clune's Auditorium. It became the Philharmonic Auditorium in 1920, or thereabouts.

Here it is in 1906:
http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/4...uditoriumd.jpg
USC Archive

Here's the interior of the auditorium in 1928:
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/4...uditoriumi.jpg
USC Archive

In the 1930s, it was remodeled into a restrained Deco Moderne style. Here it is in 1984:
http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/854...uditorium1.jpg
USC Archive

In 1985 it was demolished to make way for an office building, but those plans fell through. It has since remained a surface parking lot. And as mentioned before, that parking lot is the site of the planned Park Fifth development, a hotel/residential and commercial high-rise development, but I'm not sure if those plans have been put on hold or canceled.

ethereal_reality Oct 3, 2009 7:30 PM

The information about the auditorium is very interesting.
It's amazing how cities evolve (or might that be devolve).



Well hopefully the Park Fifth project will eventually go forward.

http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/3...parkfifith.jpg

I see they have incorporated the art deco building that was adjacent
to the Auditorium Bldg.

sopas ej Oct 4, 2009 5:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality (Post 4488331)
The information about the auditorium is very interesting.
It's amazing how cities evolve (or might that be devolve).



Well hopefully the Park Fifth project will eventually go forward.

http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/3...parkfifith.jpg

I see they have incorporated the art deco building that was adjacent
to the Auditorium Bldg.

Yes, and the Park Fifth developers are supposed to revamp Pershing Square across the street, too, which would be really nice, though I haven't seen any renderings of their plans for it. As it is now, Pershing Square is a very bleak concrete space. Its las re-do was in the early 1990s; at the time, I saw what the intent was-- to add a splash of color and somehow make it a more inviting gathering space while at the same time discouraging homeless people from setting up camp there, but it looks so horribly dated now and very depressing. And to be honest I wasn't all that enthused about it back then when the makeover was new.

JDRCRASH Oct 5, 2009 4:10 PM

Another reminder of just how long this downturn is...

ethereal_reality Oct 6, 2009 1:48 AM

I hear you. It's all very frustrating.

ethereal_reality Oct 8, 2009 3:17 AM

An electrical parade at the Coliseum in 1932.


http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/6686/...calparadec.jpg
usc digital archive

ethereal_reality Oct 8, 2009 3:23 AM

Below: Looking north on Hill Street from 8th Street on Dec. 5th, 1929.


http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/9784/...northonhil.jpg
usc digital archive

ethereal_reality Oct 8, 2009 3:31 AM

The Coliseum/Exposition Park, December 1932.

http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/8141/...ionpark193.jpg
usc digital archive

sopas ej Oct 8, 2009 5:20 PM

:previous:
Really cool night shots, ethereal! I like.

Here's a more ordinary shot of Washington and Figueroa Streets in 1942. The caption says that a streetcar is blocking traffic. Notice the old California state highway route marker shield; I read somewhere that they were originally intended to be shaped like a California miner's spade. They of course have since evolved into the green California state highway route markers you see today with somewhat of a similar shape.

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/1...nandfiguer.jpg
USC archive

ethereal_reality Oct 12, 2009 12:04 AM

^^^Sopas_ej, I like the trivia about the sign shaped like a miner's spade.
It's a pretty cool photograph as well.


Civic Center proposals from the past.


Below: This plan for the Civic Center has a very interesting terraced area.
I can't tell if those are steps or a waterfall. You can see Union Station in the lower-right hand corner.


http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/933...8plancivic.jpg
usc digital archive




below: This image of the proposed Civic Center area highlights an auto park.



http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/227...icautopark.jpg
usc digital archive

ethereal_reality Oct 12, 2009 12:15 AM

This elaborate proposal from 1940 has an area that resembles the Piazza San Pietro in Rome,
except this one has Spring Street running through it. lol


http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/222...icplan1940.jpg
usc digital archive




below: Here is the same illustration annotated.


http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/625...cplan1940a.jpg
usc digital archive

metroXpress Oct 12, 2009 12:22 AM

^ neat...thanks for posting them!

ethereal_reality Oct 12, 2009 12:42 AM

^^^You're welcome metroXpress.



This illustration is from 1938.
I don't have the information that corresponds to the numbers.

I'd love to know what number 15 is. It definitely looks like a waterfall.
This area appears in all 4 proposals. It could be a remnant of Court Hill.
Do you have an opinion sopas_ej?


http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/650...ncivic1938.jpg
usc digital archive

above: Also, this is the first time an auditorium/arena type building appears (center left in the photograph).

ethereal_reality Oct 13, 2009 12:50 AM

Here is a rather uninspiring proposal from 1952.


http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/6...acivic1952.jpg
usc digital archive

JDRCRASH Oct 13, 2009 1:10 AM

Ugh.

ethereal_reality Oct 13, 2009 1:34 AM

^^^That's insightful.

What about the previous 4 proposals?


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