The 1956 CD lists Frank H Cloud's portrait studio at 2722 S Western Avenue. I also found F H Cloud listed as a photographer at 1126 E Vernon Avenue in the 1938 and 1939 CDs.

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

While I was checking to see if the building at 2312 W 7th Street which once housed the Café de Paree was still standing (it isn't), I noticed 2228 W 7th Street. A quick search of NLA didn't show any previous mentions. Other than current rental prices and listings for the dentist/clinic seen in the picture below, there isn't much information online - I couldn't even find a build date.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...A2228W7th1.jpg
GSV

This is the only vintage image I've found so far, although the building can be identified in several aerials of MacArthur Park. The title of the picture below says "Purchasing department banquet at Pollyanna tea room at 2228 West 7th Street, Los Angeles, CA, 1930".

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...A2228W7th2.jpg
USC Digital Library

The Pollyanna Tea Rooms get a brief mention on GW's Wilshire Boulevard Houses blog.

Campy Department Store Employees.........
 

Another eBay find - The Occidental Apartments in 1924. The seller has the picture incorrectly labeled "Occidental Hotel", which is a completely different building that has appeared many times on NLA.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...entalApts1.jpg
eBay

A look through the CDs gives an address of 911 Diamond Street, a street which wasn't immediately familiar to me. It looks like I'm in good company, as the only other NLA mention of the Occidental Apartments I can find was in post #1429 when e_r posed the question "Where the hell was Diamond Street?" (he was answered by Los Angeles Past in the very next post). The 1921 Baist map below shows the Occidental Apartments roughly halfway between Fremont and Figueroa.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...entalApts2.jpg
www.historicmapworks.com

The detail below is from a picture in the 1955 blimp series which I've used several times before. Diamond Street is at the bottom of picture, just right of center. The Occidental Apartments building is still there halfway up the left side of the street, although the 1956 CD suggests it had changed its name to the Rex Apartments. I've just compared this image to the map above, and it looks like the section or Court Street between Figueroa and Flower never existed as anything more than a steep pedestrian track.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...entalApts3.jpg
Detail of picture in USC Digital Library

I'm surprised I'd never heard of Diamond Street because I've posted about the intersection of Figeuroa and First and the intersection of Figeuroa and Temple. The section of Diamond Street where the Occidental Apartments once stood appears to be the only part that survived the clearance of Bunker Hill and the building of the Harbor Freeway. I've tried to approximate the 1955 picture above using Google Earth. Diamond Street is again just right of center at the bottom, and is now lined with trees. I'm struggling to find much that survives from the original picture.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...entalApts4.jpg
Google Earth

I don't remember seeing this picture of Pershing Square before. The seller dates it as 1967. I've decided to post it full size :).

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...7.jpg~original
eBay

The photograph was taken outside Googie's in the corner of the San Carlos Hotel - part of the fascia can be seen in the top right corner.
For comparison, here's a picture of Googie's restaurant originally posted by CityBoyDoug in post #20764.

I think the windows of the brown car on the left in the first picture are reflecting Googie's red neon sign.
The night shot below is from a season 1 (1974) episode of 'The Rockford Files'.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...esRockford.jpg
Universal TV

The ship which is in the background of the close up shot of the grain elevators is the destroyer USS Anthony, commissioned at Mare Island in June of 1919. She would have been brand new at the time of this photo if the 1919 date is correct. She was active in the Pacific Fleet until she was decommissioned in 1922 after being converted to a minelayer. She was in "mothballs" until 1937 when she was sunk as a target off Southern California.

Are there any other close ups of the other ships in that row where the numbers are visible?

:previous:

I should've looked harder to start with! I found this much larger version of the picture at the Library of Congress. The only other ship with a visible number seems to be 173.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...c.jpg~original
www.loc.gov

Another view of the Brighton.



1950 The Brighton
http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...6651146BRM.jpghttp://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...6651146BRM.jpg

Circa '40 - Roberts Markets - "Everywhere"
http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...5CVHDLC2D7.jpghttp://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...5CVHDLC2D7.jpg

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/538/aW3yx0.png

HossC, I came across this building a couple days ago (I saved photos to post....but you beat me to it.;))

I was in the same area looking for possible locations for the Café Lafayette (shown below).

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/905/8bBgCc.jpgeBay

As you can see, the somewhat vague address listed on the postcard is "Seventh St. opp. Westlake Park" Los Angeles.

I was trying to imagine this impressive interior inside any of the surviving buildings (my first choice was the one you posted...2228 W. 7th Street).

My next choice was this building, a block west on 7th (and facing Westlake/MacArthur Park).

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/913/1JE06l.png
GSV


Here it is at an angle showing it's 'mansard' roof.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/538/Ae2nvI.png
GSV

The red building to it's right is quite nice as well.

below: Here's another 7th street building, albeit smaller than the others, that also has some nice architectural ornament going on (and still facing the park)

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/661/8ZXjZs.png
GSV


I tried looking up "Café Lafayette" in the LAPL directories and it said 'no match'.
When I tried just 'Lafayette' there were hundreds of hits ( I didn't want to wade through them all.....I guess I'm a bit lazy after my Thanksgiving turkey;))

__

Take a close look at the newer buildings in this picture. If you look closely, you will see the footprint of each building is a diamond shape.

Also, there is an active gang in this area called "Diamond St." I always thought it was a little ironic that there is almost nothing left of their namesake.

Old P.E. substation, circa 1959

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/538/d1HkWY.jpg
http://www.ebay.com/itm/LAMTA-Los-An...item418b45cde8

The seller also included "Riverside-Glendale" as the location. (I looked.....I wasn't able to find it)
__




I also have this slide, also dated 1959-"vintage Budweiser billboard sign".

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/901/e4FrEl.jpgeBay

Do you suppose that is the same substation over there on the right?
__

It looks like Cafe Lafayette were in business in the mid-20s. Here are some mentions I found in 1927 editions of 'Hollywood Vagabond'. The first was in a issue where pretty much all the advertisers were congratulating Cecil B DeMille and his "King of Kings".

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...Lafayette1.jpg
archive.org

As promised, Ray West!

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...Lafayette2.jpg
archive.org

And here's the accompanying article.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...Lafayette3.jpg
archive.org

I also found this advertisement titled "Harry Owens and His Orchestra, December 17, 1925".

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...Lafayette4.jpg
Loyola Marymount University Historical Photograph Collection

The Hollywood Vagabond adverts all offer the same vague "Opposite Westlake Park" address, and I also drew a blank looking for the Cafe Lafayette in the City Directories. Then I checked through the restaurants section of the 1927 CD and found a listing for one owned by H M Miller at 2312 W 7th Street. That's the same address as the Café de Paree. To help with the time frame, Peter Dokas is listed as manager of the Café De Paree in the 1936 CD, and as manager of an unnamed restaurant at the same address in the 1938 CD.

The detail below is from a Dick Whittington picture dated as circa 1920/1940. On the left is the building at 2228 W 7th (I'm pretty sure the blade sign says "Pollyanna's"), while across S Grand View Street is a cafe which appears to be called Paul Perrot's. I can't find it in the CDs, but I think it must be the same building which also housed Cafe Lafayette and Café De Paree. Before you all look, it's no longer there. Historic Aerials suggest it was demolished sometime in the 1980s.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...aulPerrots.jpg
Detail of picture in USC Digital Library

Riverside Dr. and Glendale Bl.

Diamond St Gang
 

Diamond and La Loma (The Hill) were old gang names from the days of Bunker Hill. Diamond and La Loma were still gang names used while I was in Jr. and Sr. High. Belmont and Marshall Highs had a lot of those guys as students.

originally posted by HossC
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...633/eNz7B1.jpg

:previous: Thanks for digging up the additional information on the Café Lafayette HossC.
So the Café Lafayette and the Café De Paree were in the same building (at the same time?)

-Paul Perrot's sounds familiar, maybe I'll find something in some old files I have stashed away.

__

So you're saying it is the same substation in both slides? There are some slight differences (and both slides are dated the same year.....1959) -so that threw me off.
__

:previous:

I agree with Hollywood Graham about the location, and also think that both pictures show the same substation. I was looking for photographic proof when I can across this 1959 image of the viaduct being demolished. The stairs to the left of the billboard in e_r's second picture apparently survived until the apartments were built there in the 1980s.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...1.jpg~original
Corralitas Red Car Property

The same article also has this helpfully labeled aerial. The old PE substation is just below the words "Viaduct removed" on the left.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...2.jpg~original
Corralitas Red Car Property

The building on the hill behind the substation in e_r's pictures is the Monte Sano Hospital. We discussed it in post #20737.

I'm almost certain this photograph is new to NLA.

"5013 inbound just south of Arden Jct. on Brand Bl. 3-7-41, JW Coll"

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/912/9C4kPr.jpg
http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPG...0JW%20Coll.jpg



below: I believe this is the view in the 1941 photo. (the bridge you see in the above photograph is over the Verdugo Wash)

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...673/GXKdPX.pnggoogle_maps

Arden Junction was actually up near Glenoaks Blvd. (but the vintage photo states P.E. 5013 is 'south' of the actual junction)


http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...538/TzGkvx.png
google_aerial

side_note: The Verdugo Wash is covered over between Brand Blvd. and Central Ave. (Central Ave. is out of view to the west)




below: So here's the 1941 view today (approximately)

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...538/7J0JnD.pngGSV
__



This view is looking south from Arden Jct. in 1942 (note the Verdugo Wash bridge)

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/913/c0wKJt.jpg
http://www.uncanny.net/~wetzel/gbline.htm


...and the same view today.
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640...904/id2wyu.png
GSV
__

I know the location very well. Riverside Dr was our drag strip. We shut off a little before that intersection and that was 1959-62 for me.

Hello!
 

Hi Everyone -

I've been following NLA since sometime this summer when it got posted to Hidden LA. I quickly got hooked and have been striving to catch up so that I can join the conversation. I keep wanting to post on things, but I knew the posts were months old so it didn't seem right without catching up. I didn't go back to the very beginning, but I'm current on the last 6 months or so. But I thought I'd take this opportunity to introduce myself.

I've always had a bit of a fondness for buildings and architecture, and particularly old pretty ones. Evolutions of cities fascinate me. I currently live in Boston where I sometimes volunteer as trained tour guide with a group that focuses on educational tours about the history and architecture of the city. Seeing photos of LA that look like the ones of old Boston is fascinating!

I lived in LA from 1995-2002 when I was in grad school at USC and again from 2011-2013. I've lived in South Pasadena, Culver City, El Segundo/Hawthorne and my baby sister currently lives in Long Beach. I always love being in LA. In fact, I'm going to be in Long Beach for x-mas this year and so the recent posts about the beach area there are particularly fascinating.

Thank you very much for this forum, for the fantastic photos, and also the amazing stories (they're great, no matter what some people say!). It's always a treat to visit this site!

amy!

:previous: Welcome to the thread Amy! -so glad you discovered 'noirish' Los Angeles.
__

I didn't realize the Vine st. Brown Derby jumped on the 'TIKI' bandwagon until I came across this highly scanned close-up.
Anyone familiar with the Bamboo Room? -it even had it's own entrance!

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...540/54YNWe.jpgeBay

I've never noticed those planters with the derby painted on them either.

__

Just wanted to point out that in the 10-yr-old photo, while that is all still the "Disney" Empire (I can legitimately call it that now that they own Star Wars) it is far more than just the Disneyland park. The original park still holds to the original footprint for the most part. The area directly north of the park in the 1956 photo is now administrative buildings for the Empire.

The area south and east of the Disneyland park, what was parking lots in 1956 is now Disney's California Adventure - a 2nd theme park with it's own $100 daily admission fee that opened in 2001 (so just 3 years before the "recent" aerial photo). There's a central entrance plaza between the two parks that allows them to just run a single shuttle service from parking lots and hotels and this is clearly visible in the recent aerial - a large squarish area just south of Disneyland's Main Street (there's a circle visible in the middle of Disneyland and Main Street runs due south).

The area south and west of Disneyland is both one of the Disney resort hotels on the property and also Downtown Disney - the mall that is open to everyone, without any entrance fee. Shops, restaurants, nightclubs, movie theater.

To the west of the park across West St or Disneyland Dr is the Disneyland Hotel and looks to be so in 1956 as well. Downtown Disney extends to this hotel. There's at least one other Disney resort on that side as well currently.

The modern parking structure is at the top left of the more recent aerial. Just to the right of it you can see the many traffic lanes swooping in to for all the guests flowing in off the 5 fwy.

I have a terrific photo of an old map of Disneyland from the 1960s that I saw when visiting the Hollywood Heritage Museum a couple of years ago. It's a great snapshot of how things were planned at the time to compare to what is there now. I'll have to dig it up and start a hosting service so I can post it. I also got some great photos of the movie set that inspired Hollywood and Highland while I was there.

:previous: Excellent post Amy. My first trip to California as a boy (with my family of course :)) was to visit Disneyland.
__

First and Mission looking west.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/673/MSq72Z.jpgeBay



-same view today. (note city hall in both photos)
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/911/Wxm1Ca.png
GSV
__

The Broadway entrance is always what I consider the back door(s), but it's also my favorite. Because it's directly across the street from the Bradbury Building. So when I'm down there with people who don't like buildings the way I do, I always run through the Market (not easy because it's always crowded) and dash out the back to say hi to the Bradbury.

Has it been mentioned on here that the Bradbury is now where they make Twix candy bars? ;)
Factory Tour!

No need to add a bowler hat to this whale float...it already has antlers!!

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/538/j7VQOE.jpgeBay

w o r s t - f l o a t- e v e r
__

DD 173 was the USS Sproston ( the first of that name) She was also a Wickes Class destroyer. Her keel was laid in 1918 in Union Iron Works in San Francisco. She was powered by steam and was struck from the Navy lists in 1936 and sunk as a target in 1937.

It is interesting to see so many destroyers moored close together in what is now the main channel of the Los Angeles Harbor. I count approximately 20 four pipers in this picture which would have been somewhat less than a quarter of the entire 111 ship Wickes Class.

The picture also shows Dead Man's Island off Reservation Point in the background to the left of the elevators. Warehouse #1 appears on the left of that, on the opposite side of the channel. It was completed in 1917 which would help verify the date of the photo. The warehouse is still in use, although not for freight as it was intended in the era of containerized freight, but as a quarantine area for animals coming in from overseas and as a prime movie/tv location since it has lots of character with the train tracks entering the building.

Thanks HossC for finding the bigger picture

Looks like the same substation to me. Though the viaduct was torn down, the substation remained for quite some time until it eventually was torn down as well (date?). The section of Riverside Drive between Fletcher Drive and Glendale Blvd, was a popular drag racing spot on summer nights. Even had the start and finish lines painted on the pavement. I lived in Atwater (Village) just across the LA river from the substation from 1958 thru 1968.

Andys

HG,

Somehow missed your post before posting my own. As a kid, I remember walking the trestle over the LA River; pretty scary actually. Yeah, I could hear the cars on Riverside Drive when un-corked very clearly in Atwater. You're a local, I presume? Marshall High School alumni here.

Andys

Hello Neighbor!
 

Welcome, Amybang! I guess you and I are (almost) neighbors. I'm in Albany, NY. The cities of Boston and Albany are very lucky in that we both have many old buildings that are still architecturally original. As you know, many older LA buildings are forced to lose some of their ornamentation (and some of their character) due to earthquakes. I have included below a particularly beautiful building from Albany that still stands but, sadly, would not be able to survive intact in LA. I really hope you visit this forum as often as you can and enjoy exploring old Los Angeles as much as I do. Everyone here has made me feel welcome and appreciated, and the contributions by literally everyone are enjoyable and enlightening. I guarantee that the more you explore old LA, the more you will find to love on your journey!

http://imageshack.com/a/img673/7885/wstoAS.jpghttp://www.wnyc.org/
(I know....it's not LA and it's not noir. I'm just welcoming a new friend, okay?)

Popeye's on the Poop Deck!
 

:previous: It's probably a model of Lafayette's ship, the La Victoire.
__

:previous:

Or it could be General Lafayette's slightly later frigate, Hermione.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...LAHermione.jpg
e17.fr

This may be a bit of a stretch, but it might just be intended to be a replica of the Frigate L’Hermione which was purchased by the Marquis de Lafayette to sail from France to North America in support of our Revolutionary War with England. There could well be some connection of the Cafe's owner to Lafayette.

:previous: I have to admit, it's looks more like the Hermione than the earlier La Victoire.
__
Here's the La Victoire.
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/538/9WfzID.png

-good sleuthing HossC and Retired_In_Texas. ;)

"The Bowing Highway Chef." -say what?

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/538/rjy0JU.jpg
eBay

Ben Hansen's Brentwood Inn



reverse
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...661/qHTGqA.jpg
_

The Hermione was the vessel the Marquis de Lafayette purchased to transport troops from France to North America. He was not yet a "General."

Here's a trio you'd never expect to see together.

Ida Lupino, Ann B. Davis and Vivian Vance.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/540/D9PlVn.jpg
eBay

What occasion I wonder. -the golden globes? -a night out at Ciro's?

__

I wonder if any of the ships in this picture were victims of the Honda Point disaster four years later (1923). Those were four-stackers as well but may have been from a later class.

Several of the sources I checked (including history.org, britannica.com and notablebiographies.com) said that the Marquis de Lafayette was commissioned as a major general in 1777. The Hermione voyage was in 1780. When he returned to France in 1782, Lafayette was promoted to the rank of maréchal de camp (brigadier general).

According to Wikipedia, which lists all the ships involved, all were Clemson Class destroyers, a later class, as you surmised, from the Wickes Class. Clemson Class were a redesign with a greater fuel capacity and it was the last class of "flush deck" destroyers to be built. There were fourteen Clemson Class destroyers involved at Honda Point.

The Woman's Christian Temperance Union State Headquarters, 551 South Kingsley Drive, Los Angeles 5, California*

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/537/7vFo4g.jpg
eBay



still there!
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/674/d4z5Cr.png
GSV

*oops! I just discovered we've seen this before and after on NLA in the past. -my bad.
__



-Here's the Woman's Christian Temperance Union downtown at Temple and Broadway. (I've always loved this photograph)

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/540/WPaqza.jpg
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=3168


To see this same building before the upper floors were chopped off go here:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...&postcount=725
__

Sear's Cafeteria, 9th and Boyle.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/674/D0RxnM.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/540/AYOfEk.jpg
eBay

It says..."Open to the Public" 7A.M. to 2P.M. (so it must have been primarily an employees cafeteria?)

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/540/lbo06e.jpg

__

As a reminder, here's the Sear's we're talking about. (often seen on NLA)

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/673/Bt74zq.png
http://waterandpower.org/museum/Earl...1925%20+).html

Here's a companion view of the WTU. It looks like most of the surrounding homes have disappeared.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ps18cf1bd9.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ps1ae75e64.jpg
GSV

:previous: the home to it's left is very nice.


From eBay, a series of photographs of "LAX 1945-50."

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...540/faTuaK.jpg



http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...673/7d0CEf.jpg



http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...538/8Zgk84.jpg



http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...661/TptfMS.jpg


below: I believe this one was taken on the roof of the Post Office Terminal Annex downtown.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...673/QeGU0V.jpg


Here it is LARGER, in order to see that industrial building in the distance on the right. (anyone know what it is?) -a brewery maybe?

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/661/5qsyi8.jpg

The references I found for the Cafe Lafayette were dated 1925 and 1927. All of the Café De Paree clippings below are from 1936.

The first is from a book called 'Filipinos in Los Angeles' by Mae Respicio Koerner. It shows a large dining room during the Fourth Inaugural Banquet and Ball of the Philippine Junior Assembly.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...CafeParee1.jpg
books.google.com

The top of the page was missing from the PDF file where I found this article, but the URL suggests it's from a 1936 edition of the California Eagle. The Café De Paree apparently played host to 3,000 rowdy Union Pacific dining car employees. I like the line about the flowers on the tables making it resemble "a Chicago gangster's funeral".

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...CafeParee2.jpg
www.fultonhistory.com (PDF file)

This November 1936 edition of Automatic Age describes "a truly excellent dinner" at the Café De Paree which took place in September of that year. The occasion was the Coast Coin Machine Show and Frolic. The cafe only had to deal with 1,500 diners that night!

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...CafeParee3.jpg
aa.arcade-museum.com (PDF file)

As for Paul Perrot, an article on forgetthetalkies.com names him as one of the first owners of the Hollywood restaurant Café Nikabob in 1928. The other owners were Nick Krause and Bob Cobb (of Brown Derby Restaurant fame) after whom the restaurant was named. The article also links Paul Perrot's name to the Montmartre and the Ambassador Hotel. See post #3759 for a picture of the Nikabob.

USC has an April, 1930 edition of the Southern California Daily Trojan which mentions "Bob" Brown and His Southlanders playing at Paul Perrot's cafe. Just to confuse things, this article appeared in the same publication a few months earlier in January, 1930. It describes Ray West (a headline act from the Cafe Lafayette adverts I found) as being the "proprietor of his new Ray West cafe ... formerly Paul Perrot's cafe".

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...ulPerrots2.jpg
USC Digital Library

I wonder if these 1940s establishments in San Luis Obispo were owned by the same Paul Perrot?

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...ulPerrots3.jpg
http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...ulPerrots4.jpg
eBay

:previous: Excellent information HossC. -thanks for answering my question.
__


I found the following two photographs on a site called RED TIDE COMING/ http://www.memoriastoica.tumblr.com/...ngeles+history
They're both dated 1958.

"Looking north on Hill Street from 7th St". (I like the Bullock's August Clearance banners....very silky looking :))

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/673/qKCUHh.jpg
http://www.memoriastoica.tumblr.com/...ngeles+history



"Looking west on 7th from Olive."

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/633/seSVGr.jpg
http://www.memoriastoica.tumblr.com/...ngeles+history

The people standing in the street waiting for a street-car are getting hit with some nasty exhaust fumes.
That's the Statler Hilton at the end of the street (recently demolished for the 1,100 ft. Wilshire Grand Tower).

__

I don't believe I've heard of this John's Café before.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/905/UsXWYj.png
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7...y_of_Hollywood

"John's Café in Wilcox Hall at Hollywood and Cahuenga Boulevards, was Hollywood's
first celebrity restaurant. 1917"

from-
'The Story of Hollywood'
by Gregory Paul Williams
__

Wilcox Hall? -have we discussed this building on NLA

When I saw this photograph on eBay earlier today, my first thought was to see if the house was still there so that I could do a "then and now". Despite a good bit of Googling, I haven't found an address yet. I did, however, find some of the story behind the caption. In October 1932, three-year-old Nancy Irene Buchanan was kidnapped by 20-year-old Ruth Borman, the girl's real mother. The house is described in one of the articles below as "the palatial home of her foster-mother". Mrs Violet Buchanan had been Nancy's foster-mother since hours after her birth, and was her legal guardian.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...1.jpg~original
eBay

Ruth Borman took Nancy from her nursery, and with the help of her friend, M E Warner, drove her to this shack near Newhall.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...2.jpg~original
eBay

This article from the October 27, 1932 edition of the Sandusky Star Journal contains a lot of background to the case. For some reason the sub-headline incorrectly gives Mrs Buchanan's name as Virginia.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...yBuchanan3.jpg
newspaperarchive.com

Another article from the same day - this one is from the San Jose News.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...yBuchanan4.jpg
news.google.com

"Distraught unmarried mother, Ruth Borman," was arrested on a charge of kidnapping. This article appeared in the October 28, 1932 edition of The Palm Beach Post.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...yBuchanan5.jpg
news.google.com

Here's a picture of three-year-old Nancy Irene Buchanan from the October 29, 1932 edition of the Geneva Daily Times.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...yBuchanan6.jpg
fultonhistory.com

A week later, and Ruth Borman is released from county jail on a habeas corpus writ. Her accomplice, M E Warner, was also released. As reported in the November 5, 1932 edition of the Berkeley Daily Gazette.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...yBuchanan7.jpg
news.google.com

Can anyone track down the address of Violet Buchanan's house, or find out what became of any of the people involved?

I had to look up the word "Buvette" :shrug: !

bu·vette (noun)

taproom, bar, tavern
a small cafe