Since so many took these pills, tablets, or whatever name they gave it, wonder why no one ever mentioned much about it. It's almost like they didn't know they were taking it. Was that the case? I've never heard about this, really, from films, documentaries, books or such relating to WWII. Kinda disturbing.

Of course, the Vietnam grunts all talked about being stoned.

From that article Earl linked: The drug was colloquially called “panzerschokolade.” :crazy:

,

Mystery location.

Original Neg. Downtown Rambler Dealership - Los Angeles - California [1964]

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...923/TpohMY.jpg

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...922/11JjUh.jpg
eBay

note the two levels of used cars.

Out of curiousity; does anyone know what the dealership's neighbor (weber) sold - - - FAR RIGHT - - > From the looks of the store I'd say appliances.


But let's take a closer look at the weber mid-century style logo.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...924/Jcb5fV.jpg

...........................................................perhaps, Globes? ;)




And here's a closer look at the Rambler dealership. (cropped by the seller)

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...924/K4XPSs.jpg

I don't see a street number.



.

.

Here's another 'mystery' dealership.. .. .. ..This time it's a Dodge / Plymouth dealership. [1948]

Orig. neg.
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...921/ibmBbv.jpg
eBay



There is a very cool model airplane contest inside the car showroom.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...922/QvFwVu.jpg
eBay

........................."Win a flight in an American Airlines Flagship over Los Angeles."....I'd be all over that! :ohyeah





Here's an enlargement.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...921/xjRTM0.jpg

As you can see there's a Van de Kamp store across the side-street......& I just noticed Les White's name. (that's a clue and a half)



I'll be posting a few more of these 'car dealership' negatives later tonight or tomorrow.
.

1417 S Figueroa was built as an auto dealership in 1923; architect was William Douglas Lee. It was a public garage for a spell in the 40s, but mostly various car dealers (it became Civic Center Dodge in '67 after Rambler) until it became a furniture warehouse/dealer in the mid-70s. Demolished in 1989. The area is all Convention Center now, totally unrecognizable from this shot.

The globe was the logo of Weber Showcase & Fixture:

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6...20Waving.4.jpg

This one was actually a survivor until comparatively recently.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...187eee3c_c.jpg

Permits say there was a "showroom and garage" for the Albertson Motor Co., built by The Austin Co of California, in November 1923.

You can see the shape of the windows:

\https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3e1fccb6_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...64d31249_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b6713ea4_c.jpg

So, the negative image looks south across 50th from these windows-

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...56d5c1ea_c.jpg

—at a Late Moderne Vons, big sign pylon, the whole bit, at 5029 Vermont. It's still there, just with a 1998 addition built onto the parking lot to the north:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...cabfbcda_o.png

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...368a6334_b.jpg

It was designed by Harold S. Johnson, best known for his work in Noerenberg & Johnson, and built in 1942.

:previous:

That's excellent Beaudry! Thanks for figuring out both locations. :)

Good points Martin. Consider this:

In the 1970's I had supervisor at my job [ he supervised a million dollar client advertising account]. We all knew he drank everyday at the bar across the street from noon till 2:00 PM but no one ever talked about it.

More Biltmore Theatre
 

Four of the arches on the west side of the Biltmore Theatre had been filled when this photo was taken c. July 1924:

https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...01992-1855.jpg

1992-1855 at CA State Library


Here's a close-up of the entrance; July 21 was a Monday (on the sign under the characture) in 1924 and that was the year Raymond Hitchcock was in
The Caliph (those names are small but visible on the marquee in the previous photo):

https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...01992-1853.jpg

1992-1853 at CA State Library



Perhaps the snakes weren't that securely attached (maybe people grabbed them trying to move the urns) and were removed
at some point. That gap on the underside of this urn could be cause for concern:

https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...01992-1853.jpg

1992-1853 at CA State Library


__________

Please stay safe and healthy, everyone!

These are indeed "noir" times
 

Thanks Ethereal for posting the "Spanish Flu" story I requested a few weeks ago. Hopefully the weeks ahead won't be as dire, but it is not looking good. Maybe learning how they made it through the 1918 pandemic will give us some useful tips. Any more old L.A. Times stories from 1918 about the flu? They may remind us that these things come along every century or so. And once they got past the flu, they had the Roaring '20s.

Old Chinese curse: "May you live in interesting times".

.
As promised - here is another car dealership negative.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...923/IKGad8.jpg
eBay


This one is Holiday Rambler located somewhere in Long Beach, California. [1965]

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/8...923/0tjvtN.jpg
eBay

Hmm. .it looks vaguely familiar. . perhaps we have seen this one before.







Let's take a closer look.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...924/iOVIFd.jpg
eBay

Is it just me or are Ramblers unattractive cars?



.

.

This next Rambler car dealership is rather unassuming . (esp. compared to the previous dealership with the big ol' pylon)

Neg.
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...924/HTE0Sq.jpg
eBay


The seller says this dealership was also located in Long Beach, California.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/8...924/CAxjGL.jpg
eBay





A closer look.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...921/CPaNem.jpg
eBay

The zig-zag roof reminds me of the mid-century bank on Sunset that used to have the model of the Garden of Allah in the lobby.


AND we have an address number! .....20710

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...924/dnYMC8.jpg
detail



.....

:previous:

By the "DO NOT COPY" message, the same vehicles being in shot and the given location, I'm guessing that this image is from the same seller. It's labeled "CAR DEALERSHIP, AL ORTALE RAMBLER CARS LONG BEACH CAL".

https://i809.photobucket.com/albums/...leRambler1.jpg
ebay

However, I found the Torrance Herald article below which would suggest that Al Ortale's Rambler dealership was at 20710 Hawthorn Boulevard in Torrance. It's dated July 25, 1963.

https://i809.photobucket.com/albums/...leRambler2.jpg
https://i809.photobucket.com/albums/...leRambler3.jpg
libarch.torranceca.gov

There are still car dealerships on that block, but I think the building in the pictures disappeared in the '90s (going by Historic Aerials).

:previous:

Good find, Hoss. Your photograph is much more interesting with the space-age sign.



Here's Harvey Smith's used car lot up in Westchester. The street number is 232.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...921/AiKhjr.jpg
eBay

That's an interesting little bungalow at far right and I'd like to see what structures reside behind the large white fence.



.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...0ac8b9d0_b.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...2cc3d7e1_c.jpgLong Beach Independent, 14 Aug 1963, via newspapers.com

As to their attractiveness...de gustisbus...but they do have their devotees. Part of me wants to buy this building, and all of these, and return it to a Rambler dealership.

The Rambler car looked like it had been built in some Soviet Russia era plant in Moscow. The word ''design'' can't be used in the same sentence as Rambler. There was no ''design'' with the Rambler. They were the personification of drab.

I think the ebay seller's location is incorrect. Westchester doesn't have three-digit street numbers -- but Inglewood does.
The 1950 Inglewood-Lennox Directory shows Harvey Smith Oldsmobile was at 313 N. La Brea in Inglewood, so perhaps the
used car lot was across the street at 322?

https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...0directory.jpg

Ancestry.com


The 1947 Inglewood City Directory lists a shoe repair shop at 332 N. La Brea, possibly the same one at the far left of the photo
(where the "HOE REPAIR" sign is):

https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...e%20repair.jpg

Ancestry.com


Here is the February 1950 Inglewood Sanborn map showing the 300 block of N. La Brea in Inglewood. The new car dealership is
at 313, on the west side of La Brea. On the east side, the house at 324 could be the one looming above the used car lot. At
328-30-32 there are three small shops, one of which could be the shoe repair shop in the photo. The residential roof seen in back
of the shoe repair sign could be the house at 402 N. La Brea, on the northeast corner of Ivy:

https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...%20Sanborn.jpg

ProQuest via LA Public Library

^^^^^^
 

Well done, Flyingwedge:multibow:

Henry E. Burke Realtors at 6111 Wilshire Boulevard.
 

In this photo I found recently of the May Co store, what drew my eye was the green-and-white Art Deco building sandwiched between Simon's and the Royal Center food market. Some sherlocking led me to Henry E. Burke Realtors at 6111 Wilshire Boulevard but I'd love to find a clearer photo of it. Has one been seen around these here parts?

https://martinturnbull.com/wp-conten...2449326046.jpg

:previous:


From post 8394, June 26, 2012


http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/4337/krandill.jpg

Today he'd be on the website "Hot and Busted," which features mug shots of hot-looking guys under arrest. Wonder whatever happened to the lad?

Interesting info. about Benzedrine. Brings to mind the recent book and documentary "Blitzed" about how the Nazi troops, Hitler, and a good portion of the German population from the late 30's onwards were flying on Amphetamine pills, which were freely supplied in the tens of millions. (Whoops, I see the Nazi/Meth connection has already been written about here recently - and that the Allied Troops were apparently using them too - haven't read all of that article yet).

That Benzedrine Blues" record is hilarious. "Throw away your Ovaltine, get yourself some Benzedrine, and roll, roll, roll on down the line!" Boogie pianist Harry The Hipster Gibson recorded "Who put the Benzedrine in Mrs. Murphy's Ovaltine?" about 1944 & I believe the disc was quickly banned.

.
mystery location.



It appears that a group of boy scouts, back in 1930, discovered a mysterious cave near the Veterans Home in Sawtelle.


https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...921/OVYUvC.jpg
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...921/VV52m7.jpg
UCLA


VOODOO!







A glimpse inside the cave.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...921/LNSRBr.jpg
UCLA

I wonder why there are two girls and not the Boy Scouts?



Additional information. (mostly covered in the letter) except for this enticing clue:

"The location of the cave is given as near the northerly end of Bundy Drive."

"Interior view of cave with rock carvings described as Egyptians, rock carved fireplace in corner, and 2 unidentified girls, one seated on rock bench, one standing, Text from nitrate negative sleeve: 2464. P 1-2-3-4-5-6. Cave. Sawtelle. Cave. Photo by Adelbert Bartlett, 535 15th Street, Santa Monica, Calif. Mysterious cave, with plaque of Lincoln carved above entrance, and figures of Egyptians within, discovered recently by Boy Scouts in Santa Monica mountains near Sawtelle, California. Officials at National Military Home there state the cave was work of colored veteran some 25 years ago. The man would disappear for days in the hills. He was known to have been a devotee of voodoo magic. (Clarice Barclay stands outside door.), The location of the cave is given as near the northerly end of Bundy Drive."


Help me find this cave. . . minions. :superwhip

.

I have little hope of finding the exact location of that cave, however I did find some info to narrow it down a bit.

From the March 10, 1930 LA Times:
https://i.postimg.cc/Fzx360Xc/Annota...-23-010330.jpg
So it was opposite a lemon grove. Let's look at a period aerial photo(1928) from our friends at UCSB and their Framefinder collection:
https://i.postimg.cc/0y1dN5cb/Annota...-23-010736.jpg
This shows us that the northern end of Bundy Dr. didn't go all that far after Norman branches out to the canyon to the immediate east. There are however lots of cultivated trees(I assume lemon) along Bundy.

Now to see why we'll probably never know exactly where the cave was(pretty sure it was filled in and built over), a current view of that portion of Bundy from our good friends at Google Maps:
https://i.postimg.cc/DZQds907/Annota...-23-010858.jpg

Henry E. Burke Realtors at 6111 Wilshire Boulevard.
 

Thanks GaylordWilshire! I figured we must have seen this before but stoooopid me was searching under "Henry E. Burke" and not what I should have searched for, which was the address. I blame the corona virus!

We're on the case ... but it might be a tough one - witness statements are somewhat conflicting.


https://i.imgur.com/UGkV7KA.jpg


:???: :)

Thanks Noir Noir. I believe that you have narrowed it down! The lemon grove was a great clue.

But, like you, I highly doubt that it has survived ....I'm going to study your maps and then snoop around in the area anyway.


After my initial post I searched through more photographs and found an image of the Abraham Lincoln carving.


http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...924/OfjKAn.jpg
UCLA



As you can see in this next photograph, the 'cave' was more like a hidden room. As the article said, the entrance was entirely covered in vines when the Boy Scouts happened upon it.


http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...921/fW0OWM.jpg
UCLA

It would have taken explosives to destroy this thing.


.

.
Here's another mystery location listed on eBay


SELLER'S DESCRIPTION:...."1910'S ORIGINAL NEGATIVE...HANE BROS GAS STATION, MT GRADE LIQUEUR, LOS ANGELES? AREA?"

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/924/t0PBoM.jpg
eBay














Here's a closer look at the Hane Bros. Gas Station and the Mt. Grade Liquor Store.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/922/2B9VAa.jpg
detail

If you look closely at the first triangle on the roof of the liquor store you'll see that it says Mt. Grade.



I typed "Mt. Grade". . ."Mount Grade Cal" . . "Mt. Grade, California" into Google Earth and received no results.

I found a Mount Drive in Garden Grove but that's neither here nor there.




.

:previous:

My guess is that's the Mt. Washington Area, and the street in the foreground along the railroad tracks is Marmion Way...

:previous:


https://i.imgur.com/6PGapLY.jpg
rescarta.lapl.org



LAFD Station 76, built in 1950, now stands there.


https://i.imgur.com/8K6kYuC.jpg
Google Maps


The store selling "Hi Grade Liquors Wines Beers" was owned by Richard H. Smith.

https://i.imgur.com/lBt3ssy.jpg
rescarta.lapl.org

:previous:

I found this page, http://theoldmotor.com/?p=155068 which mentions two Hane Bros service stations. Apparently they had more than that.

This one was at 3764 Beverly Blvd.

https://i.imgur.com/dIqeaS9.jpg?1

And this one which is described as the main station gives no location. There is a street sign but I can't make it out. The photos are said to be dated 1934 but obviously both are different locations than the one in e_r's image. One commentor speculates that this one might be near the Wilshire District, based on the streetlights.

https://i.imgur.com/5LDxTrS.jpg?1

A third photo with an unknown locale shows what may or may not be another Hanes Bros. station and a cool little Studebaker dealership, and offers a new mystery location.

https://i.imgur.com/owjxkAm.jpg?1

I believe these two photos are the same station, the second photo is taken from the side street in the first photo. Lots of things match up like the gas station signs, the light pole with street sign, telephone pole, etc. So given the address, that would mean that street sign, better seen in the second photo, would be N. Juanita Ave. Does that sign look like it might say that?

:previous:

Martin, I thought it looked to hilly for that area but I believe you are correct. Looking at the street sign with a magnifier, N. Juanita Ave looks right. You are correct with all the other signs matching up too. That would put the fancy street lights on Beverly Blvd. which makes sense.
I also re-read the caption at the Oldmotor page and it said that all along - duh!

Present Day

https://i.imgur.com/XzwcoEz.png?1GSV
The streetlight has lost some charm but the base appears to have survived

I think you’ve nailed it. Some of the houses match up too.

Following the link from theoldmotor.com, I found the original images in the USCDL. Zooming in on the first two images you can clearly show the "N Juanita Ave" signs. There's also a good clue to the location of the third image on the curb of the sidewalk. On the left it says "THOMPSON AVE" and on the right it says "SAN FERNANDO ROAD 1800 BLK". Click the link under the image to see all three images at USC.

https://i809.photobucket.com/albums/...AHaneBros1.jpg
USC Digital Library

The original image also reveals an "1800" on the door under the "S" of "Studebaker". San Fernando Road and Thompson Avenue intersect in Glendale, although neither has an 1800 block anywhere near. Was San Fernando Road renumbered at some point? Looking at the UCSB aerials, a 1938 image has a possible match on the NW corner of the intersection, which now has an odd street number.

:previous:


The numbering on San Fernando Rd. changed in 1935 - the year after the photograph was taken.

https://i.imgur.com/20A4ly0.jpg
archive.org - Glendale CD 1935
archive.org - Glendale CD 1937

.
Thanks for figuring out the location of the Hane Bros. in the eBay photograph. ...There were so many great responses! :)




Here's another mystery location from ebay.


It shows a parade during the 1938 American Legion National Convention in Los Angeles.

This convention.
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...922/nM3qpI.jpg
emblem.legion




Here's the eBay photograph.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...922/U4D70B.jpg
eBay

At first glance I thought the parade was passing by Pershing Square. . .but now I'm thinking Westside Park. (later named MacArthur Park)




Info.
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/8...924/EwWsxZ.jpg







hmmm. . .if you look closely, you can see the roof of a large building within the park.


https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...923/YBlJe2.jpg
detail



Also note the free standing pillar in the park.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...924/4otC3A.jpg

. . .or is that a lamp post?


.

Great work Hoss! It's amazing what can be seen when you are able to view one of the high resolution scans. I keep learning...

Hi Grade Liquors, Wines and Beers are needed now more than ever.

.
How 'bout two mystery locations this afternoon?



"O.B. Saloon fire Circa 1970s"

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...923/qrEiem.jpg
LAFDHS / flicker


The shamrock makes me think the saloon was an Irish bar. . .

. . .and if you look above the window on the left there is a word. . .either "REST" or "WEST". :shrug:




and any idea what the two letters (symbols?) after O.B. stand for?

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...921/33JblP.jpg
detail



flicker
.

.
On a lighter note.


Marlon Brando photobombs Elizabeth Taylor, 1967

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/8...922/ue1phu.jpg
vintagetoday


...Ha Ha



.

http://www.reactiongifs.com/r/otcg.gifOTA Gif

They're marching south on Figueroa, Exposition Park is on the left. The large building is the Armory with Bovard Auditorium in back of it.

ETA: The palm tree at the top center is the Arcade Palm.

The letters after OB are in hangul(Korean), OB is a Korean beer. I can make out the first syllable "SA", so it's not beer, that's mekju.

That photo was in the February 20, 1979, Los Angeles Times:

https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...%20Melrose.jpg

ProQuest via LA Public Library


There were three photos in all, with this caption:

FIRE FIGHT AT O.B. SALOON "Flames shoot up from cocktail lounge at 4365 Melrose Ave. as firemen
unreel hose and try to break down door. Fire, put out in 11 minutes, caused $34,000 damage."


The most recent GSV shows a parking lot at that location.


Here is another of the Times' photos; what is written at lower left?

https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...%20Melrose.jpg

2861 W. 7th
 

Hello, has anyone seen this building before at 2861 W. 7th Street? It's a Morgan, Walls & Clements structure from 1924. Named the Olive J. Cobb Building.

http://colocation.com/images/a.jpeg

I found the building plans at The Huntington Library

http://colocation.com/images/b.jpeg

:previous:


I knew there was something familiar about this building, and then I remembered the plaque over the arch at right:


https://i.postimg.cc/FFYXSn7H/cobbbldgplaque-bmp.jpg


This is from my inventory of Windsor Square--specifically from the details of 549 Lorraine Boulevard. See https://windsorsquarelosangeles.blog...square_13.html


Getson was a dress manufacturer specializing in beading and embroidery; he moved in after the departure of custom furniture maker Marshall Laird. (W 7th St in this area was known for its many high-end design shops.)



Original BP/A Laird ad from the '40s
https://i.postimg.cc/FRwwrNbk/cobbbldg-BP-bmp.jpghttps://i.postimg.cc/4xpqXDnm/lairdad-bmp.jpg

:previous:


Lots of modern day shots of the building -

capequity.com


https://i.imgur.com/AUji76p.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/zSEz5Xs.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/uFJdjgJ.jpg

Thanks Rob K.
I notice from the street elevation drawing that several of the windows have been bricked up. ER has told me several times that we're not supposed to talk about modern security measures on NLA. OK, so that's all I will say.

.
:previous:

CBD, you have extended periods of calm and then all of a sudden you throw a fire bomb.


.

.

Back in 2012 I posted an image of Cogswell's Sierra Madre Villa.... Here





I recently happened upon this second view.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...923/qUQrW6.jpg
eBay (no longer listed)





Here's a closer look.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/922/giJEF4.jpg
detail

I obviously see the children but I just noticed the two gentleman sitting in chairs on the left.

Do you recognized any of Cogswell's plants, odinthor?

.

1918 "Spanish" Flu epidemic in L.A.
 

ethereal recently posted an article from the L.A. Times from 1918 about the "Spanish" flu, a very noirish period. There must be a lot of articles of interest from that period. Can ethereal and others post more of them? Maybe we can learn something about how L.A. handled that episode and came through. Thanks in advance!

When I was a itty bitty kid we used to be scared every summer about getting polio and being stuck in an iron lung for life. Then Salk and Sabin came along and the polio was licked.