After posting a complete mystery yesterday (quickly solved by odinthor), this Julius Shulman picture comes with a street name and number. The store in question was at 6363 Pacific Boulevard. This is "Job 1198: Richman Brothers (Huntington Park, Calif.), 1951".

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

Getty Research Institute

We've visited this section of Pacific Boulevard before, and many of the stores are still recognizable from vintage shots. I think the current building on the corner of Gage Avenue is probably the Richman Brothers' old store with a makeover.

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

So sad, that the building has been stripped of ALL it's detailing:previous:.

A shitty re-do like this, always makes me wonder if any of architectural details have survived underneath.
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I wish I had more to offer this forum other than unanswered questions. I have read through in it's entirety and have a better appreciation for the greater Los Angeles area, the people who live and have lived here and LA Noir. It's been an enlightening few months of browsing. Truly entertaining and right here in our own backyard!

I have often thought to fully appreciate California one must read a few books:

- The diary of Friar Juan Crespi and the travels of the Portola party.
- 'Voyages of a Merchant Navigator of the Days that are Past' By Richard J. Cleveland 1886, especially Chapter V and the adventures aboard the Lelia Byrd, including the naming of the isthmus of Catalina and the Battle of San Diego.
- Of course no California Historian would bypass 'Two Years Before the Mast', Richard Henry Dana's telling of his adventures and his 'Twenty four years after'.
- Up and Down California, 1860-1864 The story of the California Geological Survey, letters from William Henry Brewer - A marvelous telling.

These are all amazing historical recollections of our great state with some information on our city.

Without specifics, reading these can at times be generalized and not easily related to our current times or location. They are interesting and contain some detail but are truly written to the days of Iron Men and Wooden Ships, somewhat removed from today's internet and post man on the moon.

To really appreciate your hometown, your roots, it must be personal. There is a required connection to fully associate the footprints in the dust with the blood in your veins.

I have such a mystery that may possibly be solved by someone on this forum who may hold some knowledge about addresses of 1940 North Hollywood. A personal association between the blood in my veins and my biological Great Grandfathers foot prints in the dust.

I was recently given a letter written by my father in early 1940 when he was 11 years old and living in France, weeks prior to the German invasion. He was younger than my youngest son is now. It's a fascinating snippet of the childhood version of a man who eventually obtained his PhD, as well as very sentimental for me. I have been unable to locate any information on the 1940 location, first since it is pre 9xxxx zip code and second because the Hollywood freeway right of way seems to have affected the original location. The letter is written to 'Grandad' (last name is possibly Straub) and in the top left an adult has written '11168 Moorpark', in the top right 'Sunset 23003'. I can find 11168 Moorpark on Google Earth, but it is an empty lot near the Hollywood freeway.

What is 'Sunset 23003'? Who lived at 11168 Moorpark in 1940, was it Straub?

To know your past is to understand your future

Thanks for past and future posts!

Diamond-X

"Job 1198: Richman Brothers (Huntington Park, Calif.), 1951".
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...923/z7UqH5.jpg



:previous:
Detail of HossC's Shulman photograph
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...922/qL5DwJ.jpg
detail


The building down the street appears to have survived.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...923/lVM4hr.jpg
gsv

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I hope we can help you with your quest Diamond-X.

Let me get this straight DX, your father's letter was sent from France to Los Angeles. Is that correct? Is there an envelop, or only the letter-

You say it's written to 'Grandad', and the last name is possibly Straub. So why just possibly? -are you unsure of the name of your great-grandfather?

Just trying to help.:)
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Would you ever consider scanning the letter and posting it? (if it's too personal, perhaps just scan the parts with the clues)

I found this a while back on eBay.

I really like the faux-smoke. lol

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...923/tmzQqq.jpg

I wasn't aware of Willig until I found this photograph.

The writing says S.F., but there was a Willig in Los Angeles as well.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640...922/0duLW6.jpg
lapl

2720 E. 26th Street (there's still a trucking firm at that location)



& the photographer was a L.A. local.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...921/LqGr7B.jpg

not to beat a dead horse, but....


http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...923/uCk3TX.png
See the complete photograph here: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=35959
Blaster, I see the mole in the Milton J. Kreis/William Eythe pic (detail above), but I haven't found it in other photos of Nancy Kelly.




Here she is in a scene from 'The Bad Seed' that shows that side of her face.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...923/4ZhYRL.jpg
http://classiccinemagold.com/category/nancy-kelly/

(no mole, but she is wearing a ring on her pinky finger like in the Kreis/Eythe pic)




And the mole appears to be missing in her earlier 'glamour' shots as well.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...924/VfxuQn.jpg
http://alchetron.com/Nancy-Kelly-800209-W

Of course, the studio make-up artists could have covered it up.

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'mystery' location.


"Los Angeles PCC Trolley 3048 Feb 20/57. Note: Slide is dark."

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...924/k430o9.jpg
February 20, 1957 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-OSl...UAAOSwGXtXhsBk



I've been trying to read the neon sign. (I believe the word in white is 'campaign')

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...923/dcvgqY.jpg
detail

and you can't miss the yellow neon key:previous:! It's very cool.
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Willig Semi
 

ER, Here is a ten-cent history of Willig. Did you by the photo? If so, can you put a loupe on the badge on the side of the hood and give us the name of the tractor manufacturer?

Cheers,
Jack

For some reason, this photo and the text of her reviews keep making me flash to Cpl. Klinger in MASH when he dressed like Betty Davis and screeched "What a dump"!

Hey, thanks for your reading suggestions!

Regarding your mystery, perhaps "Sunset 23003" was a phone number, like RIchmond 9-5171?

The LA Public Library has the 1939-40 San Fernando Valley City Directory online here.

On page 432, where the occupant at each address is given, 11168 Moorpark is Vacant. How frustrating!

However, on page 527, you'll see John O. Straub and his wife La Madeleine living at and operating an auto court
at 12147 San Fernando Road. Maybe John Straub was Grandad?

Good luck with your search!

:previous:

Looks like you got the same results as me, FW. I know we were looking for 1940, but I also checked the 1937/38 SFV CD. That lists a Fred E Nassour at 11168 Moorpark. By 1939/40, Fred had moved across the street to 11220 Moorpark.

There's a different Straub listed in 1937/38 - a rancher named Robert M Straub (married to Pauline), who lived at 14111 Sherman Way.

With my fingers and nose stained with virtual ink and virtual smoke from the flame of my virtual candle, I announce with pleasure that my new blog post is up. This post continues the history of "Block 50"--bounded by Spring, Sunset, New High, and Bellevue--through to its eventual demise.

Block 50 in the 20th Century: Mike Hammer Detects, Lily Munster Dances, and the Asphalt Tide Swamps all.

This building is a work of art. Everywhere the eye looks, it encounters beauty - inside the building as well as outside. They sure don't build 'em like that anymore. Our loss.

The mole is often airbrushed in her glamour shots but there many pictures around where you can see it clearly. I can't download them with the device I'm using at the moment but check these out...

http://outlet.historicimages.com/products/dfpy84985

http://outlet.historicimages.com/products/dfpy84983

I'm not claiming the woman in the photo is Nancy Kelly, just saying there are simillarities. McCory may have actually proof.

:previous:
JeffDiego found this photograph of Nancy Kelly and a mystery woman (Crikey! another mystery woman....Oh no, not again! ;))

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...921/HJIo6A.jpg
http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/025...g?v=1462872936


Here's a closer look at the elusive mole(s).

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...924/BqdJBQ.jpg
detail

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...921/Tf4gGi.png
detail

MOLEGATE ;) has been solved.

The mystery woman in the Milton Kreis / William Eythe photograph is indeed, Nancy Kelly.
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Thanks for your response. It's possible that the letter was originally sent to a Navy base in Norfolk Virginia and then forwarded to the Moorpark address. The letter was given to me without an envelope. My Grandmother Jane Straub was married 4 times, so I was never clear on the family lineage. My father always referred to Shepperd Strudwick as his father, I think he meant his favorite father since he was not biologically related. I do know that her given name was Jane Straub and assume Grandad (sp) was also Straub. The letter itself doesn't hold much information except for the hand written Moorpark address and the Sunset 23003.

A mystery indeed.

Thanks again!

Thank you. Great information!

Yup. The ears also have it :-)

http://www.boebertandblossom.com/LANoir/Kelly.jpg

Cheers,

Earl

There are three images in this Julius Shulman set, but they all show roughly the same angle, so I picked the clearest. This is "Job 1699: Sunset Capri Apartments, 1954".

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

Getty Research Institute

Looking for more pictures, I came across this one at USC. It's also by Julius Shulman, and even has a plan view at the bottom. More importantly, the description includes the address - 8341 Sunset Boulevard.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...2.jpg~original
USC Digital Library

The apartments now seem to go by the name Round Hill. Entry to the semi-circular complex is via a gated ramp near Carney's.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...3.jpg~original
Google Maps