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odinthor Mar 9, 2020 9:46 PM

744 South Hill St., Los Angeles.

A bit about the businesses at the location, plus a bit more about George Muhr who intersected with it once . . .


https://i.postimg.cc/K83qsMwf/744SHillLAT8-4-12.jpg
Los Angeles Times, August 4, 1912


https://i.postimg.cc/WzmYSLyv/744SHillHer3-8-15.jpg
Los Angeles Herald, March 8, 1915; I thought I'd include the snappy gentlemen from an adjoining ad


https://i.postimg.cc/28z0mtJ1/744SHillLAT7-21-15.jpg
Los Angeles Times, July 21, 1915


https://i.postimg.cc/9Qg8LBLr/744SHillHer12-13-15.jpg
Los Angeles Herald, December 13, 1915


https://i.postimg.cc/TY9HDxmj/744SHillHer7-30-18.jpg
Los Angeles Herald, July 30, 1918: Marriages


https://i.postimg.cc/fW78GsH4/744SHillLAT5-14-21.jpg
Los Angeles Times, May 14, 1921


https://i.postimg.cc/HsHhnnJs/744SHillHer6-3-21.jpg
Los Angeles Herald, June 3, 1921


https://i.postimg.cc/vBf0HwbV/744SHillLAT3-25-25.jpg
Los Angeles Times, March 25, 1925


https://i.postimg.cc/sxC0pDwm/744-SHill001.jpg
odinthor collection


https://i.postimg.cc/KjbJ1p8s/744SHillLAT3-27-25.jpg
Los Angeles Times, March 27, 1925


https://i.postimg.cc/fLD8LgLq/744SHillLAT8-29-26.jpg
Los Angeles Times, August 29, 1926


https://i.postimg.cc/kG5wN6Wx/744SHillLAT12-21-27.jpg
Los Angeles Times, December 21, 1927


https://i.postimg.cc/CKZvXf2J/744SHillLAT2-15-52.jpg
Los Angeles Times, February 15, 1952

ethereal_reality Mar 10, 2020 10:24 PM

I've had this photograph so long I thought I had posted it (I haven't / I checked) ...The word 'Magnus' has only appeared once on NLA, Here. (S. Magnus, ticket broker)

What held me back was my uncertainty about the location. It's labeled Los Angeles but I'm not 100% sure that that is correct.

It's a great photograph nonetheless.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...922/a2MxLR.jpg
theoldmotor


I thought I might be able to prove the location by looking up the politician's name that appears on one of the flyers on the utility pole.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/8...921/jno6uk.jpg

"HEMPSTEAD"

but so far nothing. :(



.

ethereal_reality Mar 10, 2020 10:32 PM


What's that you say?...You want a better look at the girls.





https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...922/LujnJW.jpg
detail

Quelle surprise. I thought they were wearing short skirts but I see they're wearing pants. (and a tunic)






& while I'm at it - here is the kindly gentleman wearing a suit and tie inside the gas station.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...924/cQJ7Gn.jpg
detail

He looks more like a banker than a gas station attendant. ....Hmmm. . .or maybe he's a customer.

(if he is a customer. . .and if he's not sitting down. . .then he's a banker with dwarfism.


.

Hookster Mar 11, 2020 4:20 AM

Here is a bit more with the same pic! :) They also indicate that it is LA but, no clue to specific location...

http://theoldmotor.com/?tag=magnus-root-beer

Perhaps the banker is an early primitive version of a gas station ATM 😂 lol

Edit!… whoops I see you already have the link! ... never mind! :)

Lorendoc Mar 11, 2020 6:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hookster (Post 8857722)
Here is a bit more with the same pic! :) They also indicate that it is LA but, no clue to specific location...

http://theoldmotor.com/?tag=magnus-root-beer

Perhaps the banker is an early primitive version of a gas station ATM ������ lol

Edit!… whoops I see you already have the link! ... never mind! :)

The 1931 CD lists a National Kanteen Operating Co as a restaurant at 766 Vine. Sounds like a job for the UCSB aerials.

GaylordWilshire Mar 11, 2020 12:12 PM

:previous:


In California Crazy, Jim Heimann refers to the Magnus Root Beer drive-in in Merced...I'm not near my copy to see if there's a picture, but if anyone has the book he, she or they might check into it. And a picture caption in this link refers to a Magnus Root Beer drive-in, also in Merced (see 4th pic down):
http://www.yosemitevalleyrr.com/modeling/virtual-tour

But if it's LA, the old wooden house makes me think close to downtown, and it looks like there's a 3-digit address on the building next to the car. As for a date range, Texaco took over Calpet stations in California in May 1928...


https://i.postimg.cc/NFbc612N/magnus-bmp.jpg
LAT May 27, 1926

HossC Mar 11, 2020 2:36 PM

:previous:

I don't have Jim Heimann's book, but I believe this might be a scan from it. It appears to be the same Magnus Root Beer building that's in e_r's picture.

https://i809.photobucket.com/albums/...sRootBeer1.jpg
oliviercablat.com

GaylordWilshire Mar 11, 2020 3:23 PM

:previous:


Hmmm...the most recent Merced directory I could find--1938--lists a Texaco station at "361 21st St".... This is a residential area, with apartments at the address today, but there are still some very old houses, including some earylish Victorians, in the neighborhood.... Maybe.

odinthor Mar 11, 2020 6:40 PM

Concerning the Magnus Root Beer/Kanteen question: I've consulted with Jack Burgess, a gent who is an enthusiast vis-a-vis the Yosemite Valley Railroad, which went from Merced to Yosemite, who has researched it for 50 years, who has indeed built a splendid model layout of its route, and so has a great deal of familiarity with the area. You will note the fourth photo down at

http://www.yosemitevalleyrr.com/modeling/virtual-tour

representing the Magnus Root Beer structure in Merced.

Mr. Burgess tells me that our photo is not of the Merced structure, which "did not have an associated gas station."

And so our search goes on!

Noir_Noir Mar 11, 2020 7:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lorendoc (Post 8857763)
The 1931 CD lists a National Kanteen Operating Co as a restaurant at 766 Vine. Sounds like a job for the UCSB aerials.



This is the SE corner of Vine and Waring in 1938. I think the Kanteen occupied the arrowed building.

Doesn't appear to fit the bill shape-wise for the one in e_r's picture.


https://i.imgur.com/6AXrMqE.jpg
mil.library.ucsb.edu/


The National Kanteen Operating Co. restaurant at 766 Vine Street was built in 1929 using an Oakland based architect and contractor.


https://i.imgur.com/r5Fmk7p.jpg
ladbsdoc.lacity.org/


Which leads to the only other references I could find to suggest a "Kanteen chain". All in Oakland around the same time period 1929-32.


https://i.imgur.com/UvwgxJ8.jpg
cdnc.ucr.edu


Maybe the Kanteens were more an Oakland area thing and that's where the picture might be from. :shrug:

Hookster Mar 11, 2020 8:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by odinthor (Post 8858243)
Concerning the Magnus Root Beer/Kanteen question: I've consulted with Jack Burgess, a gent who is an enthusiast vis-a-vis the Yosemite Valley Railroad, which went from Merced to Yosemite, who has researched it for 50 years, who has indeed built a splendid model layout of its route, and so has a great deal of familiarity with the area. You will note the fourth photo down at

http://www.yosemitevalleyrr.com/modeling/virtual-tour

representing the Magnus Root Beer structure in Merced.

Mr. Burgess tells me that our photo is not of the Merced structure, which "did not have an associated gas station."

And so our search goes on!

Gorgeous layout!!!! :)

GaylordWilshire Mar 11, 2020 9:23 PM

:previous:


The National Kanteen Co built a number of drive-ins during 1929 in a number of NorCal towns. This article says that TWO new Kanteens opened in Hollywood the month before this article appeared in the Oakland Tribune on January 19, 1930:


https://i.postimg.cc/wjzPpRNj/kanteen-bmp.jpg

ethereal_reality Mar 12, 2020 5:10 AM

.

I appreciate everyone's efforts in finding the location of the Magnus Kanteen and Texaco Station. Thank you! :)


. . .from GW's newspaper article:

"Two new Kanteens were opened last month in Hollywood. The Kanteen company have opened offices in Los Angeles
and their program calls for the erection of 20 stations in and about Los Angeles."


:previous:

So not just two in Hollywood. . .but 20 in and about the Los Angeles area....I wonder how many of them were actually built.





Here's a Magnus Root Beer booth set up at 1923 Orange Show in San Bernardino.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/8...921/4v8lyn.jpg
cityofsanbernardino

.

Godzilla Mar 12, 2020 5:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality (Post 8857442)
What's that you say?...You want a better look at the girls.





https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...922/LujnJW.jpg
detail

Quelle surprise. I thought they were wearing short skirts but I see they're wearing pants. (and a tunic)






The "Kanteen" sign may be advertising that business at a different/remote location rather than at or near the Magnus Root Beer business. There have been several examples of this on NLA. The first example that springs to mind is the Cafe La Boheme sign at Fairfax and Wilshire for the business located on Sunset Blvd.



"8610" Sunset Blvd??
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/utils/...fee&DMROTATE=0http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/utils/...fee&DMROTATE=0http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/utils/...fee&DMROTATE=0http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/utils/...fee&DMROTATE=0 USC Digital

https://forum.skyscraperpage.com/sho...ostcount=12929

ethereal_reality Mar 12, 2020 5:53 AM

.
I don't believe we have seen this Kodachrome image on nla.

If I'm not mistaken, the photographer's subject is the young man standing stiffed armed at the corner.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...924/0a5vPF.jpg
Roger Wilkerson tumblr

6th and Hill - Los Angeles - 1958..........................................................


Western Federal Savings appears to be in the midst of placing a mid-century facade onto the building........................................................

Leave the building alone! :gaah:....................................................................


.

ethereal_reality Mar 12, 2020 6:58 AM

.
odinthor, here are several more interiors views of the downtown Melody Lane, 744 S. Hill Street.... odinthor's original post


The restaurant is much larger than I imagined! I think it's because of the impressive ceiling height. ... (in this image we're looking toward Hill Street)

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...921/qe0Emz.jpg
V. GELAKOSKA BOOK

"An interior scene of the main dining room at Melody Lane on Hill Street shows eight waistresses serving the busy crowd.
There are many patrons waiting to be seated in the lobby near the soda fountain, with no less than five waitresses behind the fountain counter.
The photograph was taken around1943 at the height of the restaurant's popularity."
.....V. Gelakoska



This next photograph is amazing!

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...922/srTH7w.jpg
V. GELAKOSKA BOOK

"A 1943 photograph of the entrance to Melody Lane showing the large soda fountain and gift counter.
In the distance, looking toward the dining room, the Wurlitzer pipe organ can be seen on its balcony,
the American flag prominently displayed."
....V. Gelakoska







Lastly. . .

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...922/Lv9tnh.jpg
V. GELAKOSKA BOOK

"This interior scene of the first Melody Lane on Hill Street shows the high-backed booths that provided diners more privacy
and the mirrored columns that added a soft reflective glow from the ornate chandeliers above.

The Wurlitzer pipe organ can be seen on its balcony, which is adorned with the American flag."....V. Gelakoska





Buy the book, Here

The photographs are from the Bison Archives

ethereal_reality Mar 12, 2020 7:09 PM

.


Here's an amazing photograph that was just listed on eBay

Sellers description:..."1905 RPPC REAL PHOTO POSTCARD LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA FRANKLIN ST & MAIN ST."

I didn't know that there was a Franklin Street in downtown Los Angeles.

....................................................................................................................................................... Is the other street mentioned (on the postcard) Central Ave?
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...922/9A9qbu.jpg
eBay

Along the ground there appears to be an ethereal-like ground fog.

The seller thinks it's a flood.

Type: Real Photo (RPPC)

Region: US -LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA

Postage Condition: Posted 1905

Features: FLOOD STREET VIEW






REVERSE
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...922/hvWK1z.jpg
eBay

Yes, there's a Los Angeles postmark but there's also an additional postmark that's more difficult to read.







A closer look.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...923/rpDKYy.jpg

There is a monument / granite works with the name Wm. Horner on the left. On the right, farther down the street, there is a group of men standing in front of, what might be, a bar or small hotel. :shrug:

It's absolutely surreal what's going on on the ground!



I'll be so disappointed if this isn't Los Angeles.
.

Earl Boebert Mar 12, 2020 8:46 PM

I think the second postmark is [something] T [something] VILLE. Just a guess.

Cheers,

Earl

odinthor Mar 13, 2020 4:01 AM

:previous:

Titusville, PA.

https://i.postimg.cc/MH2LgJgH/Horner.jpg
Google Book Search

And here's the area in question of today's Titusville.

https://i.postimg.cc/D0rNTYKg/Horner2.jpg
Google Maps

Downtown L.A. did have a Franklin Street, formerly Jail Street, which ran from Spring to Broadway, and at which poor ol' New High Street found its southern terminus. Hamburger's "great white store" location was at the corner of Spring and Franklin.

Flyingwedge Mar 13, 2020 6:02 AM

:previous:

Great detective work, Earl and Odinthor! I think the photographer was standing about where the
arrow is on this May 1904 Sanborn Map of Titusville, PA. The three-story building in e_r's photo
must be the Mansion House, at lower right on the map:

https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...ville%20PA.jpg

ProQuest via LA Public Library


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