Thanks for the information on The London Shops HossC and Martin_Pal.
I guess I've never looked that closely at the northwest corner of the Roosevelt Hotel.

below: I noticed this sign in the photograph that HossC just posted.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...912/aa94Ij.png


"Veloz & Yolanda" was a popular dance team back in the day.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/661/3rtudH.png
http://www.historyforsale.com/html/p...art=2&page=155

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/661/zj5uJM.jpg
https://mattsko.wordpress.com/2013/1...-yolanda-1934/



I'm guessing the space next to the Roosevelt Hotel might have been their dance studio.
If you look at the London Shop photograph Martin_Pal just posted, the same space was an Arthur Murray Dance Studio in 1978.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/661/Agp8mN.png
___

I see HossC just located the third London Shop in the Gaylord Building. I must have overlooked the corner of that building too. ;)

File this under L.A. NOIR.


Is this legit? An underground typewritten list of bars/cafes in the Los Angeles area that feature topless waitresses.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/673/R2Atdu.jpg
http://www.ebay.com/itm/A1-Flag-Co-T...item2edbee38e9


below: Here's part of the list. (oh how I wish the seller had included LARGER images)

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/540/ksuX8S.jpg
http://www.ebay.com/itm/A1-Flag-Co-T...item2edbee38e9

:previous: Can anyone read the addresses?

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/540/v1C8YO.jpg
http://www.ebay.com/itm/A1-Flag-Co-T...item2edbee38e9



If you have money burning a hole in your pocket go here:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/A1-Flag-Co-T...item2edbee38e9

...and then scan it for us. ;)
__

I would say a flagman's shack, I do see cross tracks in the intersection.

Any ideas where this was? Sunset Blvd near Chaplin Studios? Looks like they are going West to me.
==================================================
I see Paramount Studios near Santa Monica and Western, I think this was the sound stage used by Ed Wood for Plan 9 from Outer Space. It used to be tucked in behind an apartment house and a bar, but now it's part of a parking lot for Pollo Loco.

Here's what I have been able to decipher, spelling errors included:

DUNES
 1744 E. Slauson Ave.
 Florence
KITTY KAT
 5728 S. Santa Fe Blvd.
 Huntington Park
QUEEN DEN
 5001 N. Santa Fe Blvd.
 Huntington Park
The RED BIKINI
 931 S. Kern Ave.
 East Los Angeles
WHITEY'S A-GO-GO
 4122 Whittier Blvd.
 East Los Angeles
The SECRET
 4514 Whittier Blvd.
 East Los Angeles
JAZZ-A-GO-GO
 1952 W. Adams Blvd.
 Los Angeles
IRON HORSE
 3366 W. 8th St.
 Los Angeles
ANGEL CITY
 5849 S. Normandie Ave.
 Los Angeles
HAWK'S NEST
 930 S. Western Ave.
 Los Angeles
GENO'S
 6206 S. Western Ave.
 Los Angeles

The information included herein in in no way guarranteed, recommended or endorsed by

A-1 Flag Mfg. Co.
2704 182nd. St.
Redondo Beach, Calif.

[handwritten notes in left margin:]

The SAMPAN
3307 Anaheim
LB

Play Mate Lounge
(indistinct) Anaheim
LB

Red Garter
1313 Anaheim

[handwritten notes in right margin:]

Club 537
10805 Monte Vista
(indistinct)

Shimmy Shack
18720 Van Buren
Riverside

~~~~~~~~~~

Given the two bar names that end in "A-Go-Go" I'd say we're dealing with a guide from the 1960s. And according to Yelp.com, there is still a Kitty Kat bar at the same location, although the city is Vernon.

Re: "Nancy's of Hollywood" ???
 

Thanks Hoss - that's probably it. I wasn't given a time frame, but I gather it was the 1940s so this would fit in the 1920/1959 frame. THANKS!

[QUOTE=ethereal_reality;6869234]I don't believe we've seen this impressive photograph on NLA. (I found it recently on ebay)

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...673/fluJ6t.jpg

Does anyone know what that little shack is for on the right? -news stand? trolley-line related?

ER, That is a great photo! Your "shack" would be more properly termed a Southern Pacifc crossing watchman's shanty. :D The watchman was responsible for protecting the intersection during SP Freight train movements running on Alameda Street. If you look to the right of the stool next to the shanty you can see the handle of his "STOP" sign. Were the photo in color, the horizontal siding would be SP yellow, the trim medium brown and the windows, now brown, were originally white, per SP Common Standard painting practice.

As to the Calship sign piece, my Mom passed from Pancreatic Cancer. However, I do not believe it was related to the asbestos. She was a light (one pack per week) smoker and did not seem to suffer any adverse effects from that.

Cheers,
Jack

http://i57.tinypic.com/eijdpd.jpg

I don't think those hills are even within L.A. proper, at least not then.
I don't recognize them at all but somebody here is sure to.
I'm constantly amazed by what people know here and that what they don't know they seem to have the means - resources, time, gumption, intelligence and... the wherewithal to find out. I do what little I can but I'm grateful for what people give here. Call me a nerd but this is by far my favorite hang on the inter-webs. It's all good here. I check in obsessively to see what's new and what new noirish mysteries have been solved. I've never seen anything like NLA.
It's a.... phenomenal phenomenon.
Thanks ER and everybody else.

Handsome_Stranger, good work on deciphering that Topless list! It'll be fun to check out the addresses you provided.



below: Missionary kills self, Mother. Walter C. Black age 38.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/540/q2Nq7v.jpg
ebay

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/537/jgp0Ta.jpg

"at a Mexican and Japanese settlement near Covina." What kind of settlement would have Japanese in 1938?

__

I know we've seen photographs of this location, but this is an exceptional good one. Usually you get a fourth or half the writing on the buildings,
but this photographer made sure he got whole expansive view. Kuddos to him.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...538/kHTzHn.jpg
ebay
__

I've got to leave for an overnight visit in Illinois, so I'll let one you guys decipher the location of this photograph.


http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...538/Vr3xw4.jpg
ebay

What did they use that size of a crane for? It's huge!
__

What's that crane?
 

The track has 3 rails= two gages. Thus I guess this is the LA Railway's yard in Vernon- google views might reveal the large building in the background. The yard was used to receive and store track materials from the Southern Pacific- the wider gage. In the last years, LAMTA had a return loop just off the street in order to turn single ended PCC cars west, and after electric service ended in 1963 , cars were stored pending sale. Most probably LARy/LATL received the PCCs new here, on standard gage flatcars delivered by SP
Location? north side of Slauson, east of Santa Fe, I think
Caveat- yes the crane is somewhat large, particularly compared to the LARy crane preserved at the museum at Perris, so this needs corroboration

:hi:

Modern Times ending was filmed at or near Sierra Hwy. & Penman Rd., Santa Clarita.


http://jerre.com/TandN/OldPaper/Film...nTimes/mtt.jpghttp://jerre.com/TandN/OldPaper/Film...nTimes/mtn.jpghttp://jerre.com/TandN/OldPaper/Film...nTimes/mtn.jpg

http://jerre.com/TandN/OldPaper/Film...es/mtimem3.gifhttp://jerre.com/TandN/OldPaper/Film...es/mtimem3.gif

http://jerre.com/TandN/OldPaper/Film...mes/index.html

That's a great website Godzilla. Good find. Good "then and now" stuff.
Here's the home page:

http://jerre.com/

I was looking at this picture and noticed the blade sign reading "Cosmo" and wondered what that was? I believe the street right there is named Cosmo. On Martin Turnbull's Garden of Allah site (under Hollywood Places) it lists some notorious bars and such on Cosmo Street.

Here's a couple posts on NLA talking about the happenings on Cosmo and there are other posts relating the 1970's and later goings-on on that street as "the very definition of noir."

Although we don't have an exact date for that photograph, I wonder what that blade sign signified at the time?

The Nancy's address is 6366 Hollywood Blvd. and currently, it appears there is a nightclub called The Cosmo at 6364 Hollywood Blvd., which I'm assuming
is where that blade sign is.

Their website states:

Prepare for many nights of decadence and debauchery old-Hollywood style. Lose yourself in a trance of cocktails, chandeliers and mind-blowing sounds in this new highly anticipated gothic haven. With interiors designed by Kris Keith of Spacecraft and dynamic visuals and lighting reminiscent of old Hollywood, the Cosmo is sure to put a sleek new spin on the VIP experience. For those who love the nightlife but are craving a more intimate lounge experience, there are lush booths that surround the chic space when you need a break from the dance floor.

http://www.thecosmo.com
_________

This is a screencap of a 1937 film called BIG CITY, starring Luise Rainer and Spencer Tracy. It show's the corner of Hollywood Blvd. and Cosmo Street. Nancy's is visible there and across Cosmo Street a place called Delphene's. The film, by the way, is set in New York City.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ug92C-xtJK...9.28.27+PM.pngWarner Home Video

There was a vibrant community of Japanese on Terminal Island, mostly engaged in fishing. Little Tokyo's Japanese-American heritage goes back at least 100 years, and Sawtelle's Japanese American community is almost that old. I went to University HS in the area in the 1970s, and only many years later did I learn that the student population in the war years was decimated by the forced internments of 1942 and after.

Judging from some passages in the novels of John Fante, it seems that there was also an Italian community on Terminal Island, but everyone mostly got along, just as they did in the Plaza area, with the Italians to the northwest and the Japanese to the southeast, and of course all the other ethnicities and cultures that converged there.

War Workers
 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ps9131d41a.jpg
CYA

1940 ...Los Angeles, California. Aircraft Schools. Outside the Fletcher School at noon hour. The boy second from the left is wearing a belt ring with a couple of tool checks on it. These checks have his number on them and are hung on a tool hook whenever he takes a tool for use. He gets his check back when he returns the tool,

I don't know the address of this school.

Vernon Yard and Crane
 

Ed, I believe you are correct that this is LARY's Vernon Yard. I believe we are looking west towards the Santa Fe delivery tracks. The UP (Los Angeles & Salt Lake wye which was also on the property would be behind the photographer. Unfortunately, the area has changed so much as to be almost unrecognizable now. A Google satellite view failed to reveal any building as tall as the one shown on the left in the photo.

Since Vernon was a meat packing area I wonder if the Luer's sign refers to Luer Meat Pacing Company which was located on E. Vernon Avenue?

If I can locate my copy of Inturbans Special No. 12, All Time roster of the Los Angeles Railway, we may be able to identify the crane, which, from the plate on the boom appears to be an Industrial Brownhoist.

Ah ha! Found it. The crane is LARY 9226 shown in two photos and a spec drawing on page 66 of The Los Angeles Railway All Time Roster published by Interurbans Publishing Company in August of 1952. The crane shown in the upper left photo is 9225 and is the one referred to by Ed as having been preserved at the Orange Empire Railway Museum.

[IMG]http://i1315.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5abab7b8.jpg[/IMG]

Cheers,
Jack