Roger Emmons and his family also lived at 405 S. Madison Avenue, Pasadena in 1920 but that house is no longer there, having succumbed to apartments.

Great Sleuthing HossC! I did a bit of cursory searching but was unable to find any info on what happened to the company.

Cheers,
Jack

'mystery' statue.

I've searched high and low trying to find more information (and the former location ) of this statue that supposedly stood on a street corner in Hollywood in the 1920s.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...537/GdVstU.jpg
eBay

:previous: "The Spirit of Hollywood" has been immortalized in bronze by Ernesto Biondi, famous Italian sculptor.
This statue of an inebriated trio entitled "Drunk" adorns one of the conspicuous corners in the heart of the film village.
Aug. 8, 1925



info. / reverse of photo.
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...537/HFRKpE.jpg


Sculptor Ernesto Biondi
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640...661/sca1AU.jpg
wiki



The only statue that turns up when I google "Ernesto Biondi"...."Drunks", is his Saturnalia (1909) in the Buenos Aires Botanical Gardens.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturnalia

So I need some help NLA sleuths! Did this strange "Drunks" statue really exist in Hollywood?

__

A visit to "Movie-Land"! circa. 1930


#1
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...540/KXGfip.jpg
ebay




#2
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...673/iq5UW7.jpg
eBay






#3
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...540/3WEGOZ.jpg
eBay



#4
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...912/EZMyBy.jpg
eBay






#5
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...538/8G7tvj.jpg
eBay

__

Tanks for responding HossC.
The problem is that they're getting no response after repeatedly trying to register. Brady is using a Verizon.net email account.
Thanks for the link. I don't why I couldn't find t before... It seems you have to be able to log in to communicate with them. I'll have to try to take care of it myself.

And thank you too CityBoyDoug.

The Witmer Family
 

As Witmer and Watson have come up again, I'd thought I'd mention that the Witmers were one of LA's early families.

Joseph Myer and Henry Clayton Witmer came to LA in the early 1880s from Wisconsin, bringing their mother (Catherine) and two sisters (Mary Agnes and Victoria) with them, their father having died. The Witmer brothers bought 650 acres of empty land west of Bunker Hill, naming it Crown Hills. It's hard to recall now that this inner-city neighborhood was once so remote from town:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-a...80631%2BPM.jpg
water and power

Determined to make their investment into a desirable suburb, the Witmers put in a cable car in 1885 which traveled over a deep cut in Bunker Hill at 2nd St., running from 2nd and Spring to 2nd and Belmont (as seen above). The powerhouse was at 2nd and Boylston. The route had the steepest cable car grade in North America, with a 27.7 degree slope between Hope and Bunker Hill Avenue:
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-2...10918%2BPM.jpg
water and power

:previous:
HossC posted an excellent, and much clearer, version of the scene above here

This 1897 map shows the streets mentioned above. The intersections of Belmont and W 2nd St (then "Silver Street") and W 2nd and Boylston no longer exist:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-p...01256%2BPM.jpg
maxwell's city directory

The brothers agitated the City Council for tunnels at W 3rd and W 4th Streets. The former eventually meeting with success after JM's death.

The brothers also formed and ran the California Bank, even though HC had bouts of insanity (he would forego clothing, become violent and refuse to be attended to).

The suburb was a success, even though its crowning glory, the Belmont Hotel (formerly the Ellis Villa College for girls), burned to the ground in 1887 (as has been mentioned before on the thread. One example from FW). After the first Ellis College was sold for the hotel, a second Ellis College was built nearby. It also burned. The hill turned into part of the Los Angeles Oil Field, crowned only with derricks. Finally, in the 1920s, Belmont High School was built on the site and remains in place.

JM Witmer died in 1897 at age 39, leaving $12K to each of his three children. HC died in 1909 at 53, felled by the same hereditary heart condition which had killed his father and younger brother. (HC's obit in the Herald did not mention his problems with insanity.)

David J, JM's son, born in 1888, graduated from Harvard with a degree in architecture in 1912. He opened his own practice in Los Angeles in 1914 before leaving for WWI.

Upon returning to LA, Witmer went into partnership with Loyall F Watson in 1919. Watson was trained as both an engineer and architect and was almost totally deaf. Little is known about him. He never met with clients. The partnership lasted 40 years, until Watson's death.

In 1921, Witmer built a family compound on two deep lots he owned on Witmer St at W 2nd (originally Silver St through this section), now HCM #538. Two homes were built on one lot, at 208/210 Witmer (one for Witmer, his wife and son, the other for his widowed mother, Josephine Witmer). A third home, for his mother-in-law, Mary O. Williams, was built at the back of lot No. 202/204 (eventually addressed as 1422 W 2nd Street). A garage with guest suite completed the compound. The front of the lot at No. 202/204 was reserved for a common garden. The garden was sold off in 1951 for other development.

The homes were in the Mediterranean-Revival style, of poured concrete and are, it is said, some of the best Witmer ever did. He moved his family in and stayed until his death 52 years later.

Grievously overgrown, four red-tile roofs indicate the Witmer compound today from above:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-M...05456%2BAM.jpg
google maps

Witmer and Watson also designed a pair of duplexes, on a third lot, south of the compound (the buff-colored roofs).

This was not the first group of Witmer homes as we shall see. The previous generation also stuck together.

In 1921, just before the Witmer family compound was built. The Los Angeles Oil Field is all but exhausted, but Belmont HS has not been built yet.:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-m...85445%2BPM.jpg
baist 1921, plate 7

Notice how few homes have been built in the "Crownwood" tract above (this subdivision was the Witmer's own). One large home is in place on the same block where the Witmer Compound will be built. It is the Captain Samuel J. Lewis and Mary Agnes Lewis (nee Witmer) House at 1425 3rd Street (now Miramar St). It was built for David J Witmer's aunt and uncle in ca 1890, designed by Joseph Cather Newsome and financed by the California Bank. It is where David J Witmer's grandmother, Catherine Witmer, spent her last years, dying at 93 in 1910, having outlived her husband and both her sons.

Directly across 3rd St (now Miramar) from the Lewis house was a pair of very large homes (also on the map above). The one on the west, at No. 1422 was built for HC Witmer; it was demolished in 1955. The home next door, on the corner of 3rd (Miramar) St and Lucas was built for Joseph and Josephine Witmer. It passed to the widow on JM's death in 1897. It was David J Witmer's childhood home and is also demolished. The original garden wall along the sidewalk remains, surrounding a grassy lot along the front of the property. Apartments have been built on the rear of the site:
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Y...34556%2BPM.jpg
gsv

David J Witmer built homes on lots 11,12 and 13. The previous generation of Witmers built homes on lots 15, 33 and 34:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-c...21858%2BAM.jpg
baist 1921, plate 7

The extant Lewis house at No. 1425 Miramar (formerly 3rd) St:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-6...94523%2BAM.jpg
Big Orange Landmarks (<-- more photos and info at link)

This home is now owned by the Sadhanna Hindu Temple of New York, Inc and looks very well cared for. The interior is reportedly in very fine shape. Unfortunately the second-floor balcony porch, over the entrance, was enclosed at some point giving the home a rather blank look.

The only photo I could find of one of the homes in the second Witmer Family Compound, when relatively new, is the back house at No. 210 Witmer, built behind No.208:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-v...01122%2BAM.jpg

baldwinhillsvillage

The front house at 208 Witmer today:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-y...63335%2BPM.jpg
gsv

1422 W 2nd St today:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-X...h=w315-h467-no
flickr

David J Witmer was an extremely successful architect, who knew how to play the game. He was one of the committee of architects who designed and built the Architects Building at 5th and Figueroa and kept his offices there. He was affiliated with USC, with Claremont and UC Berkeley. He was involved in in writing the first uniform building code for the state, a subject he felt strongly about, especially as regards earthquake safety (both to protect life and developers' investment). He served as secretary, director and president of the Southern California chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

In 1938 he designed the Wyvernwood housing complex and also consulted on Estrada Courts and Baldwin Hills Village. Witmer had been interested in lower-cost garden communities for some time, having designed Belmont Square Garden Apartments (1923) on Columbia between Miramar & W 2nd, bisected by Columbia Place, just 1/2 block from his home. (info here: https://www.belmontsquare.org/about). - Some current (2022) interior shots of one of the Belmont Square units from Apartment Finder if anyone is interested & also an exterior shot of the unit from Miramar & Columbia Place:https://www.apartmentfinder.com/Cali...tments-80p4kb0

There were many other projects.

In 1941 Witmer was named co-chief architect for the Pentagon along with G. Edwin Bergstrom (of Parkinson and Bergstom fame). Bergstrom was asked to step down in 1942. Witmer was sole chief architect through the construction phase and supervised the pouring of a great deal of concrete. He then left to serve in Eisenhower's European Command as a colonel. Eisenhower put Witmer to work ensuring that European civilians did not starve. Witmer got awards from various governments for his success in this role.

Throughout his career, Witmer continued to build tasteful houses in historic styles for those of means, but also found time for smaller homes (winning awards for the latter). He remained active as an architect until his death. Witmer was taken ill at an AIA banquet in 1973 and died within the week. He was 85.

Wyvernwood apartment complex designed by architect Witmer.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...psuufu8knn.jpg
CD file

David Witmer - Architect.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...psoaw2eyuv.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...pseg0te2o6.jpg
CD file

This huge complex of apartments is somewhat controversial. Contrary to popular opinion the project is privately owned. This is not public housing... although that's what it looks like.

negative found on ebay

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640...633/Eg3Tk0.jpg




http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...633/3VZ3jl.jpg
eBay

I'm trying to figure out where this large expanse of empty space was located.


__

An announcement for the new home of Southern California Music Co.

806-808 South Broadway
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/661/zkgaOJ.jpg
eBay

"Ready about May 1st, 1923" I wonder if they made their deadline?

below: Here's a photograph from 1924. That's the Garrick Theater on the left and the Rialto Theater on the right. The Rialto is showing Harold Lloyd's "Hot Water".

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...633/c99Br3.jpg
https://sites.google.com/site/downto...heatres/rialto



below: Here's the building in 2011.

The upper 3/4th of the building appears to be in pristine condition.
but it's an abomination at first floor storefronts. (Who invented those mechanical metal doors anyway? They ought to be arrested)

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...673/Wfu2I9.jpg
gsv

Note that the Tower Theater (on the left) has replaced the Garrick.




update: 2015
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...538/tNspjH.jpg

:previous: Maybe they're getting ready to restore the store fronts. Does anyone know what's going on with the building?
__



*The Southern California Music Co. building was also known as the Singer Building.

Here's a glance down the alley from 8th Street.
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...633/rfPvXo.jpg
detail / gsv
__

Wyvernwood and Estrada Courts
 

Steven Keylon has the complete rundown on Wyvernwood CBD. In case you missed it, it's here.

Famous-for-its-murals Estrada Courts, which is public housing, is adjacent to Wyvernwood to the east:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-q...30450%2BPM.jpg
google maps

la.curbed's history of the proposed changes and the fight to save Wyvernwood

Wyvernwood's owners talk up new development

The last news I saw is over a year old. As far as I know, the proposal is still up in the air.

The author of this article about escaped pigs saw the lighter side of the situation.
You'll have to read it...it made me smile.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...540/LH1RKG.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...537/HiGupz.jpg
eBay



original photo
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...661/HW6Ev2.jpg
eBay



If interested, a LARGE photo of Cudahy packing plant can be found here:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=27983

Interior images of Cudahy Packing plant here:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=11813

__

My guess would be the open area on the center-left of this 1948 aerial (the Medical Center is center-right). The empty space, located just below N Mission Road, and formally known as the Orange Slope Tract, is now under the Golden State Freeway. We covered it in post #25064 because of its proximity to the Los Angeles General Hospital Tuberculosis Unit.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...angeSlope4.jpg
Historic Aerials

You're probably correct Hoss.
I remember that earlier post, but the empty lot in the photo I just posted looks so much larger for some reason.

*are those wood-pecker holes in the palm?

:previous: Excellent post tovanger2! I didn't know about the Witmer compound.
The buildings look rather noirish with the overgrown plant life.

__

Witmer Family Compound
 

:previous:

I love it that David J Witmer stayed with the neighborhood, representing on Witmer St. I always thought it was the most interesting thing about him.

Those raw concrete homes with their pretty blue trim look really nice, but yes, noirish now with the Sleeping-Beauty-style landscaping.

The previous generation of Witmers was interesting too (I added a bit more about them and their compound to my original post).

The GSV of 1422 W 2nd Street:
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-V...80848%2BPM.jpg


P.S.

And speaking of representing: Witmer Streeters gang tag, found on Columbia Street:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-k...82836%2BPM.jpg
flickr

Sadly, I remember that several historic churches on the downtown periphery, all from the turn of the last century, burned down around this time, over a period of several years.

"The abrasive media used during the rub resistance test is a mixture made by thoroughly shaking 100 g of water with 71/2 g to 10 g of 2.5 micron mean particle size calcium carbonate sold by Thompson, Weinman and Co. as ATOMITE"

http://www.google.com.pr/patents/US4525425

All the worse is that this section of Main is now the eastern edge of a vast parking lot. Admittedly, it provides a useful service for those visiting the Plaza and Olvera Street area, yet remains a spit in the face of historic preservation. If only they could have built a multistory garage that could park just as many cars on a smaller footprint...

ETA: As evident in the photo, this is of course 617 and not 616. According to Google Maps 616 is across the street and right about where the Sepulveda Building is, which is fairly similar to the Sentous.

Speaking of lost food palaces as we were here on the thread, Wifey and I withtwo good friends just bid our final goodbye to the Beckham Grill, whose last day on earth is this coming Saturday. We've been there as often as we could manage since the announcement of their closure, and this was the second time this week.

The word the restaurant put out is that they "lost their lease." It happens that the boss of one of the friends we went there with tonight knows the owner well, and the truth is that the owner of the restaurant owned the property, and was paid an obscene amount for it some time ago, with the understanding that he would be able to keep the place open until the new owner was ready to do something different with the property.

Well, vive la capitalism, I guess, but I can't help but be sad. So many eateries held fondly in my memory -- El Poche, Bob's La Crescenta, Norm's San Gabriel, Scandia, Wil Wrights, so many others--are gone, and now another with so many happy associations is gone after Saturday.

Everybody get off my lawn!

The empty lot in the aerial is too far west and too close
By the perspective, the field should be out of the erial, bbottom center. IIt appears to me that the gulch that contained Ramona and the PE is at the far edge of the field in the palm tree pic.
When was the Gen Hospital built? It looks new in the pic

:previous:
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...633/3VZ3jl.jpg

ED wrote:
"The empty lot in the aerial is too close."

Now that I look at the photo again I think Ed is right. (I think everyone's right it seems ;))

The Payne Mystery of 1934
 

A handsome young man kills his mother and little brother. Why?

His reason was that they both were saying things to him that upset him. What they said must have cut him deeply. He said that he ''couldn't stand it any longer''. The posted press article fills in some of the details of this case.

Does anyone know what ever became of Louis Payne, other than being sent to a mental hospital?


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ps3si1jlmp.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...pswd7tovzc.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...psb5qpztem.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...psf6wzjnv6.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ps9cvsa8iw.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...psfimtvgt2.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...psaspj5hmb.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...pssg3e1w9v.jpg
All of the images are from historic CD collection

:previous:

I've had this photo in an old file forever it seems, but didn't have any information other than the date (1934) so I never posted it.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/661/Z2pLDm.jpg
eBay

Now after reading CBD's post, I'm pretty sure this is Louis Payne.

What do you think CityBoyDoug.?

Yes, ER, that's Louis Payne looking at his mother's bed. 1934 was not an era of enlightenment, so I can just imagine what was said and possibly why they were both tormenting him with their constant derogatory remarks.
The fact that his little brother sided with the mother could have sent Louis over the edge. Louis apparently didn't have the loyalty of even his brother. His sense of isolation was traumatic at that age.
His crime carried special circumstances, plus probably First Degree murder. Killing someone while they sleep carries additional charges.

I wonder what ever became of Louis. All I know is that he was sent to a mental hospital in California, which certainly saved his life.

:previous:

Here are a couple of pictures of the inquest.

Louis Payne sits with father, Lucius F. Payne, Los Angeles, June-July, 1934

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...ouisPayne1.jpg
library.ucla.edu

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...ouisPayne2.jpg
library.ucla.edu

And here's the description from the second image:

"Louis Rude Payne, Lucius Payne (father) at inquest., Louis Payne covers his face with his hands at his inquest for the murders of his mother and brother. He is comforted by his father, Lucius Payne. Louis Rude Payne, 21 years of age, used a camping axe to kill his mother, 45-year-old Carrie L. Payne, and 15-year-old brother Robert in their Westwood mansion home. Payne turned himself in for the killings of four to five days after their deaths, at a Huntington Beach police station. When he turned himself in, detectives found on his person both a letter and a telegram addressed to his father Lucius Payne, a St. Louis businessman, confessing to the crime, apologizing for his actions, and explaning that he did not know what impulse it was that drove him to the murders. Although he was questioned repeatedly, no motive for the murders was ever discovered, save for what Payne termed a force stronger than himself that compelled him to commit the crimes. Payne was convicted of the two murders, but found to be insane at the time of the crimes. He was confined to psychiatric treatment at the Mendocino State Hospital at Talmadge, in Mendocino County, CA. His father stood by him throughout his trial and conviction."

On-line California death records show a Louis Rude Payne died 31 Mar 1944 in Mendicino (probably county) CA, which would be consistent with him dying at the asylum. The record lists his birth date as 14 Oct 1912, which is consistent with some of the newspaper accounts.
A sad tale indeed.

Earl

Louis died quite young, age 32. I wonder how he died....suicide? prison brawl?

__





C.R. Van Meter and his portable newsstand, 1936.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/910/1BnGX8.jpg
eBay

:previous: I can picture him building this contraption in his garage. (notice the young guy in the car staring at him)

The info. below says he rolls it home every night. (I wonder how far away he lived. It couldn't be easy to roll that thing)



it's a bit difficult to read.
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...673/YFdYPM.jpg

Here is a clip from a newspaper report about the double homicide, as it pertains to Louis Payne's state of mind at the time of the axe murders.:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...psov1fig0u.jpg
CD file

Yes ER, 32 is a young age. I also wonder what was the cause of death.

The Payne Murder House
 

:previous:

Thx CBD. And I thought nothing ever happened around here.

The "Murder House" today with interior pix: https://www.redfin.com/CA/Los-Angele...4/home/6805713

I bet the folks who paid $1.6mm for it two years ago have no idea....


I think this is the same room:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-A...15209%2BPM.jpg
redfin

You can get an "informational copy" of the death certificate by following the steps outlined here:

http://www.cdph.ca.gov/certlic/birth...s/default.aspx

Further search indicates that his father, Lucius Fawkes Payne, hung on until 1958 in Los Angeles.

Earl

The Blossom Room is still there in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.

The first Academy Awards were held there.
A photo from the event in 1929:

http://hollywoodphotographs.com/phot.../HA-039-12.jpgHollywood Photographs

Here's a photo of the Blossom Room in 1939:

http://hollywoodphotographs.com/phot.../HA-039-20.jpg

While we're in the Roosevelt Hotel, look at this 1935 photo of the dining room.
Dig that ceiling!

http://hollywoodphotographs.com/phot.../HA-039-15.jpg

20 years old and still in high school? What the frick? Maybe he was mentally challenged and that may be a contributing factor of those murders. Just sayin'

Thank you e_r. I am enjoying all the old studio pix.

The first one above is, of course, the corner of Washington and Madison looking over the old MGM parking lot. The configuration hasn't changed. The MGM signage is atop what are now the Kelly and Poitier buildings.

The last two pix show the grand facade of Warner Bros on Sunset Blvd, built 1919 (now Sunset Bronson Studios).

A kind colleague pointed me to a UK video on old Hollywood, "The Birth of Hollywood". The host is shown on the balcony behind the columns at the old Warner Bros, an angle I'd never seen before:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-M...75825%2BPM.jpg
The image is at about 41:33 in ep 3. Eps 1 & 2 are here and here

:previous: Oh my, that is a beautiful ceiling Martin Pal!

Is it still there, or has it been remodeled?

Good point Bear. Twenty years and still in school and a military school at that. Some reports listed Louis as an Honor Student at the military school. So who knows for sure of anything.
Its very hard to know exactly what led to the murders but Louis was seemly very upset about some of the things that his mother and brother were saying to him. As for myself, I well know that parents and siblings can be very cruel when they play the ''gotcha'' game. His solution was to do away with the cause of his perceived torment. Maybe they called him names like stupid, queer, or whatever. One never knows unless he repeats exactly what was said.

Whatever was said was possibly extremely embarrassing to Louis. I also suspect that the father full well knew what had happened. These things don't happen in a vacuum. This wasn't the first time that
a child has killed a parent and sibling. Cause and effect.

Louis points to where his 14 year old brother's body was found. Son and father in courtroom
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...psnfcxkoc5.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ps6ekciier.jpg
all images Historic CD

This is the large Mendocino State Asylum Where Louis was send and where he died ten years later.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...psbn7wwgyu.jpg

Here's something I've never heard about until today.

Did you know Anna May Wong (no stranger to NLA) had her own television series!?

It was called "The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong" and aired on the DuMont Television Network (details below)

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...661/sQPC5w.jpg
http://ericbrightwell.com/author/eri...twell/page/29/



http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/320...661/LvNtYC.jpg
http://free-stock-illustration.com/d...age=1290156505


More Anna May Wong here:
http://skyscraperpage.com/forum/show...ostcount=27088

originally posted by Wig Wag.
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...538/lkHwmn.jpg


By sheer coincidence I am reading a book on movie actor Lyle Talbot by New Yorker staff writer (and Talbot's daughter) Margaret Talbot.


Last night I came across this paragraph.

"Then there was the time that Countess di Frasso and Bugsy Siegel tried to peddle a new kind of explosive to the Italian military. Siegel had met a couple of chemists who'd developed something they called Atomite, which Siegel was convinced would replace dynamite and make him a fortune. Di Frasso arranged to have the stuff demonstrated at Villa Madama for a contingent of Italian military. As it happened, her husband's other guests at the villa that weekend included Josef Goebbels, the German propaganda minister, and Hermann Goring, the head of the Luftwaffe. Siegel evidently didn't have a problem consorting with Italian Fascists, but he did bristle at the Nazi bigwigs. In fact, he told Dorothy (the Countess) he was going to kill that "fat bastard Goring" and "that dirty Goebbels," too. "It's an easy setup the way they're walking around here." Di Frasso talked him out of it, fearing what would happen to her count if his Nazi houseguests ended up dead. The explosive test (Atomite) was a bust, and di Frasso and her mobster headed for the French Riviera. Thanks to the countess, Siegel had missed out on making the one defensible hit he'd ever have committed."

This made me wonder; ....Does Wig Wag's Atomite have any connection with Siegel's Atomite? Perhaps the chemists tweaked the formula and developed it into something less volatile.
(Siegel was living in Hollywood when he came in contact with the chemists) -and the cleanser was developed in Los Angeles area.

Stranger things have happened.;)

"A $100,000 worth of Radium in a 500-pound box of lead arrives in Los Angeles."

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

:previous: Should this guy be opening the box out on the sidewalk surrounded by onlookers?

The guy in the white lab coat seems to be asking, "Do you know what you're doing?"


details
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...537/m0MTtp.jpg



-reminded me of this.;)

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...909/OGDRaf.jpg
Kiss Me Deadly (1955)

hmmm....could this be a theme? ;)




The Roadium Drive In.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...537/UwuipM.jpg
eBay

14771 S. Paramount Blvd., Paramount CA. (enough room for 850 cars!) *this address is incorrect / the correct address is several posts down.

First seen in this sepia photograph posted by FredM: (a side view of the screen with an automobile entering)
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=19914

__

ER, In researching what happened to Atomite and the E.T. Wyatt Company, I came across this reference which I dismissed as being something else since the product was marketed as being simply a cleaning and polishing agent. Note the 1928 date.

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/...nalCode=jceda8

Also, see this Technical Data Sheet:

http://www.imerys-carbonates.com/ima...omite-FGCC.pdf

I think will have to do some further research!
Cheers,
Jack

That's funny i went with a couple of friends last night to a pretty good italian restaurant (Lomeli's) and near by is an old drive in. It's called the Roadium, i think we we're still in Gardena and off of Redondo Beach Blvd(2500 W Redondo Beach Blvd, Torrance, CA 90504)...if this one was called the Roadium, was the one we passed by a twin or did the name change...

There is a bluff on Echandia St., just north of Propect Park which, if my memory is correct, is a similar view.

County General Hospital view from bluff
 

A Google Earth view from the same area:
http://www.califaztlan.org/LANoirPics/lac.jpg

So this time next week I'll be at Tiki Oasis, frivolously frolicking with all things tiki (or, as my killjoy kollege chums would have it, indulging in colonialist appropriation of the Exotified Other, or something).

In any event, the forthcoming frolic has inspired me to dig into the binders for some augmenting images. (Warning! NSFW! The pix at the end of this post are replete with erumpent maiden-breasts.)

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/371/2...808f7db0_b.jpg"It Rains at PagoPago."

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3744/...5d662c15_b.jpg

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/545/2...665f404c_o.jpgThe Wan-Q

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/536/2...f7cb0a05_b.jpgThe Outrigger was amazing; it's been totally wiped clean

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/513/2...64905744_b.jpg"Six Blocks West of Gilmore Stadium."

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3788/...d1866cac_o.jpgSure, it's not in LA, so sue me. But it's great.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/306/2...abcf6396_b.jpgI bet the sleuths here could dig up more on Whisling and the HH

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/552/2...ae74c2e3_b.jpgNo longer a palm garden.

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3776/...47de3913_b.jpgTJ

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/334/2...5f386212_o.jpgTrader Island

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/552/2...74d8ebe3_o.jpgGoin...to the Huki Lau...

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/376/2...62f89284_o.jpgTI
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/345/2...4b6d4438_o.jpg
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/361/1...cac87d2e_o.jpgA bit of Hawaii in glamorous Hollywood.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/374/2...1926f3d5_o.jpgNow the site of a hospital.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/518/2...8607e37f_b.jpgFamous for the "Goof on the Roof."

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/379/2...133042fa_b.jpgYes, THAT Blossom Room, which should forever be known for Harry Owens and His Royal Hawaiians and nothing else. And this girl here.



https://farm1.staticflickr.com/564/1...bb0eb3a8_b.jpgLH

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/393/2...5e55f448_b.jpg

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3818/...be783342_b.jpgGay! Smart! Enjoyable!

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/315/2...a3a84a64_b.jpg

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/296/2...f93859e9_b.jpg
The ever-important Tropics.

By no means an exhaustive list regarding our southland, just what I had kicking around near the scanner. Plenty more images out there, if you're in the mood here's a sample, which features many an apartment complex, etc. Spending time with this blog is a pleasure of vast proportion.

I stand corrected - my original guess was too far north. Here are three images showing how the area has changed in the last 94 years.

I had to merge two Baist maps to get this 1921 view, and, as I've said previously, they were never designed to be joined together. This is just before the Medical Center was built in the area near the top right corner. Prospect Park is in the lower left corner.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...erView1921.jpg
www.historicmapworks.com/www.historicmapworks.com

Compared to my previous post, I've included a wider area in this 1948 view.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...erView1948.jpg
Historic Aerials

The freeways have made quite a difference to this location. This 2012 image covers roughly the same area as GatoVerde's Google Earth view (above).

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...erView2012.jpg
Historic Aerials

:previous: Hi unihikid

The 'Roadium' you and your friends came across the other night is the 'Roadium' in my photograph. (below)

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...537/UwuipM.jpg

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...910/efI2zG.jpg
http://www.roadarch.com/13/9/roadium.jpg

The address I posted earlier (in Paramount) was incorrect. Sorry about that.


a rocket display in 1964.
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...911/GRSbaG.jpg
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/10951/photos/98386

:previous: Standard drive-in fare, "Straight Jacket" and "The Haunted Palace". lol

__

The TeeVee is new.

The image is deceiving as it is not really a large expanse of land depicted but rather a view from one bluff to another without revealing the urban expanse between and below, i.e. Ramona (Interstate 10), etc.

No, I have no idea when it was remodeled, but it hasn't been there since
at least the 80's. The open air dining room/restaurant area is still around
and is where I learned to love Caesar salads. Well, "good" Caesar salads.
They made one for our group right there at table side, and complete with
raw egg and anchovies. (Hardly anyone does the "raw egg" bit any more.
They use those liquid egg substitutes for "safety" concerns.) I'd sure love
to have looked up and seen that ceiling. Unless this room pictured was
somewhere other than where I believe the dining room to be...of course.

Also, if one looks into the Blossom Room expecting to see something out of
the past, you'll be disappointed. It's basically like most large hotel room spaces
where it's the decoration that someone does that makes it memorable. It does,
though, also have a gorgeous designed ceiling which can be lighted in different
ways.

The Blake Edwards film SUNSET, which recreated the first Academy Awards,
filmed those scenes in the Blossom Room, but besides being a bad film, it also
had bad art direction. (My opinion of course.)

No, I had never heard of this, E_R. I saw a PBS documentary about
Hollywood and Asians in the film industry where Anna May Wong was heavily
and deservedly represented, but I don't recall them ever mentioning this.

Drat! I'd love to see those ten episodes!

This is probably even more surprising to me than when I recently discovered
that JEAN ARTHUR had her own sitcom! In 1966!

It was called THE JEAN ARTHUR SHOW. She played a defense attorney who
practiced law with her recently graduated 25 year old son (Ron Harper).
It was on from 9/12/66 to 12/5/66, so not successful. So 13 episodes,
I'm guessing.
___

IMDB says 12 episodes. I guess I was surprised because her last film was
SHANE in 1953. So to discover she'd tried a series 13 years after that was
fascinating. The only other TV listed that she did was one episode of the
series Gunsmoke in 1965. (I also read once that she taught an acting class
at a college. One of her pupils was Meryl Streep.)