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http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2282/...0e5d7457ec.jpg Is there a vintage shot anywhere of Memorial Library? |
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With the strange entrance, I thought it was a mausoleum and/so cemetery. But there are structures inside (with obvious trusses/arches) that look like a collection of warehouses or sound stages. |
Below: Here's an interesting photo looking NE from Santa Monica Blvd.
and Highland Ave. in 1926. http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/6...nefromsant.jpg usc digital archive I can't remember what's on this corner now. |
Below: Santa Monica Blvd. looking west from Western Ave. in 1927.
http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/2...nicablvdlo.jpg usc digital archive |
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Below: Beverly Blvd. and Vermont in1926.
http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/9...blvdandver.jpg usc digital archive |
ethereal that pic you posted of Santa Monica Blvd. looking west from Western is very interesting to me; that bank building on the northwest corner still exists, as does the Sears building, which is the building in the background that you see with the tower. The tower still exists, though the building itself has been massively remodeled beyond recognition and looks horrible; looks like a 1970s remodeling, and even the Sears logo that's on the building now is from the 1970s, with that all-cap, red lettering.
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Below: This photo was also labeled looking northeast from Santa Monica Blvd. and Highland. 1926.
It's from the same vantage point as the photo in post #553, just angled a little more to the right (east) I believe. http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/5...odlookingn.jpg usc digital archive |
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Sopas_ej, thanks for the feedback. It's always interesting to hear from you. |
Below: A view over Westlake Park (later MacArthur Park) in the 1930s.
The tower on the right is Bullocks Wilshire Department Store. http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/9...swilshirew.jpg usc digital archives Originally Wilshire Blvd. ended at Westlake Park (it was Orange on the opposite/east side). http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/6...ngeles1908.jpg 1908 map Wilshire Blvd. was extended in 1934 to pass through the park. http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/8...rlayofwils.jpg usc digital archive http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/4...hurfacinge.jpg usc digital archive ....someone left the cake out in the rain. |
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Yeah, all that sweet green icing flowing down. ;) Apparently when Wilshire Blvd. was extended into downtown, a lot of buildings had to be demolished. The part of Wilshire east of MacArthur Park was always considered the less distinctive part, being that Wilshire was meant to be a grand boulevard but it originally only went west from MacArthur Park. Interestingly, it was intended NEVER to have a streetcar line going down it, it was meant to be a boulevard for autos. In the 1920s and 1930s, special double-decker open-top buses ran down Wilshire as public transportation, which is why some department stores were designed with 2nd-floor display windows like this one: http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics46/00042959.jpg lapl.org It's kind of hard to see but this pic shows one of the special double-decker buses that used to run down Wilshire: http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics37/00068433.jpg lapl.org Here's another shot of Wilshire and a double-decker bus, courtesy of the USC digital archive. Picture is from 1938: http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/2...ledeckbusi.jpg Wilshire and Bronson, 1931, from the USC digital archive: http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/365...ronson1931.jpg Those "Wilshire Special" street lamps date from the late 1920s, I think, and originally went west from MacArthur Park to Fairfax. They stopped at Fairfax because originally, west of Fairfax was unincorporated County territory, so the City of LA had no jurisdiction there; I'm not sure when that parcel was annexed into the City. Those Wilshire Specials only exist now through Mac Arthur Park and a few miles east of there, and many of them are in bad shape, some really rusted. I assume they're made of cast iron like many old lamposts back then. It's hard to see but the corners of the lanterns are adorned with nude females. |
^^^Sopas_ej
Very interesting photos and information. I had no idea about the double-decker buses on Wilshire and the second floor display windows. And your third photo actually has a Simon's Drive In. That's too cool. What sparked my interest in this area was the large 1908 map I posted several pages back. I noticed Wilshire east of Westlake Park wasn't Wilshire at all but Orange Street. |
Here's a nighttime snapshot of Westlake Park.
It looks like a still from a 1940s noir. http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/8...efromourro.jpg nypl Written on the back was "The view from our room." |
Here's a photo of the Triangle Pharmacy on Washington and Hoover.
http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/2...epharmacyc.jpg usc digital library A map of it's location. http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/6...ngeles1908.jpg 1908 map |
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https://otters.net/img/lanoir/scottavestreetsign_lj.jpg BTW, I didn't buy this anywhere, I stole it myself when I was a teenager in the early 1970s. -Scott |
There wasn't a date Scott, sorry.
Sopas_ej might be able to figure it out. He knows alot about the streetlights and signs of Los Angeles. |
Here's another storefront from long ago, Albert's Sunset Cafe (no address).
I was intrigued by the Sparkeeta Root Beer and Cheri-Keeta signs. I had never heard of these products. http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/581...tcafe1930s.jpg usc digital archive I did a little research and found that the Sparklett Water Company was started in Los Angeles in August of 1925, with a one room factory and one truck. They used a water supply on their company's property. By 1928 they had 52 trucks. In 1936 they introduced Sparkeeta and Club Soda, a lithiated product made from Sparkletts table water. http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/3...talithiate.gif In 1939 they introduced UP (lemon-lime) Cheri-Keeta Cola and Sparkeeta Root Beer. http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/9...parkeetaup.png Below: In this photo of 3rd and Hill Street you can see a Sparkeeta Ad painted on the side of a building. http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/4...tasign3rds.jpg usc digital archive OK....now I'm thirsty. :) |
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A few years ago, the LA Department of Transportation website used to include a link called "Topics and Tales," or something like that, and it totally talked about old Los Angeles street signs and street lights. It also talked about early freeways of the Los Angeles area, with some interesting pictures. I went onto the LADOT website recently and apparently the Topics and Tales link no longer exists. Here's an undated photo from the LAPL, of street signs in that same style: http://jpg1.lapl.org/00077/00077953.jpg Notice the directional sign for Occidental College, created by the Auto Club of Southern California. I learned some years ago that basically for nearly the first half of the 20th Century, the Auto Club of SoCal used to create all road signs, directional, speed limit, city limit signs, etc., before the California Department of Transportation took over. I found it interesting that a private group would create road signs. Some of these still exist here and there, as recently as a few months ago, even in my town of South Pasadena, there's an old road sign and at the very bottom you see a small logo of the Auto Club of Southern California. I should take a picture of it before it gets replaced, if it hasn't been already. Those metal "gun" signs that still exist in LA date from the late 1940s: http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/4...gcitstr018.jpg USC digital archive, photo from 1959 Notice the finial on top of the pole. Some of those still exist here and there in LA. When I first started looking at old photos of Wilshire Blvd. with the Wilshire Special street lights, I noticed the street signs too; you only see that style on Wilshire Blvd. and only on those lamp posts, I figure maybe they were meant only for the stretch of Wilshire with the custom-made street lights, as in the photo I posted earlier: http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/365...ronson1931.jpg USC digital archive I guess when the LA DOT introduced the gun-shaped street signs (which I as a kid loved and still do, and even when I was a kid they reminded me of guns), they installed them on Wilshire but didn't remove the older signs for some reason and kept them for a while, as you can see in this photo from 1948: http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/8057/dwl1183isla.jpg USC digital archive The current mounting of LA street signs is kind of unique, IMO. In that Topics and Tales link in the LA DOT website, it mentioned that LA street signs are now mounted on the near right-hand side of an intersection, with a single sign at each corner. It gives no reason for why they're mounted this way. The Topics ad Tales link also mentioned overhead mounted traffic lights in Los Angeles. In California, span-wire mounted traffic lights were never popular for some reason, but they were used here and there in LA; California had traffic lights mounted on poles at the corners of intersections, but on busy, wide streets these can be hard to see if a driver is stopped far from the intersection, so at some key intersections, overhead span-wire mounted traffic lights were used. These later evolved into the traffic lights mounted on mast-arms that have become common throughout California. Here's the intersection of Wilshire and La Brea in 1940, showing a traffic light suspended on a span wire: http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/8785/dw4161isla.jpg USC digital archive LA also pioneered the use of large approach signs which makes it easier for drivers to read, which later evolved into the large street signs you see at traffic-light controlled intersections, which other cities in other parts of the US have also adopted. From 1960; notice the large Olympic Blvd. sign (and the cool 1959 Chevy with the gull-wing tailfins): http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/5907/exmn128650195.jpg USC digital archive |
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These are all great pics. :tup: Out in the unincorporated areas near Covina, where I grew up, all of our local street name signs were these stark black and white porcelain steel 2x4s. They had pointed finials on their pole tops, too. I remember after I acquired my Scott Ave. sign, I tried to steal one of those points to go with it. Not so easy! Incidentally, I didn't steal my sign off of a street pole. I actually found it amongst thousands of other identical-type street name signs that were being used as terrace supports to shore up steep mountain slopes in San Gabriel River Canyon back in 1970. I went to these places lots of times searching for neat old street name signs. I found a very nice one of Florence Ave., a sign for the street right next to the one I grew up on, and one essentially flawless sign whose street name I forget now. Alas, all three of those signs ended up in the trashcan when I cleaned out my parents' house. There was nothing like eBay in those days, unfortunately. Today, I'm sure those discarded signs would sell for at least $100-200 apiece; that almost-perfect one for maybe even more... -Scott |
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I believe Sparkletts is still headquartered in LA, in the Highland Park neighborhood. I think maybe if I remember to, I'll take a picture of the building, it looks like a mosque. |
^^^very interesting
A photo would be great sopas_ej. :) Also, your detailed post about the street signs and streetlights was really informative. I looked over the photos for quite some time. |
Old color film of Olvera Street in 1937.
http://www.archive.org/details/Streetof1937 GaylordWilshire should enjoy the distinctive pronunciation of "Los Angeles" here. :) |
http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/1...es1910huge.jpg
usc digital archive An experimental monorail was built in Burbank by J.W. Fawkes in 1907. He built the prototype on his Burbank ranch, running a line between Lake and Flower Street. The photograph above shows a cigar-shaped trolley attached to an overhead rail supported by wooden beams. It appears to be in motion with it's propeller spinning and moving away from the camera. The name of his company was Aerial Trolley Car Co. Inc. Mr. Fawkes called it the 'Aerial Swallow'. The public called it 'Fawkes' Folly'. http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/3...910or1907h.jpg usc digital archive |
One more photo of the Burbank monorail I found in my file.
From this photo, I'm baffled by the design of the propeller. http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/3...wkesfolly1.jpg |
"Our Town Today"
Wartime in Los Angeles. Downtown was truly bustling during WWII! There's that interesting old pronunciation again, too. "Los ang'-liss." http://www.archive.org/details/our_town_today |
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Pretty interesting video, thanks for posting. |
Very interesting vids, Los Angeles Past!
______________________________________ I have yet to take a photo of that Sparkletts Building in Highland Park, but in the mean time, here's a photo I took today of a city mileage sign in South Pasadena. As you can see, it was created by the Auto Club of Southern California. I'm wondering how old the sign is, and when, if ever, it'll be replaced. I hope it doesn't get replaced... http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/9606/p1070253.jpg |
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http://www.caltrafficsigns.com/history.php I'm really surprised to see this sign is still in use. Someone in the road department in South Pasadena is probably sentimental about it and that's why it's still up there! On my recent trip to L.A., I saw one overpass sign on the Pasadena Freeway that was still one of the So. Cal. Auto Club porcelain steel signs. I would bet there are less than 100 of those type signs still in use in the southland today. I'd even go so far as to say less than 50... |
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Regarding the pronunciation of "Los Angeles," it seemed that there were generations of British people who would say "Los ANN-juh-leez." In the 1990s I worked with a guy from Hong Kong who spoke English with a British accent and he also would say "Los ANN-juh-leez."
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Union Stage Depot located at 5th Street & Los Angeles Street in 1932.
http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/5...agedepot5t.jpg usc digital archive I'm not familiar with this depot....anyone know the details? What is a 'stage' depot? |
The Santa Fe Station, Los Angeles.
http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/7...depotlosan.jpg usc digital archive I LOVE the dog on the horse's back. |
Another fine photograph of the Santa Fe Station in Los Angeles.
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/3...aferrhuuge.jpg usc digital archive |
The Southern Pacific Station on Central Ave. between 5th and 7th Street.
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/6...ernpacific.jpg usc digital archive http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/5...npacificde.jpg usc digital archive |
The Santa Monica Depot in 1888.
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...537/zKeFA9.jpg usc digital archive Below: Santa Monica Depot in 1895. http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/7...lesindepen.jpg usc digital archive |
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Looking north on Spring from 2nd, 1939
http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/5...erofhillan.jpg USC archive Northwest corner of Hill and 7th, 1939 http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/5...erofhillan.jpg USC archive Of COURSE it's 1939; "Dark Victory" is playing! |
^^^Two VERY beautiful photographs sopas_ej.
Also thanks for the information regarding the Union Stage Depot. I guess if I had thought about a bit more, I might have correlated stages with buses. Also in the photograph (of the Union Stage Depot) you can see where the buses entered on the far right in the photo. |
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Here's another that must have been taken near in time to the one above (note the "Dark Victory" ad facing the parking lot). It's the 900 block of South Broadway... https://otters.net/img/lanoir/DW-B5-50A-2-ISLA.jpg My mom had her picture taken by a street photographer near here in 1936. |
^^^That's a great shot....love all the signs.
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Thanks to Los Angeles Past for referring me to this thread. I read the whole thing during my free time over two days this week, and I saw so many cool things that relate to me in some way.
Last month, someone posted conceptual images of a proposed Music Center located at 6th & Hoover. Interesting, because that development would've wiped-out the building I live in (as well as my entire block)! If you look at the concept art you will see two unidentified streets: The one that forks off of Hoover is Occidental Blvd, and the parallel street to the east is Lafayette Park Place. The music center would've gone in the land between those two streets. I believe the proposal was dated 1950, and my building was constructed in 1953, so obviously my building's developers were not worried about potential eminent domain by then. I suspect that my building was part of a "second generation" of buildings on my street, replacing a single-family residence. The hi-rise apartment buildings in the area are third-generation, replacing the small multi-family buildings like mine. As of now, there is one single-family building remaining on my block, and as always seems to be the case in Los Angeles, it is maintained but not continuously lived in. I call such houses "Scientology safehouses", but I have no idea what they are actually used for. :P Occidental Blvd is a divided street with tall palm trees planted in the median. They look almost as tall as the "Longstreet palms" discovered by Los Angeles Past, so I'd estimate their age to be 80-90 years, which just about jibes with the age of this neighborhood. OK, I've rambled on about this long enough. Someone else's turn! I'll try to paste the 1950 Music Center concept art below: http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/647...dmusiccent.jpg |
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-Scott |
Welcome to the site Johnny Socko!
Your post had a lot of interesting details. :) |
Below: The Ambassador Hotel in 1929.
http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/8...ssador1929.jpg usc digital archive Below: A 1957 proposal for the site. http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/4...amb1phase1.jpg |
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I just found phase II and III as well.
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/874...assadorpha.jpg http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/857...aseiii1957.jpg Looks like the original Ambassador Hotel is lost between Phase II and III. Developers never know when to stop. (of course we still lost the Ambassador many decades later) |
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