Quote:
Originally Posted by HossC
This postcard has been bugging me for a few days. There's no date to work with, Berger's doesn't appear in the CDs, and none of the images I found of 6th and Main matched the building above (including the recent panoramas of Main Street). Then I played around with the contrast and wondered whether it actually does say "101". The first digit is shorter than the third, so could it be "901"? That would be the corner of 6th and Figueroa, and we're not looking at the Bellevue Terrace Hotel or the Jonathan Club. My last option was "701", and that's where I got lucky. Here's the northwest corner of 6th and Hope Streets in 1927. I can't find the T.J. Lawrence Co at 701 W 6th, but I did find reference to a realty company with that name only a couple of blocks away at around the same time. The picture also shows the Hotel Lamm and Hotel Lovera. My search for more pictures led me to find that a smaller version of this picture was previously posted in a series of "then and now" shots by 213 in post #93.
LAPL
I'm not sure of the build date, but I did find this demolition picture dated August 1955. The caption says it was wrecked for the Superior Oil Building. In the background is the California Club, which wasn't built until a couple of years after the picture above.
Huntington Digital Library
Here's are the businesses I found at 701 W 6th Street:
1898 C E Barschig - grocers
1900-1901 Frank Snow - grocers
1909 J J Sickner - second-hand goods
1911 William O Buckles - restaurant
1915 Jacob D Moss - tailor
1917 Aaron Nadler - tailor
1918 Harry Brusau - trunk manufacturer
1929 California Producers Inc - real estate
1932 George Collins - restaurant
1936 Loretta Brown - restaurant
1939 Tom Shaw Hong - restaurant
1942 William Keil - restaurant
So where does that leave us date-wise? It was a restaurant in 1911, but then returned to being a restaurant in 1932 for at least a decade. I think the "Complete Dinners" sign on the end window quotes prices of 25 and 35 cents, which would suggest a later date than the sepia toning implies. The larger text in the sign above the word "Luncheon" says "Eastern Hamburgers" and "Coney Island".
Back in post# 13019, e_r posted an eBay find showing the Los Angeles Public Library in 1943. I wish it was a USC image so I could zoom in. I've had to make do with enlarging a small section and tweaking the levels. I can't read the sign, but it's obviously not the Berger's sign seen above. Having said that, the awnings, the gooseneck lights over the sign and the blade sign all look the same. I'm going to guess that Berger's was trading at 701 W 6th in the mid-40s.
Detail of picture found on eBay by ethereal_reality.
The site is now a parking lot for The Standard Downtown LA, a boutique hotel in the former Superior Oil Company Building.
GSV |
Here is some biography on the owner of Berger's which gives confirmation to the 1940's date of the restaurant:
Francis (Frank) Michael Berger was born in Missouri on November 30, 1875 to German immigrant parents. His father was a mechanic. He is found, at the age of four, in the 1880 Census, living in Appleton, St Clair County, Missouri.
He married Luella Thomas, born in Nevada in 1871, on August 7, 1900 in Silver Bow County, Montana. They had a daughter, Lorena (Lola), who was born in Montana in 1901, (She married a Rutherford Beck) and a son Lewis Frank Berger (born in 1907, in Nevada)
He appears in directories, prior to his marriage, in Montana, working in various capacities, including as a mining smelter. The area had many copper mines at that time.
They appear in the 1910 Census, living in Sacramento, CA. At that time he is listed in the Census as being an employee of a restaurant. They moved to Los Angeles before 1918 when he appears in the draft registrations for the First World War.
His WWI draft registration card describes him as being of medium build with blue eyes and dark brown hair. They lived at 215 N. Broadway, Los Angeles when his draft card was filled out in 1918. This is, of course, now the lawn in front of City Hall, part of Grand Park.
The 1930 Census lists him as being employed as a confectioner. His wife was listed as being a saleslady at the confectionery. At that time they lived at 4037 Glassell Avenue. (now apparently Glassell Street, the area is now condos) Her mother lived with them.
The Bergers lived in Eagle Rock in 1937, according to a directory. He is listed as being a restaurant worker. At that time, they lived at 4041 Eagle Rock Blvd.
The 1940 Census gives the clue as to the date of the restaurant. It lists Frank as being the proprietor of a restaurant. Frank and Luella were living with their daughter and her husband at 4805 York Blvd., at the time of the 1940 Census in April of 1940. This house, built in 1921, is still there.
He died on March 3, 1952 in Los Angeles.
His wife died in Los Angeles in December of 1962