noirish Los Angeles

[3940dxer]

Originally Posted by Handsome Stranger

[source: Warner Home Video]

I wonder what street this is? Possibly a lower section of Laurel Canyon???

[srk1941]

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

LAPL

Looks like it did....

Is this from the 60's? I see that the Mona Lisa Restaurant is still there, on the right, just behind the Gaylord. I didn't realize they were still in business that long.

[Those Who Squirm!]

Everyone, TCM is currently showing the Charlie Chaplin silent classic. Its interest to us, for those who don't know, is that there are interesting location shots in downtown L.A., including particularly pre-Olvera Street shots of Olvera Street.

[3940dxer]

Menu, circa 1900, from the Royal Restaurant, 118 S. Spring Street. What's fricadellen?


http://dbase1.lapl.org/images/menus/...5001-cover.jpg


Lunch At Tait's, 1905

http://dbase1.lapl.org/images/menus/...3745-cover.jpg


Dinner at the Hotel Alexandria in 1911


http://dbase1.lapl.org/images/menus/...13824-back.jpg
http://dbase1.lapl.org/images/menus/...24-inside1.jpg


The Pig'N Whistle in 1919. Save room for dessert! (What's an Egg Coffee?)





http://dbase1.lapl.org/dbtw-wpd/exec...=&MF=&MQ=&TI=0

[Horthos]

Hey.

Sorry I dont post much on here, but I lack a lot of historical knowlege of LA that most of you have, this is where Im learning my stuff. I just help along every once in awhile with some new updates on old things, Sine I live downtown and can easily update you all on...updates...yeah...

Anyways, I was walking around tonoight, when I finally discovered the richfield building elevator doors at the base of the arco plaza (or paul hastings tower, or big ugly piece of crap as I like to call it). Theres no plaque or information given to tell you what they are, they arent in any place of honor or anything, they are just sorta off to the side a bit, and you notice them only if you are looking for them. Anyways, I dont remember seeing any pictures on here of them, so I took a few to post here.







All photos by me, the one and only me, the almighty, the master of all things unimportant, the one who has absolutely no understanding of algebra and the obsession with chipotle, me.

[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

The Hotel Normandie during a VERY rainy day in 1922.


http://photos.lapl.org/carlweb/jsp/F...olNumber=22745

Of course I had to see if the house on the left was still there...and it is, all by itself, residentially speaking. The Chapman Park Garage on the corner appears to have been under construction at the time of the flood...

Google Street View

LAPL

LAPL

LAPL

The shot below is dated 1980 by the LAPL; has there ever been a building on the northwest corner of 6th & Mariposa?
LAPL

Google Street View
The buildings at left look like they're in the process of being demolished; maybe they're gone
since the Google truck last went by....

[Handsome Stranger]

Originally Posted by 3940dxer

I wonder what street this is? Possibly a lower section of Laurel Canyon???

That's a continuation of the same shot in the previous frame grab. The bus passes a restaurant, makes a right turn, and heads up that hill. If you could somehow figure out where Leon and Freddie's was in 1950, you'd know exactly what street we're looking up.

FredH and ethereal_reality, the photos of Coulter's are amazing. What an incredible gem we lost when that building was demolished!

Horthos, thanks for your photos of the Richfield elevator doors. Beautiful beyond words.

[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by 3940dxer

I wonder what street this is? Possibly a lower section of Laurel Canyon???

Originally Posted by Handsome Stranger

Per GaylordWilshire's request, here's a few frame grabs from Perfect Strangers.


[source: Warner Home Video]


[source: Warner Home Video]

I'm thinking that Leon and Freddie's must have been on the northeast corner of Sunset and N. Kings Rd...where the Saddle Ranch Chop House is now.

Google Street View

Google Street View

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

LAPL

I didn't realize the Chapman Park Hotel had an off site garage (albeit just across Mariposa).

It's been over two years since we studied the Chapman Park Hotel, so I thought you wouldn't mind if I posted the following photos again.
They're some of my favorite pics on the thread.


http://www.calisphere.universityofcalifornia.edu/



http://www.calisphere.universityofcalifornia.edu/



http://www.calisphere.universityofcalifornia.edu/


below: This is the sign that appears on the Zephyr Room in the above photo.





http://www.calisphere.universityofcalifornia.edu/



postcard/ebay




So I was delighted to learn that a portion of the Chapman Hotel still exists even if it is only the garage.
I google-street-viewed it and was disappointed that the old Chapman Park Garage signs are gone.
And I was surprised that it took up an entire block of 6th Street.


google street view


below: There's still some great detail along the top portion of the building. The circular elements might represent spoked wheels. In some of the circular elements there are little men working (manufacturing cars perhaps?)


google street view

As you can see the building is now called The Abbey Building.
____


I loved the photos of the Richfield elevator doors Horthos.

[austlar1]

Originally Posted by 3940dxer

Menu, circa 1900, from the Royal Restaurant, 118 S. Spring Street. What's fricadellen?


http://dbase1.lapl.org/images/menus/...5001-cover.jpg


Lunch At Tait's, 1905

http://dbase1.lapl.org/images/menus/...3745-cover.jpg


Dinner at the Hotel Alexandria in 1911


http://dbase1.lapl.org/images/menus/...13824-back.jpg
http://dbase1.lapl.org/images/menus/...24-inside1.jpg


The Pig'N Whistle in 1919. Save room for dessert! (What's an Egg Coffee?)





http://dbase1.lapl.org/dbtw-wpd/exec...=&MF=&MQ=&TI=0

Wow. I love these old menus. They tell you a lot about how people lived and what they ate. The Hotel Alexandria was a pretty pricey place back in 1911, and it sure had an impressive menu. It sort of looks like the selection you might find on a good ocean liner menu from the same period or a bit later.

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by RudyJK

Congratulations ethereal_reality and the entire noirish Los Angeles community; you have made this the most interesting thread on the SkyscraperPage Forum -- no small feat! I have spent countless hours in amazement at the detail and knowledge that you all have of this incredible city.

Once, with friends, we drove west on Mulholland and ended up on an unpaved stretch that had WWII missile lookout platforms up in the hills. We hiked up to great views of the Valley and Pacific. Where were we?

http://modularsynth.collected.info/a...larsynth/96//a



http://modularsynth.collected.info/a...larsynth/96//a



http://modularsynth.collected.info/a...larsynth/96//a




http://modularsynth.collected.info/a...larsynth/96//a




http://modularsynth.collected.info/a...larsynth/96//a



I believe someone might have already answered your question RudyJK, but I thought these photos were very interesting.
____

[ethereal_reality]

A 1961 map of all the Nike sites surrounding the Los Angeles basin.


http://www.ftmac.org/GM12.htm


Wouldn't it be fun to hike to all these Cold War era sites.

___

[GaylordWilshire]

LAT

Here he's leaving Union Station for San Francisco in September 1959... notice our friends the tanks in the backgorund.

[ethereal_reality]

Is this the trip where he visited Disneyland?

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by 3940dxer

e_r, we drove up Vine St. tonight and I'm sorry to report that your Plaza sign is not lit, or at least the letters are not. The little stars (barely visible in the photo) are illuminated in different colors and flash on and off, but the "Plaza Hotel" portion is dark. The sign is hard to see at all; we were only able to glimpse it when immediately opposite it on Vine St.

The Broadway sign is well maintained and looks great at night!

Thanks for checking out the 'Plaza' sign for me 3940dxer. It's odd that just the stars were lit. Perhaps they're saving on their electric bill.

___

I really enjoyed the menus as well.

[ethereal_reality]

I came across this photo on ebay and was shocked by the many acres of parking lots.


ebay

Imagine what was destroyed to make room for these disgusting parking lots. The urban fabric was literally ripped to shreds.

[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Is this the trip where he visited Disneyland?

I think maybe he was promised a visit to Disneyland on that trip but never got to go after someone threw a tomato at his car, something like that.

[ethereal_reality]

A beautiful house in Los Angeles depicted on a 1914 postcard



ebay

I believe the faded script on the left side of the postcard says 336 or 356 West 21st St.




below: Here is the reverse.


ebay

[FredH]

Originally Posted by Horthos

Hey.

Sorry I dont post much on here, but I lack a lot of historical knowlege of LA that most of you have, this is where Im learning my stuff. I just help along every once in awhile with some new updates on old things, Sine I live downtown and can easily update you all on...updates...yeah...

Anyways, I was walking around tonoight, when I finally discovered the richfield building elevator doors at the base of the arco plaza (or paul hastings tower, or big ugly piece of crap as I like to call it). Theres no plaque or information given to tell you what they are, they arent in any place of honor or anything, they are just sorta off to the side a bit, and you notice them only if you are looking for them. Anyways, I dont remember seeing any pictures on here of them, so I took a few to post here.







All photos by me, the one and only me, the almighty, the master of all things unimportant, the one who has absolutely no understanding of algebra and the obsession with chipotle, me.

Let me be the first to chime in with a HOLY CRAP! Nice find (and Photos)

Here is a previous post by ethereal_reality where you can see the doors in their original (and proper) location.

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ld#post5273545

[ethereal_reality]

Here is a wonderful view of the Richfield Building at night, circa 1955.



ebay

This was among a group of slides I recently found on ebay.