noirish Los Angeles

[BifRayRock]

Originally Posted by Godzilla

I don't think there have been many photos posted of Fairfax between Beverly and Sixth. It looks like the structure with the tower facade was built before 1931. (The exterior motif seems vaguely similar to the nearby Ralphs at Wilshire and Hauser.) It currently houses Molly Mallone's at 575 S Fairfax. (Molly's started in '69. Does anyone have any history on the structure before that?) 1931 was also the approximate construction date of the 5-story structure that is now occupied by Samy's Camera. For those keeping score, Johnson's Fine Foods was at 525 S Fairfax.

From: http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/co...id/34672/rec/1


1931 - Drexel Ave meets S Fairfax Ave. Can't help but think about the planes that used to fly and land nearby.






If only some of this land were still in it's primordial state.







Opposite view. Looking west on Drexel from Fairfax. Most of those homes are still there, albeit with increased vegetation and a few sidewalk cracks. Character?








1931 - Fairfax looking south from ~ Drexel.






Curious about the witch hats at the roof corners. Could they be oil funnels? Or megaphones ?

I have it on NO authority that Liz Short preferred Mayflower Chips. But she could have liked Scudder's peanut butter. Unsalted. Wonder about the product shelf life in the '30s, and what, if any, preservatives were used.










The light colored structures in the background would seem to have been eventually replaced by Park La Brea. Could they have been temporary? Not to be confused with the elementary school. Hancock Elementary was at 4th and Fairfax, presumably in the other direction.

Johnson's Fine Foods









Fairfax looking north. The building now occupied by Samy's, but in 1931.












The Fairfax theater in the distance. Any idea what's on the bill tonight?










More Fairfax Ave. here >>> http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=25100

Complementing this nice 1931 series of Fairfax and Drexel is an interesting perspective from two years earlier (1929) shot from one block north of Drexel , i.e., Colgate and Fairfax.


1929 - Looking south on Fairfax from Colgate








http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/co...0/id/539/rec/1



























Fox Ritz (Wilshire and La Brea)

[HossC]

Thanks for finding Baby Town on Sherman Way, e_r. I didn't think to look for that store in the historic street views.


---------------


Here's a branch of Standard Shoes, as photographed by Julius Shulman in 1973. It's "Job 4945: Standard Shoes (Los Angeles, Calif.),1973".



The photoset also includes a couple of other black and white shots, but luckily for us, Mr Shulman packed a color film.



The colorful theme continues inside. The interior designs and graphics are the work of Deborah Sussman. You can read about her and her work in an article on metropolismag.com (Standard Shoes is mentioned on page 2).

Enjoy ...











All from Getty Research Institute

I eventually tracked down this branch to 6222 Laurel Canyon Boulevard. A faint shadow of the Standard Shoes sign can still be seen on the right.


GSV

An article in the LA Times says that most of the Standard Shoes stores became branches of Designer Shoe Warehouse in 1997 when they were taken over by parent company Shoe Pavilion. The earliest GSV image (2007, below) shows the building when it still had windows, but the store looks empty.


GSV

[ethereal_reality]

Those interiors by Deborah Sussman are fab Hoss.


Ms. Sussman was one of the co-design directors responsible for the "look" of the 1984 Olympics.


http://www.fastcodesign.com/3034682/...er-than-life#9






http://www.sussmanprejza.com/portfol...geles-olympics

At the time I remember thinking the 84 design looked dated (more 1974 than 1984).
Now, looking back 30 years I appreciate it a bit more. (but I still don't love it)
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Additional information:

http://www.fastcodesign.com/3034682/...er-than-life#9

[ethereal_reality]

Birthplace of Adlai Stevenson II.



eBay


here's the info. horizontal

but no address.
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I later found out the address is 2639 Monmouth Avenue, Los Angeles.

The house is still there, although it's missing some of that ornamental "scroll-work" above the porch.


gsv


there's a marker with a plaque out front.


detail / gsv



There is a charming neighbor to the south.


gsv


but the next door neighbor to the north needs some work done.


gsv
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[tovangar2]

There's a bunch of MLS photos of the Stevenson birthplace here, including ones of the interior, mostly the entry and stairs (and a close-up of the plaque). The twelve rooms are now housing for USC students. It sold last year for $995K.

The caption for the image below is, "Presidential candidate Stevenson visits "the old homestead," at 2639 Monmouth Ave., Los Angeles, where he was born. Behind his right shoulder is one of his sons" (1952)

lapl


.................................................................................................

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

At the time I remember thinking the 84 design looked dated (more 1974 than 1984).
Now, looking back 30 years I appreciate it a bit more. (but I still don't love it)

I didn't mind the 1984 Olympic designs, as they were only temporary. Just a bit of fun. I wish Jerde/Sussman had been allowed to design the mascot too. "Sam the Eagle" was a very bad match with everything else.

I thought Jerde/Sussman's 1985 Westside Pavilion was less successful, but it was painted out a "tasteful" beige about 5 years ago:


wiki


gsv

[ethereal_reality]

The Westside Pavilion would be considered 'post-modern' right?

I've never liked that style much with it's stripped down cubes and cylinders (read 'columns') standing in for classical design.
like the post-modern design of the current Pershing Square. (recently discussed here on NLA)

That said, I think the interior of the Westside Pavilion is impressive with it's long arcade-like hall.
_

[ethereal_reality]

Navarette Cleaners, 1708 Beverly Boulevard.


eBay




The building/house in 2011.


gsv



and from the side to get a better look at the house.


gsv




and today. GONE

gsv

[BifRayRock]

Originally Posted by HossC

Here's a branch of Standard Shoes, as photographed by Julius Shulman in 1973. It's "Job 4945: Standard Shoes (Los Angeles, Calif.),1973".




. . . . .


I eventually tracked down this branch to 6222 Laurel Canyon Boulevard. A faint shadow of the Standard Shoes sign can still be seen on the right.


GSV

Prior focus on 7919 Beverly Boulevard and Merlo's. http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=9417, http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=9466 http://www.skyscraperpage.com/forum/...ostcount=20189 etc. One post references "Shoe Pavilion." Uncertain whether this morphed from Standard Shoe or it was essentially one and the same with a different brand name-spelling. Recall seeing but cannot locate an image quite similar to the Laurel Canyon image - for this Beverly Blvd. location.

The 7919 location seems to have evolved from farm/dairy land to miniature golf (Fairfax Greens) to Merlo's to Standard Shoe/Shoe Pavilion to what is currently a Goodwill store.



LAPL


GooGooGoogle SV



From a reliable source, this clock hung on the wall directly behind Merlo's meat department.

[HossC]

That Beverly Boulevard location was one of the addresses I looked at before I found Laurel Canyon Boulevard. Another was 3120 E Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, which I saw recommended as a place to buy large women's shoes in a 1967 edition of the Pasadena Independent. Property Shark lists the build date as 1966. I think this was the store where the pictures in the Deborah Sussman article I linked to were taken.


GSV

The word "shoe" is still clearly visible in this 2007 view.


GSV

[HossC]

It's Sunday, so let's go to church! Following on from tovangar2's recent post on St Vibiana's, I couldn't resist adding these Julius Shulman photographs from 1977. They're part of a fairly random collection called "Job 5466: Miscellaneous Monuments (Los Angeles, Calif.), 1977". There are 16 images in the set, and most subjects (I spotted the Mary Andrews Clark Residence of the YWCA amongst them) only get a single picture. That's not the case with St Vibiana's, which gets five. The edge of the Union Rescue Mission can be seen on the right.



Here's a detail view of the image above. I know it was the dismantling of the bell tower one Saturday morning in 1996 that prompted the frantic save-the-cathedral campaign, but does anyone know why these bells were hanging in this structure next to the cathedral in 1977?



An almost straight-on front view.



And here's the back of St Vibiana's, as seen from somewhere near Los Angeles Street. It's been impossible to get this view since the Little Tokyo branch of the LAPL was built behind the cathedral in around 1999.



We've already seen inside St Vibiana's thanks to an earlier post by tovangar2, but who am I to ignore a couple of Julius Shulman's photos?





All from Getty Research Institute

[BifRayRock]

Originally Posted by HossC

Here's a branch of Standard Shoes, as photographed by Julius Shulman in 1973. It's "Job 4945: Standard Shoes (Los Angeles, Calif.),1973".

Psychedelic art?



https://2warpstoneptune.files.wordpr...pg?w=762&h=254


Peter Max


"[Long time Laurel Canyon resident] Timothy Leary's dead. No, no, no, no, he's outside looking in"

Joplin '65 Porsche
http://peewee.com/wp-content/uploads...965-view-1.jpg



1970 - Aquarius Theater (formerly Earl Carroll's) Notice Mark C. Bloome
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--Lg1Z1d3GS...88990051_o.jpg

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

The Westside Pavilion would be considered 'post-modern' right?

I've never liked that style much with it's stripped down cubes and cylinders (read 'columns') standing in for classical design.
like the post-modern design of the current Pershing Square. (recently discussed here on NLA)

That said, I think the interior of the Westside Pavilion is impressive with it's long arcade-like hall.
_

The interior of the Westside Pavilion has also been beiged-out. It was once very colorful with masses of banners and a jazzy multi-color tile floor, as might be expected from Jerde/Sussman. (The palm trees are fake) I'm not a fan of indoor malls. I've only been there maybe a dozen times in the thirty years it's been open.:


panoramino

The design of the Westside Pavilion was supposed to have been based on the 1819 Burlington Arcade in London (as have been a great many other malls). Open to the street at each end, the Burlington Arcade has been relentlessly upscale since it opened. It was said that pricy courtesans inhabited the upper units back in the day. Samuel Ware was the architect:

wiki commons

..................................................................



Speaking of malls, this little shopping center, 3649 Beverly Blvd (at Westmoreland), deserves a 'then and now'.

'Then', circa 1929, a Barkie's Sandwich Shop (note the puppy head and paws), the Tip-Top market and Beverly Auto Body share a building and parking lot. (Four of the five houses on Westmoreland, behind the center, still exist.

water and power

Now. Beverly Auto Body is still in business:

gsv


sopas ej took us here before with a link to whatwasthere.com, as did gsjansen, but both focused just on the Barkies


__

[ethereal_reality]

Thanks for the information on the Westside Pavilion tovanger2.
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I happened across this intriguing photograph yesterday afternoon.


Kevin McCollister, http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/8...4/DSCN4071.jpg

The blogger (Kevin) doesn't include the locations of his photographs, but one of the commentators below mentions Fairfax.

And no one seems to know what the sign means.



https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?bl...8857745&bpli=1

I thought one of you NLA sleuths could help figure out the mystery of 'Asthma Vapineze' .

(I'm thinking of driving the google-mobile up and down Fairfax to look for it.)
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*The photographer is the author of the book "East of West LA".
http://www.amazon.com/East-West-LA-K.../dp/0967472067

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

Now. Beverly Auto Body is still in business:

gsv


sopas ej took us here before with a link to whatwasthere.com, as did gsjansen, but both focused just on the Barkies


__

The little tile topped tower at the left is long gone.

[Tourmaline]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Interesting post tovanger2.
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I happened across this intriguing photograph yesterday afternoon.


Kevin McCollister, http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/8...4/DSCN4071.jpg

Vapineze Research Labs, 1026 N Fairfax Avenue.

[HossC]

As Tourmaline says, it's just north of Romaine Street. You can't miss it - there's a cow on the roof of the building next door!


GSV

So far I've found at least five other sites asking if anyone knows the story behind the "Asthma Vapineze" sign.

[mrfredmertz]

I found this on the Madeline Brand website:

At 2:25 PM PDT, J said...
The mystery is solved! While my friend and I were snooping around the house in question we noticed that there was a shop right next door called Filth Market which has vintage t-shirts and motorcycle jackets ect. We went inside figuring that if anyone would know what going on there it would be them. My friend asked the girl at the counter if she knew anything about what the Asthma Vapineze sign was about. She told us her name was Maggie and that she sometimes sees the gentlemen who lives there. She described him about 70 years old, tall, skinny and often walks around the neighborhood with no shirts on.

Maggie said that she told him that there is a few websites online of people wanting to now what the sign was about. She asked him if he knew this and apparently he doesn’t pay any attention to it. She went on to explain to us the story he told her, in the 60’s he had a business which sold a product for asthma and the bungalow was the office. The product didn’t work out but he now lives there and enjoys the sign so he keeps it on. She said he wouldn’t really explain what the product did. Even though the business didn’t work out. He still keeps the sign up and now lives there with many pet birds in the back yard(I noticed this while snooping).

I was hoping it was some kind of cult or something more sinister. All this still doesn’t exactly explain all the surveillance cameras and motion detectors and the 2 coded gates but maybe that is just his cover story, who knows.

[ethereal_reality]

Thanks for the quick research guys!
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When I first saw these photographs I thought Hedda had robbed the cradle.


http://brbl-archive.library.yale.edu...y/hopper2.html




http://brbl-archive.library.yale.edu...y/hopper2.html

It turns out the handsome guy is her son!


stamp on reverse / October 18, 1934.

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[mrfredmertz]

That's Paul Drake, from "Perry Mason." (I know this because I'm producing the new Perry Mason movie.)

[ethereal_reality]

I didn't realize that! Thanks FredMertz



http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aMGfBkqhz-...0/IMG01115.jpg


I can't tell if that is loose tar-paper or a beat-up awning under the sign.



-one of the large motion-detector lights.

http://ellenbloom.blogspot.com/2008/...ther-sign.html

I was hoping to see some of those exotic birds flying around.



numerous flags / perhaps the man is a war veteran.

my dad was a veteran, and he was always sticking flags in strange places.





http://ellenbloom.blogspot.com/2008/...ther-sign.html
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And one more thing; "Asthma Vapineze" has been used as lyrics in the chorus of a song by Le baron.


http://genius.com/1659106