noirish Los Angeles

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

More enigmatic snapshots from the early 1920s.

"Fox Hill Studio, Beverly Hills"

eBay

at bottom- "I had Badge could _____. Go to movies free etc."

Tropics? (with grass huts)

eBay

So are all the snapshots of the same studio? -and what does the photographer mean by "Fox Hill Studio." Are these early images of 20th Century Fox?

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The first shot above may be Fox. The standing sets were at the north end of the lot (now the site of Century City Shopping Center) and the lot did, at one time, have "Fox Hills" signage (although I don't recognize the angle in the photo below). One of the lot entrances was on Fox Hills Drive (the first street that runs parallel to the lot to the west) and the lot still sits at the western border of Beverly Hills:

pinterest

The second photo, with the arroyo, looks like the Mack Sennett lot which would become Republic on Radford, just north of Ventura Blvd. The LA river runs through it. You did a wonderful post on it's early days and also this:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Cast-off props from Republic Studios along the Los Angeles River in 1956.


ucla

[ethereal_reality]

Excellent sleuthing tovanger2! I didn't realize there was a "Fox Hills Studio". I thought the photographer was making it up.
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'mystery' location, with 'Grizzly' billboard.



http://www.ebay.com/itm/009-trolley-...item1ea01a8c70

What's the word preceding 'Club' in the lower 'billboard'? (....actually painted on the retaining wall) -also note the 'Amityville-style' house.

The seller dates this as 1949.
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[ethereal_reality]

"Southern Pacific GS4 Steam #4449 at Los Angeles, circa. 1984."


http://www.ebay.com/itm/SP-Southern-...item3cfba44507

[Hollywood Graham]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Excellent sleuthing tovanger2! I don't recall seeing that "Fox Hills Studio" sign. I thought the photographer was making it up.
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'mystery' location, with 'Grizzly' billboard.



http://www.ebay.com/itm/009-trolley-...item1ea01a8c70

What's the word preceding 'Club' in the lower 'billboard'? (....actually painted on the retaining wall) -also note the 'Amityville-style' house.

The seller dates this as 1949.
__

Looks like North Broadway about almost to where the Portola Trail Monument is.

[HossC]

Originally Posted by Albany NY

Is it possible that the old Osborne Market still exists under the façade of the current 7-11?

Google Maps

Interesting ornamentation on the building. Does it still linger under the newer plaster?
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/co...d/54599/rec/26

I was also hoping to find the Osborne Market still standing. Comparing all the vintage views, I concluded that it was on San Fernando Road rather than Osborne Avenue (now Osborne Street). For a while I thought it might be the building below, but it seems to have a build date of 1946/47.


GSV

Here's a look at the intersection in 1953. Historic Aerials' earliest image of this area is only a year older, and it's very washed out. I've marked the building I believe to be the Osborne Market, with the building from the image above to its right. Some of the later images are a little blurry, but I think the Osborne Market disappeared between 1964 and 1967.


Historic Aerials

Here's a more recent (2004) view. The 7-Eleven is marked in blue.


Historic Aerials

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

'mystery' location, with 'Grizzly' billboard.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/009-trolley-...item1ea01a8c70

What's the word preceding 'Club' in the lower 'billboard'? (....actually painted on the retaining wall) -also note the 'Amityville-style' house.

The seller dates this as 1949.

Originally Posted by Hollywood Graham

Looks like North Broadway about almost to where the Portola Trail Monument is.

I didn't think North Broadway was on the route of the 9-line, but I'll have to concur with your location, Hollywood Graham. This is roughly the same view today.


GSV

The house below the Grizzly billboard has gone, but I found it in this circa 1938-56 Dick Whittington picture.


Detail of picture in USC Digital Library

Here's a 1940s garage flange sign for Grizzly brake linings.


barrett-jackson.com

[Wig-Wag]

Originally Posted by BifRayRock

1935 - Osborne Avenue and San Fernando Road


http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/co...d/54599/rec/26


No Credit, no kidding. 10119 San Fernando Rd.





Street sign. Notice Mile Marker. Pay no attention to train crossing signal.

Good one, BifRayRock!

Great pix of a pre-WWI North San Fernando Valley. I think I will stay away from the Gas Station "menu", however

Cheers,
Jack

[BifRayRock]

Carondelet Street NLA coverage, but at Eighth Street in 1932?

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/co...d/65535/rec/15




Looks like a preservation-worthy neighborhood. Deceptively provincial and big-city-busy at any given time of day? Perhaps it's the pacing, notice toward bottom the (double parked) horse driven produce delivery. What's underneath is green. If only development could have been frozen with the then-current mix of density and unimproved areas. Character lost or found? Sigh.


Has anyone uncovered an unadulterated color image of an illuminated stop (or slow / pre-yield) sign in a neighborhood setting such as this? A glowing sign every few blocks may have created a fascinating ambiance few can appreciate, let alone, remember. Of course there are indications that for all the good they were intended to promote, they were mostly ignored.



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[Wig-Wag]

Originally Posted by Tourmaline

I vote for a white 1979 Toyota Corolla. I think I also see a Mercedes and Buick from the early-mid '70s. The brown hat is somewhat of a "red herring."

1948 - Freedom Train (Clearly not a Traditional Steam Locomotive)
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics21/00060148.jpg

Tourmaline, I agree with your ID on the Toyota and Buick. I am not as up on Mercedes of the era. As to the locomotive in the photo. it is an American Locomotive Company PA (Passenger Alco). Among the railfan community it is considered to be the most beautiful American diesel locomotive ever built and has been given the unofficial title "Honorary Steam Locomotive."

For more than you will ever want to know about this locomotive model see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ALCO_PA

Cheers,
Jack

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by BifRayRock

Carondelet Street NLA coverage, but at Eighth Street in 1932?

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/co...d/65535/rec/15

Looks like a preservation-worthy neighborhood. Deceptively provincial and big-city-busy at any given time of day? Perhaps it's the pacing, notice toward bottom the (double parked) horse driven produce delivery. What's underneath is green. If only development could have been frozen with the then-current mix of density and unimproved areas. Character lost or found? Sigh.

I

I think W 8th was widened through there in ca 1927. Always painful to see missing front lawns.

A little advertising slipped in?:

dick wittington /usc dl

[Ed Workman]

Originally Posted by Albany NY

I know a lot of my contributions have fallen flat, but this one I'm sure of. The photo above is from 1947-1949. The Freedom Train pictured above was an early diesel, built in 1947 in my hometown of Schenectady, NY, at the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) Works, only a couple of miles from the large GE plant (and a couple of miles from my childhood neighborhood). The locomotive was used as the "Spirit of 1776" only from September 17, 1947 to January 22, 1949, and is the only train to have visited all 48 contiguous states. ALCO designer Chester Mack's original design for the locomotive called for a large stylized gold eagle on either side of the engine (as shown above). The emblems were fabricated, but his supervisor nixed the idea, saying the eagles reminded him of those he had seen on German officers' uniforms in WWII. Though the train started its tour without the eagles, Mack soon managed to get them reapplied by pleading his case up ALCO's chain of command.

The Spirit of 1776 shortly after its construction, without the eagles.
freedomtrain.org

I remember during the summer of 1976 there was a train that traveled the country with a large bicentennial display inside. I saw it in Albany NY. It was called the "American Freedom Train" (not to be confused with the "Freedom Train" shown above).

To railfans the locomotive was called model PA- mavens may be able to tell us if Alco started using that designation- previous models were known by specification number, and later models were less descriptive- , but Passenger A unit, A for lead, gives some useful information. There were PBs FAs FBs S for Switcher and RS for Road Switcher
Of the RRs that bought and used PAs Santa Fe and Southern Pacific were extensive and long time users. Its classic lines and long life earned it the title of "Honorary Steam Locomotive. The last few ended up in MExico, from whence one was returned and is being restored - IIRC in guise of a NIckel Plate RR engine
Thanks for the pix

[HossC]

Originally Posted by BifRayRock

I think this is 826 S Carondelet Street, which was built in 1922. The 1932 CD names it as the Rondell. Here's a current view.


GSV

The front has obviously undergone some modification, but the side windows match up.


GSV

Originally Posted by BifRayRock

In 1932, the building with the towers on the corner of S Coronado Street was the Lakeshire. It was built in 1912, but has been considerably modified at some point since 1932.


GSV

Originally Posted by BifRayRock

We've seen this building before on NLA. GW also posted a couple of current pictures in here.

Originally Posted by kznyc2k

That building is the former William Penn Hotel at 2208 West 8th:


1929, Dick Whittington, USC

[tovangar2]

Speaking, as we have been, of W 8th St and Masonic lodges and Westlake, I don't think the Westlake Masonic Lodge on W 8th has ever been mentioned here. It didn't make la.curbed's "magnificent Masonic architecture" list, but it's very nice just the same. It was designed by Dennis and Hewitt (Oliver Perry Dennis and Henry Harwood Hewitt) and should get more respect.

Built on the SW corner of W 8th and S Burlington between 1914-1916, on a never-before-built lot, it has a grand piano nobile over a retail base. Great windows:



gsv

The 1890 home at 807 S Burlington (pictured above) seems more than a little overwhelmed by the brick bulk of the lodge.

An unbuilt proposal for the Westlake Masonic Lodge by Train and Williams:

hathitrust

This area was a lovely part of Westlake (S Bonnie Brae runs N/S on the left margin of the map, S Burlington is right of center):


1921 Baist

South of W 8th was almost exclusively homes, while hotels and apartments were mixed in to the north. The 1906 "Beverly" apartments (called the "Rosewill" until ca 1920) at 746 S Bonnie Brae (upper left corner of the map) is still with us:

gsv (e_r posted about this one here)

The 1898 Methodist Episcopal Church, designed by John C Austin, diagonally across the intersection from the Masonic lodge, fell in 1927 when 8th St was widened:

lapl

Everyone knows Bradbeer & Ferris' 1894 Frederick Mitchell Mooers house at 818 S Bonnie Brae, just around the corner from the Masons (I think an upper corner of the lodge may be just glimpsed at left):

iamnotastalker

Because of the Sleeping-Beauty-style landscaping, it's impossible to get a shot of the Mooers' moorish-domed, next-door neighbor to the south anymore, so I'll make do with one of the back and its cupola-topped, commodious carriage house. Also said to be by JM Bradbeer, originally built by the Howard family:

gsv

Five doors south of W 8th, on the east side of S Burlington, at No. 826, is another handsome John C Austin effort. Built in 1899 for Mr and Mrs EA Messerly and their daughter Mary, it appears to be almost entirely intact and has been beautifully maintained for 116 years:





The interior seems to have all its fireplaces and still has some original electrical and gas lighting fixtures (plus an alarming paint color). Rather than touring the whole place, I'll just take you up the stairs:






An east-facing, third-floor dormer (also seen in the loft in the above photo) has a view of DTLA:


In the back, the carriage house has been turned into a rental unit and two further units built (w/o permits) in the back garden. (The three-story apartment building at right is very recent):


Mary Messerly had many genteel parties in the home until she was married in 1903 and left to live in Kansas City. Here's a description of the first one:

"Miss Mary Messerly charmingly entertained the members and alumni of Alpha Upsilon Chapter of the Sigma Chi Fraternity Tuesday evening at her home No. 826 South Burlington avenue. Long streamers of blue and gold ribbon were suspended from the chandeliers to the corners of the parlors, where they were caught up in large bows. The dining-room was decorated with Marechal Nell roses, sweet peas and carnations, and ivy and evergreens were twined about the balustrading and reception hall. Cards and dancing furnished amusement for the guests. The Coterie Mandolin and Guitar Club furnished excellent music."
LAT 8 June 1899

The home changed hands three times at least before it was bought by a family in 1944. They kept it until 2013.

More MLS pix, like those above, showing more of the interior of No. 826, may be found at Zillow and Redfin.

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

The Messerly home has been covered before by minkykat and Godzilla . Their posts are here and here.


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

Originally Posted by HossC

....1928 picture of the "new interior" of the Seventh-Alvarado branch.


USC Digital Library

Thank you for posting that shot Hoss. I find it fascinating as I've eaten lunch in that room any number of times:

google maps photos

Originally Posted by HossC

USC Digital Library

google maps photos

[BifRayRock]

Nicely done, Tovangar2!

Originally Posted by ;6212070

Deja vu - again?

1928 - Image of NE Corner - La Brea meets Wilshire. Notice "Sturgis" to the right.
http://waterandpower.org/Historical_..._Brea_1928.jpg


Clem Wilson grows up!



http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/re...9coll170/id/62











1929 - Sturgis Radio store has sidewalk crowd for World Series radio broadcast.


























For more perspective: February 1930 (After the Philly Athletics won the series against the Chi. Cubs) http://skyscraperpage.com/forum/show...ostcount=11842


http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/utils/...ran&DMROTATE=0


(USC image with Chinese watermark)
http://www.picturechina.com.cn/bbs/w...AxNWZmNS5qcGc=



http://www.supermansupersite.com/reevescast.jpg

Details, details.


But four years earlier in 1925, across La Brea to the east, before the crowds, when things were fresher and newer . . .
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/co...d/67696/rec/29











Burton & Co., Realty 5222 Wilshire and Comet Drugs 5224 Wilshire (Wonder about the effectiveness of the flashing "Danger" - "Slow" sign?)














Hard to miss the Commercial National Sign, but where is the actual bank located, behind Comet Drugs? (Listing is for 5220 Wilshire - to the left of Burton Realty above)

[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

Five doors south of W 8th, on the east side of S Burlington, at No. 826, is a bit of a time capsule. Built in 1899 for Mr and Mrs EA Messerly and their daughter Mary, it is appears to be almost entirely intact:

Good to see the Messerly house again. Here's a good closeup from Godzilla's post of Dec 1, 2013: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=17980





Before that, minkykat found it in January 2012, but the picture in that post has gone missing: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=6259

[Wig-Wag]

Originally Posted by BifRayRock

Carondelet Street NLA coverage, but at Eighth Street in 1932?

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/co...d/65535/rec/15




Looks like a preservation-worthy neighborhood. Deceptively provincial and big-city-busy at any given time of day? Perhaps it's the pacing, notice toward bottom the (double parked) horse driven produce delivery. What's underneath is green. If only development could have been frozen with the then-current mix of density and unimproved areas. Character lost or found? Sigh.


Has anyone uncovered an unadulterated color image of an illuminated stop (or slow / pre-yield) sign in a neighborhood setting such as this? A glowing sign every few blocks may have created a fascinating ambiance few can appreciate, let alone, remember. Of course there are indications that for all the good they were intended to promote, they were mostly ignored.



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I thought this one looked close BifRayRock. but on careful examination it is not a back lighted sign.
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stor...e-route?in=140

Cheers,
Jack

[BifRayRock]

Thanks WW.




1928, Ashland Avenue and Speedway, Ocean Park, Santa Monica

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/co.../id/6535/rec/1



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Ironic that a road called "Speedway" has warnings about slowing down to avoid playing children and pedestrians crossing? What was the origin of the name "Speedway?" Was it used for racing or strictly for automobile traffic? A generic term for a clear route, relatively free of traffic?
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Not a cough in a carload! Bet this was impressive in color.
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"Go Fast"
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No standing but sitting is A-OK
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Strange light fixture? Could it be upside down and missing a globe?
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"Hey Ump, Got a light?"



Any other members of Murderer's Row puff at bat?
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...0d7c8d0ec1.jpg

What if Babe smoked Lucky's . . .


http://www.healthcare-administration...ky-Instead.jpg

[Krell58]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Excellent sleuthing tovanger2! I don't recall seeing that "Fox Hills Studio" sign. I thought the photographer was making it up.
__




'mystery' location, with 'Grizzly' billboard.



http://www.ebay.com/itm/009-trolley-...item1ea01a8c70

What's the word preceding 'Club' in the lower 'billboard'? (....actually painted on the retaining wall) -also note the 'Amityville-style' house.

The seller dates this as 1949.
__

It looks like Yosemite Club to me. The only one I could find on Google was in Stockton, CA.

[tovangar2]

I apologize minkykat and Godzilla for missing your previous posts on John C Austin's 1899 Messerly home. Links to your posts have been added to mine



Thank you BRR

[BifRayRock]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

'mystery' location, with 'Grizzly' billboard.



http://www.ebay.com/itm/009-trolley-...item1ea01a8c70

What's the word preceding 'Club' in the lower 'billboard'?

The seller dates this as 1949.
__

"Lonesome"




https://paradiseleased.files.wordpre...some-19281.jpg


The Lonesome Club has CD listings from 1923 through 1942 and a series of different addresses, including an art deco ballroom on Seventh Street, that is long gone. If the attributed date of 1949 is correct, the club would have probably been closed for a few years. More details here>>> https://paradiseleased.wordpress.com...nesome-club-2/ http://www.kcet.org/updaily/socal_fo...s-angeles.html


Mundane image of the Lonesome Club's 1934 dance floor (937 W Ninth Street).

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/co...id/43040/rec/1