noirish Los Angeles

[Lorendoc]

1903

[AlvaroLegido]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

I just hate this...

"1970's Revival" : nothing worse !

Originally Posted by odinthor

I like the design of the current incarnation of the museum as seen from Wilshire--it has a feeling of grandeur, stability, power.

gsv

"Cecil B. DeMille Revival", nothing better !

[Martin Pal]

I agree with you and Odinthor. There's a lovely feeling you get when you walk into the place through that tall arch. Like you're going on an adventure, which you are if you're visiting an exhibition, lecture or film. When you arrive in the center I've always found it welcoming and the acoustics amplify the playful sounds of people having a good time. Most of the LACMA "campus" has been around for over 50 years. It's not a movie set to be discarded like this.

Los Angeles even tears down it's museums, which, by definition, are in existence to appreciate history.

[Lwize]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

I agree with you and Odinthor. There's a lovely feeling you get when you walk into the place through that tall arch. Like you're going on an adventure, which you are if you're visiting an exhibition, lecture or film. When you arrive in the center I've always found it welcoming and the acoustics amplify the playful sounds of people having a good time. Most of the LACMA "campus" has been around for over 50 years. It's not a movie set to be discarded like this.

Los Angeles even tears down it's museums, which, by definition, are in existence to appreciate history.

LACMA has been a joke for years - in terms of outdated layout and poor use of space.

Best to start over.

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by Lwize

LACMA has been a joke for years - in terms of outdated layout and poor use of space.

Best to start over.

An updated layout spanning Wilshire Blvd. is a joke to me as well. And building a new campus with LESS museum space is best, in your opinion?


From the article I linked earlier:

LACMA's proposed new $650 million building has been a slow moving train of controversy since it was first announced six years ago.
The structure would replace four older ones from the 1960's. The museum says they're too outdated and expensive to renovate
although the renovation would cost less than building the new structure — about $500 million.

The new structure is about 40,000 square-feet, or 10%, smaller than the original plan. That means the gallery space has shrunk
from 121,000 square feet to 110,000 — roughly the size of one exhibition hall. The art critic from the L.A. Times wrote: "I do not
know of another art museum, anywhere, that has ever raised hundreds of millions of dollars to have less gallery space than they
started with."

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I couldn't help but notice, that one of the sailor's last name is 'Barr'. (same as mine)
So, of course, I had to take a closer look.
Much to my surprise...he looks very much like two of my cousins. (twins)
____________________________________________________

Are you related to the Attorney General?
(Or Roseanne, Leonard, or Douglas for that matter! )

Originally Posted by FredH

I do miss the Chop Suey signs though.
____________________________________________________

Thanks for the info on "Chop Suey," FredH. I miss those signs, too!

Originally Posted by tovangar2

Five Chop Suey signs plus Union Station (1937)

LAT

Thank you. Ever since FredH pointed out the plethora of Chop Suey signs, I can't see anything else. He actually just posted a view
of the "new" (1939) premises of Tuey Far Low's Chop Suey House on Gin Ling Way in New Chinatown (with one less Chop Suey sign):
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=10836

lapl

The above two photos are now missing from this post. I found one of them, below, but I'd like to see that one with the "FIVE" Chop Suey signs (plus Union Station)!


LAPL via L.A. Weekly

Circa 1939: People gather around a photo booth in front of Louie K.G. Chinese Gifts (432 Gin Ling Way). Tuey Far Low, located at 436 Gin Ling Way, features a neon "chop suey" blade sign and a neon cocktail sign.

[jg6544]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

Have the plans to demolish LACMA as we know it (Pereira designed buildings and the 1986 addition) been discussed here before?

LACMA's New Building Design Has Some [?] People Mad
https://laist.com/2019/04/09/why_so_...g_proposal.php

1965:
ArchPaper

Periera in Peril: Time is Running Out for William Pereira’s Modernist Legacy
https://archpaper.com/william-pereira-preservation-legacy/

I and some acquaintances have often discussed for a long time now the building boom going on in Los Angeles, with multi-story buildings that are changing the landscape and the feeling of Los Angeles -- the open air spaces that unfold before you in so many areas of the city, and it's being encroached by more and more high-rises and several story apartment buildings that you can feel creeping and crawling around you; closing in on you.

This new LACMA design even takes away the long sighted vista of the wide Wilshire Blvd. by extending buildings over the street.

It looks like an airport terminal.




I just hate this...

Couldn't agree more.

[Godzilla]

Originally Posted by Chuckaluck

Hasn't someone mentioned "Zachary All?"

Lee Tower, 5455 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, 1961

1961, Lee Tower, 5455 Wilshire Blvd., (former location of Bob's Air Mail).


http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/si...oll44/id/91375




https://tessa.lapl.org/cdm/singleite...otos/id/121592











The "Champ" drives by in his Rolls, circa 1980


https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/6d...a41fd0c0ea0f97




Probably been mentioned on NLA before that MA previously resided at 55 Freemont Place. http://www.55fremont.com/






https://amp.businessinsider.com/imag...e9-960-720.jpg




https://amp.businessinsider.com/imag...74-960-720.jpg

[ethereal_reality]

Godzilla, your photograph gave me an immediate flashback.

Late one evening, as I driving east on Holloway between Hancock Ave. and La Cienega there was a Rolls stop in the middle of the street (sideways).
I slowly manuevered around the stalled vehicle and, as I did, I saw that the driver was MuHammad Ali. A friend was following me in her own car
so afterwards, I asked her who she thought was in the Rolls... & without hesitation, she said MuHammad Ali.

Looking back, I wished I had stopped and offered some assistance - but at the time I thought he had just partied too hard.
I have often wondered if the incident had something to do with his Parkinson's Disease.

mind you THIS WAS LONG BEFORE CELL PHONES

[ethereal_reality]

mystery location (somewhere in LOS ANGELES)



EBAY

I believe there might be enough clues to figure out the street. ....*fingers cross*

Nice looking horse.



back / 1908 postmark

[Beaudry]

Found one of the YML pix I was looking for...not the greatest, but at least it's previously unknown. I know there's some more lurking about, I'll find 'em.



Also, this was with it. Somewhere in the downtown area. Where the heck was it? Is it?

[Beaudry]

And as long as we're on the subject...standing on the 800 blk of W 3rd...





calstatelibrary

[Noir_Noir]

Meanwhile, no Chop Suey sign, but not very far away ...

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

mystery location (somewhere in LOS ANGELES)



EBAY

I believe there might be enough clues to figure out the street. ....*fingers cross*

rescarta.lapl.org



Come to think of it, this may be the building (704-706 W. 3rd) that Jacob Greef's grocery was housed in.





or is it hidden behind the lamp post?

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by AlvaroLegido

"1970's Revival" : nothing worse !



"Cecil B. DeMille Revival", nothing better !

LA has one major problem...... few wide streets. The downtown area is a jumble of narrow streets and ridiculously narrow sidewalks.
Its easily one of the worse designed or planned major city on the planet.

[Tikiman]

I hear you. I'm in the same boat. I live north of Seattle in Marysville and I have become smitten with Los Angeles like you have. I have never been there but I have learned quite a lot about it's history and secrets. It is just so fascinating.
This is in regards to Fnarf's Seattle post.

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

LA has one major problem...... few wide streets. The downtown area is a jumble of narrow streets and ridiculously narrow sidewalks.
Its easily one of the worse designed or planned major city on the planet.

Wide streets with lots of lanes may help traffic move, but for me it diminishes the pedestrian experience. I kind of like narrow streets. No problem with a few major wide streets, but give me some narrow ones too. Plus the more area devoted to streets, the less area devoted to housing. Also, I'm bored with grids. I like the twisty hilly streets like Sunset, or where streets come together at odd angles. As far "planning" goes, plans can be bad. Plans can be boring. For every good city plan, there might be at least twice as many that fall short. Good plans & zoning yes. Bad plans, no.

[Handsome Stranger]

I wouldn't mind a few more streets here and there closed to vehicular traffic. People really enjoy walking in urban areas where cars aren't allowed, and Los Angeles has the right climate for it.

Speaking of twisty hilly streets, I've long thought that La Brea between San Vicente and Olympic is underutilized. The topography there is terrific. (Or it's dope, as the kids might say.)

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by Noir_Noir

rescarta.lapl.org

Come to think of it, this may be the building (704-706 W. 3rd) that Jacob Greef's grocery was housed in.





or is it hidden behind the lamp post?

Thanks for your help Noir Noir. I, mistakenly, searched for "J. Greer Grocery". (I thought the last letter was a r...half hidden by a fold in the canopy)

It isn't often that you see a name that ends with a f. ...In fact, there's only one word that comes to mind that ends with a f.




Did 704-706 W. 3rd also have ROOMS for rent?

Unless I am mistaken; ROOMS are advertised on the globe light next to the stairs leading upstairs.



See the complete photograph [again] HERE.

.

[ethereal_reality]

I don't remember if we have seen this [amazing] cabinet card on NLA.

It shows "the ruins" of the Santa Monica Hotel shorty after the fire in 1888.


H. F. Rile at SML


When I first saw the image[ as a thumbnail].. I thought I was looking at four decorative columns that had survived the fire. Not unike the Windsor Plantation ruins.
Now I see it is the four [enormous] chimneys. You can see the fireplaces that were once in the rooms.





1880 (I like numbering things)

1880 / SML





circa: 1885

The four chimneys can be seen in the distance.


SML

I didn't realize the Santa Monica Hotel consisted of two, separate main buildings.



.

[odinthor]

e_r, some items of interest about 704 W. 3rd, all from the Los Angeles Herald, via UCR Center for Bibliographic Studies and Research:

April 28, 1906:



December 10, 1908:



April 5, 1909:



December 7, 1915: