noirish Los Angeles

[ethereal_reality]

I bought some Limburger cheese recently (at half price), and when I googled for additional information (I wanted to know just how stinky it was going to be)
I came across this rather odd photograph of silent film star/vamp Valeska Suratt.


http://maudelynn.tumblr.com/post/694...valeska-suratt

I'm not sure what the publicity department was trying to convey.....besides bad breath.
___


by the way, my Limburger was S T I N K Y!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Last night on eBay, I happened upon this rare 1910 photograph of Echo Park.

[...]

"Looking south toward Sunset Boulevard from Morton Avenue and Echo Park Ave."

I straighened the image and tweaked the levels.


eBay, originally posted by e_r

I've merged two plates from the 1910 Baist map to get this image.


www.historicmapworks.com/www.historicmapworks.com

I was hoping that this would render a little sharper, but here's a current view from roughly the same location.


Google Maps

I haven't had time to check for existing structures.

[HossC]

We're off shopping with Julius Shulman today. This is "Job 3912: Qvale and Associates, Crawford's Corner (Alhambra, Calif.), 1965".



Here's a better view of Crawford's Market.



There was even a bell tower. I wonder whose hand that is.



The whole place looks more like a Western movie set than a shopping mall.



All from Getty Research Institute

Crawford's Corner is on the northwest corner of N New Avenue and Valley Boulevard. The large sign from the first picture has gone, but the buildings are still standing.


GSV

There are more pictures and lots of history in the captions on the Alhambra Preservation Group's Facebook page.

[odinthor]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

odinthor, I almost forgot to ask.



What is this little plant?
__

I think probably someone just snapped off a weed that was (a) in the way and (b) happened to be next to a stake*; so let's dub it Planta truncatissima var. littoralis. I have a vague notion that I've noticed such stakes around (flimsy) beach structures in silent-era comedy shorts, demarcating the boundaries of the rented lot or the pathway or such; but I can't come up with titles at the moment...

Edit:*Pondering it further (yes, sometimes I'm like a dog shaking a rag--I'll just keep shaking it till I'm done with it), I'll bet that Zeph the Stake-Hammerer comes along and says to his assistant, "Dang, Zak--I've got to hammer in this stake just about where that big ol' bush is sittin' right in the way." Zak takes in the situation, contemplates the range of options and their ramifications, and finally says, "Well, Zeph--why don't you get rid o' the bush?" "What, this one?" "Yep." --Leaving the result we see...

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Just so you know, I asked the question before Hoss informed us it was actual footage.
I'm not that clueless.

I didn't think that, but what I was thinking is that computers can alter actual footage, so you never know. Another poster wondered if the sign next to McGoo's had been, for instance!

[ethereal_reality]

Yes, I thought it might have been altered.

It's such a great image. I'm glad you posted it Martin.
__

Hoss, thanks so much for the Baist map showing the location of the 1910 Echo Park photograph. (exact same year as the photograph!)

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by odinthor

Let's dub it Planta truncatissima var. littoralis.

odinthor....if I'm not mistaken that means 'literally a twig' lol

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by HossC

We're off shopping with Julius Shulman today. This is "Job 3912: Qvale and Associates, Crawford's Corner (Alhambra, Calif.), 1965".


There are more pictures and lots of history in the captions on the Alhambra Preservation Group's Facebook page.

In the 1950's Crawfords was a tacky country style market. Some of the flooring was asphalt. My parents avoided it when we lived in the Alhambra area....but I did like the magazine section.
My favorite magazines were Popular Science and Popular Mechanics.

Aerial view.


pinterest

Edit: The aerial is a view before 1949, because in 1947 I was living in a new house that sat on the runway at the Right side.

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

I saw a KCET "California's Gold" program once where the remnants of the Outpost sign were visited and the history of it explored.
The Outpost sign used to be the largest neon sign in the world!
_____

I found the video of the above mentioned program online!

• Video Link

I finally watched the whole 29 min video Martin....it was a lot of fun (with a lot of interesting tidbits about Outpost Estates)

I didn't realize even the huge letters are up there rusting away in the bushes.



Here's that Huell guy touching part of the crumbled 0







more of the 0...or is it the U? -they locate the S a bit further up the hill.







One of the other men (there's three of them, including Huell) mentions there's original wiring and junction box(s) as well.


video

The romantic in me loves that the ruins of the sign are still up on the hill, but seriously, why hasn't all this rusty metal been removed?
(especially since the City of Los Angeles owns the land now)
________





Here's the location of the Outpost sign. (yes, it was that BIG!)


google_earth

The letters of the sign were spaced far apart.




Just before you get to what's left of the sign, there's a barbed-wire fence along the eastern edge of the path.


gsv

That's part of the outpost sign in the foreground.


The fenced off area comes to a point. (shown below, beneath the red)


google_earth




From this higher altitude, you can see the fenced in area is shaped like a giant arrow.


google_earth

It's intriguing because no other area is fenced off like this.

Does anyone know who owns this large plot of land?


__

[ethereal_reality]

Thanks HossC and odinthor for the information the other day on the Peck-Judah Information Bureau.

In my haste to leave for Illinois, I had forgotten there was some writing on the back of the postcard.


eBay

Yep, you guessed it, I'm confused again. Why would their railroad tickets be deposited at the information bureau?

Wouldn't the R.R. ticket office handle everything pertaining to their trip?


As a reminder, here's the front of the postcard again.

eBay

I see a Validating Office at the rear of the room.

I hadn't noticed the tall glass 'urns' filled with lemons(?) and oranges in the lower right corner----->
__

[ethereal_reality]

Here's an interesting view of the Hotel Windermere lobby in Santa Monica [1955]

The sign on the television reads "Public Television 10 cents 20 minutes".


http://lit250v.library.ucla.edu/isla...artlett%3A2332

By the time this photograph was taken the hotel had seen better days. It was demolished 7 years later, in 1962.

*The man with the pipe in the photograph is architect John Lindsay, once married to Diana Lynn and June Lockhart (not at the same time )
-click on the link beneath the photograph for additional information.





below: Here's the Hotel Windermere some 25 years earlier.

Originally Posted by Tourmaline

1930s - Hotel Windermere, Santa Monica


http://www.idaillinois.org/cdm/compo...d/4334/rec/620

To see exterior photographs of the Hotel Windermere go here:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=27369

Includes a photograph of its demolition in 1962.
__

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by BillinGlendaleCA

Hey! I took my wife to the La Brea Tar Pits while we were dating.

Bill, at least you didn't fall in like this poor guy.


http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/se...7/order/nosort

"Narrowly escaping being preserved for posterity, 1951"





Ouch!


http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/co.../id/9601/rec/1

A couple of the nurses appear to be having a rather good time.


__

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Bill, at least you didn't fall in like this poor sap.


Ouch!


http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/co.../id/9601/rec/1

A couple of the nurses appear to be having a rather good time.


__

It was a big emergency. Many nurses rushed to the ER to help. .

[odinthor]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Thanks HossC and odinthor for the information the other day on the Peck-Judah Information Bureau.

In my haste to leave for Illinois, I had forgotten there was some writing on the back of the postcard.


eBay

Yep, you guessed it, I'm confused again. Why would their railroad tickets be deposited at the information bureau?

Wouldn't the R.R. ticket office handle everything pertaining to their trip?


As a reminder, here's the front of the postcard again.

eBay

I see a Validating Office at the rear of the room.

I hadn't noticed the tall glass 'urns' filled with lemons(?) and oranges in the lower right corner----->
__

Looking at the various ads for excursions and so on, one gathers that agents representing various aspects of travel and travel destinations were available at or through Peck-Judah, and hence their tickets or whatever would be left at P-J for pick up. Here's one typical ad, chosen at random (nothing to do with RR): "HONOLULU[.] Its climate, hotels and attractions. Call or drop me a postal and I'll call on you. Phones--Main 1799 F5478. Information cheerfully given. EDWIN O. CHILD, Special Representative, care Peck-Judah Co., 553 South Spring St." (L.A. Times 2/24/1908).

[ScottyB]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

You're always of immense help Hoss.

I believe we've seen the Switzer-land camp on NLA a few years back.

Here's a photograph from the link you provided (we might have seen this image before)


https://www.kcet.org/shows/departure...-resorts-of-la

It looks quite romantic and somewhat mysterious. I'm anxious to see what's left of the place. (I'll look for those old NLA posts)


And it's so cool to see where the amateur photographer lived! Glad you recognized the address.

I came across this pic on ebay and was reminded of your recent post, ER....I've never seen the interior of the chapel before. (The chapel architect was Arthur B. Benton, designer of the Mission Inn in Riverside.) Wish there was a picture of burros bringing the pump organ up the trail! I've been up to Switzer's many times.....the chapel's all gone.

ebay

[MichaelRyerson]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Bill, at least you didn't fall in like this poor sap.


http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/se...7/order/nosort

"Narrowly escaping being preserved for posterity, 1951"


Ouch!


http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/co.../id/9601/rec/1

A couple of the nurses appear to be having a rather good time.


__

Let the record show he didn't fall in...


Jack Young -- 42 years (being cleaned up)

Man in La Brea tar pit (rescued dog), 1951

Peggy Hansen (nurse); Rowena MacDonald (nurse); Dorothy Mahan (nurse); A. F. Bock.

USCdigital archive/Los Angeles Examiner Negatives Collection, 1950-1961


The boys and their tarbaby dog, 1951


Man in La Brea tar pit (rescued dog), June 24, 1951. Peggy Hansen (nurse); Rowena MacDonald (nurse); Dorothy Mahan (nurse); A. F. Bock; Jack Young -- 42 years (being cleaned up after being in tar pit); Leo Cohen -- 9 years; Sanford Kaufman -- 10 years; Michael Rose -- 10 years (with tarred dog).

[SHERIFFPAUL]

Yes that's where my office is. Trying to figure out how to post my pictures of the buildings as they look now. I've been here at this office since 2010. Very good place. I've been over to Outpost area several times too.

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Bill, at least you didn't fall in like this poor sap.


http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/se...7/order/nosort

Your picture reminded of a scene from "Any Which Way You Can". The biker gang are chasing Philo Beddoe (Clint Eastwood) somewhere in North Hollywood when they get covered in tar that's being sprayed on the street. When the tar hardens, Clint takes the bikers to the hospital in the back of his truck.


Warner Bros

[SHERIFFPAUL]

The Highland-Camrose Bungalow Village, 6 small homes scattered around a lush acre just south of the Hollywood Bowl, were built between 1916 and 1923 to provide homes for employees of movie studios in Burbank and Studio City.

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Yep, you guessed it, I'm confused again. Why would their railroad tickets be deposited at the information bureau?
__

It's also a travel agency.

Peck-Judah Travel Service still exists, headquartered in San Francisco, as it's always been.

The agency's free travel-info racks of brochures started in 1899:
http://ephemerastudies.org/gallery/p...hure-cabinets/

The brochure cabinet business became a separate company in 1960:
https://www.certifiedfolder.com/about-us/

Check eBay for some of their brochures, plus other images on google:


ebay



P.S. The owners of Peck-Judah, associated w/ the company since 1960, were killed in an air crash in Costa Rica in 2000, after having traveled through the Panama Canal on a Peck-Judah tour.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/articl...cy-2811292.php