noirish Los Angeles - Page 1261

Graybeard · #**25201** Posted **Dec 25, 2014, 11:37 AM**

http://www.amazon.com/The-Fat-Man-Tale-North/dp/B004J8HXIG

HossC · #**25202** Posted **Dec 25, 2014, 12:20 PM**

"Broadway looking north-east from 10th Street (now, Olympic Boulevard), showing Christmas decorations along the sides of the street, December 1930"

USC Digital Library

For reference, the same view eighty-three and a half years later (June 2014).

GSV

Merry Christmas to all those who contribute to NLA, and to those of you who just read

.

HossC · #**25203** Posted **Dec 26, 2014, 1:12 AM**

A festive postcard from 1953.

Christmastime at Los Angeles's Original Farmers Market.

eBay

ethereal_reality · #**25204** Posted **Dec 27, 2014, 1:45 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by srk1941

This is in Long Beach. That modern high-rise on the right is the Royal Palms, the older high-rise on the left is the Lafayette.

This must be taken from a balcony at the Long Beach Towers, at 600 E. Ocean, at Atlantic. The same circular driveway is still there, though the planter box has been modified.

Thank you srk1941.

Based on your information this is pretty much where the photographer was standing when he snapped the 1962 vintage view.

GSV

...but I haven't been able to located this building (with the red arrow ->).

ebay

ethereal_reality · #**25205** Posted **Dec 27, 2014, 2:14 AM**

Mysterious objet d'art in front of NBC studios at Sunset & Vine, Hollywood.

ebay

below: The seller seems to think it's a 'feather' (representing the NBC color Peacock), but he also mistakenly placed the photograph in Burbank.

ebay

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ethereal_reality · #**25206** Posted **Dec 27, 2014, 2:43 AM**

Fire at the 'Swing Club', 1710 N. Las Palmas Avenue ca.1937.

ebay

interior

ebay

details

ebay

1710 N. Las Palmas Ave. today (Hollywood Blvd. is at right)

GSV

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HossC · #**25207** Posted **Dec 27, 2014, 5:53 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by gsjansen

Source: Calisphere http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/hb6k4007sj/FID5

The picture above, a 1943 image posted by gsjansen, shows Ye Bull Pen Inn in Calle de los Negros. The one below shows an earlier location at 633 S Hope Street. It's dated at 1920s by the seller, which ties in with the first and only listing at that address I could find in the City Directories in the 1921 edition (where it's actually listed at 631 S Hope). By 1923, 633 S Hope is home to a restaurant called C F de Long.

eBay

Ye Bull Pen Inn reappears at 535 S Grand Avenue in the 1929 CD. Up until a couple of years earlier, that had been the location of the Key West Hotel (aka Apartments/Rooms). They were listed at 533 S Grand, which is the same location as the one given in BifRayRock's picture below. Ye Bull Pen Inn only shows up at that address in 1929, so that gives a pretty good guess for the date of this picture.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BifRayRock

Speaking of "Unique" advertising and cafes, anyone familiar with Ye Bull Pen Inn at 533 South Grand? I hear it's "Famous For Steaks." (I wouldn't ask if the placard included the words "great" or "fine."

)

LAPL

fhammon · #**25208** Posted **Dec 27, 2014, 10:03 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by HossC

The picture above, a 1943 image posted by gsjansen, shows Ye Bull Pen Inn in Calle de los Negros. The one below shows an earlier location at 633 S Hope Street. It's dated at 1920s by the seller, which ties in with the first and only listing at that address I could find in the City Directories in the 1921 edition (where it's actually listed at 631 S Hope). By 1923, 633 S Hope is home to a restaurant called C F de Long.

I apologize for the hijack but being a Plazaphile, that building has been of interest to me for quite awhile after having seen this particular photo depicting the infamous Calle de los Negros as described by both Maj. Horace Bell and Harris Newmark in it's last days. I believe that was reason for the photo which ER (gsjansen originally) posted..... years ago!. I'm much stuck into Ferguson Alley, Jerry's Joynt, The Lugo House etc.

Notice how the far left building, left of the pole, is incorporated into the new one.

http://waterandpower.org/museum/Earl...29_Page_1.html

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

below: The ram-shackled building along Calle de los Negros was eventually replaced by this rather impressive building.

usc digital archive

below: In the 1940s the 'calle de los negros' building sported a tacky new entrance
that was advertised as the "shortest route to Union Station".

LAPL

https://www.flickr.com/photos/33455118@N08/5389901205/

Handsome Stranger · #**25209** Posted **Dec 27, 2014, 11:38 PM**

It's the final curtain for the former United Artists Theater / Four Star Theater at 5112 Wilshire Blvd.

1932, the United Artists Theater:

[source: Huntington Digital Library]

1937: renamed the Four Star Theater, Frank Capra's Lost Horizon premiered here:

[source: Los Angeles Public Library]

December 2014:

[image source: me]

ethereal_reality · #**25210** Posted **Dec 27, 2014, 11:38 PM**

Well that sucks.
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Los Angeles & Redondo Railway Co., 1901 railway pass.

ebay

reverse

...anyone familiar with this railway company?
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Handsome Stranger · #**25211** Posted **Dec 27, 2014, 11:55 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Los Angeles & Redondo Railway Co., 1901 railway pass.

...anyone familiar with this railway company?
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Apparently it was one of the eight railway companies that were consolidated in 1911 to form the Pacific Electric Railway Company.

[source: tumblr]

ethereal_reality · #**25212** Posted **Dec 28, 2014, 12:25 AM**

Thanks Handsome_Stranger. It's actually larger than I imagined (with it's 3 separate routes).

Quote:

Originally Posted by HossC

I can't find any previous NLA references to the "ultra-modern barber shop" at the Ambassador Hotel. The seller thinks the postcard is circa 1950s.

eBay

below: You can see HossC's barber shop across the hall in this photograph. (I just re-discovered in an old file of mine)

This looks like the beauty salon, circa 1951.

old file

After taking a closer look at the windows and glass door....this is the barber shop.

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ethereal_reality · #**25213** Posted **Dec 28, 2014, 12:45 AM**

In the same file I found a few photographs of the pool area.

ofilm

slightly closer

ofilm

below: In this view a sign has been added to the poolside building.

ofilm

Here's a room at the Ambassador, circa 1951.

ofilm

-note the television (in 1951!)
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HossC · #**25214** Posted **Dec 28, 2014, 1:07 AM**

Ben's Restaurant, 12004 Wilshire Boulevard, circa 1950s.

eBay

California Wok, 12004 Wilshire Boulevard, 2014.

GSV

According to propertyshark.com, the restaurant building dates from 1942, and the building next door (below) was constructed in 1953.

GSV

Then I spotted this little building at 12020 Wilshire Boulevard. Now occupied by the School of Rock, propertyshark.com says this one was built in 1936. I don't know what it was originally - historic Streetview images show it boarded up in 2007 with a neon sign left over from when it was the Bruin Flower Shop, and as Pineapple Fitness in 2009.

GSV

OutlawImages · #**25215** Posted **Dec 28, 2014, 1:13 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by HossC

This is the Temple of Truth, built by Louis Waynai, a 54-year-old Hungarian cabinet maker, to house the world's largest Bible. The Bible measured 43.5 inches high and 98 inches wide when open, and had a 34 inch spine when closed. Apparently, his original idea was to exhibit the bible in his own house, but he ended up having to build this little church instead.

eBay

There's a video of Mr Waynai making his Bible on YouTube:

Critical Past/YouTube

Here's the rubber stamp wheel he used to print the Bible ...

Critical Past/YouTube

... and the finished tome. The lady in the background is Louis's wife, Theresa.

Critical Past/YouTube

None of the articles I found gave an address for the Temple of Truth, but the City Directories provided me with an address of 1165 E 61st Street for Louis Waynai and his wife. There's a small parking lot there now, but at 1167 E 61st Street is the building below. Obviously, the dome is missing, but the detail on the porch looks the same, and the window configuration also matches (I think the pointed tops were just painted on). If it had been on the other side of the street, it would have been lost when the Diego Rivera Learning Complex was built a few years ago.

GSV

I expect you're all wondering what happened to the Bible. According to an article I found at blogs.acu.edu, the Bible was purchased in 1947 by Rosen Heights Church of Christ in Ft Worth, Texas. In 1956, the congregation donated it to ACU (Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas), where it was exhibited in the Library until 2013. After that, ACU agreed to loan the Bible to the Green Collection of Oklahoma City to be displayed as part of its touring exhibit (it can be disassembled into 31 sections for moving purposes).

Great story about an oddity like they used to love to make

Found this link with short video

Read this below and stumbled onto this retronaut

This copy of the entire King James Bible was completed by Louis Waynai in Los Angeles, CA, in 1930, two years after he had begun the project. Devoting more than 8,700 hours to the book, Mr. Waynai printed the text using a large home-made rubber stamp press.

When laid open, the Waynai Bible measures 43.5 inches tall and 98 inches wide. Closed, the spine is 34 inches thick. The book has 8,048 pages and weighs in at 1,094 pounds.”

http://www.retronaut.com/2014/06/the-waynai-bible/

HossC · #**25216** Posted **Dec 28, 2014, 1:27 AM**

Interesting Ambassador pictures, e_r. As I mentioned in a recent post, there are loads of pictures of the hotel on LAPL, but many of them date from just before it was demolished. Older images showing the hotel in use give a much better view of what it was really like.

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Is it too late for another Christmas picture? We seem to have a lot of pictures from Wilshire today, but I assume it's coincidental. This picture, looking west on Wilshire Boulevard from near the base of the E Clem Wilson Building, is dated as 1960s by the seller. That seems reasonable since the tower at 5455 Wilshire was completed in 1961. On the corner just in front of the nearest Christmas tree is the Huddle Restaurant at 5301 Wilshire Boulevard. Its incarnation as Tilford's was discussed again recently in post #25114.

eBay

On the left of the picture above is the Fox Ritz Theatre at 5214 Wilshire Boulevard. According to cinematreasures.org, the Ritz Theatre survived until 1977 when it was demolished to make way for a parking lot. There are more pictures of the Fox Ritz Theatre in BifRayRock's post #9808 and Flyingwedge's post #17458. It was only a block away from the United Artists Theater/Four Star Theater - see Handsome Stranger's demolition pictures above. That building still looks great on GSV!

cinematreasures.org

The current 45 degree views on Google Maps still show a parking lot on the southeast corner of Wilshire and La Brea, but the overhead and street views show the new residential development previously mentioned by Tourmaline in post #16495. This is as near as I could get to the postcard view with the Googlemobile.

GSV

Wig-Wag · #**25217** Posted **Dec 28, 2014, 2:44 AM**

[QUOTE=HossC;

California Wok, 12004 Wilshire Boulevard, 2014.

GSV

I can't help but wonder if the sign on the roof affected their business!

Cheers,
Jack

ethereal_reality · #**25218** Posted **Dec 28, 2014, 2:46 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Handsome Stranger

It's the final curtain for the former United Artists Theater / Four Star Theater at 5112 Wilshire Blvd.

Some atmospheric photographs of the Four Star Theater during the 1938 premier of 'In Old Chicago'. (it appears to have been quite windy that night)

ofilm

below: If you look closely, you can make out the giant letters spelling 'In Old Chicago'.
(I'm not sure where all the automobiles were parked / Was there an empty lot across from the theater?)

ofilm
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Not as atmospheric, but interesting none the less. (giant 'CHICAGO' lettering at left)

ebay?
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ethereal_reality · #**25219** Posted **Dec 28, 2014, 3:10 AM**

A couple more photographs if you don't mind.

The 'Four Star' shortly before it opened as the United Artists Theater in 1930. It was renamed the Four Star in 1937 (shortly before the 'In Old Chicago' premier as seen above).

CalState/archives

...and FIFTY years later in 1980, showing movies from India.

Tom Zimmerman

This is just a few years before I moved to los Angeles.

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HossC · #**25220** Posted **Dec 28, 2014, 3:32 AM**

More Wilshire Boulevard! I came across a blurry, washed out version of the postcard below on eBay earlier tonight. Luckily, I found this better version.

www.cardcow.com

Here's a closer (and real) look at the Wilshire Twilighter Motor Hotel at 4300 Wilshire Boulevard.

jericl cat on Flickr

And a night shot. One of the comments under this picture says it was built in 1957 and designed by Sam Reisbord.

Jordan Smith (The Pie Shops) on Flickr

I also found this matchbook.

eBay

Today, the Twilighter survives as The Dunes Inn.

GSV