noirish Los Angeles

[ethereal_reality]

thx t2.




I had all but forgotten about the 'Evangeline' until I came across this small blurb this afternoon. I had no idea it had 500 rooms!


https://books.google.com/books?id=BI...avenue&f=false



I jumped in the google-mobile to see if it was still there (it's not / I knew that...but I wanted to be sure) when I noticed this startling side view of the recently discussed Bixel House.

It almost looks like it's balanced on stilts!




As for the Evangeline:

I posted this back in 2012.

eBay


Here's the Evangeline in 1929. (this is from the famous pano that we have seen numerous times on NLA)


http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/si...id/71316/rec/2





There's a glimpse of the Evangeline Apartments in this undated photograph of the Coldwell, Banker building.


http://photos.lapl.org/carlweb/jsp/F...olNumber=59550





Demolition of the Evangeline in 1988.


http://photos.lapl.org/carlweb/jsp/F...olNumber=59550

The description at lapl is...
"Evangeline Women's Center, one of three SRO hotels demolished."

I've never heard it called 'Women's Center', but I'm pretty sure this is the Evangeline Apartments (correct me if I'm wrong)
(the skyscrapers are in the right position for this to be 6th street)


__

[John Maddox Roberts]

Originally Posted by MichaelRyerson

I believe it's actually a Ford. '55 or '56.

I believe this is the same model with the same paint job, a '55 Dodge.

edit: Darn. Can't seem to get the picture to post. What's the secret?

[HossC]

Originally Posted by John Maddox Roberts

edit: Darn. Can't seem to get the picture to post. What's the secret?

Is this the image you wanted?



According to www.auctionsamerica.com, who have the same picture, that's a "1955 Ford Country Sedan 9 Passenger Station Wagon". It sold for $13,475 in 2011.

[rbpjr]

[QUOTE=CityBoyDoug;7155943][SIZE="4"][FONT="Franklin Gothic Medium"]Not to worry Matt...Norish LA ranges all over the So Cal area...out to Palm Springs, north to Bakersfield...
I lived in Bakersfield from 1935 to 1945 and then 1962 to 1968...would love to see some noir from there...if possible.

[rbpjr]

Originally Posted by oldstuff

For a side note: Veloz and Yolanda once owned the Tail O' the Pup building

Speaking of dancers...Serrita Camargo, who taught dancing for many years and was advisor to Marge & Gower Champion who rehearsed in her studio...had a second floor studio for many years near downtown...hoping someone will find a photo of the building.

[John Maddox Roberts]

Originally Posted by HossC

Is this the image you wanted?



According to www.auctionsamerica.com, who have the same picture, that's a "1955 Ford Country Sedan 9 Passenger Station Wagon". It sold for $13,475 in 2011.

That's it! I found it on a search for Dodge. Can't trust Google Images, I guess.

[ethereal_reality]

I found this awhile back on eBay. (sorry it's crooked)


eBay


inside matchbook cover

eBay

The play sounds kinda' racy...not to mention the erotic silhouettes. (especially for the 1940s)

I typed "musart" into the NLA search function and nothing came up.
Is anyone familiar with this theater?...or the play?
__

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I typed "musart" into the NLA search function and nothing came up.
Is anyone familiar with this theater?...or the play?
__

Historic Los Angeles Theaters has a great page on the Musart (Morgan, Walls & Morgan) here.

Built in 1913 as The Little Theater, it was renamed the Egan before becoming the Musart.

The page mentions "Two in a Bed" (1944)

The Musart in 1949 (below). Actor Emil Sitka camps it up out front. Now playing: "The Viper's Fang" or "The Virgin's Dilemma" (!)
Sounds like naughty fun.

(Sitka's film career ran from 1946 to 1992. He was a Stooge)


Historic Los Angeles Theaters - Downtown


(detail)

A scathing dismissal of the Chicago production of "Two in a Bed":


chicago tribune, 16 oct 1944

[Flyingwedge]

Originally Posted by HossC

After yesterday's excursion to Redondo Beach, I kept looking for pictures. Some of the ones I found have been seen here before, but I think this one's new to the thread. On the left is the distinctive sign for the El Ja Arms, which confirms the location I guessed at. I'm curious about the tracks in the center - they go through the barriers and split just after the small sign. Was this line only open for special occasions?

"Redondo Beach looking east along the Pike, an amusement area for tourists, ca.1924"


USC Digital Library

Due to the major changes that have taken place in the street layout of Redondo Beach, I was having trouble working out some of the locations of the vintage photographs. The 1952 aerial image at Historic Aerials helps enormously. You could originally cross the street from the El Ja Arms to the beach amusements. I don't know if all the east/west street names are correct for the period - I used the current names of the streets which now terminate on the east side of S Catalina Avenue.


Historic Aerials

The only major difference between 1980 and 2004 is the redesign of the pier.


Historic Aerials

OK, now we know the layout, here are a few more images from the area. The first is "Pacific Avenue looking south in Redondo Beach, showing the American Bank Building, ca.1924". The bank just makes it onto the bottom of the 1952 and 1963 aerial shots above. In the background is the Redondo Beach Hotel.


USC Digital Library

Trying to compare old vs. new photos of Redondo Beach can be quite bewildering! I hope these maps can help.

1904 Sanborn; the big Hotel Redondo is opposite the middle pier:

LAPL

1916 Sanborn; Diamond Street is one block south of Carnelian. The El Ja was at the curved SE corner of Diamond
and Pacific, just past Commercial. La Alameda is now Pacific Avenue:

1916 Sanborn @ LAPL

2015; the three east-west streets north of Pearl are, from the top, Emerald St. (ends at Village Dr.), Garnet St.,
and Torrance Blvd (ends along north side of Veterans Park):

GSV

The Redondo Beach Pier caught fire May 27, 1988. I had some aerial photos of the fire, but I can't find them now:

Cheryl Lindsay Pinterest, from Harborbikes.com -- https://www.pinterest.com/pin/212513676137025131/

Some news footage from that day (skip to the :30 mark unless you want to see KNBC Channel 4's news team introduced): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNk2VAHscT0

[Flyingwedge]

Originally Posted by Matt Maxwell

Heading to LA in a few days (Saturday-Tuesday) and I'm hitting this thread again hard to pick out sites for photography, etc. Need more time.

I don't suppose anyone has a list of still-standing Art Deco (in particular) sites that are largely publicly accessible, do they? I know the Conservancy runs walking tours, but those are all Saturday and I'm tied up then at the Long Beach Comic Con (work, not fun-related, honest).

Really just looking for unique sites to photograph (the Aztec Hotel and the giant neon liquor store clown are just two on the list.) So if anyone has personal faves, I'd love to hear 'em.

And to keep contributing, here's a relatively artistic shot of the under-structure of the Colorado Blvd over crossing in Pasadena (technically not LA, I know, but...)

BridgeUnder1.jpg by Matt Maxwell, on Flickr

KevinW came up with this list, which includes some demolished buildings: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=21117

We've discussed 310 S. Crescent Heights a couple times:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=14831
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=29950

Some suggestions by HossC: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=21126

Good luck!

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by Flyingwedge

1904 Sanborn; the big Hotel Redondo is opposite the middle pier:

LAPL

We maybe should have a couple of pix of the Hotel Redondo before we leave South Bay:

Looking north from the second-floor balcony:

wiki media

Circa 1900:

wiki media

ca early 1920s:

lapl

"The Hotel Redondo, with its 18-hole golf course, lush landscaping, tennis courts and 225 luxurious rooms, each of which was “touched by sunlight at some time of the day,” induced more visitors than ever before to venture to the coast. If the price of hotel accommodations was too steep, one could rent a tent at nearby Tent City. Patrons were charged $3.00 per week, or $10.00 per month for a tent. Wooden floors and electric lights were included in the price."
(redondo.org)


lapl

"Redondo’s popularity began a slow decline when San Pedro Harbor started to take shape in 1899. By 1912, the Pacific Steamship Company stopped calling at Redondo altogether. Lumber schooners still used Pier No. 3 at Topaz Street until the railroad pulled out in 1926. Because of prohibition, the $250,000 Hotel Redondo closed its doors and in 1925 was sold for scrap lumber--the price was $300."
(redondo.org)


redondo beach historical society


The former site of the Hotel Redondo is now Veterans Park.

Another Redondo map



A thoughtful article on Redondo Beach redevelopment from Easy Reader News is here. (Everybody's sick of condos and malls, but no one knows what to do. People long for a sense of place and an "Old Town Redondo", but it's too late for that, everything's been torn down, even the streets are gone.)

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by Matt Maxwell

Heading to LA in a few days (Saturday-Tuesday) and I'm hitting this thread again hard to pick out sites for photography, etc. Need more time.

I don't suppose anyone has a list of still-standing Art Deco (in particular) sites that are largely publicly accessible, do they? I know the Conservancy runs walking tours, but those are all Saturday and I'm tied up then at the Long Beach Comic Con (work, not fun-related, honest).

I don't think CBS Columbia Square ( William Lescaze, 1938) has been mentioned. It bridges Streamline Moderne and the International Style. It's quickly getting engulfed by new development, but at least it's saved :-)

It was touch and go for a while.

(access may be a bit iffy)

Beautiful building.

Sunset at Gower:

gsv


P.S.

Also this 1927 Streamline charmer, seen on the thread before (here) . 6634 Sunset Blvd, across and down from the Crossroads of the World:


gsv

It had a front door with a porthole window until a year ago (see undated view below). Gone now.




previously posted by GW (Superstock)

Although maybe that porthole door wasn't original:

lapl (detail)

[Flyingwedge]

It's nice to see that this building got fixed up. The October 2008 GSV shows it as an Eagles hall:

GSV

Here are two shots of it from June 2011; the entrance on Catalina:

GSV

The Garnet entrance:

GSV

When do you think it was built? Go ahead and guess.

March 2015:

GSV

March 2015:

GSV

Los Angeles County says it was built in 1950. I felt surely that must be a remodel date, but the building is not on the 1946 Sanborn Map.

[Those Who Squirm!]

Originally Posted by Those Who Squirm

I think you're onto something here. I went back today and got this shot:



The track for the aluminum door actually goes a couple of feet below the present level of the sidewalk, so at the time of construction it was probably level with the street and intended for cars.

For anyone interested in this neighborhood, a true treasure trove fell into my lap through a comment on my old blog post; to wit, the 1924 Our Gang comedy Sun Down Limited, in which the Rascals build their own miniature railroad across the street from this building. P.E. was still running passenger cars to Santa Monica at this time, and in one scene I'm pretty sure you can see one of the kids riding in the operator's cab with the motorman. It's supposed to be a locomotive in the story but I'm pretty sure it's merely one of the larger P.E. cars. I don't know any of the child actors here as this is years before the Spanky and Darla era which so many of us know from after school TV back in the day. (Curiously, in the 1924 film there's even a Mickey who does look like the young Robert Blake, who wouldn't even be born for nine years yet.)

Near the end, the Rascals drive their ramshackle train right into the Norm's Fabric building, right through that door on the north side. The blacksmith shop is still there in 1924, prominently signed. I wonder what people went to blacksmiths for at that time? Maybe the local farmers still needed their horses shod.

The person who left the comment also gave me this summary of shooting locations, also from Youtube.

I intend to cut some stills and add them here, as soon as I verify that it won't be a copyright violation. Or does the filming date of 1924 automatically mean it's public domain? Does anyone know? I think it may well be since you can easily find and watch full length movies from this period on Youtube, for free.

ETA: For anyone interested, here are a couple of URLs to specific points in the film. Judging from the film, the building had two vehicle doors at that time rather than just the one as I had thought. This was pointed out to me in another web community where I'd asked about the raising of the pavement and sidewalk along National. At 16:30 the building is seen from a vacant lot opposite on the north side of National. This shows the existing door, in 1924 clearly accessible to vehicles unlike today. At 18:06, when the kids' train runs inside the building, it does so by the other door which no longer exists, and must have been at the back end of the building. This would have been still on National, but east of where changes direction to parallel the Expo line. A particularly obvious clue is that the large BLACKSMITH SHOP sign is seen over the door where the train goes in, but absent when the existing door appears earlier in the film.

Additionally, a couple of very large houses, long since gone, are intriguing--could one of them be the lost Palm Villa hotel?

[Graybeard]

Originally Posted by MichaelRyerson

I believe it's actually a Ford. '55 or '56.

That it is and the yellowish car in front of it is a 53 or 54 Chrysler product.

[HossC]

Originally Posted by Flyingwedge

Trying to compare old vs. new photos of Redondo Beach can be quite bewildering! I hope these maps can help.

1904 Sanborn; the big Hotel Redondo is opposite the middle pier:

LAPL

These are great, Flyingwedge. I see that Pacific Avenue was originally called La Alameda. The maps also confirm something I suspected after yesterday's Googling, which is that "Bonita Avenue" in caption of one of the posted pictures was in fact "Benita Avenue". It's irrelevant now as the street no longer exists.

Here's an undated view of the Hotel Redondo with the piers. None of the maps seem to mark the one in the foreground which curves the other way.


USC Digital Library

Originally Posted by tovangar2

A thoughtful article on Redondo Beach redevelopment from Easy Reader News is here. (Everybody's sick of condos and malls, but no one knows what to do. People long for a sense of place and an "Old Town Redondo", but it's too late for that, everything's been torn down, even the streets are gone.)

Thanks for the link, tovangar2. It includes these two pictures as part of a 43-image slideshow.





I posted various aerial images yesterday, but I think this 1972 color view gives a better impression of the area that was cleared for the condos. In the Easy Reader News article, I was amused by the line [I]"The plan is so big it requires a new road in front of the Village condominiums ..."[I]. Maybe they could call the new road Pacific Avenue after the street that used to follow that route before the Village was built!
NB. I've cropped and adjusted the original image.


californiacoastline.org

Compare it to the 1958 shot I posted yesterday.


Detail of picture in USC Digital Library

[tovangar2]

The 1908 City Hall was built at Emerald and Benita.

Although I didn't spend much time in Redondo as a child (except for shopping trips to De Simone's), I remember the coast there being a mess and very ugly.

"Storms have been an ever-present danger to the City’s piers. They have been washed out, then rebuilt, then washed out again. Redondo’s first breakwater was built in 1939 and although the cost was more than $500,000, it provided only limited protection. Because of the way it was constructed, wave action and the normal movement of the beach sand was altered. Following every storm, sand accumulated north of the breakwater. Eventually the beach area between Diamond and Beryl Streets was obliterated. A raging storm in 1953 caused extensive damage not only to the breakwater, but to City streets and private property."
(redondo.org)

I recall that one could access the second floors of a couple of derelict houses where the waves would crash through the missing windows. Thrilling stuff for a kid. Huge rocks, forming a sea wall, had been placed on what-once-was the beach in front of these homes (I guess this was between Diamond and Beryl after the '53 storm, I really can't remember now).

I was more than a little confused as to what the reasoning was for all the improvements which caused so much damage. I could not understand why Redondo was wrecking its seafront. I was very grateful that Hermosa's beach remained unchanging.

Hermosa is just a stretch of sand. Apart from the pier (rebuilt now), that's pretty much it:

lapl (ca 1950s)

The great underwater trench (pictured below) AKA "Redondo Canyon", seems to be the reason Redondo sustains so much damage during storms as it intensified the wave action. Also, Redondo allowed development too close to the water, unlike Hermosa, which has kept its very wide, protective beach. The trench was also the reason why Redondo thought it had a shot at becoming LA's harbor:

google maps

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


Thx Those Who Squirm for the links re Little Rascals "Sun Down Limited" (1924). I've been in Norm's Foam and Fabrics any number of times so got a kick out of seeing that footage.




___

[Tourmaline]

Even more Redondo?

Redondo Hotel, circa 1890

http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/compou...13707/rec/1153






http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/single...id/3120/rec/43




Undated. Red cars at Redondo
http://www.redondohistorical.org/wp-.../redcar001.jpg






Nice view.


1923 - Redondo panorama probably taken from Garland Hotel.

http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/single.../id/4328/rec/4




El-Ja, hard to miss.







Perhaps a better view of a previously posted El-Ja image.

http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/single...id/7395/rec/32




Further, regarding Mr. Lindbergh, it is probably worth noting that in addition to Tovangar2's references, Redondo High seems to embrace him as an alumnus/attendee.

Among other things, Lindbergh would have likely seen new construction as the school celebrated its new buildings, including an auditorium, in 1916. The school has a long and rich legacy. Accounts describe it as always having a beautiful campus and a full complement of curricular and extracurricular activities. Lindy's exact attendance records (including absences) are evidently established by school records. Whether they are publicly available is unknown. This leads one to wonder about the school calendar back then and, for that matter, whether summer school, or something like it, existed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redondo_Union_High_School Judging from some of the contemporaneous images, one imagines it may not have been too difficult for Lindbergh to find his way to LA, Torrance, Long Beach or other beach communities.




Redondo Union, circa '28 (Per another observation regarding Redondo architecture and a certain Pasadena landmark, this structure is reminiscent of the Huntington Library in San Marino.)
http://www.robinrcutler.com/wp-conte...1928-Pilot.jpg


http://egh0t2b8t2s3nmhmh1owg24pcj.wp...arly-Years.jpg



https://rattytime.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/rb-3.jpg

[HossC]

Julius Shulman's "Job 1342: Bank of America (Los Angeles, Calif.),1952" has thrown up some interesting finds - more of that below. The bank itself almost looks like a branch of Grayson's. Notice the ship logo prominently displayed on the front. The address is 6551 Van Nuys Boulevard, which is the corner Haynes Street.



This is from the corner of Kittridge Street. Ray King's Appliance Center is listed on Sherman Way in the 1962 CD (10 years after this photo).



The bank is almost lost in this shot from Hamlin Street.



All from Getty Research Institute

There's still a Bank of America building at 6551 Van Nuys Boulevard, but not the same one. The boards either side of the entrance have "To Lease" adverts, but Google still lists it as open.


GSV

Here's a better view of the mural above the entrance.


GSV

As soon as I parked the Googlemobile outside, I knew I'd seen this branch before. The screengrabs below are from a season 3 (1979) episode of 'CHiPs' called 'Return of the Supercycle'. The building had been dressed as the Hewlett Bank which was hosting a diamond display. The top grabs show the entrance from oustide and inside. The inside one shows the extant DWP building across the street. The bottom-right grab shows the opposite corner of the intersection. There's still a Firestone dealer there, but the signage has changed. The building in the background of the bottom-left caught my eye. It didn't take too long before I realized that it was the old Coffee Dan's at 6576 Van Nuys Boulevard. Was Coffee Dan's still open in 1979? Check out post #17336 by Martin Pal for some pictures.


Rosner TV/MGM TV

To see what happened to the original building, I had a quick look through the building permits for 6551 Van Nuys Boulevard - there are seven pages of them, so I only checked a few. This appears to be the permit for the building seen in the Shulman photos. It's dated 7/7/1947.





And just 19 years later, I think this is the demolition permit. They even built a temporary bank at the back of the lot.





The permit for the new (current) building was also issued in 1966.





All building permits from Online Building Records System

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by Tourmaline

Even more Redondo?

We never even got into Redondo's dark side:

"Big time gambling, complete with mobsters and shooting incidents, found its way to Redondo during the Depression. Chip games, bingo parlors, and a casino were run in full view of the law between 1936 and 1940. For a fare of 25 cents, a water-taxi would transport a visitor to the gambling ship Rex which operated three miles off shore."
(redondo.org)

...although the famous gambling ship "Rex" has been covered on the thread before.