noirish Los Angeles

[BillinGlendaleCA]

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

Snow is predicted for parts of LA today. We'll see.

Last time it snowed in LA was 1962. I went outside tonight and believe me its cold here in LA.

This February 2019 is the coldest ever on record....

Tujunga 1962

Robert Hall Chevrolet was at 6467 Foothill, it's now a Public Storage. I believe the service bays were at 6477 and are still there. The snow in 1962 was on my birthday, at least it was in Thousand Oaks.

Aerial view from 1965, you can see the service bay building that's still there on the corner.
via FrameFinder

[The Best Forumer]

i like these... very noir indeed.....

[ethereal_reality]

ONCE MORE...

Originally Posted by HenryHuntington

___________________

We're looking west on Main St. at Bay St. in the Balboa neighborhood of Newport Beach. The building housing the Balboa Coffee Shop has been replaced by a branch U.S. Post Office, but the other buildings shown in the photo remain. The pharmacy on the corner of Main and Balboa Blvd. is still a pharmacy, though of course no longer Rexall. The building on the opposite corner of Main St. was once a hardware store and then a real estate office. It's now a beachwear shop.

The building presumably containing the bowling alley also remains. It once housed the Balboa Bakery (the eclairs were special) and later became a take-out eatery.

The location was fairly strategic, as the Balboa Pavillion was behind the photographer and across a walkway; while a half-block across Balboa Blvd. the once-famous Balboa Inn hosted big-name big bands in the 1930s-40s. A bit further on, the Balboa Pier still juts into the Pacific.

Please forgive me for waxing a bit nostalgic, but I misspent some of the happiest hours of my youth in and around here. And a bit later on, Class of '47 was, and might still be, one of the better dive bars in the OC for the not-so-youthful.

Soounds like a lot of fun Henry. Thanks for sharing your memories.

Here's a great photograph looking in the opposite direction. (on Main St.)


stunewsport

If I'm not mistaken, the person who took the Ebay snapshot was standing on the roof of the large white biulding. (where I placed the RED DOT)


I see that the small cafe, that I mentioned earlier, was called the Casino Cafe.

_

[HossC]

A couple of previous pictures of Balboa:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I happened across the following three photographs of men in uniform flirting with some pretty girls (by letting them where their hats )

...

The seller says the photograph were taken in Balboa CA. (20 miles south of Long Beach)

Girl #2 is standing in front of a different storefront. (I believe it says something "ladies" on the window)

Originally Posted by HossC

Although these were undated, I found one of them dated as 1940 by another seller.


eBay

Most of the buildings are still there. My full post includes some GSV images.

[ethereal_reality]

The northeast (sort of) corner of Main St. and Balboa Blvd.


]copenhagenize





2014

GSv






currently being renovated 2018

GSV

[Mstimc]

[QUOTE=CityBoyDoug;8481794]Snow is predicted for parts of LA today. We'll see.

Last time it snowed in LA was 1962. I went outside tonight and believe me its cold here in LA.

This February 2019 is the coldest ever on record....

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

Great slides, and commentary, E_R! Looks a bit chilly that day!

Speaking of chilly:





Yes, we had six days in the 80's last February. We haven't even hit a high of 70° yet this month. I'd love to see some snow of any kind today...we shall see!

[B]
Last night was cold and it didn't help that my electricity went off for extended periods twice last night. Before midnight.


HH, I enjoyed your waxing...and if you were having some of the happiest hours of your youth, it was definitely not misspent!

Well, its 43 degrees in Placentia right now, with a Weather.com "real feel" of 37 and an overnight frost warning...

[HenryHuntington]

Originally Posted by HossC

A couple of previous pictures of Balboa:





Most of the buildings are still there. My full post includes some GSV images.

Hoss, FWIW the second photo shows PE rails in Balboa Blvd. These were removed in 1941 after the line was cut back to Newport Beach in mid-1940, so the advertised dating rings true to me.

While I'm here, e-r's red dot is placed exactly right. And thanks to everyone for these remarkable photos!

[MartinTurnbull]

Sometimes I find photos in the oddest of places – I came across this one on display in my doctor’s office. It caught my eye because I thought, “Since when did a section of the Hollywood Freeway open in 1962?” On further investigation, I learned that we’re looking at the opening of the part of the 101 Freeway known as the 170 that goes from the 101 to Magnolia Blvd in North Hollywood. In this photo we’re looking south past those vintage Fords they hauled out for the occasion. (A 1906-08 Model N is on the far left. The other two are Model T's that could have been built anytime between 1909 and about 1916.)

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

The northeast (sort of) corner of Main St. and Balboa Blvd. currently being renovated 2018

GSV

Appears that they've eliminated the tile roofs.

Current events: Coldest in LA this month since the 1880s when they began keeping weather records. This week at night I could see my breath which in LA is rare. A few hail and snow flurries today in areas above 700'.

[ethereal_reality]

Here is a spectacular photograph of Long Beach in 1905.

There is such a large crowd it's difficult to tell if there is a pier beneath them.


currently on EBAY

Especially interesting is the smallish octagonal building in the middle distance.







If you look closely there is a large banner draped across the street.


detail

I should have cropped this a bit more carefully. On the right, just out of sight, is a large United States flag.

(refer back to the top pic)

[ethereal_reality]

I couldn't resist.

Here's a closer look at the octagonal mystery building. (and the impressive bank building behind it)



hmmm... the lantern-shaped 'box' on top makes me think this might be a camera obscura.

__

[Bristolian]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Interior of market on Figueroa.


EBAY


4315 So. Figueroa St.
LA CA
June 13, 1931

There are no addresses on the buildings these days but this could be the market building. The business to the north is 4301. Needless to say, the old market has seen better days.


GSV

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by CaliNative

Regarding the ceiling light bulb, my guess would be that the big fixture to the right blew out, so a temporary bulb was hung to give light. Cheaper than repairing the big fixture, or maybe they couldn't find the correct parts? This was the start of the Depression, so money needed to be spent wisely.

Do you mean the wiring 'blew out'? Otherwise they could have simply removed the globe and repace the bulb. (obviously)
I thought perhaps the extra bulb in the center was to illuminate the counter area. To be honest, I'm just guessing that the shape on the left is a lighting fixture.

Here's the cropped pic. once more.


the original market photo can be found....never mind Bristolia just posted it again. Perfect timing!

Thanks for your help CaliNative. I appreciate it.

[John Maddox Roberts]

Originally Posted by CaliNative

Regarding the ceiling light bulb, my guess would be that the big fixture to the right blew out, so a temporary bulb was hung to give light. Cheaper than repairing the big fixture, or maybe they couldn't find the correct parts? This was the start of the Depression, so money needed to be spent wisely.

I have a question--what are the items for sale stacked on the counter at left, and the cylindrical thingies for sale ("2 for 25 cents") in wire bin below? Any ideas? Can't be Pringles--"can't eat just one"--they weren't invented until the 1960s. What would really be strange is if there was an open laptop computer on the counter. Twilight Zone stuff.

My guess would be oatmeal, or maybe salt. Both have traditionally been packaged in cylindrical cannisters, though flat, rectangular boxes would make more sense.

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

Current events: Coldest in LA this month since the 1880s when they began keeping weather records. This week at night I could see my breath which in LA is rare. A few hail and snow flurries today in areas above 700'.

Snow in L.A.: Here’s What It Looked Like from West Hollywood to Pasadena
https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/...221-story.html

A Pasadena Street...
NBC News


Rose Bowl
CBS News

Bradley Whitford tweeted out a video of a little snow falling around the Beverly Center.
https://twitter.com/WhitfordBradley/...04275239186432

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Here is a spectacular photograph of Long Beach in 1905.

There is such a large crowd it's difficult to tell if there is a pier beneath them.


currently on EBAY

Especially interesting is the smallish octagonal building in the middle distance.

This image shows the same area a few years later. The bank is there, and The Norwood furnished rooms are on the right. Sadly, it doesn't show the octagonal building. However, I do like the camel on the entrance gate.

View of Long Beach from the pier, Los Angeles, ca.1910


USC Digital Library

There's another 1905 view here, and USC also has pictures looking down the different piers in 1890 and 1906.

Here's a very similar view which has been colorized as a postcard. It's dated 1908, and names the location as Pine Avenue (The Norwood was at 38 Pine).


eBay

[ethereal_reality]

mystery location.


EBAY

Does anyone know where, in Los Feliz, the Los Feliz School was located?

Judging by the shadows below their feet...the photograph was taken around noon.

_




Wanna' see these rug rats up close?



The sun got in Amy's eyes. Poor thing.



One of the boys is missing his shoes.

__

[BillinGlendaleCA]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

mystery location.


EBAY

Does anyone know where, in Los Feliz, the Los Feliz School was located?

Judging by the shadows below their feet...the photograph was taken around noon.

_




Wanna' see these rug rats up close?



The sun got in Amy's eyes. Poor thing.



One of the boys is missing his shoes.

__

Los Feliz School(Los Feliz Elementary) is on New Hampshire just north of Barnsdall Park.

Google Street View

Schools don't change location all that often, so I'm pretty sure that's the location of the picture.

(ER, your photos are not displaying.)

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

mystery location.



One of the boys is missing his shoes.

__

Often a few kids came from very poor families who could not afford shoes.

The the same was true at my grade school in the 1950s. In my school there was a special fund which bought shoes for kids and also paid for their lunch.....$.25 cents.

My father paid for haircuts for neighbor boys.

[Martin Pal]

I remember a couple kids like that in my grade school. One boy in my class used to get teased because his clothes were raggedy and I never understood why people would be mean to this boy because of that. They'd also tease him because his hair was often long (haircuts cost money) and boys hair was not long at that time.

I recall one year when the class celebrated Valentine's Day, it was made clear we were supposed to exchange Valentines with all the classmates, but most of the kids still would not give this boy anything. I recall giving him a valentine that year and he looked up at me and got tears in his eyes. It affects me still when it comes to mind.

It makes me wonder about that boy in E_R's picture. Notice all the other boys in that row have their arms around each other, but not him.