noirish Los Angeles

[ethereal_reality]

I just realized there was another Maison Gaston location.

This one was located at 1219 N. Vine.


courtesy of Mary Mallory


Here's an ad for it's opening in 1944.


https://ladailymirror.com/2016/05/30...-then-and-now/

"In 1946, Maison Gaston’s added Bob Leine as pianist as a way to increase business, and then also began offering lunch in 1947.
Operators tried all means to bring in new customers to build revenue. Steaks and other entrees were played up in 1948 ads
before the restaurant’s eventual demise."



but by Dec. 10, 1951. it was already being auctioned off.


https://ladailymirror.com/2016/05/30...-then-and-now/

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I recently found this kodachrome slide of eBay.

I believe we're looking south on Olive toward the intersection of Fourth and Olive streets. I believe this is the late 1940s or perhaps early 50s.


eBay

If you look closely you can see the very tall blade sign of the Auditorium Bldg. (and someone does taxes for a living in the building on the right)

Here's the same street, from a slightly different angle, taken just before Christmas in 1962. I'm pretty sure we've seen it before, but I couldn't find it. The image was very dark - this is after the brightness and contrast have been adjusted!


Huntington Digital Library

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

further down the block, also on the right side, there's a sign that says 'The Olive' something......probably Apartments.

Here's the Olive Inn in 1966. We've definitely seen this one before in a post by FredH, but many/all of his pictures seem to be missing. Maybe that's why I can't find the image above.

"Oldest frame apartment left on Olive Street."


Huntington Digital Library

[ethereal_reality]

I'm surprised how shabby the Olive Inn looks.

I realize much of Bunker Hill looked the same in the 1960s....but this is just sad.

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I can't believe how shabby the Olive Inn looks.

Who owned the building....a slumlord? (he obviously didn't bother with maintenance)

The demo permit for the Olive Inn was issued about seven weeks after the picture above was taken.


Online Building Records

[ethereal_reality]

so the Olive Inn was in its death throes when that slide was taken.




Little boy in denim feeding ducks in Westlake Park.


eBay

so cute (is that you CBD?)


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[Blaster]

Originally Posted by HossC

Here's the same street, from a slightly different angle, taken just before Christmas in 1962. I'm pretty sure we've seen it before, but I couldn't find it. The image was very dark - this is after the brightness and contrast have been adjusted!


Huntington Digital Library

Those parking lot signs with the arrow balanced on the circle are longtime survivors around the city. You still see them -- repainted and revised with new rates, of course.

[HossC]

I was hoping I'd be able to find an address for this building with its rippled front. Julius Shulman took these pictures in 1955, but there's no entry in the 1956 CD (there are plenty before). The only entry I found after that date was in the 1961 CD, which lists Pacific Clay Prod[uct]s at 1255 W 4th Street. Today it's a parking lot, but the historic aerial views don't match these pictures. This is "Job 1926: Pacific Clay Products, 1955".



I assume that this shot of the rear was to show off the bricks on the right, which I'm guessing are one of the company's products.



The third and final shot shows an office. Maybe the funky curtains were to counterbalance the seriousness of all those books!



All from Getty Research Institute

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

so the Olive Inn was in it's death throes when that slide was taken.
Little boy in denim feeding ducks in Westlake Park.


eBay

so cute (is that you CBD?)

No ER but but here I am at the same Westlake Park having some popcorn. Myself, brother and mother. This was our typical Sunday when my mother was dating my eventual stepfather.

After the park, we went to a restaurant if we could find one that wasn't too crowded. WW II had recently ended and eating establishments were packed to the ceiling. Once we waited a long time and finally left without our dinner. Being so young I cried. They all laughed but me.

I suspect ER's photo above was taken around the same time as mine. Those brand new little jeans were probably just newly available after the War. All clothes were rationed during WW II or just not made at all.

[ethereal_reality]

Such a sweet photograph CityBoyDoug. Thanks for sharing it with us.

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[ethereal_reality]

RE: The uniform the soldier is wearing.

Originally Posted by oldstuff

It appears to be a US Army Enlisted Dress Uniform from 1883 to about 1885 (the later Indian War Period) He is a sergeant, obviously, but not in the Army all that long or he would have hashmarks below his sergeant's chevrons on his sleeve for tours of duty. The white piping and collar shows him to be infantry. The sergeant's chevrons would be in gold thread.

Thanks for this information oldstuff.

I believe this is the same uniform.


http://www.ushist.com/img/iw/images/...-scout-a_l.jpg

One thing that is different (besides the missing hashmarks below the chevron) is the gold diamond shape within the V of the sergeant's stripes. (any idea what this is?)

I believe the lower right image is a glimpse of the back of the uniform. (at first I thought it was the lower sleeve)

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[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by HossC

I was hoping I'd be able to find an address for this building with its rippled front. Julius Shulman took these pictures in 1955, but there's no entry in the 1956 CD (there are plenty before). The only entry I found after that date was in the 1961 CD, which lists Pacific Clay Prod[uct]s at 1255 W 4th Street. Today it's a parking lot, but the historic aerial views don't match these pictures. This is "Job 1926: Pacific Clay Products, 1955".

Hoss-- The first Times image isn't very helpful, but here's a little more on the Pacific Clay Products building you posted--

[ethereal_reality]

Good sleuthing GW!
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Remember this?

It's the 'mystery' slide from earlier in the week, and the location is still a mystery.
(unless I missed it) .


eBay



I decided to take another look at that neon sign.


detail

Nope, still can't make heads or tails out of it.

Then I started thinking about the yellow key.....well I didn't think a company would be named "Yellow Key", so I took a stab in the dark and tried "Gold Key".


Sure enough, there was a Gold Key Entertainment company at 855 Cahuenga Blvd.


lapl

But I was never able to match it up a gsv image with the vintage slide,
and the shape of the Hollywood Hills at the end of the street appears to be different than what you would see traveling north on Cahuenga Blvd.




So in other words, close...but no cigar.

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[Jungmann]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Good sleuthing GW!
__


Remember this?

It's the 'mystery' slide from earlier in the week, and the location is still a mystery.
(unless I missed it) .


eBay



I decided to take another look at that neon sign.


detail

Nope, still can't make heads or tails out of it.

Then I started thinking about the yellow key.....well I didn't think a company would be named "Yellow Key", so I took a stab in the dark and tried "Gold Key".


Sure enough, there was a Gold Key Entertainment company at 855 Cahuenga Blvd.


lapl

But I was never able to match it up a gsv image with the vintage slide,
and the shape of the Hollywood Hills at the end of the street appears to be different than what you would see traveling north on Cahuenga Blvd.




So in other words, close...but no cigar.

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I believe the building with the key is the former site of the Jewish Federation in Los Angeles on North Vermont. The street car is passing over the 101. I used to see it often--I grew up on Marathon Street some distance north on Vermont, across from the LACC campus, and my mom used Vermont as a main street often.

Only my second post or so, but I've been following this terrific site for years. This is the first time I've beaten the resident experts to the punch on a location--much respect to them.

This is from a LA Times article:

Former site of Jewish Federation--590 N. Vermont, Hollywood. To the students, it is the Cleveland Chiropractic College, but the U-shape, three-story building was once known as the Jewish pentagon. From 1950 to 1976, it housed the federation. As the community expanded northward and westward, the location became less accessible. The federation's present location is a 12-story building on Wilshire Boulevard.

[rick m]

Originally Posted by Blaster

Those parking lot signs with the arrow balanced on the circle are longtime survivors around the city. You still see them -- repainted and revised with new rates, of course.

Our school bus had parked in this lot for the 1962 ( or WAS it 1961) For our outing to attend a giant XMAS show at the Phil-- wish I could remember something of the program-- We walked that slope in single file-- And I realized then how those three apt buildings reminded me of what stood in my grandparents town of Cresson,Pa. My original visit to downtown---

[John Maddox Roberts]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

RE: The uniform the soldier is wearing.







Thanks for this information oldstuff.

I believe this is the same uniform.


http://www.ushist.com/img/iw/images/...-scout-a_l.jpg

One thing that is different (besides the missing hashmarks below the chevron) is the gold diamond shape within the V of the sergeant's stripes. (any idea what this is?)

I believe the lower right image is a glimpse of the back of the uniform. (at first I thought it was the lower sleeve)

__

The diamond meant that this man was a First Sergeant - the senior NCO of a company. A star in the same place would have meant a sergeant-major - the senior NCO of a regiment or Battalion.

[HossC]

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

Thanks for digging up all the information on Pacific Clay Products, GW. Google Maps led me to the center of the block rather than the corner. Here's the building permit from 1953.


Online Building Records

Contrary to what I said in my original post, the building can be seen in the historic views. I picked the image from 1980 because it's the clearest one.


Historic Aerials

The demo permit is not available online, but it's dated 1990. The current building on the site has the address 350 S Bixel Street. The grading and new building permits are dated 1993.


GSV

[VC351W]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

I think they're just rocks too.

Here's an 1891 detail of the future site of Court Flight showing a pile of rocks that I assume were given up by the hillside when the retaining walls were put in:


uscdl: http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/si...d/1740/rec/255

I don't see any rocks here though. Maybe one could if the shot was closer:

LAT

Thx e_r, I liked the fragments of the Yankee.

I have had the opportunity to dig many many holes throughout the city, and have found that the soil can change drastically as you go down past the various layers. I've also had the misfortune of coming across large rocks and small boulders just like in your picture. I even found the footing to a bridge that was long buried. That was east of Santa Fe Abe and south of 15th street.

[HossC]

Just a quick "then and now" Julius Shulman post today. This is "Job 5481: 1285 Clark Street House (West Hollywood, Calif.), 1977". It's always easier when the address is in the job title!



Getty Research Institute

There have been a few minor changes since 1977, but not many.


GSV

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Demolition is temporarily halted for Walt Disney's first Los Angeles home.

Luckily, the garage that once stood on the property, where Mr. Disney had his studio, has already been moved.
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Am I crazy to think that the Disney Company (Studios, Disneyland etc.) wouldn't have wanted to buy this modest building and move it to their studios or Disneyland? Surely they could afford it. Wonder why no interest in that?

[Blaster]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

Am I crazy to think that the Disney Company (Studios, Disneyland etc.) wouldn't have wanted to buy this modest building and move it to their studios or Disneyland? Surely they could afford it. Wonder why no interest in that?

Possibly it's felt that the garage is of more interest to fans and historians... where the early creativity took place.