noirish Los Angeles

[sopas ej]

In honor of all this hot weather we've been having in SoCal for the past several days...

Heat wave, Santa Monica Beach, 1956.

USC Archive

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Mid-Century Modern.


"LLOYDS BANK, ALHAMBRA 1960s"


http://www.ebay.com/itm/1960s-LLOYDS...item20ffb18af0



I thought this was an entirely different building until I noticed the two surviving mid-century light fixtures. (red arrows)


gsv

I wonder what they did with the other five?
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^^^That building was recently demolished, like just some months ago, and the Bank of the West moved into the new development next door.

[Flyingwedge]

It's too hot to sleep, so I thought I'd poke around the Internet some more. It turns out that the 1907 Annandale
clubhouse was designed by Sumner P. Hunt.

The Golfers' Magazine, November 1908:



Hathitrust -- http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?i...ew=1up;seq=531

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

immersed in fabric.


eBay

they appear to be sisters. -possibly twins?

reverse (it's difficult to read)


Byou(?) Studio, 221(?) South Spring Street, Los Angeles Cal

It says "Bijou Studio". I found it listed in four of the City Directories from 1894 to 1911. The 1894 CD (below) lists the proprietors as Chester W Burdick and Andrew F Swisher, and the address as 221-223 South Spring Street. By 1898, Mr Swisher's name is missing, and the address is listed 221½ South Spring Street. The address stays the same after that.


LAPL

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Mid-Century Modern.

"LLOYDS BANK, ALHAMBRA 1960s"


http://www.ebay.com/itm/1960s-LLOYDS...item20ffb18af0

I thought this was an entirely different building until I noticed the two surviving mid-century light fixtures. (red arrows)


gsv

I wonder what they did with the other five?

Originally Posted by sopas ej

^^^That building was recently demolished, like just some months ago, and the Bank of the West moved into the new development next door.

While looking for pictures of Bank of the West at 100 S Garfield Ave, I came across their page at yelp.com. There's already a review of the new branch, and it isn't good. There were also three pictures of the building above. The photo below is credited to "Franklin M", and shows the rear entrance in 2012. With such a similar design to the front, I'm guessing the mid-century façade was probably repeated here. In fact, GSV shows four of the mid-century lights down each side of the building, so could the design have gone all around?



The two images below are credited to "Alfred M Villa" and also date from 2012. They give us a look at the interior of the building.





All pictures from www.yelp.com

[oldstuff]

Originally Posted by Tourmaline

There were many Biff's, including 7th Street, Yucca, Sunset, Crenshaw and Wilshire (below). Affiliated with Tiny Naylors.



Wilshire and McCarty Drive. Date unk. ('50s)

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/si...id/21310/rec/1




















http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2287/2...12b_z.jpg?zz=1





http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ESS7DccQ09...0/IMG_2262.PNG





http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/013...g?v=1402770085




http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/013...g?v=1402770085

The building that housed Biff's on San Fernando in Glendale is still there, although now it is a bit hidden by some potted plants

[oldstuff]

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.


This building looks like it was originally a Home Savings. They were all in that style of building and had some kind of art on the front.

[oldstuff]

old file / eBay I think

Is that a sea serpent on the beach?

And what's the large building in the distance? There appear to be two smokestacks...is it a ship? power plant?

also, I wonder what they're processing in the upper right (where all the smoke is). Sugar Beets?

Your "sea serpent" is actually the stem of Bull Kelp. Unlike brown kelp, which has fronds all the way up, Bull Kelp has a long stem and the fronds near the top, which are attached to the "bladder", the gas filled bulb that allows the plant to float near the surface. Thus ends the botany lesson for the day

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by Flyingwedge

It's too hot to sleep, so I thought I'd poke around the Internet some more. It turns out that the 1907 Annandale
clubhouse was designed by Sumner P. Hunt.

:
Thanks for your research on the Annandale Golf Club Flyingwedge! So L.P. stood for Lamanda Park....good sleuthing.

Here's another photograph of the club house.


detail



It's from this panorama. (the club house is at far right.


eBay



Here's the left end of the panorama, with some information, although it's difficult to read. (I believe it says copyright 1913)


detail

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by oldstuff

The building that housed Biff's on San Fernando in Glendale is still there, although now it is a bit hidden by some potted plants

gsv




gsv



It's interesting how the building is placed at a slight angle on the lot.


google_earth
____

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by HossC

In fact, GSV shows four of the mid-century lights down each side of the building, so could the design have gone all around?

Good eye Hoss. I totally missed the four lights on the sides.

There they are, plain as day.


gsv



So there may have been a total of 22 lights!! -that is, if there were seven in the back (where people parked and entered, so actually a second 'front')

It must have been especially impressive at night.


eBay
__

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Here's the left end of the panorama, with some information, although it's difficult to read. (I believe it says copyright 1913)


detail

The same image is in the Library of Congress - you can see it here. Their title is "Annandale Country Club, Pasadena, Cal., Dec. 25th, 1909", which seems to correspond with the text in the center of the panorama.

They also have a similar view from 1910 - that one is here.

[ethereal_reality]

While putzing around in the google-mobile I came across another bank that caught my eye.

The Wing Lung Bank at 201 E. Valley Boulevard, Alhambra CA.


gsv

After a quick google search or two, I found out it features the largest glass tile mural in North America.

The mural, inside and out, comprises approximately 1 million pieces of glass set in an abstract interpretation of the nearby San Gabriel Mountains.


inside the oval.

http://archinect.com/rushjackson/project/wing-lung-bank



interior #2

http://www.resourceanddesign.com/iportwin/3winpop.html

The mural was design by Neil Seth Levine.
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[ethereal_reality]

And before I leave Alhambra: This restaurant has been in business since 1941!

The Bun 'n Burger at 1000 E. Main Street.


gsv





http://thewackytacky.blogspot.com/20...-n-burger.html



http://thewackytacky.blogspot.com/20...-n-burger.html

I had to look up Menudo.
It's Mexican tripe soup....or a traditional stew from the Philippines.

_

[HossC]

We've visited today's Bank of America location before - I'll post the links below the Julius Shulman photos. This is "Job 1004: Bank of America (Los Angeles, Calif.),1951", and it shows the bank at La Brea and Melrose. To the left of the bank is Kaiser Printing.



Next to Kaiser Printing is the Bell & Howell building at 716 N La Brea Avenue, complete with one of their advertising boards.



Looking north, the large structure on the right is the extant La Brea Building. To the right of that is Ted Harris Real Estate.



All from Getty Research Institute

The Bell & Howell building was highlighted by e_r in 2011 in post #4220. The GSV image below shows that it's lost its flagpole and the shields near the top of the tower, but otherwise it looks good. Even the cellphone masts have been painted to match in. It's also a great example of how much better these old buildings look with restrained signage.


GSV

There was a follow-up to e_r's post about the Bell & Howell building, but all the images are missing. I'm guessing that this was one of them. Even the shields had neon.


California State Library

We also visited this intersection in October 2014. BifRayRock posted an undated vintage shot (probably late-20s) showing the bank building and the La Brea Building in post #24109. My follow-up has some information on the buildings, and a couple of "now" pictures, including the one below. Yes, the lovely bank building has been replaced by a Jiffy Lube.


GSV

[HossC]

As I mentioned in my post above, all the images of the Bell & Howell building are missing from an old follow-up post. It looks like the California State Library has reorganized their storage system, because a few other posts from around that time also have missing hotlinked CSL images. This is the danger of hotlinking, and happened earlier in the thread when USC changed their storage system. I'd hate to think how many images we'd lose if LAPL changed their system. What we're left with is posts with very little information, and links to non-existent images. Please stop hotlinking to images. It doesn't take long to set up a image host like ImageShack, Flickr or Photobucket, and you get so much more control over the images you post. You're no longer reliant on the original image staying online, and you get a chance to crop and scale images, tweak levels and use screengrabs.

While I'm having my two cents, can people please stop quoting lengthy, image-heavy posts just to add a line or two underneath. I'm not the first person to raise this issue, but it seems to be happening more again at the moment. I realize that the thought of editing quotes probably scares some members, but it's really not that hard. The messaging system handles quotes in virtually the same way as the forum, so if anyone wants to practice editing quotes privately, feel free to PM me.

[John Maddox Roberts]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

And before I leave Alhambra: This restaurant has been in business since 1941!

The Bun 'n Burger at 1000 E. Main Street.

I had to look up Menudo.
It's Mexican tripe soup....or a traditional stew from the Philippines.

_

ER,
Menudo is a traditional Sat/Sun breakfast item because Latinos believe it is a sovereign hangover remedy. Friday and Saturday nights are, of course, the traditional party nights.

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

And before I leave Alhambra: This restaurant has been in business since 1941!

The Bun 'n Burger at 1000 E. Main Street.


gsv

I had to look up Menudo.
It's Mexican tripe soup....or a traditional stew from the Philippines.

_

Thanks ER for the great memories of Alhambra. I do have a slight connection with the B & B....I ate there several times...ordinary food for the most part. Menudo...I don't like it.

I went to high school in that city. The school was one scandal after another. Several of the boy's male gym teachers were fired for having sex with male students. In the 1950s the boy's gym was like a Roman orgy.

My male English teacher announced in class one day that he was living with another male teacher from the same school. Juicy gossip was rampant as a result of that remark!.
The school was basically a collection of student snobs and cliques. Half of the teachers were dedicated but the other half were totally unfit to be near kids.....ever. The school was a wild noir place for the 1950s.

Library patrons discovered Alhambra vice cops were 16mm color filming inside the men's toilet from behind a two-way mirror. Patrons smashed the mirror. Year approx. 1955.
file CD

This building was removed around 1958.

file CD

[ethereal_reality]

[QUOTE=sopas ej;7149162]

Before 1948, LA's Power Grid Was Incompatible With the Rest of the US

Here's an interesting ad from 1929


eBay

-note the artist's interpretation of City Hall.
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[ethereal_reality]

This "Bank Café" seems about 7 or 8 decades before it's time.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Unused-Linen...item567ad3db58

"Changed from a bank to a café and back to a bank again in 24 hours." It's like today's "pop up" restaurants.



reverse


but where's the street address? I want to know where in San Pedro.
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