noirish Los Angeles

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

A highly scanned noirish view/found on ebay tonight. -notice the flood-lights. (there's the Broadway Hollywood sign in the distance at left)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/A0241-Postca...item5d4436f5b9


There's the palm tree I thought was on fire.

Great find E_R!

One thing I've appreciated in my journey through this forum (and I'm only about 1/4 of the way through) is the little detail one might just pass by were it not for the poster mentioning them, like your mention of the "Broadway Hollywood" sign in the corner! Excellent!

CBS headquartered it's radio programs here which were open to public attendance. Famed agent Henry Willson discovered Guy Madison here in attendance at one of the radio broadcasts. The late 40's saw some television programs broadcast from here as well and the pilot of I Love Lucy was shot here. It was last home to KNX News Radio and Los Angeles CBS news. It's been vacant for many years but is now undergoing a major overhaul and refurbishing. The building on the right was Brittingham's Radio Center Restaurant where the famous who worked there often congregated, but it was also open to the public.

A matchbook cover from the restaurant:
Radio City Hollywood
http://www.radiocityhollywood.com/sidebarpics

aerial of Columbia Square - 1949
Hollywood Historic Photos
http://hhp.ipower.com/

A postcard view - 1950's
(notice the semaphore traffic light changing from stop to go!)
Dear Old Hollywood
http://doh.blogspot.com/cbs-radio-days

In 2010
Dear Old Hollywood
http://doh.blogspot.com/cbs-radio-days

Coming soon?
Kilroy Realty
http://www.columbiasquare.com/

Nearby was the Radio City Motor Hotel (postcard)
Radio City Hollywood
http://www.radiocityhollywood.com/sidebarpics

...and I found this great color photo of Breneman's Restaurant on Vine Street not too far away
where Tom Breneman's famous Breakfast in Hollywood was broadcast from--coast to coast.

Radio City Hollywood
http://www.radiocityhollywood.com/sidebarpics

[ethereal_reality]

-Interesting post Martin. I didn't know the pilot of I Love Lucy was filmed at CBS Columbia Center.
I was under the impression the center was strictly radio.





4321 Magnolia Boulevard, Burbank CA

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7976130...pool-vintagela





today: I was pleasantly surprised to see the 1950/60s design elements still in place.

gsv






gsv

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

-Interesting post Martin. I didn't know the pilot of I Love Lucy was filmed at CBS Columbia Center.
I always thought the center was strictly radio.

I did, too, until I saw an extra on an I LOVE LUCY dvd. It was "Lucy and Desi's First Joint TV Appearance," and the notes say: This rare kinescoped excerpt shows the first time Lucy and Desi ever appeared together on television. Their guest shot on "The Ed Wynn Show" was broadcast live on December 24, 1949, from Studio A in CBS Columbia Square, Hollywood.

It goes on to say that it was broadcast live to the west coast, as coast to coast broadcasting was not yet available. The east coast saw this two weeks later in the kinescoped version which is where the excerpt was obtained.

Of course, the local CBS channel did it's news programs from these studios for many years.

[ethereal_reality]

I was admiring this art deco building on the southwest corner of Broadway and Redondo Ave. in Long Beach.


gsv


After a few searches I found this photograph of a Security First National Bank located on the same corner.

1925

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ozfan22...@N24/lightbox/

At first I simply thought the deco building replaced the earlier building, but then I started looking at the dimensions and counting the windows.

Now I am pretty sure this is the same building remodeled in the art deco style.

gsv

[ethereal_reality]

Advertising races at the Legion Ascot Speedway.

http://theoldmotor.com/




below: Aerial view of the Legion Ascot Speedway located along Soto Street from Valley Blvd. to Multnomah Street. The speedway operated between 1924 to 1936 in the Lincoln Heights area.


www.ladwp.com



below: Here's another view of the speedway from an earlier post.

Originally Posted by procab

Aerial view of Legion Ascot Speedway in 1925. The track was also used for horse racing and as a boxing arena.
This was located on the NE corner of Valley and Soto. Below is looking east.

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[so-cal-bear]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I was admiring this art deco building on the southwest corner of Broadway and Redondo Ave. in Long Beach.


gsv


After a few searches I found this photograph of a Security First National Bank located on the same corner.

1925

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ozfan22...@N24/lightbox/

At first I simply thought the deco building replaced the earlier building, but then I started looking at the dimensions and counting the windows.

Now I am pretty sure this is the same building remodeled in the art deco style.

gsv

E_R you're right! I really think it is the same building! Art Deco gone bad! I just read last week about another example of this in NYC. I know, this is the LA thread. but here it is. -----> http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/04/re...enue.html?_r=0

Both buildings looked better than the aftermath of the art deco renovations. I don't mind art deco when built from the ground up. One of my favorite art deco buildings is the PSFS building in Philadelphia. I've seen it up close.

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by so-cal-bear

I don't mind art deco when built from the ground up.

That's it in a nutshell. I couldn't agree more so-cal-bear.
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[westcork]

When I think of Long Beach, I think of the 1933 Earthquake. I wonder if this building suffered damage and was remodeled in 1934...

[ethereal_reality]

Interesting information on the new electroliers. Two different designs are shown.-one for Broadway, one for Hill Street.

Los Angeles Herald Feb.1905



Chronicling America/Library of Congress
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[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ozfan22...@N24/lightbox/

Looks like a little Safeway market tucked around the corner...

[ethereal_reality]

I don't see the Safeway GW. Is it located in the bank building (on the right)?





Communist rally at the Old Plaza in the 1930s


ebay
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[ralph60]

I was told by a ralative that believes it was between the late 30 and 1940s.

I am the grandson of the architect, Raymond J. Wyatt. he was given an office in the 2080 building by the Acme company, to use. his main office was over on Soto. as for the San Francisco Acme, we don't know what he did up there. my ralative, that was around during the 1930's thinks that he designed the production conveyer systems, cookers, and other types of brewing equipment.

he designed a lot of the industrial buildings around Vernon. I was told that he designed the grain elevator further east down on Slauson. it was there the last time I was in the area.

he also designed a lot of the home of the Hollywood stars of the 1930's and 40's era. as to who I don't know. I have some of his stuff a few blue prints, but he destroyed a lot of his stuff, back in the mid 1960's.

[ethereal_reality]

Ralph60 is referring to the old brewing company.



you can read more about it here:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=15575
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I tried looking for the grain elevator on east Slauson, but I didn't have any luck in finding it. Hopefully it still stands.

That said, welcome to the thread Ralph60, maybe we'll get to see some of those plans you mentioned.
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[ethereal_reality]

So what's the story behind motels that look more like apartment buildings?

ebay

reverse


today

gsv


It looks a bit forlorn.

gsv



-that's it, the n shaped bldg. on the southwest corner of 5th & Alexandria Ave.

google earth
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[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I don't see the Safeway GW. Is it located in the bank building (on the right)?

It's on the East Broadway side--the space that looks like a garage entrance. The sign above the opening looked like a Safeway sign--I could see the big initial "S"... I decided to look it up in a city directory, and sure enough there was a Safeway there in 1932--3348 East Broadway.

http://waterandpower.org/
The sign is of this vintage, as seen at 5509 Sunset Blvd


Here's another shot of the bank building, though it doesn't show the store:

LBPL



As for the apartment-building-like motels-- I guess they were meant to blend in with the neighborhood and to attract some long-term stays....

[GaylordWilshire]

Oviatt Library

I love this shot of a showroom full of '57 Lincolns--which were badly restyled '56s, pretty over the top, if not downright hideous, compared to Cadillacs of that year, and nowhere was pretty as '57 Imperials with curved side glass... but I digress.

This was the Berl Berry Lincoln-Mercury showroom at 3700 Wilshire, opened in 1951. I looked and looked for some better pics of it than the one below...

ebay.com

According to this ad, this is the Wilshire Blvd Berry dealership. Berl Berry was a Kansas City-based dealer with many franchises in the Midwest and California (also apparently quite a character).

Can anyone find better pics of this showroom? I haven't perused any aerials, but there must be something out there....

[Apollodorus]

Hello everyone, I wanted to introduce myself and thank everyone who has contributed to this fascinating and memorable thread. I found this thread a long time ago but only until recently did I decide to finally register, I guess I finally felt the need to contribute something. As a huge fan of film noir and an admirer of Los Angeles, I have been transfixed by all the beautiful and haunting images of this wonderful city. As a jazz aficionado, I have often found myself flipping page after page of this thread and listening to Miles, Coltrane, Hawk, and others, trying to get a sense of what LA was like 60 or 70 some odd years ago. Although I live in Orange County and often travel to LA, I hope to move to LA permanently and explore everything that the city has to offer because after all, as I have seen throughout this thread, there is so much to see and do in LA, it has and will always be an amazing city. I'll stop there before I get too sappy...I did however want to share an image I took a few years ago and a very noirish jazz track I discovered. I look forward to discussing and enjoying more of this thread.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-Dz6...CCFD0563D14AA3

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

So what's the story behind motels that look more like apartment buildings?

ebay

Almost identical postcard showing original (?) color.

[srk1941]

"This was the Berl Berry Lincoln-Mercury showroom at 3700 Wilshire, opened in 1951. I looked and looked for some better pics of it than the one below"

This was designed by architect Lewis E. Wilson, who is most widely known for his involvement in the design of Baldwin Hills Village. He was part of the firm Wilson, Merrill and Alexander, and the brother of architect Adrian Wilson. There are more images of this online, and also of the Baldwin Theater, which had a similar shape.

[alanlutz]

Welcome to the group, Apollodorus, it is indeed an amazing collection of all this LA past to present. I also live in the OC area and am a big fan of LA and have learned to appreciate so much more, the old buildings and streets, whenever I visit downtown. I usually take the Metrolink when I go as it is so convenient to get there and also not worry about parking. I am enjoying the jazz track provided as I write. Look forward to more contributions. When was that photo taken?