noirish Los Angeles

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by BillinGlendaleCA

I'm skeptical about 9th and San Pedro based on the gasometer in the background. Klein Simpson was at Mill and Produce in the teens and in the 20's at 750 Market. I'm favoring the Mill and Produce location, the gasometer would be in the right location.

Date? Judging from all the horse carriages and early style Model Ts and other "flivvers" my guess would be pre WW1, maybe 1914-15 give or take a year or two. When was that gasometer built?

[BillinGlendaleCA]

Originally Posted by CaliNative

Date? Judging from all the horse carriages and early style Model Ts and other "flivvers" my guess would be pre WW1, maybe 1914-15 give or take a year or two. When was that gasometer built?

I'd tend to agree based on the number of horse drawn delivery vehicles that it would probably be pre-WWI, the gasometer seemed to be there in 1906 based on the Sanbourn.

via lapl

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

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Here's a rare look inside one of the rooms in the old Wilcox Hotel in Hollywood. (Sept. 4, 1942)



eBay (link coming)

I believe the three buddies are in the military because, unless I'm mistaken, their hats are on top of the credenza.

The reverse



Here's a closer look. (there's one of their hats)



They're drinking 7-UP and, what looks like, some kind of whiskey.


The Wilcox Hotel around the time of their visit.


historicconsultants

As you can see, the hotel entrance is actually on Selma and not Wilcox.

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Just because: Here's a close-up of the Wilcox Hotel as seen in the Hollywood Diorama that toured the country from 1946-48 to give people an idea of what the city of Hollywood looked like. (I've mentioned it on NLA before.)

AprilClemmer

There are photos of the diorama at this LINK.


FYI: The Hotel Wilcox building is still there as the Mama Shelter. (The art-deco Hollywood Post Office is across the street.) In 2015 Mama Shelter opened, a "hip hotel, restaurant and bar destination in Hollywood which [...] includes 70 hotel rooms which start around $150 each and include amenities like iMac computers in every room and fun, youthful décor (designed by Philippe Starck) and things like message boards above the fireplace and Hollywood-centric movie scripts included in guest rooms. The ground floor includes a bar, full-service restaurant (with food by Benjamin Bailly) and a coffee shop selling Intelligentsia products. The rooftop features another restaurant/bar as well as an outdoor gym." --LINK.


The area is rapidly changing: The intersection of Selma and Wilcox has seen the opening of the Dream and the French-based Mama Shelter hotels (mentioned above) in the last few years. An under construction Thompson Hotel is slated to rise two doors south of the Mama Shelter on Wilcox. About a half-block to the north, on Wilcox near Hollywood Boulevard, the 134-room Whisky Hotel is in the works. In 2019 the City Council approved plans to build an eight-story hotel at Selma and Wilcox Avenues (the Selma Wilcox Hotel).

The Hollywood Citizen News building next door to Mama Shelter (Hotel Wilcox), a 1936 view:

CurbedLA

A more recent view:

MiramarCapital

The building is set to be transformed into restaurants and events space.

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

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Here's a closer look. (there's one of their hats)



They're drinking 7-UP and, what looks like, some kind of whiskey. :shrug

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Never tried seven up as a mixer with whiskey. Usually use coke or ginger ale. These guys getting a welcome break from the war. Later probably went to USO Hollywood Canteen. Maybe dance with Barbara Stanwyck or some other star. The guy in the middle has a distinctive face. They probably called him "bulldog" or something like that. Would have done well as a character actor playing a fighter, gangster, criminal or other tough guy. The guy on the left would have got the second fiddle funny best friend parts. The guy on the right maybe a steady eddie banker or teacher.

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by BillinGlendaleCA

I'd tend to agree based on the number of horse drawn delivery vehicles that it would probably be pre-WWI, the gasometer seemed to be there in 1906 based on the Sanbourn.

via lapl

Maybe even 1910- 1912?. Those dresses on the women are ankle length. By war entry in 1917 the hemlines had gone above that, in some cases up to 6 inches above the ankles. Plus all those horse carriages.

[ethereal_reality]

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Originally Posted by CaliNative

Never tried seven up as a mixer with whiskey. Usually use coke or ginger ale.

...

My parents weren't drinkers but on the rare occasion they did imbibe it was always the old standby, 7 & 7. (Seagram's 7 Crown Whiskey and 7-UP)




Complimentary soap from the Wilcox Hotel.


pinterest

I was surprised the address of the Wilcox Hotel isn't on Wilcox but on Selma Avenue.







But I should have known because the entrance to the hotel is on Selma. (SHOWN BELOW - ON THE RIGHT)


detail

Look right up there ................................................................................................................

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[BillinGlendaleCA]

Originally Posted by CaliNative

Maybe even 1910- 1912?. Those dresses on the women are ankle length. By war entry in 1917 the hemlines had gone above that, in some cases up to 6 inches above the ankles. Plus all those horse carriages.

It wouldn't be before 1911, that's when the Klein Produce Co. and Simpson Produce Co. merged.

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by BillinGlendaleCA

I'd tend to agree based on the number of horse drawn delivery vehicles that it would probably be pre-WWI, the gasometer seemed to be there in 1906 based on the Sanbourn.

via lapl

Originally Posted by BillinGlendaleCA

It wouldn't be before 1911, that's when the Klein Produce Co. and Simpson Produce Co. merged.

In fact maybe 1911 is the date of the photo. They took it when they opened. Makes sense. Look at all the people lined up like they were posing, maybe the employees? Why else would this pic be taken? Photos like this were taken on special occasions back then. Grand Opening would qualify.

[BillinGlendaleCA]

Originally Posted by CaliNative

In fact maybe 1911 is the date of the photo. They took it when they opened. Makes sense. Look at all the people lined up like they were posing, maybe the employees? Why else would this pic be taken? Photos like this were taken on special occasions back then. Grand Opening would qualify.

Could be, I wasn't trying to narrow down the date, just the location.

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

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I don't believe we have visited the Klein & Simpson Fruit Company on NLA but even if we have, we haven't seen each & everyone of their employees! ! !



eBay

hmmm. . .maybe the people are fruit growers & vendors.

also note the gas-o-meter at far right - - - >



Here are some close-ups.


#1







#2







#3



The seller included the address..... Ninth and San Pedro St. (I haven't confirmed it)

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1911 Grand Opening in all likelihood. Calinative. Bill.

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by BillinGlendaleCA

Could be, I wasn't trying to narrow down the date, just the location.

You can be the location sleuth, I'll be the date sleuth.

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by CaliNative

These guys getting a welcome break from the war. Later probably went to USO Hollywood Canteen. Maybe dance with Barbara Stanwyck or some other star. The guy in the middle has a distinctive face. They probably called him "bulldog" or something like that. Would have done well as a character actor playing a fighter, gangster, criminal or other tough guy. The guy on the left would have got the second fiddle funny best friend parts. The guy on the right maybe a steady eddie banker or teacher.

And the person taking the photo a cameraman. .

As for going to the Hollywood Canteen, I'm afraid these boys missed out.
It wasn't to open for another month...October 3, 1942.

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

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They could have visited the Hollywood USO club on Cahuenga Blvd. at that time, however. The Hollywood USO opened on February 2, 1942, until June of 1943, when it moved to a second location a block or two south on the west side of Cahuenga.

The original location was on the second floor of the building on the southeast corner of Hollywood & Cahuenga Blvds., entrance on Cahuenga (if it's the same 1943 address as now it's 1654 Cahuenga.), so the photo below is its second location. 1531 Cahuenga.

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

And the person taking the photo a cameraman. .

As for going to the Hollywood Canteen, I'm afraid these boys missed out.
It wasn't to open for another month...October 3, 1942.




They could have visited the Hollywood USO club on Cahuenga Blvd. at that time, however. The Hollywood USO opened on February 2, 1942, until June of 1943, when it moved to a second location a block or two south on the west side of Cahuenga.

The original location was on the second floor of the building on the southeast corner of Hollywood & Cahuenga Blvds., entrance on Cahuenga (if it's the same 1943 address as now it's 1654 Cahuenga.), so the photo below is its second location. 1531 Cahuenga.

^^^
Maybe that's them standing in front, the cameraman the 4th buddy. I sure hope they got "lucky" with Barbara Stanwyck or Paulette Goddard. Charlie wouldn't have minded.

[ethereal_reality]

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Once more. . . .

eBay

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Originally Posted by Martin Pal

And the person taking the photo a cameraman. .

Is it possible the three buddies placed the camera on the floor and used a self timer? If there had been a fourth person I'd imagine they would have posed on the bed.


but there's an obvious PROBLEM with this scenario: Were cameras with self-timers commercially available in the 1940s?








Before I beat the Wilcox Hotel to death




I just realized the Wilcox Hotel is in this noirish photograph from 1937.


martinturnbull

That's the Wilcox Hotel on the left.

....We're looking north on Wilcox just before Selma. Hollywood Blvd. is in the distance. (the two lighted towers are atop the Warners Theater) . . .as most of you already know.


re: the noirish photo....."All we need is a trench coat, a set of brass knuckles, and a dame with a secret, and we’re all set.".....Martin Turnbull

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[ethereal_reality]

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There's a good chance the three buddies also visited Long Beach.


The following three snapshot were listed on eBay by the seller who listed the Wilcox Hotel photograph and, like the Wilcox Hotel photo, they're dated 1942.
One of them (the third one, below) has writing on the reverse that appears to match the writing on the back of the Wilcox Hotel snapshot.

#1

ebay



A closer look at #1.


detail

That's a nifty liquor store built in front of a house.









#2

ebay















This is my favorite of the three.

#3

ebay

I don't recognize this Hilton as being in long Beach. .


but this is the one that has writing on the back & it does, in fact, say Long Beach.





A closer look at #3


detail

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[HossC]

The Hilton Hotel was one of the names that The Breakers Hotel at 210 E Ocean Boulevard has gone by over the years.


GSV

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

#1

ebay

This one was taken just down the street from the Hilton Hotel. On the left, the Fox West Coast Theatre was at 333 E Ocean Boulevard. The Westin Hotel Long Beach has replaced many of the buildings in the image above, but the Cooper Arms, the large building in the background on the right, is still standing at 455 E Ocean Boulevard.

The "Bulk Wine" sign most likely belonged to Benjamin Krupinsky's Liquor store at 345 E Ocean. It shared an address with Milton P Skinner's postage stamp business.

[Scott Charles]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

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Once more. . . .

eBay

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Is it possible the three buddies placed the camera on the floor and used a self timer? If there had been a fourth person I'd imagine they would have posed on the bed.


but there's an obvious PROBLEM with this scenario: Were cameras with self-timers commercially sold in the 1940s?

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The first patented self-timer involved lighting a fuse! But the second patent issued was for what we would more readily recognize as a self-timer was granted to the Faries Autopoze on January 14, 1902:




Self-timers were first marketed to the general public during the WWI era; the image below, touting this “newest” device, is from either 1916 or 1917 (the exact printing date of this brochure is up for debate):



Self-timers became ubiquitous with the general public in the early 1930s - early enough that the lads in the above photo certainly could have used one.

This is the oldest self-timer that I own - a Polaroid #192 from 1963:



It still functions perfectly!

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by HossC

The Hilton Hotel was one of the names that The Breakers Hotel at 210 E Ocean Boulevard has gone by over the years.


GSV

Memories 1980. Those 2nd story windows at the left was a dining room. They had luncheon specials. I had lunch one time there and it was nothing ''special". I ordered Tuna Salad". It was a couple chunks of canned tuna dumped on a bowl of salad. That was it...unbelievable. I guess the new chef was clueless about how to make a ''tuna salad".

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

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Here's a rare look inside one of the rooms in the old Wilcox Hotel in Hollywood. (Sept. 4, 1942)



eBay (link coming)

I believe the three buddies are in the military because, unless I'm mistaken, their hats are on top of the credenza.




They're drinking 7-UP and, what looks like, some kind of whiskey.

.

bonanzastatic

The so-called 7~7 was a popular drink in that era and still going in the 1960s.