noirish Los Angeles - Page 1539

Bristolian · #**30761** Posted **Sep 3, 2015, 4:58 AM**

A daylight slide (big fins on that car)

1960s (?)

That is a '62 Cadillac. I own a '63.

Looks like the Dragnet era to me

HenryHuntington · #**30762** Posted **Sep 3, 2015, 5:07 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tourmaline

I can think of 101 reasons for their disappearance, but do any vestigial "safety islands" still exist? Could this be one?

Still looking for info concerning the white lettering on black field larger street signs and whether any are still in use. http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=30666 There has been passing mention, but nothing definitive. http://skyscraperpage.com/forum/show...postcount=3626; http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...&postcount=702

I can't speak to every safety island, but the divider in the photo keeps vehicles parallel parking separated from through traffic. Crenshaw Blvd. is now very wide at this point. The LARy/LATL streetcars ran on private right-of-way in the center reservation (or "divider", if you will), so a safety island wouldn't have been required at this location.

tovangar2 · #**30763** Posted **Sep 3, 2015, 5:11 AM**

It's a bit early for this, but I just got the flyer in the mail and don't want to forget.

UCLA's Film and Television Archive is presenting a symposium and screening series"This is the City: Preserving Moving Images of Los Angeles" starting November 13 at the Billy Wilder Theater in the Hammer Museum (Wilshire & Westwood Blvds). The screening series runs until December 14.

At the link, click on the "Title" for each day's event for a full description

Maybe e_r will fly out for this:

Ephemera(l) City: Los Angeles in Travelogues, Industrial Films & Amateur Movies
November 20, 2015

Please click the link for the evening's schedule. Sounds irresistible.

Third and Hill comes alive in 1916:

ucla

Those Who Squirm! · #**30764** Posted **Sep 3, 2015, 6:36 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by sopas ej

Were any of you folks aware of this? I sure wasn't.

This article is from earlier this year, but I only read it just this Saturday:

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

By Nathan Masters
2/04/15

Before 1948, there was something funny about the Southland's electricity. Plug in a clock from New York and it would lose 10 minutes every hour. Spin a record on a turntable from San Francisco and it would sound deep and drowsy. Some gadgets wouldn't work at all.

I almost can't believe this. But assuming it's true, I wonder how this affected any appliance that didn't have an electromechanical component, like radios and early TVs?

HossC · #**30765** Posted **Sep 3, 2015, 10:06 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

A closer look at the roof of the Neptune building reveals an intricate skylight.
I've tried to locate interior photographs of the Neptune but haven't had any luck.

skylight detail

I would really like to see this skylight from the inside. I'm hoping the glass isn't tarred over.
(I heard that the Little Tokyo Branch Library used to be located in the building)

That skylight is a long way down the light well. The view on Google Maps (below) doesn't even show it.

Google Maps

I had a look at Historic Aerials, and it looks as if the light well was only added about 25 years ago. The image on the left is from 1980, and shows a flat roof with something that's probably a water tower on top. I'll admit that the 1994 image (below, right) is blurry, but there's definitely a dark square where the light well is today. I tried checking out the building permits, but while there are a few alterations listed between 1988 and 1991, none of them have the scanned paperwork accompanying them with the details.

Historic Aerials

There's a 1993 article about the Little Tokyo Library's proposed move to the Neptune Building in the LA Times - you can read it here.

ethereal_reality · #**30766** Posted **Sep 3, 2015, 2:23 PM**

Thanks for the research on the light well Hoss. I'm totally surprised it was added at a later date.

oldstuff · #**30767** Posted **Sep 3, 2015, 2:27 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by tovangar2

216 Alameda, now the very trendy Angel City Brewery, was built in 1924 as the John A. Roebling's Sons Company of California wireworks warehouse. (However, Esotouric gives 1913 as the build date. I haven't sorted that out yet.)

Hudson and Munsell were the architects.

The company (famous bridge builders) name is on the beer garden side (back) of the building, facing Traction Ave:

la weekly <--- info about the mural at the link.

I cannot make out what it says over the front door:

google maps photos

GW took us here before as did Horthos

There are masses of pix and articles re the Angel City Brewery building online. It's one of the stalwarts of the Arts District.

Esotouric has a good article on the custom Batchelder tile inside the building. Don't miss it
(Much as I love the tile, it's the spun-wire, bridge-cable stair railing that knocked me out. Many more photos at Esotouric's flickr page)

The Assessor's office has a build date of 1915, and a build date for an addition of 1924. The first building (1915) covered 60,990 square feet and the second ( 1924) was 5,880 square feet.

The sign over the door does say Roebling...and something I can't decipher.

That stair rail is really something!!

A side note: Washington Robeling, II, the grandson of John A. Robeling, the Brooklyn Bridge builder, died on the Titanic.

so-cal-bear · #**30768** Posted **Sep 3, 2015, 2:48 PM**

I have seen this building many times here before. It's the Roebling building. As for the sign, it says "Robert Arranaga & Co. Incorporated Institutional food suppliers" I should know because I used to go there all the time from the mid 1980's as a teen through my 20's to mid 1990's. My grandmother used to work there and I have been inside many times.

They sold restaurant equipment and food. I still have many utensils and plates/bowls from this company that I use daily. They are restaurant quality and really last. Grandmother got free stuff from the company while she worked there. Durable free stuff!

She's been gone since 2003.

When the 1994 earthquake happened there were very many cracks on the building inside and out. The owners of the company were afraid that the building may have to be condemned. During this time the company issued yellow hard hats to all the workers to wear when aftershocks happened, it's laughable now, but they did. I honestly don't think this will protect you from being inside a building collapsing around you. See those repaired cracks on top of the Arranaga sign? 1994 earthquake damage repaired.

My grandmother left the company in 1997 after 15 years.

Here is a picture I found on flickr. Cheers!

https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3502/3...10dc805d_b.jpg

Quote:

Originally Posted by tovangar2

216 Alameda, now the very trendy Angel City Brewery, was built in 1924 as the John A. Roebling's Sons Company of California wireworks warehouse. (However, Esotouric gives 1913 as the build date. I haven't sorted that out yet.)

Hudson and Munsell were the architects.

The company (famous bridge builders) name is on the beer garden side (back) of the building, facing Traction Ave:

la weekly <--- info about the mural at the link.

I cannot make out what it says over the front door:

google maps photos

GW took us here before as did Horthos

There are masses of pix and articles re the Angel City Brewery building online. It's one of the stalwarts of the Arts District.

Esotouric has a good article on the custom Batchelder tile inside the building. Don't miss it
(Much as I love the tile, it's the spun-wire, bridge-cable stair railing that knocked me out. Many more photos at Esotouric's flickr page)

HossC · #**30769** Posted **Sep 3, 2015, 3:27 PM**

Julius Shulman's "Job 1048: Bank of America (Los Angeles, Calif.),1951", and this time we're at 47th Street on South Broadway.

Although these three photographs are presented as a set, this is the only one that shows the large "CENTRAL TELEVISION FURNITURE" sign on the right. In the other two it looks like they were taken just before it was put up.

Across 47th Street from the Bank of America was Security-First National Bank and another two furniture stores. I was hoping to find these buildings still standing, especially the one with the arch design on the left. Who would have guessed that an anonymous strip mall was a better option?

All from Getty Research Institute

In a reversal of the Sepulveda branch, this one is no longer a Bank of America, but most of the details seem to have been preserved, even if I'm not too crazy about the color scheme that Chavez Auto Parts have used.

GSV

Next door, the old Hill's Jewelry sign survives, but, like the building, it's seen better days. The left side of the Central Television store now looks like a bunker, and the right side has gone completely. I was pleased to see a ghost sign still visible on the Kress building.

GSV

Here's the front of the Kress building, complete with the Kress name at the top. I think this building is another one that would look better with its first floor toned down.

GSV

The building across Broadway from the bank is another survivor. The "LIQUOR" blade sign on the corner can be seen on the right of the third Shulman image.

GSV

tovangar2 · #**30770** Posted **Sep 3, 2015, 4:21 PM**

Thank you so much oldstuff and so-cal-bear for the wonderful follow-ups on the John A. Roebling's Sons Company / Angel City Brewery building.

If anyone has any further interest in the company, there's an article re the manufacture of their wire rope here and a rundown of all the bridges the Roeblings were involved with here.

Thank you especially so-cal-bear for this:

flickr

...and your memories of the building.

Slauson Slim · #**30771** Posted **Sep 3, 2015, 4:23 PM**

Hoss C - My jaw dropped when I saw the photos of South Broadway around the BofA branch. That was my neighborhood, from infancy until I left home to join the military after high school.

We lived on 58th Street, and I walked up and down Broadway, and rode the buses and streetcars, nearly every day, from Florence to Santa Barbara, past those businesses.

Mom walked down Broadway to that branch every week to deposit Dad's paycheck - marble, long counter, brass fixtures - with me walking and my sis in a stroller, and then pay utility bills.

My best friend's Mom worked at that Kress - she ran the nut and candy counter. The Strand Theater was down the street near Vernon, and there was another theater at about 55th I think. That was Nate's Liquors at 47th and Broadway. The street had cleaners, bars, photo studios, theaters, the 54 Ballroom, corner markets, mom 'n pop dime stores, furniture stores, etc.

We were in Holy Cross parish, at 47th and Main, where I went to grammar school and my Mom went and was married in the church. My Mom lived at Vernon and Main before marrying my Dad.

The street car tracks were for the 7 Car, later the 7 Bus which went downtown. I remember the neighborhood before the Harbor Freeway was built, and all the east/west streets went through.

In the late 1950's my Dad owned the Broadway Palace night club at 5275 South Broadway.

My parents moved out of South Central in late 1966. The 1965 Watts Riots took a large toll on the businesses there - many were looted and the buildings burned.

ethereal_reality · #**30772** Posted **Sep 3, 2015, 7:22 PM**

thanks for sharing your memories Slauson_Slim

below: One thing that immediately caught my eye in this 1958 image was the gleaming white Union Oil Center on the opposite side of the Harbor Freeway.

eBay

The Union Oil Center opened the same year as the night-time image (1958), so this was probably it's original lighting scheme. I wonder how long it was lit like this?
(perhaps until the energy crisis in 1970s)

http://unocallegacy.squarespace.com/...y-website.html

"A big event in 1958 was the opening of the new headquarters building, the Union Oil Center, overlooking the Harbor Freeway.
Because it was built on a hill, Union Oil Center was the highest building in downtown Los Angeles when it opened in April 1958."

"the highest building in downtown Los Angeles." -I don't think I've never heard this before. (even higher than the Richfield Building with it's tower?)

An impressive daylight view

http://thegetty.tumblr.com/image/92659285065

__

tovangar2 · #**30773** Posted **Sep 3, 2015, 8:59 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

"A big event in 1958 was the opening of the new headquarters building, the Union Oil Center, overlooking the Harbor Freeway.
Because it was built on a hill, Union Oil Center was the highest building in downtown Los Angeles when it opened in April 1958."

Now, of course, this William Pereira/Charles Luckman building is the Los Angeles Center Studios:

clui

The complex opened in 1998, just a couple of years after Union Oil left.

Sound stages have been added to the complex, the first in DTLA in decades, but it's the building itself that seems to be most in demand for filming.

More info:

Official site
Center for Land Use Interpretation
LA Conservancy
Wiki

(We've covered this a bit before)

P.S.

Here's a good 2010 article from LATimes Blogs discussing the Center's popularity with filmmakers.

Most memorable scene shot here (for me) was when Angelina Jolie's character rapplled down the the tower in "Mr & Mrs Smith" (2005), the high point in an otherwise dull film.

CityBoyDoug · #**30774** Posted **Sep 3, 2015, 10:08 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slauson Slim

Hoss C - My jaw dropped when I saw the photos of South Broadway around the BofA branch. That was my neighborhood, from infancy until I left home to join the military after high school.

We lived on 58th Street, and I walked up and down Broadway, and rode the buses and streetcars, nearly every day, from Florence to Santa Barbara, past those businesses.

Mom walked down Broadway to that branch every week to deposit Dad's paycheck - marble, long counter, brass fixtures - with me walking and my sis in a stroller, and then pay utility bills.

My best friend's Mom worked at that Kress - she ran the nut and candy counter. The Strand Theater was down the street near Vernon, and there was another theater at about 55th I think. That was Nate's Liquors at 47th and Broadway. The street had cleaners, bars, photo studios, theaters, the 54 Ballroom, corner markets, mom 'n pop dime stores, furniture stores, etc.

We were in Holy Cross parish, at 47th and Main, where I went to grammar school and my Mom went and was married in the church. My Mom lived at Vernon and Main before marrying my Dad.

The street car tracks were for the 7 Car, later the 7 Bus which went downtown. I remember the neighborhood before the Harbor Freeway was built, and all the east/west streets went through.

In the late 1950's my Dad owned the Broadway Palace night club at 5275 South Broadway.

My parents moved out of South Central in late 1966. The 1965 Watts Riots took a large toll on the businesses there - many were looted and the buildings burned.

Cool story Jim. In late 1965 I worked for a month at the Bowling Supply co. in South Central. Their safe and records had been destroyed. My job was to reconstruct the receipts. etc. It was a wild time. After that I went into the Navy in Jan 3 1966. Here I am in Long Beach, CA.

ethereal_reality · #**30775** Posted **Sep 3, 2015, 10:26 PM**

nice photo studly.

I am pretty sure we haven't seen this photograph on NLA.

old file of mine / probably an eBay find.

The Princess Movie Theater, S. Main Street at 61st Street (6107 to be exact)
-note the Princess Malt & Sweet Shop next door.

Both 'Johnny Doesn't Live Here Anymore' and 'Silent Partner' were released in 1944.

__

We previously saw a night time photograph of a different Princess Theater here:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=26783

but I believe this was the former Fischer Theater at 121 W. 1st Street. (correct me if I'm wrong)
__

There is some discussion of the south-side Princess Theater at Cinema Treasures (but no photographs)
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/5041

Cinema-Treasures says the theater at 6107 S. Main Street had 700 seats.

__

Flyingwedge · #**30776** Posted **Sep 3, 2015, 10:29 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by HossC

Here's today's installment of Julius Shulman's Bank of America pictures. This one is "Job 1434: Bank of America (Los Angeles, Calif.),1953", with the bank located at 8946 South Sepulveda Boulevard.

This is the view looking north. On the left is the Bobby Thacher School of Dance, while there's all-night bowling across the street. The bowling alley was part of the Paradise Theatre complex which I'll cover below.

The left (west) side of Sepulveda has been completely redeveloped, but traces of the Paradise Theatre remain on the right.

GSV

Here's a better view of the Paradise Building at 9100 S Sepulveda Boulevard.

GSV

Hey HossC here are some more Paradise Building photos . . . .

This is on a plaque inside the building:

Here is one of the restored Academy Award plaques; in the top photo, Douglas Shearer is receiving the 1936
Oscar for Sound Recording (for MGM's San Francisco) from the self-proclaimed "Father of Radio," Lee de Forest:

And here is one of the brass plates outside in front of the main entrance (in the GSV photo of the main
entrance above, the brass plates are all in the shade but some are visible):

The last bowling pin (sorry about the reflection):

All photos by me

CityBoyDoug · #**30777** Posted **Sep 3, 2015, 11:12 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

nice photo studly.

__

I hardly recognise myself from those long ago days.

Who was that guy?

Bristolian · #**30778** Posted **Sep 3, 2015, 11:58 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

nice photo studly.

I am pretty sure we haven't seen this photograph on NLA.

old file of mine / probably an eBay find.

The Princess Movie Theater, S. Main Street at 61st Street (6107 to be exact)
-note the Princess Malt & Sweet Shop next door.

Both 'Johnny Doesn't Live Here Anymore' and 'Silent Partner' were released in 1944.

__

We previously saw a night time photograph of a different Princess Theater here:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=26783

but I believe this was the former Fischer Theater at 121 W. 1st Street. (correct me if I'm wrong)
__

There is some discussion of the south-side Princess Theater at Cinema Treasures (but no photographs)
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/5041

Cinema-Treasures says the theater at 6107 S. Main Street had 700 seats.

__

If you look carefully there are a couple tricycles parked to the right of the malt shop. Classic!

ethereal_reality · #**30779** Posted **Sep 4, 2015, 12:16 AM**

Union Oil Center

Quote:

Originally Posted by tovangar2

Now, of course, this William Pereira/Charles Luckman building is the Los Angeles Center Studios:

clui

Two views, one day and one night, from the 12th floor of the former Union Oil Center (also known as the Unocal building), now the Los Angeles Center Studios.

this is looking south-west.

http://www.jcbackings.com/gallery.ph...lc&tpagenum=22

and at night.

http://www.jcbackings.com/gallery.ph...mnumber=CT-677

Of course, I zeroed in on the noirish looking vintage apartment building.

here's a close-up / in black n' white, just for fun.

detail

The apartment building is Bixel House at 625 Bixel Street.

Here it is in 2009.

gsv

Today the parking lot is gone, and the lot has been excavated. (a close-call for the Bixel)

gsv

A current view of the south side of the Bixel. (I love the painted Bixel House sign)

gsv

Here's the Bixel back in 2007 with numerous front windows boarded over. (note the painted Bixel House sign is painted over at this point)

http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/14839...os-Angeles-CA/

Today, the once covered windows have been restored.

gsv
__

CASIGNS · #**30780** Posted **Sep 4, 2015, 12:23 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tourmaline

Is there an approximate period of service for these white on black signs? Were they used county-wide or per municipality? Any still in place?

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mj021QqMCD...0/IMG_6702.PNG

https://shard2.1stdibs.us.com/archiv...iCC_DM/2/X.jpg

http://caltrafficsigns.com/pictures/...l_099Arrow.jpg

http://caltrafficsigns.com/pictures/...0001/beach.jpg

http://caltrafficsigns.com/pictures/...normal_ECR.JPG

http://caltrafficsigns.com/pictures/...lywoodFwy3.jpg

Generally, white on black traffic signs were used from the early 30s until the 50s and most contained reflector buttons to increase visibility at night. In the 30s, reflectors were made of glass and then changed to plastic during WWII. These signs were phased out in the early 60s when reflective sheeting was mandated for traffic signs. Hope this helps.