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  #56181  
Old Posted Dec 27, 2020, 5:02 AM
BillinGlendaleCA BillinGlendaleCA is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ethereal_reality View Post
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This original slide from the 1940s was recently listed on eBay



The seller doesn't name the location (other than Los Angeles). . .but I'm pretty sure this is the oil well that once stood in the middle of La Cienega Blvd.


eBay

Whatta' ya think? Is this the La Cienega oil well?

.
Yup, that's the oil well in the center of La Cienega, you can see the Baldwin Hills to the south. Here's the location of the well on La Cienega in 1937 from UCSB's Frame Finder:



ETA: Looking at 1947 aerial, it looks like it was newly removed.
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  #56182  
Old Posted Dec 27, 2020, 6:42 PM
Martin Pal Martin Pal is offline
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I tried searching online for any other color photo of this oil well and I haven't found one! The seller may have something worth more than the two bids on it currently show!
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  #56183  
Old Posted Dec 27, 2020, 6:49 PM
Martin Pal Martin Pal is offline
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The following may contain photos/info previously posted, the search terms for oil wells, La Cienega, middle of the road, aren't exactly fruitful, so...

Some things of interest about the oil well that were put online the last 1-3 years:

The L.A. Times did a "from the archives" story on it:



From 1927 through 1945, La Cienega Boulevard had an oil well in its center divider. The slight detour became a Los Angeles icon — drawn above in a 1938 illustration by Los Angeles Times staff artist Charles H. Owens.

In the 1930s, Owens and columnist Joe Seewerker produced the Nuestro Pueblo column for The Times. For their Sep. 21, 1938, Nuestro Pueblo column, Seewerker wrote:

Drilled in 1906, the well has been pumping steadily and faithfully ever since. The owners donated the land for La Cienega Boulevard to the city in 1927 with the provision that the well remain and the street be built around it. This was done and ever since autos have whizzed by it on either side. It is said to be the only oil well in the middle of a major boulevard in the world.

Two whisky signs, one on the north and the other on the south, add to the revenue of Old Faithful. Incidentally, the well has settled down to a steady gait of eighty barrels a day. With crude oil bringing around 80 cents a barrel, that makes an income of $64 day, which is enough to keep a cafe full of monkeys in peanuts for many a moon.


Quote:
Originally Posted by BillinGlendaleCA View Post
ETA: Looking at the 1947 aerial, it looks like it was newly removed.
_________________________________________________________________
March 8, 1946, Los Angeles Times:

They sawed a landmark through the middle and pulled it down into kindling wood yesterday in the center of La Cienega Blvd.

A world-famous oil well, it had been chugging away since 1907 – in later years with autos whizzing about it on both sides – until a zoning variance and advance of building
[the new Rexall Drug Stores headquarters] finally stopped the 10-foot hand wheel that revolved more than 204,000,000 times.


This circa 1931 photo shows another well nearby:




In the following photo, notice a round sign near the bottom of the well to the right...



...this is the Tail o’ the Cock restaurant, seen here in this 1945 postcard view:




In the color view it looks like that Tail o' the Cock sign is seen above the "SLOW" traffic sign on the oil well island:

Quote:
Originally Posted by ethereal_reality View Post
.
This original slide from the 1940s was recently listed on eBay


eBay

This is Ansel Adams' similar 1939 view...




Information and photos were taken from the following links/sites:
Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Magazine
Martin Turnbull/Garden of Allah
Los Angeles is My Beat
J.H. Graham

Last edited by Martin Pal; Dec 27, 2020 at 7:49 PM.
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  #56184  
Old Posted Dec 28, 2020, 4:44 PM
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I had no idea Tail o' the Cock was anywhere near the well. Excellent sleuthing, Martin_Pal....

Thanks to everyone for the follow-ups....It's much appreciated.

.

Last edited by ethereal_reality; Dec 28, 2020 at 5:14 PM.
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  #56185  
Old Posted Dec 28, 2020, 6:12 PM
Martin Pal Martin Pal is offline
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E_R, I'm having some doubts about the Tail o' the Cock restaurant being there, though that sign in that photo is definitely a Tail o' the Cock sign on the side of the road. Though I wonder why a neon sign would be there for advertising without any location info. The street numberings on La Cienega have often been confusing to me.
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  #56186  
Old Posted Dec 28, 2020, 6:15 PM
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We have seen a gazillion images of the forecourt at Grauman's Chinese Theater but this slide from eBay has something I would like to ask about.


eBay


At far right a young boy appears to be. .umm. .manipulating a cut-out of a man of Asian descent.
Is it a 'kiosk'(for lack of a better word) that dispenses brochures for 10 cents?




Here's a closer look. (sorry for the blurriness)


detail

"Footprints of the Stars", 10 Cents.

note that it doesn't say "in the gift shop".







This kid's mom was obviously thinking ahead when she purchased his jeans. lol


detail

Is this something moms normally did back in the 1950s?



.

Last edited by ethereal_reality; Dec 28, 2020 at 11:33 PM.
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  #56187  
Old Posted Dec 29, 2020, 4:57 AM
BillinGlendaleCA BillinGlendaleCA is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ethereal_reality View Post
.
We have seen a gazillion images of the forecourt at Grauman's Chinese Theater but this slide from eBay has something I would like to ask about.


eBay


.

The woman is posing in front of a guardian lion(also called a foo dog), that's the male version(paw on top of a globe), the female version has a cub under it's paw.

The female guardian lion at Amboy:
free photo upload
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  #56188  
Old Posted Dec 29, 2020, 11:09 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lwize View Post

Interesting indie documentary on Beverly Park Kiddieland:

^^^ follow the video link if the video error is still present.

The link didn't work either - you only need the code after the "v=" in the Youtube URL, i.e.

PHP Code:
[YOUTUBE]UTCFhKqjZms[/YOUTUBE
Hopefully this should fix it. As you say, it's an interesting documentary and well worth a watch.

Video Link
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  #56189  
Old Posted Dec 29, 2020, 8:43 PM
Godzilla Godzilla is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 3940dxer View Post
After spending too much time studying the early aerials I think the dark blob indicated by my arrow was in fact the La Cienega oil well.

Beverly is at the top if the image with the big Rexall store at the Southeast corner of La Cienega, 3rd St. is at the bottom.



I think this would be today's view:


http://maps.google.com

Another little tidbit: in the first photo, to the right of the tall young lady and beneath the Seagram's billboard, is the barely visible Smokey Joe's Cafe. You can see the sign a little more clearly on the zoomed snippet below. (Same source.)

Smokey Joe's Cafe was the beanery that inspired Leiber and Stoller's novelty rock hit of the same name, recorded by The Coasters.






Smokey Joe's Cafe "Big as a saddle, hamburgers"
https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31....04&oe=600F2AF1

Last edited by Godzilla; Dec 30, 2020 at 12:24 AM.
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  #56190  
Old Posted Dec 29, 2020, 8:51 PM
pjenn pjenn is offline
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whatwasthere.com

I'm wondering if the posters on this thread know about whatwasthere.com? I just discovered it yesterday. It's a google map site that allows users to upload photos of historical/vanished structures to their original location so they appear on google streetview.

Last edited by pjenn; Dec 30, 2020 at 12:36 AM.
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  #56191  
Old Posted Dec 30, 2020, 12:56 AM
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mystery street, downtown Los Angeles.



micky moore collection / 2nd assistant director (center right in filigree shirt)

Shooting William Holden (far left) in a scene in downtown Los Angeles for "The Turning Point" (1952).

Can any of you fine noirishers put a name to this street?






also:...note the block of wood the 'gangster-like' dude is standing on. . .the director obviously wanted him to appear a bit taller.


Right out of central casting.


detail




More 'Turning Point' (1952) images coming tomorrow.
.

Last edited by ethereal_reality; Dec 30, 2020 at 2:40 AM.
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  #56192  
Old Posted Dec 30, 2020, 12:06 PM
Noir_Noir Noir_Noir is offline
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What the scene looked like on screen.


Youtube - The Turning Point



They are outside 157 South Main Street.

To the right you can see parts of the signs for the liquor store and White Star Hotel at 151/151½ South Main St.


South Main Street 1952 -


i.pinimg.com

Last edited by Noir_Noir; Dec 30, 2020 at 12:23 PM.
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  #56193  
Old Posted Dec 30, 2020, 4:11 PM
Lwize Lwize is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pjenn View Post
I'm wondering if the posters on this thread know about whatwasthere.com? I just discovered it yesterday. It's a google map site that allows users to upload photos of historical/vanished structures to their original location so they appear on google streetview.
Just about 2,248 pages of the Noir Los Angeles thread probably apply.
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  #56194  
Old Posted Dec 30, 2020, 5:28 PM
pjenn pjenn is offline
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whatwasthere.com

I would think whatwasthere.com would benefit a great deal from the pictures posted on this site. I have been impressed by the responses I have gotten here to my questions about various LA sites. A lot of great LA historians here.

I posted the photo above of to whatwasthere. I'll try to display it here as it appears in the streetview. Not sure if I'm doing it right, but here goes.

Well, I can't get it to post, so I'll just insert the link and hope it will take others there.

http://www.whatwasthere.com/browse.a...nfo/sv/zoom/14
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  #56195  
Old Posted Dec 30, 2020, 5:57 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Noir_Noir View Post

South Main Street 1952 -


i.pinimg.com
This undated photo must be later than 1952 because it features an early Ford Thunderbird, but I don't think it's much later. As you can see, the block is being dismantled.


Huntington Digital Library
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  #56196  
Old Posted Dec 30, 2020, 6:18 PM
Slauson Slim Slauson Slim is offline
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There was an oil rig on the grounds of Beverly Hills High School.
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  #56197  
Old Posted Dec 30, 2020, 9:10 PM
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As promised here's another photograph from the making of The Turning Point (1952).



Pollinger's Market, Los Angeles


mickey moore collection / 2nd assistant director


At first I thought the curb was exceptionally tall but now I see that it's an optical illusion.

The red magic marker at the top appears to say, "This is dynamite." 1951(?)





I'll go ahead and post this one as well because I believe it's same location but from a different angle.


mikey moore / 2nd assistant director

The same street address can be seen in the top photograph.





Detail from the top photograph.

detail / top photo

501 W. First St.
.

Last edited by ethereal_reality; Dec 30, 2020 at 9:33 PM.
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  #56198  
Old Posted Dec 30, 2020, 9:33 PM
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Beaudry made a few posts about filming locations of 'The Turning Point' way back in 2010. You can see the first two here and here. The third post has these pictures of Pollinger's Market (above) - the full post is here.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Beaudry View Post

But where's he checking out the scene FROM? Good question! Kitty-corner, there was a market in the apartment building at 501 W 1st/103 N Olive. It's obscured a bit by this mother and daughter --


Hylen, Cal State Lib, http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...JQJXH173PA.jpg

...and of course one thing leads to another...

...so here's that market in better detail, October 09, 1951. Oh, still partially obscured...




http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/search...=1292043519751
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  #56199  
Old Posted Dec 30, 2020, 9:37 PM
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At first I thought the car accident was from the movie.

Thanks for the reminder, Hoss.
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  #56200  
Old Posted Dec 30, 2020, 9:42 PM
Earl Boebert Earl Boebert is online now
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HossC View Post
This undated photo must be later than 1952 because it features an early Ford Thunderbird, but I don't think it's much later. As you can see, the block is being dismantled.


Huntington Digital Library
The T-Bird is a a 1955 or 1956.

Cheers,

Earl
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