noirish Los Angeles

[jg6544]

Originally Posted by Lorendoc

Thanks for comments odinthor and HossC. Here's another one, taken from very close to the Huntington photo I posted last night:


calisphere.org

Things haven't changed much, apart from a trolley metamorphosing into a bus:


GSV, 2008

That and largely empty sidewalks!

[sopas ej]

Wow, and that Google street view was from 2008? I wouldn't think so, looking at the Metro buses; I thought by 2008, the Orange Local paint scheme would have already been well-established.

[Lorendoc]

Here is another Ralph Morris photo. It's labled "Industrial building, exterior view." It is oddly cropped, but shows an inoffensive International Style structure.


calisphere.org

There is a street number visible on the left side of the building: 3630. This turns out to be 3630 Eastham in Culver City. The assessor dates the structure to 1946.

The 1949 Culver City Directory shows two light industrial tenants at 3630 Eastham:


ancestry.com

The building has survived, although I'm not sure the passage of time has done it any favors:


GSV

They seem to have moved the main entrance to the parking lot and walled over the original entry way.

The current tenants (the Walton Isaacson agency) may explain the unfortunate remodel asthetic. From their self-congratulatory web site:

[ethereal_reality]

This slide was just posted on eBay.

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"Original Slide - Little Tokyo, Nisei Week 1959"


eBay

This is a very interesting (and busy) street scene.

At far RIGHT >...Note the Pool sign with the arrow bent at the end. Is this referring to a basement space?
Hmmm...I can't quite tell if the pool sign is directly above the Taul Bldg. marquee or just beyond.

Also visible, a bit farther down the block, is one of those ubiquitous vertical cocktail signs.

Does anyone recognize the white building on the left, just beyond the cafe and bakery sign? It's a rather impressive Deco-ish building. (I hope it's still there!)

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[BillinGlendaleCA]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

This slide was just posted on eBay.

.

"Original Slide - Little Tokyo, Nisei Week 1959"


eBay

This is a very interesting (and busy) street scene.

At far RIGHT >...Note the Pool sign with the arrow bent at the end. Is this referring to a basement space?
Hmmm...I can't quite tell if the pool sign is directly above the Taul Bldg. marquee or just beyond.

Also visible, a bit farther down the block, is one of those ubiquitous vertical cocktail signs.

Does anyone recognize the white building on the left, just beyond the cafe and bakery sign? It's a rather impressive Deco-ish building. (I hope it's still there!)

.

That's looking east down 1st Street, your building is still there at 309-313.

ETA: Here's a picture of that white building(it's actually more of a tan now) that I took on a shoot in Little Tokyo 2 years ago.

_9170155.jpg by BillinGlendaleCA, on Flickr

[Noir_Noir]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

At far RIGHT > Note the Pool sign with the arrow bent at the end. Is this referring to a basement space?
Hmmm...I can't quite tell if the pool sign is directly above the Taul Bldg. marquee or just beyond.

Around the time the photo was taken, it was Tom's place.



cdnc.ucr.edu - Shin Nichibei 18 December 1960



Sometime later Frank moved in from his original location across the street at 321½ E. 1st St.



rescarta.lapl.org


"First, there was Frank's pool hall in the basement of the Taul Building on the corner of 1st and San Pedro. It looked incredibly seedy... no, I take that back,
it WAS incredibly seedy, with old men and young toughs shooting pool with cigarettes hanging out of there mouths at 45 degree angles. Weenies like me,
who couldn't shoot straight, had to play short games, like nine-ball, so we could actually finish a game in decent time. But the regulars played straight pool,
calling out numbers, "13 in the corner", then slide over the beads strung around the tables with each shot made. To these 17 year-old eyes, it was so cool
to see these guys shooting for the money they had splayed on the table before each game. I would suck on a Coke as I watched the regulars play rack after
rack of pool."

onigiriman.blogspot.com - Not Living Up To Expectations

[ethereal_reality]

Ah, so the pool hall was in the basement.
That description is really interesting. Old pool halls have always intrigued me.
I think it's because my family had a pool table in our garage when I was a kid. I was known around town as 'Minnesota Small'....ha ha


Here's another reminiscense of J-Town. (Japanese Town)
_________________________________________________________________________________________

One of the key buildings in Little Tokyo during that era was called the “Taul Building.”
I know a lot of people not familiar with the area thought it was named so because
it was the tallest structure in J-Town, but probably were confused at the spelling. Not “Tall,” but “Taul.”

"It’s hard to imagine how much J-Town has changed since the days when we were all “Taul Building Leaners."
Perhaps one of these days I‘ll devote an entire column to the old-time Little Tokyo. It might rekindle memories
for a lot of the guys from the J-Town of old, like that tiny coffee shop at the entry to the old Taul Building run by one lady".
Yeah, even if I didn’t have a nickel on me, the lady running the shop would still make me a bite to eat and let me pay her
the next time I had some money in my pocket. from G. YOSHINAGA
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

'Taul Building Leaners'? I guess he means..as a youth, he (and his friends) hung out and 'leaned' against the building.


BillinGlendale, thanks for sharing your photograph of the building that had caught my attention. I'm glad it's still there!

.

[odinthor]

Here's a story both poignant and noirish relating to the Taul Bldg.:


LA Times of 10/29/46, via ProQuest, via CSULB Library

[ethereal_reality]

That last paragraph is a bit heartbreaking.

[Lwize]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

it looks like McKee also had a taxicab service!

Looks like the 1915 version of Uber Eats!

[FredH]

E.R. - I know that you appreciate rooftop signs, so you may notice that (not only is your building still there) but also the rooftop billboard is still hanging in there too.


Ebay


Google Street View

A bonus here is that the 1959 sign is advertising Lucky Lager!



By The Way - Nisei Week celebrates the children of Japanese immigrants. The festival is still going strong in Little Tokyo.

[ethereal_reality]

You're absolutely right, FredH. Thanks for pointing that out.

[ethereal_reality]

Here is a rather strange snapshot of a snake charmer. It was on eBay yesterday but has since disappeared.



eBay

"The Fair Charmer, M.A. Fuller, 206 N. New Hampshire, Los Angeles." Apt. 106.

What in blue blazes is that in the audience, on the right?




Let's take a closer look.

The seller describes the snake charmer as an exotic woman...but I'm not so sure.



What do you think noirishers...Man or Woman?

Here's how the ad appeared on eBay.








re: The mystery in the audience.


DETAIL

It's a monkey.

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[FredH]

I love these two guys in the audience, just standing there watching like there's nothing weird going on.


Ebay


I wouldn't be getting that close to the snake...or the monkey...or the "woman"

[ethereal_reality]

An interesting business card from the 1920s or 30s.


eBay

Ed's Beer Mug, 4619 Melrose Avenue, NOrmandy 9278.............Ed Levy, Proprietor


There's an odd little game on the reverse.


eBay



I can't figure it out.

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[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

There's an odd little game on the reverse.


eBay



I can't figure it out.

I think you draw the two straight lines to make a "T", and then put it at the start of each line to make a rather risqué sentence, especially given the quoted date!

[ethereal_reality]

.
Yikes!

I had no idea.



.

[Scott Charles]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Note the Pool sign with the arrow bent at the end. Is this referring to a basement space?

I guess all of the (old) buildings on First Street have basements? I've been in the basement of Mr. Ramen before, a friend of mine was friends with the owner.

[Lorendoc]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

.
Oh my God!



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GSV

[pjenn]

The storefront with "Bowls" on the front was the headquarters of the LAPD Special Intelligence Unit in 1938 at the time of the Harry Raymond bombing.