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  #52181  
Old Posted Jul 30, 2019, 6:42 PM
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Commercial mystery

Quote:
Originally Posted by ethereal_reality View Post
"The plaque is set into the sidewalk at the north side of Commercial adjacent to U.S. 101 and just east of the on-ramp to that freeway." ...from HERE
Soooo....across from..

GSV

......................................................................................................................Indoor Parking!
How can it be attractive in this exclusively industrial and circulation area ?
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  #52182  
Old Posted Jul 30, 2019, 6:49 PM
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Away from prying eyes, Alvaro.

psst. for married men who don't want to get caught.




.................."I told you not to go to that place!"

.

Last edited by ethereal_reality; Jul 31, 2019 at 1:31 AM.
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  #52183  
Old Posted Jul 31, 2019, 12:39 AM
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Here is a fantastic family photograph that was posted on eBay, yesterday.

"c.1914 Family Photo of Ford Touring Car on Vermont and Hollywood, L.A., Calif."


eBay

The seller added this:

"This photo taken by my Grandmother about 1914 of my father (age 3 or 4) next the the family Ford Touring Car parked on Vermont Ave at Hollywood Blvd in front of his dad's store, viewing north on Vermont toward Griffith Park and the Hollywood Hills, Southern California. This and other photos were reprinted by my father in the early 1950s for local newspaper articles on the history of East Hollywood. This image is from one of a few sets of these original gelatin silver images he printed from the original negatives. The photos were taken by my grandparents between 1902 and 1918."

note the large mansion in the hills at the end of the street. (Vermont)








Here's a closer look at the drug store on the right.



If you look closely, a lady has started to cross the street in front of the drug store. (at first I thought she was a penguin) I was only seeing her white skirt and shoes. ....ha ha

I think I see a group of three or four men in the shadows...farther down the sidewalk a man is walking his bike(?)

Down the street I see...umm.. two young ladies...one has her back to us and appears to be wearing a mini skirt that is blowing in the breeze.

TIME FOR MY MEDS









Now let's take a closer look at the adorable child (the seller's father) standing in front of his family's touring car. (note the 1914 license plate)
lady pushing her child across the street .....................

DETAIL I wonder what book he's holding.....................

I am intrigued by the large light mounted in the center of the car near the windshield. (it appears to swivel and move up and down like a searchlight)





Oh, and one last thing.

For you super-sleuths...there is a sign reflected in the automobile's windshield.


The 'searchlight' again...................................................................................................

Can anyone make out the writing? ...(I tried..it's virtually impossible)

.

Last edited by ethereal_reality; Jul 31, 2019 at 1:45 AM.
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  #52184  
Old Posted Jul 31, 2019, 7:52 AM
BillinGlendaleCA BillinGlendaleCA is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ethereal_reality View Post
Here is a fantastic family photograph that was posted on eBay, yesterday.


Here's a closer look at the drug store on the right.





Down the street I see...umm.. two young ladies...one has her back to us and appears to be wearing a mini skirt that is blowing in the breeze.

TIME FOR MY MEDS


.
I think your Drug Store building may be a survivor, the only building permit indicating construction is in 1922 for a garage(as well as permits for awnings and signs). It's definately been added onto to extend down Kingswell into another older building. The building where the ladies are standing is may also be a survivor, I can see the bolts in the side of the building for earthquake retrofitting.
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  #52185  
Old Posted Jul 31, 2019, 12:08 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ethereal_reality View Post

Oh, and one last thing.

For you super-sleuths...there is a sign reflected in the automobile's windshield.


The 'searchlight' again...................................................................................................

Can anyone make out the writing? ...(I tried..it's virtually impossible)

.

I think the sign may well not be a reflection but a business sign mounted on that house(?) back there beyond the car. One of my reasons for thinking so, is the lower edge of the sign perfectly tracks the lower eave of the house, a long shot if it were a reflection. My two cents.




eBay


Also my best guess on the large mansion on the hill is it may be the Mead house, the original developer of Los Feliz William Mead, although his house was completed in 1917 or thereabouts. Still I think it's plausible that's his manse on the hill at 4533 Cockerham Drive. My two cents (total of four cents)


Here we are nearly sixty years later with essentially the same view. The survivor drug store is showing over there at Kingswell (1750 N. Vermont) and William Mead's house is up there on the hill.

Looking north on Vermont Avenue at Hollywood Boulevard, ca.1972

Last edited by MichaelRyerson; Jul 31, 2019 at 4:43 PM.
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  #52186  
Old Posted Jul 31, 2019, 4:59 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MichaelRyerson View Post


eBay


Also my best guess on the large mansion on the hill is it may be the Mead house, the original developer of Los Feliz William Mead, although his house was completed in 1917 or thereabouts. Still I think it's plausible that's his manse on the hill at 4533 Cockerham Drive. My two cents (total of four cents)
Fascinating detective work, MichaelRyerson!

I'm a bit confused about the Mead house, however - if the year of the photo (1914) is correct, how can the Mead house be present?

Is the date on the car's license plate incorrect? Or did the Mead house take over 3 years to be built?

The eBay seller said “The photos were taken by my grandparents between 1902 and 1918, but as the picture shows his father on the left, it seems the date would be somewhat easy to narrow down... I mean, a four year old looks a lot different than a seven year old...

"This photo taken by my Grandmother about 1914 of my father (age 3 or 4)”
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  #52187  
Old Posted Jul 31, 2019, 5:21 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott Charles View Post
Fascinating detective work, MichaelRyerson!

I'm a bit confused about the Mead house, however - if the year of the photo (1914) is correct, how can the Mead house be present?

Is the date on the car's license plate incorrect? Or did the Mead house take over 3 years to be built?

The eBay seller said “The photos were taken by my grandparents between 1902 and 1918, but as the picture shows his father on the left, it seems the date would be somewhat easy to narrow down... I mean, a four year old looks a lot different than a seven year old...

"This photo taken by my Grandmother about 1914 of my father (age 3 or 4)”

No, I think the child and the license plate date the picture to 1914. But it could be late in the year. And it's hard to tell exactly what 1917 has to do with the Mead house. Could be the date permits were pulled, making it less likely it would show in this shot but it could also be the date certificates of Completion or Certificates of Occupancy were issued meaning it could be here in 1914. Also construction on these large houses was a long process. The Leon Kaufman house overlooking the Pacific Coast Highway took five full years to completion. Also my source for the 1917 date is simply a realtor's brochure so not the most compelling source material. Maybe Hoss will happen along and pull a permit on the Mead address for us. For what it's worth, I'm pretty convinced this is the Mead house. Update: I've found an article listing Hudson & Munsell Architects for the period 1905 through 1935 and shows 1914 as the date of the Mead house. But again, we're left with not knowing what exactly they are saying has happened in 1914.

Here's the Kaufman Mansion...

View of Pacific Coast Highway from the top of a cliff, ca.1931

This lovely view looking north from Castellammare shows the front façade of the Leon Kaufman Mansion, Villa Leon or Villa de Leon, which was designed by noted architect Kenneth MacDonald, took over five years to build at a cost of one million dollars, being completed in 1928. Mr. Kaufman, who made his fortune in wool, and his wife, Clemence, moved into the property but did not live to enjoy it, she passed in 1933 and he in 1935. Thereafter, it sat vacant and unoccupied for nearly twenty years selling at auction in the mid-fifties for $71,000. It is often mistaken for the Getty Mansion which sits well back from the coast highway.

USCdigital archive/California Historical Society Collection, 1860-1960

Last edited by MichaelRyerson; Jul 31, 2019 at 5:41 PM.
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  #52188  
Old Posted Jul 31, 2019, 6:44 PM
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EXCELLENT detective work, guys

I believe you're correct about the sign showing through the windshield of the car, MR. Thanks for pointing out your reasoning.






So this is the survivor!?



I remember we discussed this building quite some time ago on NLA.


If I remember correctly, I had found a business card for some kind of esoteric 'health' studio that was located on the 2nd floor back in the 1930s or 40s.



Does anyone remember what I'm talking about?

(sometimes..I don't know what I'm talking about)

.

Last edited by ethereal_reality; Jul 31, 2019 at 7:04 PM.
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  #52189  
Old Posted Jul 31, 2019, 7:20 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MichaelRyerson View Post

Also my best guess on the large mansion on the hill is it may be the Mead house, the original developer of Los Feliz William Mead, although his house was completed in 1917 or thereabouts. Still I think it's plausible that's his manse on the hill at 4533 Cockerham Drive. My two cents (total of four cents)
The William Mead house was also my guess. A 1927 aerial view only shows three large houses in that vicinity: the William Mead house at 4533 Cockerham Drive, 4519 Cockerham Drive (1926 by Wallace Neff) and Frank Lloyd Wright's Ennis House (1924).

Luckily, GW posted this article back in 2012, which seems to confirm that the William Mead house was nearly complete in 1913:

Quote:
Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire View Post


Los Angeles Times, April 6, 1913

Real estate developer William Mead is described in some bios as once having owned all the land north of Los Feliz Blvd from Western Avenue east to the river.
Mead seems to have hired only the top L.A. architects of the day to design houses for his tract. Mead himself may or may not have lived in either the Luckenbach
house or the one in the drawing above, which still stands at 4533 Cockerham Drive:

GoogleSV

Some more shots of the house are here. (Prepare yourself for a major tackfest, at least indoors.)
I also found this video:

Video Link
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  #52190  
Old Posted Jul 31, 2019, 7:27 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HossC View Post
The William Mead house was also my guess. A 1927 aerial view only shows three large houses in that vicinity: the William Mead house at 4533 Cockerham Drive, 4519 Cockerham Drive (1926 by Wallace Neff) and Frank Lloyd Wright's Ennis House (1924).

Luckily, GW posted this article back in 2012, which seems to confirm that the William Mead house was nearly complete in 1913:



I also found this video:

Video Link
Thanks Hoss, I thought so. Yes, I'd seen the interior shots. No explaining bad taste. Of course, the house has passed through several sets of hands over the years and at least one major fire that pretty much destroyed 8 or 10 of the interior rooms. Lots of opportunity for 'redecorating'. Ugh.
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  #52191  
Old Posted Jul 31, 2019, 8:10 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MichaelRyerson View Post
No, I think the child and the license plate date the picture to 1914. But it could be late in the year. And it's hard to tell exactly what 1917 has to do with the Mead house. Could be the date permits were pulled, making it less likely it would show in this shot but it could also be the date certificates of Completion or Certificates of Occupancy were issued meaning it could be here in 1914. Also construction on these large houses was a long process. The Leon Kaufman house overlooking the Pacific Coast Highway took five full years to completion. Also my source for the 1917 date is simply a realtor's brochure so not the most compelling source material. Maybe Hoss will happen along and pull a permit on the Mead address for us. For what it's worth, I'm pretty convinced this is the Mead house. Update: I've found an article listing Hudson & Munsell Architects for the period 1905 through 1935 and shows 1914 as the date of the Mead house. But again, we're left with not knowing what exactly they are saying has happened in 1914.
Thank you for the information, that all makes perfect sense!

I hope you might forgive my excessive curiosity about this little stretch of Vermont Ave. I spent many years walking up and down those blocks. I was a regular at the Onyx Cafe, which would be about where the men in the distance are standing. I've had friends who lived at the Hollymont Apartments. I've been a patron of the Dresden since around 1991, and still have close friends who work there... in fact, I'm wearing a Dresden t-shirt at this very moment!

I could blather on endlessly about this strip of Vermont, but suffice it to say that it is very dear to my heart - and I'll be emailing this photo (and your information about it) to several friends of mine, so thanks again (you too, ER, BillinGlendaleCA, and HossC)!
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  #52192  
Old Posted Jul 31, 2019, 8:12 PM
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How very interesting! I drove past the Kaufman Mansion about six months ago, and I was so intrigued by it I actually doubleparked and did a bit of gawking - it's a lovely property; thanks so much for letting me in on its history!

To bring back some NOIR into this thread about NOIRISH LA, I was in the neighborhood to visit Thelma Todd’s Sidewalk Cafe - which is just a few blocks away from the Kaufman Mansion. I also visited the double garage where Thelma Todd's body was found.

link

link

Google Maps

PS: It looks like someone converted the original double doors into a single door... but when they did they put the halves together incorrectly and ruined the symmetry!

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  #52193  
Old Posted Jul 31, 2019, 8:37 PM
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Leon Kauffman made a lot of money in wool; before he built on the Pacific, he lived at the southeast corner of Wilshire and Wilton, which he had moved from Alvarado Street....

The history of that house is here: https://wilshireboulevardhouses.blog...e-see-our.html




I recently came across a full view of 3986 Wilshire:


http://www.charliechaplinarchive.org/it

Last edited by GaylordWilshire; Jul 31, 2019 at 8:54 PM.
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  #52194  
Old Posted Jul 31, 2019, 10:49 PM
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Six Years Behind

Since I joined this forum I've been reading from both ends, from that day to now and also from the beginning. Slowly I'm gaining ground; today I made it to July 31, 2013, six years ago. Page 792, for the record, about a third of the way counting the recent months I've read. Yes, I am mad as a hatter, but I'm loving every minute of it, and to celebrate I wrote you all a little song (with apologies to Hoagy Carmichael):

It's not the bright sun that excites me,
That thrills and affrights me, oh no,
It's just the noirness of YOOOOOOO....

That's all I've got so far. It just popped into my head a minute ago. I think I've had too much coffee.

Now back to reading what I believe is the greatest thread in the history of the internet, not just buildings or L.A. or noir. Thank you all.
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  #52195  
Old Posted Aug 1, 2019, 12:29 AM
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Originally Posted by Fnarf View Post
Since I joined this forum I've been reading from both ends, from that day to now and also from the beginning. Slowly I'm gaining ground; today I made it to July 31, 2013, six years ago. Page 792, for the record, about a third of the way counting the recent months I've read. Yes, I am mad as a hatter, but I'm loving every minute of it, and to celebrate I wrote you all a little song (with apologies to Hoagy Carmichael):

It's not the bright sun that excites me,
That thrills and affrights me, oh no,
It's just the noirness of YOOOOOOO....

That's all I've got so far. It just popped into my head a minute ago. I think I've had too much coffee.

Now back to reading what I believe is the greatest thread in the history of the internet, not just buildings or L.A. or noir. Thank you all.
Welcome to the thread (I haven't been around much for a while but I guess I can still say welcome). Thankfully Hoagy Carmichael is no longer around to see that (that was obviously a joke).

Last edited by MichaelRyerson; Aug 1, 2019 at 9:42 AM.
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  #52196  
Old Posted Aug 1, 2019, 9:49 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott Charles View Post

I hope you might forgive my excessive curiosity...

I could blather on endlessly about this strip of Vermont, but suffice it to say that it is very dear to my heart - and I'll be emailing this photo (and your information about it) to several friends of mine, so thanks again (you too, ER, BillinGlendaleCA, and HossC)!

Ha! That's the kind of blather we all understand. We all pretty much feel the same way about this town.

Last edited by MichaelRyerson; Aug 1, 2019 at 12:01 PM.
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  #52197  
Old Posted Aug 1, 2019, 2:49 PM
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Thanks, Michael!

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  #52198  
Old Posted Aug 1, 2019, 3:35 PM
Godzilla Godzilla is offline
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Both Sunset Blvd images have appeared on NLA before, but not together. The original Hamburger Hamlet was at 8931 Sunset (NE corner Hilldale and Sunset) (The '42 CD lists the same address as an antique store presumably operated by one Ray "Hampton," the last name coincidentally associated with the Highland Ave burger establishment.) The wide image depicts a business named "The Galaxy" along with a Galaxy Overflow room. The smaller image depicts "The Opera House" which evidently predated the nearby Galaxy.





Quote:
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http://hollywoodhistoricphotos.com/i...set%20Blvd.jpg
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  #52199  
Old Posted Aug 1, 2019, 3:42 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire View Post
I recently came across a full view of 3986 Wilshire:


http://www.charliechaplinarchive.org/it



Can't help but notice the NLA-ever-popular stop sign.
http://i597.photobucket.com/albums/t...ightedstop.jpg



http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=11938


http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=21716
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  #52200  
Old Posted Aug 1, 2019, 4:17 PM
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Drug Store Survivor

Quote:
Originally Posted by MichaelRyerson View Post
I think the sign may well not be a reflection but a business sign mounted on that house(?) back there beyond the car. One of my reasons for thinking so, is the lower edge of the sign perfectly tracks the lower eave of the house, a long shot if it were a reflection. My two cents.




eBay


Also my best guess on the large mansion on the hill is it may be the Mead house, the original developer of Los Feliz William Mead, although his house was completed in 1917 or thereabouts. Still I think it's plausible that's his manse on the hill at 4533 Cockerham Drive. My two cents (total of four cents)


Here we are nearly sixty years later with essentially the same view. The survivor drug store is showing over there at Kingswell (1750 N. Vermont) and William Mead's house is up there on the hill.

Looking north on Vermont Avenue at Hollywood Boulevard, ca.1972
To me it looks like the Drug Store is the Sarno's Bakery in the later day photograph.
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