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  #9101  
Old Posted Sep 5, 2012, 2:00 PM
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GaylordWilshire GaylordWilshire is offline
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I've just discovered a fabulous blog

Its latest installment has the story of rake-about-town Paul Otto Tobeler, who managed to get himself into a few noir-lite scrapes in the '50s: http://stjamesparklosangeles.blogspo...histories.html

LAT
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  #9102  
Old Posted Sep 5, 2012, 2:57 PM
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Nice image from a time we don't see a lot of...


Main Street, Los Angeles, 1916

USCdigital archive/Automobile Club of Southern California negatives, 1892-1963


And now, thanks to ProphetM's dandy detective work, we know this nice image is misidentified in the Automobile Club of Southern California's archives and is, in fact, Main Street, Santa Ana(!), presumably 1916. And as these things so often play out, we also now know a little bit (more) about the San Francisco Exposition, the San Diego Exposition, the Lincoln Highway, the 'Coast Route', the Exposition Trail and the degree to which we need to remain skeptical when finding information attached to archived photographs.

Last edited by MichaelRyerson; Sep 7, 2012 at 6:30 PM.
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  #9103  
Old Posted Sep 5, 2012, 7:50 PM
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I'm wondering if this might be the Main Street of another SoCal town--maybe the intersection is several miles to the north or south of downtown, but why would there be a directional to Los Angeles on its own main street? Also--I guess I've never seen that type of streetlamp before....
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  #9104  
Old Posted Sep 5, 2012, 7:58 PM
oldstuff oldstuff is offline
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The name of the business where the man is looking out the window on page 452 appears clearer around the corner of the building The business is W.M. Garland Real Estate. Mr William Marshall Garland was born in Maine. His wife's name was Blanche and they had two sons, William Marshall and John. The family lived at 755 West Adams in 1910. They appear in the 1910 census.
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  #9105  
Old Posted Sep 5, 2012, 9:44 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire View Post


I'm wondering if this might be the Main Street of another SoCal town--maybe the intersection is several miles to the north or south of downtown, but why would there be a directional to Los Angeles on its own main street? Also--I guess I've never seen that type of streetlamp before....
Well, I had similar thoughts, although at a minimum, it probably must be south of town as the sign points to Los Angeles in one direction and San Diego in the other. Ergo, the sign must be between Los Angeles and San Diego. That said, bear in mind Main Street ran pretty much unbroken all the way to Lomita Boulevard even in 1916. That's quite a distance and it wouldn't be unreasonable to expect some travellers to come upon 'Main Street' and not know which direction lay the town. I wonder if the 'Exposition Trail' is a clue. Vernon? Also the notation 'coast route' perhaps places the sign in Long Beach or maybe Wilmington? I don't know. Beings how it's an image from the Auto Club I place somewhat more trust in their identifying notes than if it were from the Historical Society but still many odd misidentifications show up even in their archive. Yes, the street lamp is very unusual though not unlike an Olympic Special, perhaps an early, more crudely wrought effort in that direction. Or, it occurs to me, the lamp may have more to do with the box that seems to be attached to the pole. There is a mail box sitting alongside to the right and then this lamp and box arrangement. Maybe the lamp isn't a street lamp at all but an indication as to the location of the box, so that from down the street people can see where the box is. Also Boyd's Studio?

Last edited by MichaelRyerson; Sep 5, 2012 at 10:42 PM.
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  #9106  
Old Posted Sep 5, 2012, 11:20 PM
KevinW KevinW is offline
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The Exposition Trail

Found this while looking for said Trail. Seems like they linked the 1915 San Francisco Expo with the 1917 San Diego Expo. That would put the time and place correctly.


lincoln-highway-museum.org

Now if I could only find a map of the route of the Exposition Trail. It's nowhere on the web that I can find so far...

Last edited by KevinW; Sep 5, 2012 at 11:53 PM.
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  #9107  
Old Posted Sep 6, 2012, 12:27 AM
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...very interesting. I've never heard of this 'Exposition Trail'.
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  #9108  
Old Posted Sep 6, 2012, 1:06 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KevinW View Post
Found this while looking for said Trail. Seems like they linked the 1915 San Francisco Expo with the 1917 San Diego Expo. That would put the time and place correctly.

lincoln-highway-museum.org

Now if I could only find a map of the route of the Exposition Trail. It's nowhere on the web that I can find so far...


me neither. I've spent the better part of an hour and a half, using every combination of search terms I can think of, but nada.
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  #9109  
Old Posted Sep 6, 2012, 1:15 AM
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...same here. it's quite frustrating.
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  #9110  
Old Posted Sep 6, 2012, 2:22 AM
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May Co. Parking Lot

Quote:
Originally Posted by ethereal_reality View Post
snapshot...'location unknown'.


snapshot/ebay

I believe this is the north side (rear view) of the iconic May Co. on Wilshire Blvd.
__
I've been looking for a picture of that hedge which would also have included the Gas Station we tried to find earlier in this thread. Here's a nice Ed Ruscha shot which shows the station. I'm convinced the hedge is there on 6th just east of the Gas Station.




Ed Ruscha

If you like aerials of L.A., this is a great site:

http://angelfloresjr.multiply.com/journal/item/8640

Then I found this shot of Wilshire/Fairfax and in the background right, you can see the vertical May Co. sign. Was this a gas station or was it the May Co. Automotive Department?


LAPL

Here's BifRayRock's post from before:

*Look closely and you can see the image of that station near the May Co. "M" in this photo (3:30 O'clock, far right hand side.) The picture indicates the presence of a spire - that I do not remember.

[URL="http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/search/controller/view/whit-m1428.html?x=1335382897948"]

I also stumbled across this incredible site. Look towards the bottom for links to hundreds of pictures:

http://waterandpower.org/museum/Earl...1920_+%29.html
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  #9111  
Old Posted Sep 6, 2012, 3:25 AM
Lwize Lwize is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KevinW View Post
I also stumbled across this incredible site. Look towards the bottom for links to hundreds of pictures:

http://waterandpower.org/museum/Earl...1920_+%29.html
Holy crap! So many unseen pictures around LA!
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  #9112  
Old Posted Sep 6, 2012, 5:45 AM
Chuckaluck Chuckaluck is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KevinW View Post
I've been looking for a picture of that hedge which would also have included the Gas Station we tried to find earlier in this thread. Here's a nice Ed Ruscha shot which shows the station. I'm convinced the hedge is there on 6th just east of the Gas Station.

Ed Ruscha
I agree that the hedge is visible in the image you posted.

When I first explored this subject I discovered, per its advertising, that the May Co., like so many other department stores had an Auto Department that sold tires, batteries and the like. I can't be certain, but I believe the outlying building was constructed after the main building was operational. By 1960 (but possibly earlier)the Auto "Department" gave way to the May Company Service Station located at 600 S. Fairfax. WE-6-3600. This was apparently a joint venture with Standard Oil of California, since that is a separate listing for the same station, with the same telephone number. http://rescarta.lapl.org:8080/ResCar...oc=fairfax+ave So, it is probably safe to say that the building started out by doing light service on cars but later operation was primarily gasoline sales.

Since BRR's original posting, I have noticed quite a number of wide shots that include, for lack of a better word, the "station." It is obvious that the building went through a few face lifts before being reduced to gas pump islands and a small office. The parking lot lighting clearly changed too. I would wager that the hedges may have come and gone a few times as well.

Something that I found interesting was the existence of second, single story, building - that bordered Fairfax and ran between the main building and the gas/auto department. I have only seen the one photo of the building, see first image below, from BRR's posts. The cars suggest the image and the mystery building date from the mid to late '40s. (Sorry if some of these are repeats, but it can be helpful to view things contextually.)

See:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=7500 and

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=7965
_____________________

The "Second" mystery building:



A larger version of your image:


_____________________

2011
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tortuga...l-1409234@N20/



Circa 1946-1947? (Park La Brea had not been built yet.)


Circa 1954 and one premier image!


Circa 1968
Aerials from: USC Digital

Last edited by Chuckaluck; Sep 9, 2012 at 1:37 AM.
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  #9113  
Old Posted Sep 6, 2012, 9:08 PM
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[QUOTE=BifRayRock;5760798][COLOR="Indigo"][SIZE="2"][FONT="Tahoma"]
Transportation begets temptation?

1908 Burbank, unknown address.
lapl

____________________________
The picture of the bicycle shop in Burbank was the shop owned by Orlando Lane, who built one of the "Rock Houses" on Olive Avenue at Ninth in Burbank. The Bicycle Shop was located on the West side of San Fernando Blvd. It was probably located between Angeleno and Tujunga. Mr Lane later had a Ford Dealership
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  #9114  
Old Posted Sep 6, 2012, 11:02 PM
ProphetM ProphetM is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MichaelRyerson View Post

Main Street, Los Angeles, 1916

USCdigital archive/Automobile Club of Southern California negatives, 1892-1963
That right there is Main & 4th, Santa Ana.

Luckily, the building in the foreground is still there, looking pretty much the same!

Google Street View

I know there's not a lot of building for comparison, but I think it's the right place. There is even that one brick on the darker second floor (left of the windows) that is lighter than all the ones around it.

I arrived at this by searching for the Coast Route. The USC digital library has several ACSC strip maps showing the "Coast Route" from LA to San Diego. There's a 1917 map that's not detailed enough to show most of the street names, but another one from 1923 shows the part from LA to just past Santa Ana and on that one the Coast Route runs down Main St. in Santa Ana and then heads east on 4th.

First St. is still shown as a minor street on the 1923 map and the Coast route jogs back over to it east of the center of town, so in 1916 possibly the route turned east on 1st instead, which would account for the sign in the photo as it is south of the corner at 4th. (According to the 1923 map the Auto Club's Santa Ana office was then on 4th just east of Main St. so that would give them a reason to suggest using 4th St. instead of 1st.)

Last edited by ProphetM; Sep 6, 2012 at 11:21 PM.
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  #9115  
Old Posted Sep 6, 2012, 11:30 PM
Lwize Lwize is offline
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No street corner can remain anonymous in this thread.
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  #9116  
Old Posted Sep 6, 2012, 11:51 PM
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GaylordWilshire GaylordWilshire is offline
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You got it, Prophet--





Above are a couple of shots of the buildings along 4th Street in Santa Ana-- complete with the Boyds Studio sign.


More of Main & 4th:







In this one, Kress has replaced one of the buildings on the north side of 4th--probably after the 1933 earthquake:





All shots from http://santaanahistory.com

Last edited by GaylordWilshire; Sep 7, 2012 at 11:31 AM.
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  #9117  
Old Posted Sep 7, 2012, 12:10 AM
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Great detective work ProphetM! Your discovery ranks as one of the best on 'noirish los angeles'.

__

Last edited by ethereal_reality; Sep 7, 2012 at 2:10 AM.
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  #9118  
Old Posted Sep 7, 2012, 12:15 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire View Post
I've just discovered a fabulous blog

Its latest installment has the story of rake-about-town Paul Otto Tobeler, who managed to get himself into a few noir-lite scrapes in the '50s: http://stjamesparklosangeles.blogspo...histories.html

LAT
Anyone who loves Los Angeles history should visit GaylordWilshire's blog on St. James Park. It's absolutely truly amazing in all it's details!
http://stjamesparklosangeles.blogspo...histories.html

__

Last edited by ethereal_reality; Sep 7, 2012 at 2:24 AM.
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  #9119  
Old Posted Sep 7, 2012, 12:24 AM
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GaylordWilshire GaylordWilshire is offline
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I try. The blogs are a labor of love.

Thanks for the kudos, e_r, Our Esteemed Founder
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  #9120  
Old Posted Sep 7, 2012, 4:01 AM
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Has anyone noticed this type of sign in any of the old Bunker Hill photographs?


found on ebay



below: a description from ebay.



For the life of me I can't figure out the purpose of this type of concrete 'sign'....was it embedded in pavement?

__

Last edited by ethereal_reality; Sep 7, 2012 at 5:07 AM.
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