noirish Los Angeles

[ethereal_reality]

If I'm not mistaken, 'Mount Kalmia' has only been mentioned twice on NLA (back in 2010)


I recently found this framed Christmas card on ebay.



ebay

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This is from http://movieland.wordpress.com/2007/...aculas-castle/

http://movieland.wordpress.com/2007/...aculas-castle/


http://movieland.wordpress.com/2007/...aculas-castle/


http://movieland.wordpress.com/2007/...aculas-castle/



Here's an aerial view of the 'castle' today.

just above Sunset Blvd.

google_earth





closer view

google_earth


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[ethereal_reality]

A few days ago I posted a rather bizarre postcard of a man in a bowler hat floating down to Los Angeles.

Now I've found another postcard that has me a bit bewildered.


ebay

What does this even mean!?

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[ethereal_reality]

Here's an excellent photograph showing a group of day-trippers enjoying the sun and sand at Venice Beach in the 1920s.

ebay

I've never seen the umbrella's with 'Venice Bath House' written on them before. -pretty cool.


Here's the whole photograph.
ebay

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[ethereal_reality]

I just came across this slide on ebay. The seller says it's from her deceased father's collection, and that he might have taken the photograph himself in 1962.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/LAMTA-Los-An...item418af7043a

So.....does anyone recognize the location? I want to check out what this T intersection looks like today. (at least I think it's a T intersection)


http://www.ebay.com/itm/LAMTA-Los-An...item418af7043a

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[C. King]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I just came across this slide on ebay. The seller says it's from her deceased father's collection, and that he might have taken the photograph himself in 1962.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/LAMTA-Los-An...item418af7043a

So.....does anyone recognize the location? I want to check out what this T intersection looks like today. (at least I think it's a T intersection)


http://www.ebay.com/itm/LAMTA-Los-An...item418af7043a

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Check out 708 S. Vermont Ave. I believe the Apt building behind it is the Leemont Apts. Deduced this from a street sign just to the left of the Drug Company. The photo is looking south east from the northwest corner of 7th & Vermont. The spires in the background are from the First Unitarian Church, located on 8th St.. Church dates back to the mid '20s per Wiki. Friars down the street, is on the corner of Leeward Ave.

Hope that helps,

Casey

[Albany NY]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I just came across this slide on ebay. The seller says it's from her deceased father's collection, and that he might have taken the photograph himself in 1962.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/LAMTA-Los-An...item418af7043a

So.....does anyone recognize the location? I want to check out what this T intersection looks like today. (at least I think it's a T intersection)


http://www.ebay.com/itm/LAMTA-Los-An...item418af7043a
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Good catch, Casey! I was barking up the wrong tree trying to track the Friars. But I did get some juicy gossip about Bilkiss Drugs. According to the May 16, 1949 issue of the Long Beach Independent, brothers Ben Louis Bilkiss and Daniel Bilkiss were named in a complaint regarding 9,000 missing "hypnotic and stimulating" pills.

www.newspaperarchive.com

I came up empty when searching for any resolution to the charges. It seems that at least one of the brothers did fairly well in life. Older brother Ben Louis (1906-1987) apparently lived out his final days living in Beverly Hills. Younger brother Daniel (1908-1974) is a bit more of a mystery. I can't find any other info on the Bilkiss Drug Co. Anyone else want to try?

[Tetsu]

Originally Posted by Beaudry

Soooo, because we're batting a thousand already, here's another mystery photo (heck, maybe this'll become a regular feature, like on Larry Harnisch's Dairly Mirror!)...

I picked this up with another image, probably taken at the same time (clipped from the same album, same paper and photography, etc.) and that image was of the oft-photographed 221 S Olive on Bunker Hill, so one assumes the image below is near downtown.



A million thanks (in advance) to whomever can help with this one. And two nights' stay in the Ambassador!

I think the mystery of this house may still be afoot. I saw that rickm suggested it may be 235 S. Olive, but there's a few things I can't reconcile in my mind for that.

First off, the 200 S. block of Olive had a noticeable downward slope as it moved north toward 2nd Street. This is quite noticeable when you see the many pictures of the Baer House at 221 S. Olive:

http://cdm16003.contentdm.oclc.org/c...id/6283/rec/43

The house that is supposed to be at 235 S. Olive seems to be situated on perfectly flat ground. Additionally, this circa 1900 panoramic view of Bunker Hill doesn't seem to show any house that looks like the one from Beaudry's photo:

USC

I circled the the Baer house in red, so 235 S. Olive should be a few doors to the left. Of course, there's the possibility the house in question hadn't been built yet when this photo was taken, but that still doesn't explain the lack of any perceptible slope in Beaudry's photo. Then again, there's this:

my file

This is a drawing that was done when the WPA was surveying the area to do that huge model of Los Angeles. The bottom line of buildings is the west side of the 200 block of S. Olive, where you can see the Baer house, fourth building from the right. Two houses to the left, there's a house whose address could conceivably be 235 S., and it does sort of match Beaudry's photo, at least in that you see a two-story house with a turret at the right corner of its facade. Other details seem to be different though - wider facade, hipped roof instead of gabled. Could be a remodeling though.

All this is to say - what do you guys think? I'm thoroughly perplexed.

[rick m]

Originally Posted by Tetsu

I think the mystery of this house may still be afoot. I saw that rickm suggested it may be 235 S. Olive, but there's a few things I can't reconcile in my mind for that.

First off, the 200 S. block of Olive had a noticeable downward slope as it moved north toward 2nd Street. This is quite noticeable when you see the many pictures of the Baer House at 221 S. Olive:

http://cdm16003.contentdm.oclc.org/c...id/6283/rec/43

The house that is supposed to be at 235 S. Olive seems to be situated on perfectly flat ground. Additionally, this circa 1900 panoramic view of Bunker Hill doesn't seem to show any house that looks like the one from Beaudry's photo:

USC

I circled the the Baer house in red, so 235 S. Olive should be a few doors to the left. Of course, there's the possibility the house in question hadn't been built yet when this photo was taken, but that still doesn't explain the lack of any perceptible slope in Beaudry's photo. Then again, there's this:

my file

This is a drawing that was done when the WPA was surveying the area to do that huge model of Los Angeles. The bottom line of buildings is the west side of the 200 block of S. Olive, where you can see the Baer house, fourth building from the right. Two houses to the left, there's a house whose address could conceivably be 235 S., and it does sort of match Beaudry's photo, at least in that you see a two-story house with a turret at the right corner of its facade. Other details seem to be different though - wider facade, hipped roof instead of gabled. Could be a remodeling though.

All this is to say - what do you guys think? I'm thoroughly perplexed.

My notes from LA Times revealed in 1893 - that 235 was inhabited by J. Merrill- then in 1901 there was the Drullard family - followed by D.K. Edwards by '06 - he moved here from Court Street- and he built apts at 244-246 S. Grand- the late 30s aerials show a similarly shaped home w/o the Victorian decoration--maybe a newer front porch- the positions of the short palms in the 1900 era image line up with taller palms in the late 30s- Home probably razed for another failed apartment once planned for the space--

[Lwize]

I don't know what prompted me to try this one, and I should have just tossed the color info out anyway, but whatever. After years of toiling with Photoshop, I'm still a Lightroom novice...


(hosted by me)

[HossC]

Originally Posted by HossC

The house belonged to George Zobelein (of Maier & Zobelein's Brewery fame). The picture below dates from 1925 (11 years before the aerial above), and its description says "Exterior view of the Zobelein residence on Figueroa, opposite Exposition Park." As far as I can tell from the 1921 Baist map, the grounds used to extend to Figueroa, hence the difference in addresses. It's right on the corner of four different maps, so I'll see if I can stitch something together. The inset is from the 1936 CD (the same date as the aerial). The house had already been replaced by the current building by 1948 (looking at Historic Aerials).


LAPL

It's quite clear that G W Baist never intended for anyone to try and fit his maps together. They all have their own scales, and streets don't line up perfectly from one to the next. Here's the best I could do with four separate 1921 maps around the Zobelein residence. As I assumed in my original post, the grounds of George Zobelein's house once went from Figueroa to Hope Street, and the triangle where Carl's once stood didn't yet exist. Flower Street and Hope Street were both disjointed at Exposition Boulevard, and Flower stopped and started either side of the Zobelein property. The Zobeleins apparently owned the tract below 38th Street as well. It looks like the hall of the Aerospace Museum was once an armory.




This is how the layout had changed by 1948. The Zobelein residence has gone, but Carl's can now be seen in the triangle. Hope Street has been straightened, and Flower Street has been straightened and extended through the Zobelein property to the intersection of 38th and Figueroa. In the top left corner is the southern end of Hoover Boulevard, which used to go right through the USC campus. My original post shows a pedestrian subway under Flower and Figueroa which appears to have gone by 1948. The dark band represents the original footprint of the Harbor Freeway, while the light band is the current footprint.

An additional note I found on the Zobelein family dateline on zobelein.com says "early 1930's: Zobelein residence is moved to accomodate extension of Flower Street (a few years later the home is razed)".


Historic Aerials

Another page on zobelein.com gives the following information:

"The German word for sable is 'zobel' - thus the sable incorporated into the coat of arms. This also explains the name given to the apartments owned by the Zobelein family in Los Angeles (on the site of George Zobelein's estate) - the 'Sable Arms'. Above the doorway on the building is a replica of the coat of arms."

This is the building currently on the site, which appears to be the same one that's in all the old aerial images. The Sable Arms Apartments at 3762 S Flower first appear in the City Directories in 1939, and are still there in 1987 (the last one currently available at LAPL).


GSV

Here's the family coat of arms. On the right is the only thing on the building which looked like a coat of arms that I could see from the Googlemobile.


zobelein.com/GSV

[Lwize]

(aes.org)


(latimes.com)


(latimes.com)

Originally Posted by latimes.com

Crane removes iconic KTLA radio tower for renovation and relocation
KTLA tower

By Samantha Masunaga

The iconic KTLA-5 tower, which stood watch at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Van Ness Street for more than 60 years, was dismantled Monday morning, piece by piece, so that it could be restored and relocated.

The radio tower will be moved to its original location at Sunset Bronson Studios in Hollywood sometime in early 2015, after structural retrofitting and renovation, according to KTLA-TV.

The move clears the way for construction of a 14-story office building that will include additional production facilities for current and future tenants on the lot, according to a press release from Hudson Pacific Properties, which owns the property where the tower stood for more than half a century.

KTLA employees watched as workers climbed the 160-foot steel skeleton, and a crane lifted the top part of the tower with the four yellow call letters – KTLA -- leaving behind the bottom portion with the station's channel number, 5.

For KTLA reporter Ginger Chan, the tower is more than just the station’s marquee. Chan's mother worked at a junior high school located off the 101 Freeway, and Chan said she saw the tower frequently while growing up and associated it with her mother’s work.

Now, her 3-year-old son sees the tower and knows it's where his mother works, Chan said.

“It brings back memories of my mom working and something that we identified as our childhood,” Chan said. “And it's something that will be part of his childhood and his growing up.”

“When you are driving up or down the 101, you see that tower, you know where you are,” said longtime KTLA reporter Eric Spillman. “To see it taken apart and moved, people are going to feel like something's missing.”

The KTLA tower was erected in 1925, and was one of two radio towers that served Warner Bros.' affiliate radio station, KFWB.

The second tower was permanently removed in 1950, and the other was transferred to its current site. KTLA moved to the property in 1955, and added its call letters to the structure, said Bob Maslen, studio engineer for KTLA.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...124-story.html

[oldstuff]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I have to say....that's a pretty interesting guess CityBoyDoug.

My guess is much less imaginative. I was thinking more along the lines of a water-wheel/grinding stone for a mill.




Here's a larger view.

I think that a grinding mechanism might be more accurate. Look at the "spokes" or supports of the smaller wheels. They seem to be unfinished tree branches. The center post appears to be a log with the bark still on it. The larger wheel appears to have small troughs between its two flat sections. Maybe it is something that would have been used to move water.

A more "outside the box" thought: Dr David Burbank had his ranch on the property where Warner Brothers now has their lot. The picture shows the area along the river. Dr Burbank ran sheep on the property and part of his home is said to be somewhere on the back lot. He built his home there in 1867. Perhaps it is part of a mechanism used to raise water from the river up the bank for the ranch. The river had more water in it in days past. My dad, who was born on another ranch in Burbank in 1913, learned to swim in the river. Just a thought since the wheel appears to be somewhat rustic. It also may have served that kind of purpose for a movie.

[so-cal-bear]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

A few days ago I posted a rather bizarre postcard of a man in a bowler hat floating down to Los Angeles.

Now I've found another postcard that has me a bit bewildered.


ebay

What does this even mean!?

__

Hoss, do your job and put a bowler hat and a green apple on this beast!

Seriously, what the hell?

[so-cal-bear]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Here's an excellent photograph showing a group of day-trippers enjoying the sun and sand at Venice Beach in the 1920s.

ebay

I've never seen the umbrella's with 'Venice Bath House' written on them before. -pretty cool.


Here's the whole photograph.
ebay

__

Why in the world would you wear a suit and even a tie to go to the , well today, the tackiest of all Los Angeles attractions. Venice Beach? I suppose the style of the time. No suntan lotion needed here, that's for sure.

[oldstuff]

Originally Posted by Albany NY

Good catch, Casey! I was barking up the wrong tree trying to track the Friars. But I did get some juicy gossip about Bilkiss Drugs. According to the May 16, 1949 issue of the Long Beach Independent, brothers Ben Louis Bilkiss and Daniel Bilkiss were named in a complaint regarding 9,000 missing "hypnotic and stimulating" pills.

www.newspaperarchive.com

I came up empty when searching for any resolution to the charges. It seems that at least one of the brothers did fairly well in life. Older brother Ben Louis (1906-1987) apparently lived out his final days living in Beverly Hills. Younger brother Daniel (1908-1974) is a bit more of a mystery. I can't find any other info on the Bilkiss Drug Co. Anyone else want to try?

No real information after about 1941. Daniel Bilkiss was born in New York in 1908 the middle of five sons of Isaac and Eva Bilkiss. Isaac was a tailor. His parents were of Romanian descent. His elder brother Louis was born in New York in 1906. The family lived in in Canada around 1916, and then moved to California before February of 1920 when Isaac petitioned to become a naturalized citizen. Daniel attended Polytechnic High School in Long Beach, where he was active in the Chemistry Club and was its president in 1925. Louis died in 1987 and Daniel died in Los Angeles in 1974.

A Directory from 1939 shows Louis B. Bilkiss Drugs at 700 S. Vermont in Los Angeles. This property is now a Shell gas station. The 1941 directory shows the drug store at the same address and both brothers listed. Daniel was residing at 700 S. Westmoreland and Louis was living at 2939 Wellington Road. Both these properties are mostly unchanged.

[jg6544]

Originally Posted by so-cal-bear

Why in the world would you wear a suit and even a tie to go to the , well today, the tackiest of all Los Angeles attractions. Venice Beach? I suppose the style of the time. No suntan lotion needed here, that's for sure.

The suntanning fad is mostly a post-WWII thing. Women, in particular, were supposed to have pale white skin.

[HossC]

Originally Posted by so-cal-bear

Hoss, do your job and put a bowler hat and a green apple on this beast!

Seriously, what the hell?

You deserve one of my rare LOLs for that, so-cal-bear. I reserve them for comments which do actually make me laugh out loud!

I left the tie off because I've never seen a flea wearing one .



While we're at it ...

Originally Posted by so-cal-bear

Why in the world would you wear a suit and even a tie to go to the, well today, the tackiest of all Los Angeles attractions. Venice Beach? I suppose the style of the time. No suntan lotion needed here, that's for sure.

... does this make more sense?

[ethereal_reality]

ebay

Originally Posted by C. King

Check out 708 S. Vermont Ave. I believe the Apt building behind it is the Leemont Apts. Deduced this from a street sign just to the left of the Drug Company. The photo is looking south east from the northwest corner of 7th & Vermont. The spires in the background are from the First Unitarian Church, located on 8th St.. Church dates back to the mid '20s per Wiki. Friars down the street, is on the corner of Leeward Ave.

Hope that helps,

Casey

Good job. I missed several of the clues both you and Albany pointed out. I obviously saw the church steeple, but I didn't notice the Leemont Apt. sign, and I couldn't read the Bilkiss Drugs sign.

The interesting vintage buildings on the southeast corner of 7th and Vermont (shown in the 1962 slide) have been replaced by a Shell station (and a tree).

I tried to line up the Leemont sign and the steeple/belfry to match the 1962 slide.

GSV


...a closer view of the Leemont Apartment building and the still intact Leemont sign.

GSV

..and here's the church on 8th Street.


GSV


Thanks again C. King (Casey) and Albany_NY.

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sidenote:

At first I thought it was this church at Leeward Avenue and S. Westmoreland Avenue.


GSV

[ethereal_reality]

I also found this slide last night. I believe it's from the same seller that posted the 1962 Vermont Avenue slide that we just discussed.


ebay
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HossC, good detective work in finding out the Sable Apartment complex was named after Zobelein.

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[ethereal_reality]

In the past we've covered several round (and rotating) bars in the downtown Los Angeles area
..but recently I came across this.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/797613...ream/lightbox/

I was like, where the heck was this one?

Well I finally found the other half, and it was located in Covina of all places!


https://www.flickr.com/photos/797613...n/photostream/


I came across this comment concerning the 'rotabar'. It mentions a large roof-top sign showing a boy blowing a horn.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/61214504@N00/

As most of you know, I'm an aficionado of roof-top signs so I quickly began a quest for a photograph of the horn blowing boy.

And I've come up with.........ZILCH....NOTHING.

Anyone want to try their hand at finding this elusive sign for me?
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