noirish Los Angeles

[Chuckaluck]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Earlier tonight I came across this amazing aerial of the Rexall Corporate Headquarters at Beverly blvd. and La Cienega.


ebay

Kiddyland is visible at lower left. Eventually the Beverly Center would rise in Kiddyland's place.

Here's an earlier post.

Expected to see the oil derrick.

Originally Posted by 3940dxer

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.

Originally Posted by BifRayRock

Good sleuthing and good info! But something doesn't fit with my memory. Again, I was not around to see the actual derrick depicted in the photographs and I am now questioning whether what I remember from the early '80s was a vestige of that well or something else. I remember an island traffic hazard that served no apparent purpose in the center of La Cienega. It did not seem to be temporary and I did not investigate it. I thought it was much closer to the intersection with Beverly then your aerial shot. I could always be mistaken, too. The smaller pics below are interesting. One shot has the well a few hundred feet from an intersection. One picture of Beverly Park has the tip of a Rexall sign and appears to be in the same area and there is no island at all, or at least not in the picture. It may also be south of the so-called island. Some additional thoughts. One might expect pictures of the well outside of what was then called Kiddyland or Beverly Park. Same with construction of the Beverly Center and the Ma Maison Sofitel. Maybe the memories of some former students can shed some light? http://www.1400ml.com/jbclassof62/pa..._comments.html http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages...tml?1297118933 http://www.americanhistoryonline.org...8531?page=2496 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ba...StreetWell.jpg 20's: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...type=1&theater http://www.flickr.com/photos/

http://skyscraperpage.com/forum/show...ostcount=15634

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ob3XHIku6m...7.33.37+PM.png


http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NILMJLuv1h...7.33.17+PM.png


http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xhxofaXZKF...0.47.29+PM.png

[Otis Criblecoblis]

e_r, thanks for thinking of me and posting that marvelous picture of Earl Burtnett AHO with the Broadway Melody cast. By a nice coincidence, I have a copy of the record they were promoting, cat. no. 4431, "You Were Meant for Me"/"Broadway Melody." We're BIG Bessie Love fans here at the Farm House, and we've watched the film more than a few times.

It's interesting that, while the movie studios saw the value of records in movie promotion about three minutes after The Jazz Singer came out, even for non-talkies, still they (with the brief exception of WB for a year and a half) kept the recording industry at arm's length until after WW II. By the Sixties, of course, they all owned a label.

[Chuckaluck]

10970 Wilshire Blvd. Ritz Wilshire Hotel (Be there and be square)



http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/Njc1WDEwMj...TNa1d/$_57.JPG

[Chuckaluck]

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

Three views of the Chapman Park I hadn't seen before...perhaps because the source identifies them thusly: "Chapman Park Hotel, 5th & Spring Streets, Los Angeles. Formerly named the Alexandria Hotel, it was built in 1906 and enlarged in 1909."

The third shot appears to have been taken toward the Gaylord before the hotel added its Pueblo bungalow addition in the mid-'30s, seen in the first two shots.


All pics: Frank Mt. Pleasant Library

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http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTA0OFgxNj...1Qw~~60_57.JPG

[Otis Criblecoblis]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Earlier tonight I came across this amazing aerial of the Rexall Corporate Headquarters at Beverly blvd. and La Cienega.

(Picture omitted)

Kiddyland is visible at lower left. Eventually the Beverly Center would rise in Kiddyland's place.

My dad was VP in charge of insurance for Rexall from 1964 until its takeover by Dart Industries, and his office was in that building. I was in there, and in the Rexall Square drugstore, a great deal as a lad. Way in the back corner, the drugstore had an awesome toy department with an incredibly extensive stock of Legos. You could buy boxes of each individual piece! Next door in the building was a coffee shop called, IIRC, Gables.

While we're on the subject of Beverly and La Cienega, I wanted to mention that Kiddyland is used as a location for a scene in an episode of The Name of The Game entitled "Echo of A Nightmare." COZI TV has this, and will be running the show in the near future in the time slot now occupied by The Avengers.

[Chuckaluck]

Let me take you down . . . Cause I'm going to Elysian Fields . . . forever.

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTA3NFgxNj...TMPGJ/$_57.JPG

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6...571d507970b-pi

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[Chuckaluck]

Studio City
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTA3NVgxNj...TLaR6/$_57.JPG

[Chuckaluck]

Originally Posted by BifRayRock

A few blocks east of the Wilshire May Co., was the Miracle Mile Du-pars.

1978
LAPL

1966
https://www.facebook.com

________________ . ________________

In the later Du-par's images there appears a high rise located at 5670 Wilshire which used to be called the California Federal Plaza Building. I have a vague recollection that in 1966 or 67 the building and its sculpture (eclipsed by the light standard in the Du-par photos) were featured in a Sonny & Cher movie (Good Times?). Bound to have several shots of the surrounding Miracle Mile.

http://www.flickr.com


1978
LAPL


2000
LAPL

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http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NzUwWDEwMD...$_57.JPG?rt=nc


http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTAzMlgxNj...TCDqH/$_57.JPG

[Chuckaluck]

1911 ? - Beverly Hills
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NTIxWDgyMQ...TN4rt/$_57.JPG

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NTcxWDgzMg...$_57.JPG?rt=nc

[Chuckaluck]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

The Southern Pacific Station on Central Ave. between 5th and 7th Street.



usc digital archive




usc digital archive

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[Chuckaluck]

Originally Posted by oldstuff

This is great! It is also the only view I have seen with a close up of the shops at the Chinese Theater. My neighbor ran a curio/jewelry store at the Chinese for many years (20's to sometime in the 50's) I have never seen any view of the shops, other than this one. I don't know which side of the theater the shop was on. My neighbor died in the 70's so I can't ask her.
Does anyone have any other close pictures of any of the shops?

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NDM3WDY3MA...9TOeE~/$_3.JPG

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NjUwWDk1OA...S6Wqr/$_57.JPG

[Chuckaluck]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Great information on the Shrader House GW and HossC!
as well as the Wilshire Drug building (Austin Method)
__




A guest took this interesting snapshot out one of the windows of the Stillwell Hotel.
-notice the blowing curtain on the left.


ebay


detail/ I'm not sure what all we're looking at here.

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTA4NFg2OT...S1pdR/$_57.JPG

[Chuckaluck]

Westlake as few can remember it. Fewer still that are alive.

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http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NTI5WDgwMA.../$_3.JPG?rt=nc



http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTAzM1gxNj...TJM8T/$_57.JPG

[Chuckaluck]

Hotel Leighton
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTA2NlgxNj...wjg~~60_57.JPG

[Chuckaluck]

Originally Posted by Flyingwedge

Let's start off with the 1894 Sanborn Map from LAPL, SE corner of 5th and Main; "Charnock Block" runs along 5th Street:


This is the 1906 Sanborn Map from LAPL. The Charnock Block has expanded south to include 504-506 S. Main. The 1910 Baist Map (http://www.historicmapworks.com/Map/US/19467/Plate+002/) identifies the building at 508-510 S. Main as the Hotel Rennie:


I couldn't find any close-up, street-level photos of the Charnock from its early days, and the aerial views, like this c. 1904 photo looking north on Main, seem to be from the same side of the street, so you only see the Charnock's roof and upper wall, which has the Lee Bros. wall sign. Note the Hotel Lexington; the flag flying from atop the hotel to its north is emblazoned Rosslyn. Across Main Street from the Lexington . . . is that the c. 1892 Post Office/Federal Building being demolished? We've seen that building here before, but I forget why it had such a short life. It's not on the 1888 or 1906 Sanborns, nor was it replaced by anything especially notable.

USC Digital Library -- http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/si...id/3573/rec/41

This is a c. 1900-1909 (though later than the previous photo) view looking north on Main Street. The Lexington has become the Rosslyn, but no Baltimore Hotel (b. 1910) yet at the SW corner of 5th and Los Angeles (at the right edge of the photo). The King Edward Hotel is at the NW corner of 5th and Los Angeles, and the old round Panorama of the Battle of Paris building is still extant near the top center of the photo.

USC Digital Library -- http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/si...id/3589/rec/42

Baltimore Hotel ahoy! There's no Rosslyn Annex on the SW corner of 5th and Main, so this must be a pre-1923 photo. The Charnock Block is the 2nd building west of the Baltimore on 5th Street. It looks like there was a balcony over the alley on the east side of the Charnock Block.

LAPL -- http://jpg1.lapl.org/spnb01/00007002.jpg

I like this c. 1917 photo showing three iterations of Rosslyns (the big building with the rooftop sign being the third):

USC Digital Library -- http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/co...id/1454/rec/21

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NzMxWDExMz...TKbRM/$_57.JPG


http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/OTEzWDYzNg...SlCPs/$_57.JPG

[Chuckaluck]

Hotel El Rey - Sixth and San Pedro "Excellent Garage Facilities."

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTAyNFgxNj...TBr7Z/$_57.JPG

[Chuckaluck]

Originally Posted by Flyingwedge

1906 Sanborn (updated to 1953) @ LAPL:


1907:

Art Institute of Chicago -- http://digital-libraries.saic.edu/cd...d/12071/rec/41

Undated view of the Hershey Arms (roof only, lower left), the Bryson (tall, U-shaped), the Rampart Apartments (behind the Bryson), and Lafayette Park. The Arcady will be built on the empty lot across from the Hershey Arms in 1927:

LAPL -- http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics14/00026750.jpg

July 15, 1957:

Huntington Digital Library -- http://cdm16003.contentdm.oclc.org/c.../id/6194/rec/4

Also July 15, 1957:

Huntington Digital Library -- http://cdm16003.contentdm.oclc.org/c.../id/6196/rec/1

The Hershey Arms (c. 1902), designed by Austin and Brown, was replaced by the Western and Southern Life Insurance Building (1959; shown here in 1960), designed by Austin, Field and Fry. It was the same Austin in both cases -- John C. Austin (1870-1963).

LAPL -- http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics18/00018901.jpg

More John C. Austin info: https://digital.lib.washington.edu/a...rchitects/107/

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NjA1WDkxMg...mEQ~~60_57.JPG



http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxNj...42!~~60_57.JPG

[Chuckaluck]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

below: Here's a great building from 1913, The Trinity Auditorium.
The auditorium seated approximately 2500 spectators, and was the first home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
There were 330 rooms for single men from the fourth to the ninth floor.
It had a roof garden, ladies parlor, social halls, and a library.

Later, it became the Embassy Hotel and Auditorium.


It survives today, and is located at 851 S. Grand Ave.




USC digital archives




unknown. found at you-are-here.com





unknown. found at you-are-there.com






below: You can pick out the Trinity Auditorium in this vintage photo.
It's the building with the dome on the lower left hand side.
The other building with a dome on the right hand side is still a mystery to me.
Does anyone have a clue?



USC digital library

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/ODYwWDEyMj...S6EH~/$_57.JPG

[Chuckaluck]

Originally Posted by Johnny Socko

Great find! THANK YOU for posting this. In case anyone is not familiar with the area, the Lafayette is located on the north side of Beverly, roughly between Lafayette Park Place (which terminates at Beverly), and Occidental Boulevard -- which happens to be the street on which I reside.

The south end of Lafayette Park Place terminates at Lafayette Park. Lafayette Park was originally called Sunset Park, and thus the street was originally called Sunset Place. The neighborhood was developed roughly around the turn of the 20th Century, concurrent with the development of Wilshire Blvd west of Westlake Park. I have not determined exactly when Sunset Park and its street were re-named, but obviously it provided an opportunity for that "other" street to be named Sunset.

I have been wanting to do a grand post on my neighborhood for ages, but it would involve some actual legwork for which I never seem to have the time. Perhaps someday...

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[HossC]

Originally Posted by HossC

This is the Brown Derby from 'Dragnet'.


Universal Studios

Originally Posted by Mstimc

Egad! Is that a friggin' Yugo parked in front?!?

To quote Joe Friday in the movie:

"After losing the two previous vehicles we had been issued, the only car the department was willing to release to us at this point was an unmarked 1987 Yugo, a Yugoslavian import donated to the department as a test vehicle by the government of that country and reflecting the cutting edge of Serbo-Croatian technology."

Later in the movie, Joe Friday and the virgin Connie Swail go missing. Pep goes to his captain to voice his concerns:

"For one misguided moment I actually pictured my ex-partner introducing that little cupcake to the one piece of equipment that wasn't issued to him by the department. But then I realized Joe would never spring for the price of a motel room. And since having sex in a Yugo was a logistical impossibility ... I came to the conclusion that something must be wrong."