noirish Los Angeles

[odinthor]

e_r, the neg would turn out something like this, if also flipped:

[ethereal_reality]

.
Thanks so much, odinthor..And you flipped it too!
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[CareyG]

Hello, am seeking a photo for the period 1930s-1940s for 609 1/2 N. Spring St., off Sunset Blvd., for years 1935-1940ish; my mom's family lived there in the 1930s/40s. It was across from the Bamba Club (have seen several photos of the club, which was pretty famous at the time, in several noir movies, Criss Cross & Kiss Me Deadly).
There is a 1915 photo of the same corner in the Seaver Collection General Photo File GPF_3930 ), Natural History Museum. Photo caption says: “NW Corner North Spring and Marchessault (it was Sunset later), 1915” – and 609 ½ is identified at that time as “Campi’s Café.”
Sorry I'm a first-time user here, I don't seem to be able to paste the image onto here. But see the link below.
Also am seeking photo of 304 Marchessault, site of the store Foo Lung, from 1914-1938 (listed in all city directories at that address for those years).
Not sure when 304 Marchessault was torn down for Union Station. Neither of these buildings exist today (areas torn down).
Thanks if anyone can help!Seaver Center Collection Details | NHM

[ethereal_reality]

CareyG, there was photograph but all of Michael-Ryerson's photographs are missing from the thread.

Originally Posted by MichaelRyerson

The 600 block of North Spring Street, looking south to Sunset Boulevard, circa the 1940s. The Vera Cruz Cafe and the Bamba Club are on the left.

Good view of the Vera Cruz and the Bamba, favorite hangouts of Burt Lancaster, Yvonne De Carlo and Dan Duryea, ne, Steve Thompson, Anna and Slim Dundee in Criss Cross.

I'll try to find it again.

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[BillinGlendaleCA]

Originally Posted by CaliNative

I bet the "fuzz" were always checking that place out. Looking for grass in hidden nooks and crannies. The Sunset Strip has become a sad place far removed from its mid 1960s to mid 1970s glory years when it was the L.A. epicenter of the counterculture and music scene. A long slow decline. Westwood had an even more precipitous fall. It was the place to go on weekends after the Strip declined until the late 1980s, when gang violence killed a lady bystander and it all ended. I went to UCLA in the late 1970s,/early 1980s and Westwood boomed. Could hardly get through the crowds on Saturday night.

I was at UCLA at the same time, we'd head out from the dorms on weekends to get some food and see a movie. Maybe stop at Tower Records on Westwood and see what was in the cut-out bin.

[BillinGlendaleCA]

Originally Posted by Bristolian

This photo is not old and has perhaps just a hint of noir about it but I think it's absolutely amazing. It was in today's edition of the L.A. Times, taken by Brian van Der Brug. It reminds me of some of the photos taken by our own Notorious B.I.G. - Bill in Glendale.

Brian van der Brug, Los Angeles Times

Thanks for the mention, I've been away from the thread for about a month(work/no internet), and am catching up. Love the dreamy look from the haze in the shot, but the highlights are blown(the lights on the buildings have a lot more color). It's one of my pet peeves.

[ethereal_reality]

Once more. . . .

................................................................Psychedelic Conspiracy at 8802 Sunset Blvd.

Originally Posted by etherealreality

eBay

Thanks for this, Lorendoc.


Here's Tony Melendy posing with some of his artwork. (his "large translucent plastic sculptures" are mentioned in Lorendoc's newspaper)


martcollective


The photograph was taken by Tyler Thornton in 1968.

detail


um. .interesting base.



Here's the lower right, the photographer's signature & the date it was reprinted.

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[Earl Boebert]

That base looks like it could be "dump glass."

Cheers,

Earl

[CaliNative]

I was born in L.A. area (Pasadena) in the early 1950s and lived there (mostly SF Valley) until 1988. I used to recall seeing Angelyne billboards in the Hollywood and/or Sunset Strip area. Are these billboards still there? Who put them up & why? Did Angelyne the ever achieve success?

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by BillinGlendaleCA

I was at UCLA at the same time, we'd head out from the dorms on weekends to get some food and see a movie. Maybe stop at Tower Records on Westwood and see what was in the cut-out bin.

Westwood Blvd. and nearby streets were incredibly crowded in the late 1970s/early 1980s on weekends. This was about the time the video games were coming in. I used to go into an arcade and play a few rounds of Packman and Star Castles. Would also spend a lot of time in the bookstores, where you could hang out and read the new books for free. Often ate at the Sizzlers and Hamburger Hamlet in the village. For good deli you could go a few miles south on Westwood Blvd. to Juniors, and nearby there was an Apple Pan that had great burgers and pies. One thing I never did was visit the mortuary where many famous stars were buried, including Marilyn Monroe, recently joined by Hef. For long walks I would often walk from the campus into Holmby Hills, and actually walked by the Playboy Mansion. I saw no way to sneak in, so I kept going. Security was tight. I was on one of those walks when I heard that John Lennon was shot on my pocket radio.. Will never forget that day. Sad.

[HenryHuntington]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

rare....rare....rare.

We visited the famous Balloon Route Trolley in the earlier days of nla.but we haven't seen this.

"Los Angeles Hermosa 1906 Panoramic Excursion Train Trolley Photo" (Silver Gelatin On Cellulose Nitrate Negative)


eBay

Asking Price:...US $1,020.00




BUT WAIT! There's a mystery component as well.


The seller included details of the photo and neg. but there's one that doesn't appear anywhere in the panorama.


Link



Here it is. (still in negative form)



With this we might be able to figure out where in Hermosa Beach the photograph was taken.


update: If the neg. is flipped, it does fit onto the left end of the panorama. The seller must have cropped it out.
.

_____________________

I'm afraid we're conflating the name of LAP's excursion car "Hermosa"* (a fixture on the Balloon Route trips for many years) with the location of the photos: Redondo Beach. The building and storage tank shown in the image which Odinthor so helpfully flipped is the Pacific Light & Power steam generating plant at that location.

https://calisphere.org/item/417782bb...2664bb3ba8f9b/

* In those days, some parlor cars were given names instead of numbers to emphasize the de luxe nature of the service. For example, LAP's fleet also included "El Viento" and "Mermaid". Perhaps we've lost something over the decades...

[ethereal_reality]

.

Please calm down everyone. ..Let's not derail the thread.


Thanks for the correction, Henry Huntington. The trolley car was named 'Hermosa' but the location was Redondo Beach... Got it.

Here's the photo at your link.

The principal steam power plant for Henry Huntington's Pacific Light and Power (PL&P) system at Redondo Beach.


huntingtonarchives


For comparison - the view from the ebay panorama.



.

[bighen]

Originally Posted by CareyG

Hello, am seeking a photo for the period 1930s-1940s for 609 1/2 N. Spring St., off Sunset Blvd., for years 1935-1940ish; my mom's family lived there in the 1930s/40s. It was across from the Bamba Club (have seen several photos of the club, which was pretty famous at the time, in several noir movies, Criss Cross & Kiss Me Deadly).
There is a 1915 photo of the same corner in the Seaver Collection General Photo File GPF_3930 ), Natural History Museum. Photo caption says: “NW Corner North Spring and Marchessault (it was Sunset later), 1915” – and 609 ½ is identified at that time as “Campi’s Café.”
Sorry I'm a first-time user here, I don't seem to be able to paste the image onto here. But see the link below.
Also am seeking photo of 304 Marchessault, site of the store Foo Lung, from 1914-1938 (listed in all city directories at that address for those years).
Not sure when 304 Marchessault was torn down for Union Station. Neither of these buildings exist today (areas torn down).
Thanks if anyone can help!Seaver Center Collection Details | NHM

There is a map of Old Chinatown with a current layout of Union Station in Jenny Cho's book "Chinatown in Los Angeles" which shows Foo Lung was located on the south side of Marchessault and it would be approximately where the driveway to Union Station on the Alameda side. There are several pictures of Alameda and Marchessault in the digital photo archives of USC, LAPL and Huntington Library which you could access using google and doing a seach of "Chinatown." I could not find a picture of "304" but there were quite a few pictures of "Tuey Far Low" restaurant which was about two doors west of "304." Huntington Library documented many of the structures in Old Chinatown in the early 1930's just before the demolition. Hope this helps. BTW, what type of business was "Foo Lung?"

[odinthor]

Originally Posted by bighen

[...]

BTW, what type of business was "Foo Lung?"

"Merchandising":


LA Times, 2/7/1923

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by CaliNative

I bet the "fuzz" were always checking that place out. Looking for grass in hidden nooks and crannies. The Sunset Strip has become a sad place far removed from its mid 1960s to mid 1970s glory years when it was the L.A. epicenter of the counterculture and music scene. A long slow decline.
_________________________________________________________________

It's all a matter of personal reflection, isn't it? I suppose the people who were of age in the 40's and 50's think of that as the Strip's "Golden Age" what with the famous nightclubs and restaurants of that era. People tend to romanticize their own formative younger years as "best".

It's like all the comments one reads on the youtube videos people have linked of various L.A. streets of the past. So many comments are that the past was better. It was cleaner. The people were nicer. This location or that location was still there. There apparently was no homelessness or disease or anything else back in the day that happened. People were nicer. Etc.

Every time photos of famous restaurants of the past are posted on NLA I think how nice it would be to have been there and eaten at all those places or gone to those nightclubs. Then I think that I don't do much of that now over the decades. I've been wanting to go to Dan Tana's since I don't know when, for example. It's still there, but I haven't. I mean, I think if people went back in time at most points in the past, they wouldn't want to eat anything. And can you imagine saying something that no one now would blink at today, but not in year's past?

[Harrys]

The fantastic Cordova Hotel, Los Angeles, once stood on 808 S. Figueroa. This lovely 4 stories building was opened in 1913.

Architect: Neher & Skilling

Builder: Barkelew & Gould



Anyone knows when and why it was demolished?

[jhuxld]

Originally Posted by CaliNative

I was born in L.A. area (Pasadena) in the early 1950s and lived there (mostly SF Valley) until 1988. I used to recall seeing Angelyne billboards in the Hollywood and/or Sunset Strip area. Are these billboards still there? Who put them up & why? Did Angelyne the ever achieve success?

Yes! Angelyne is still around, and there are still a few billboards up. She can be seen frequently in her trademark pink Corvette. There will be a movie or mini series coming out this year about her base on this article in The Hollywood Reporter: The Mystery of L.A. Billboard Diva Angelyne’s Real Identity Is Finally Solved BY GARY BAUM The Hollywood Reporter AUGUST 2, 2017 Way before Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian, the enigmatic blonde bombshell was famous for being famous, perpetually driving the streets of Hollywood in that pink Corvette. But her true identity has remained secret all these years … until now.https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/mo...ears-1025678/#!

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

It's all a matter of personal reflection, isn't it? I suppose the people who were of age in the 40's and 50's think of that as the Strip's "Golden Age" what with the famous nightclubs and restaurants of that era. People tend to romanticize their own formative younger years as "best".

It's like all the comments one reads on the youtube videos people have linked of various L.A. streets of the past. So many comments are that the past was better. It was cleaner. The people were nicer. This location or that location was still there. There apparently was no homelessness or disease or anything else back in the day that happened. People were nicer. Etc.

Every time photos of famous restaurants of the past are posted on NLA I think how nice it would be to have been there and eaten at all those places or gone to those nightclubs. Then I think that I don't do much of that now over the decades. I've been wanting to go to Dan Tana's since I don't know when, for example. It's still there, but I haven't. I mean, I think if people went back in time at most points in the past, they wouldn't want to eat anything. And can you imagine saying something that no one now would blink at today, but not in year's past?

No, actually I agree. The earlier era in the pre 1960s, the "77 Sunset Strip" and before era, with the famous nightclubs like the Trocadero & Ciro's were the real glamor years, although the "Doors/Whisky a Go Go" etc. years are a close second. The Strip was the place before 1960. I mean, the "Rat Pack" actually hung out there, instead of Vegas.

Actually, the "good old days" was anything before 2020, when you could go outside and mix with people without worrying about breathing. When you could have Thanksgiving with relatives and not worry if any lied about being vaccinated, and wonder why your cousin was coughing. Those were the carefree days, before 2020. These days are the real noirish days for the world. But maybe it is darkest before the dawn. Let this is the year we climb out, a return to "normalcy", like a 100 years ago after the " Spanish" Flu vanished or lost its bite. Let the Twenties Roar Again

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by jhuxld

Yes! Angelyne is still around, and there are still a few billboards up. She can be seen frequently in her trademark pink Corvette. There will be a movie or mini series coming out this year about her base on this article in The Hollywood Reporter: The Mystery of L.A. Billboard Diva Angelyne’s Real Identity Is Finally Solved BY GARY BAUM The Hollywood Reporter AUGUST 2, 2017 Way before Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian, the enigmatic blonde bombshell was famous for being famous, perpetually driving the streets of Hollywood in that pink Corvette. But her true identity has remained secret all these years … until now.https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/mo...ears-1025678/#!

Thanks for the update. Happy to hear that Angelyne is more than just a billboard. That last picture in the article is a bit disturbing, but age plus botox does that, so she is doing the best she can...a latter day Mae West or Zsa Zsa. She does drive a cool pink corvette, so all is right with the world. I lived in the Van Nuys area in the early 1970s, so maybe I ran into her. Did she pay for her billboards, or did a friend or wealthy admirerer pay?

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

It's all a matter of personal reflection, isn't it? I suppose the people who were of age in the 40's and 50's think of that as the Strip's "Golden Age" what with the famous nightclubs and restaurants of that era. People tend to romanticize their own formative younger years as "best".

It's like all the comments one reads on the youtube videos people have linked of various L.A. streets of the past. So many comments are that the past was better. It was cleaner. The people were nicer. This location or that location was still there. There apparently was no homelessness or disease or anything else back in the day that happened. People were nicer. Etc.

Every time photos of famous restaurants of the past are posted on NLA I think how nice it would be to have been there and eaten at all those places or gone to those nightclubs. Then I think that I don't do much of that now over the decades. I've been wanting to go to Dan Tana's since I don't know when, for example. It's still there, but I haven't. I mean, I think if people went back in time at most points in the past, they wouldn't want to eat anything. And can you imagine saying something that no one now would blink at today, but not in year's past?

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