noirish Los Angeles

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

This is my favorite matchbook find.

eBay
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Unfortunately, I haven't found any photos of this place, either, E_R, but I wanted to point
out that The Manhattan Transfer used it as cover art for their "Swing" album:


http://manhattantransfer.net/discography/swing/

Swing is a studio album released by The Manhattan Transfer in 1997 on the Atlantic Records label.
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Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

The Jitterbug House is included in this list.

1998 article_LATimes

I'd also like to learn more about the Grape Vine Cocktail Lounge in the bus station. -sounds like a great setting for a film noir!
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E_R, I didn't see any follow up posts to your Grape Vine Cocktail Lounge inquiry, and I haven't found any
information to add about it, but I did find this photo, dated 1979, showing this place:

Bruce Torrence

I admit I was surprised; I thought, if I had found any photograph of it, it would've been a few decades
earlier than 1979!

Wish there was a better photograph...the sign on the front of it looks to have a "Hello, Kitty" type drawing on it.

[Flyingwedge]

In 1914, Thomas O'Neill built 317 S. Windsor, and Mary Crimmins built 333 S. Windsor.


April 18, 1914 LA Herald @ CDNC -- http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d...levard-------1


June 27, 1914 LA Herald @ CDNC -- http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d...indsor-------1

The architect of 317 S. Windsor was B. Cooper Corbett.


1916 LA City Directory @ LAPL


1916 LA City Directory @ LAPL

317 (Right) and 333 (Left) S. Windsor, c. 1915 (I've enlarged the photo a bit):

UCLA -- http://lit250v.library.ucla.edu/isla.../laviews%3A949

Here are 317 and 333 S. Windsor in March 2015:

GSV

Here they were in March 2011; 317's LLC owner has done a lot of interior remodeling in the last few years:

GSV

This is a closer look at 333 from March 2015:

GSV

If you're wondering about the portico on 333, it was enlarged in 1916:

LADBS

In 1951, composer Dimitri Tiomkin put in a pool at 333, and he had other work done there in the 1950s:

LADBS

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

Unfortunately, I haven't found any photos of this place, either, E_R,

Bruce Torrence

I admit I was surprised; I thought, if I had found any photograph of it, it would've been a few decades
earlier than 1979!

Wish there was a better photograph...the sign on the front of it looks to have a "Hello, Kitty" type drawing on it.

Didn't this bar have a different name? I believe it was named after a female singer at one time in the 1960s -70s. Anyone recall? Kay Starr?

[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by Flyingwedge

In 1914...Mary Crimmins built 333 S. Windsor.

This is a closer look at 333 from March 2015:

GSV

In 1951, composer Dimitri Tiomkin put in a pool at 333, and he had other work done there in the 1950s:

LADBS

LAT
We've seen actual photos of the first part of this stretch on NLA before, beginning with ER's post 27752


LAT Nov 11, 1914



dimitritiomkin.com



Tiomkin-- composer of many film scores, including It's a Wonderful Life and High Noon and a number for Hitchcock (Shadow of a Doubt, my favorite, among them)-- appears to have bought 333 after it was on the market in the spring of 1950:


LAT May 6, 1950



Gotta have some noir: According to an online biography at dimitritiomkin.com--which includes a picture labeled 333 S Windsor that does not appear to be the actual house-- "Tiomkin’s wonderful life in America came to an end in 1967 with the death of his wife, Albertina Rasch. Upon returning to his Windsor Square-Hancock Park home in Los Angeles after the funeral, he was attacked and beaten by robbers. Tiomkin put the house up for sale and returned to Europe."


LAT Oct 6, 1967

Windsor Square and the whole area was nearing meltdown in terms of real estate values, with white flight and rising crime after the '65 riots--with the Tate-LaBianca murders not far in the future....

[HossC]

I nearly posted this Julius Shulman photoset yesterday, but I figured we needed the Stiles Oliver Clements Citizen's Bank to break the run of Matcham and Heitschmidt buildings. Like the earlier Matcham and Heitschmidt building on W 3rd from a few days ago, these are also described as 'David Barry Shops'. This is "Job 287: Matcham and Heitschmidt, David Barry Shops (Los Angeles, Calif.),1948"



Here's a better view of the Aero Shade Co's neon sign.



I think this was a photographic studio, but I couldn't read the sign.



All from Getty Research Institute

The 1956 CD lists the Aero Shade Company at 1082 S La Cienega Boulevard. The new building permit is dated November 20, 1945. I can't see a demo permit, but the current building (below) can be seen under construction in the January 2009 GSV image.


GSV

[ethereal_reality]

Oh my, that new bldg. is awfully cheap looking.
I take it there's an elevator in that center cylinder masquerading as a turret.

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[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

E_R, I didn't see any follow up posts to your Grape-Vine Cocktail Lounge inquiry, and I haven't found any
information to add about it, but I did find this photo, dated 1979, showing this place:

Bruce Torrence

I admit I was surprised; I thought, if I had found any photograph of it, it would've been a few decades
earlier than 1979!

You found a photo of the Grape-vine! Thanks Martin Pal.

here it is larger


I thought the slanted "Hello-Kitty-type" sign was for a business next door, but I see it's advertising the Grape-Vine as well.





I thought the large 'Coca-Cola' sign (red arrow below) was located at Hollywood & Vine. -obviously I was wrong.
Any idea what building it's on top of?





I posted the slide of the two Illinois tourists way back on page 51, but it was great seeing it again M P. It's one of my favorite amateur slides.
That said, I didn't know they were from Illinois...my home state! So thanks for that bit of additional information.
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=1088
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[ethereal_reality]

I don't believe we've seen this fantastic slide on NLA before.


eBay

"N. Broadway / Fort Moore Hill"

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[Earl Boebert]

Some sweet machines parked at the bottom of that hill -- a Volvo P1800, a Karmann Ghia Cabriolet, and something equally zippy looking that I can't identify.

Cheers,

Earl

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I thought the large 'Coca-Cola' sign (red arrow below) was located at Hollywood & Vine. -obviously I was wrong.

I'm still trying to figure out exactly which building the sign was on. This 1953 image shows it just east of Kress, which was at 6608 Hollywood Boulevard in the 1956 CD.


Detail of picture in USC Digital Library

Here's a color image from the Getty Library. They date it as circa 1950.


gettyimages.com/Harvey Meston

[ethereal_reality]

Thanks Hoss. That color photograph is beautiful.

I didn't realize how impressive the Coca-Cola sign was at night.

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by Earl Boebert

Some sweet machines parked at the bottom of that hill -- a Volvo P1800, a Karmann Ghia Cabriolet,
and something equally zippy looking that I can't identify.

Cheers, Earl

I like that parking spot on the end that t-bones the others. I'd feel special if I got that spot.


detail

And that truck reminds of the pod transports in Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
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[Bristolian]

detail

Some sweet machines parked at the bottom of that hill -- a Volvo P1800, a Karmann Ghia Cabriolet, and something equally zippy looking that I can't identify.

Cheers,

Earl, If it's the green ragtop you're referring to, I believe it's a Fiat 850 Spider.

[Earl Boebert]

I think you're right. And there is another Karmann Ghia on the left end. My mystery car is the one that is in the "T bone" space on the far right.

Cheers,

Earl

[GaylordWilshire]

Looks like a Datsun 240Z--here's a '72:


hemmings.com

[BifRayRock]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Thanks for the back-story on 620 Ardmore Avenue GW.
I had to laugh at the headline 'Screen Scintillator To Build Spacious Hostelry'.

Here's the scintillator herself, Ms. Ruth Roland

https://books.google.com/books?id=W8...0estate&f=true

She also invested here:

"Later she put her fortune to work in real estate, buying a tract of land between Universal City and Hollywood
that she subdivided and sold to her fellow workers in the movie industry."
https://books.google.com/books?id=W8...0estate&f=true

It would be fun to figure out the location of Ms. Roland's early subdivision. It must be somewhere on the east side of Cahuenga Pass.

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Real big real estate raconteur and romantic, Ruth Roland
LAPL




Probably not surprising that contemporary gossip publications targeted celebrities' "off screen" pursuits. Of course, one bullseye was on scintillating Ruth Roland a.k.a "the Hetty Green of Hollywood." In one instance Ms. Roland is pictured with "Roland Square" in the background. Has an exact address for this location been established? Most sources mention Wilshire Blvd. yet there is some reference to a lit revolving sign "down on Washington Blvd."

There is a '32CD for Ruth Roland Inc. at the familiar 6608 Wilshire.
See: [URL="http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=6847269&postcount=25085"]http://forum.skyscraperpage.com http://skyscraperpage.com/forum/show...ostcount=32923 http://skyscraperpage.com/forum/show...ostcount=32923



1924 Photoplay






Noah Beery's Trout Club has had several NLA mentions. For starters, it is on this favorite map. http://skyscraperpage.com/forum/show...postcount=9512




1925, Feb. "Pictures and Picturegoer"

[BifRayRock]

Chops or Chicken?


More of the same rehashed subject, but this "expose" includes a reference to Robert (Clara's Dad) Bow's Chop House (even though it seems to feature Chicken specialties.) Evidently, in 1928, a "Robt Bow" had a cleaning establishment at 303 S Robertson and it looks as though he opened a restaurant in the same area in 1929 at 8801 Beverly Blvd. Unclear how long that lasted since that seems to be the only CDlisting.


Apr. '29 Screenland





Approximate location for Robt Bow's restaurant on Beverly Blvd.
GSview




More of the same . . .





Can a houses have compassion?
Apr '29 Screenland

[ethereal_reality]

re: The 'mystery' pole.



'New' Chinatown, 1940s. (first posted a few days ago)

Originally Posted by oldstuff

The frame at the top of the pole looks like the mounting for an air raid siren

Thanks oldstuff. I think you could be right.


tumblr.

While looking for further information on air raid sirens, I found an amazing interactive map that pinpoints the location of 225 air raid sirens in the Los Angeles area!

below: This is a screen-grab of the map. To use the map go to http://wirechief.com/sirens/map.htm


http://wirechief.com/sirens/map.htm



But the closest siren to Chinatown that I could find was at 800 N. Main Street.

screen-grab / detail

http://wirechief.com/sirens/map.htm

"Old fire station 4 at this address. May have been on the roof"




I dug up some photographs of #4 station from 1949. (no air raid siren...yet)


http://www.lafire.com/stations/PhotoGallery.htm


in 2009 (no siren or siren pole visible)
gsv




1949 (the station was brand new in 1949, so I'm not sure why it's so smudgy looking) -perhaps it's waiting for it's first paint job.

http://www.lafire.com/stations/PhotoGallery.htm




2009
gsv



Here's the same view in 2011 (the station has been torn down)


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Before I sign off, one more view from 2009.






http://www.lafire.com/stations/PhotoGallery.htm

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[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by BifRayRock

Before it was The Talmadge, it was the Francesca...and it was at Wilshire & Berendo rather than Catalina:


wilshireboulevardhouses.com


The Francesca/Talmadge was built on the site of Earl C. Anthony's Greene & Greene house at 666 South Berendo Street, moved to (and still in) Beverly Hills in 1923. Full story is here:

http://wilshireboulevardhouses.blogspot.com/2013/05/666-south-berendo-street-please-see-our.html

[Noircitydame]

Originally Posted by HossC

I'm still trying to figure out exactly which building the sign was on. This 1953 image shows it just east of Kress, which was at 6608 Hollywood Boulevard in the 1956 CD.


Detail of picture in USC Digital Library

Here's a color image from the Getty Library. They date it as circa 1950.


gettyimages.com/Harvey Meston

The Coke sign's on the J.J. Newberry Building (6600-6604 Hollywood Blvd.). It was built in 1929 and the sign was added c. 1936, originally in the shape of the USA and flashed "All roads lead to Hollywood" (flash dark) "and the pause the refreshes" (flash) "drink Coca-cola"

a little 5-second movie of the sign in action on the Getty site


Newberry Building CSL (many more here)

postcard showing the 1930s version of the sign.

Newberry modern view. Coke removed the sign 1993 or so but it looks like the trussing that held it is still there.