noirish Los Angeles

[MartinTurnbull]

Was there a Lane Theater in L.A.? I haven't been able to find evidence of one.
The way it's being touted as a big fancy "Hollywood premiere" with "celebrities, lights, parades" I'm thinking maybe this wasn't in LA at all.

"Garden of the Moon" was a Busby Berkeley-directed movie from 1938.

[Beaudry]

Originally Posted by MartinTurnbull

Was there a Lane Theater in L.A.? I haven't been able to find evidence of one.
The way it's being touted as a big fancy "Hollywood premiere" with "celebrities, lights, parades" I'm thinking maybe this wasn't in LA at all.

"Garden of the Moon" was a Busby Berkeley-directed movie from 1938.

The Lane pictured here was in Philadelphia -- http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/10714

Here she is as a burlesque house in 1975.

[Beaudry]

Originally Posted by pwrof3

I know this is old, but, Beaudry, how did you get in there in broad daylight and not get caught?

I can't believe that space still sits there empty. I mean, at the least I would think some money grubbing parking agency would have paved it and charged $20 a day or something.

Always look like you know what you're doing. Carry a clipboard and every so often check something off. Wearing a hardhat helps. Shortsleeves, necktie and pocket-protector are also good "hidden in plain sight" get-ups. And well-fitting Docs so you can run like hell over piles of rubble when someone yells "HEY!"

And as for the space sitting empty...well, wait till you get to about late June of '14 on this thread. The whole tale of that lot takes quite a turn...

[Albany NY]

Originally Posted by Beaudry

Been a while since I've posted, and there's a lot on which I want to comment, but before I get to any of that, I'll share a trip I made to the California State Building -- yes, this one:


[URL="http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/search/controller/view/examiner-m3006

Looking across the lobby toward the east:

Thanks, pwrof3 for reminding us of an incredible post from nearly three years ago. Beaudry, I am amazed that you were able to get the EXACT then-and-now images. I'm especially impressed with the views of the bank of elevators. You were spot-on. You can even see the exact floor tiles to pinpoint the angle. Simply amazing. Your images tell a very important story of history in it's making.....and in it's passing. Major Kudos!

BTW....as a public service announcement, this reply is an example of how to edit a previous post to reflect only the specific points of the post you are commenting on. It takes a few tries, but it is well worth it in the end. Fare thee well, good companions!

[pwrof3]

Originally Posted by Beaudry

Always look like you know what you're doing. Carry a clipboard and every so often check something off. Wearing a hardhat helps. Shortsleeves, necktie and pocket-protector are also good "hidden in plain sight" get-ups. And well-fitting Docs so you can run like hell over piles of rubble when someone yells "HEY!"

And as for the space sitting empty...well, wait till you get to about late June of '14 on this thread. The whole tale of that lot takes quite a turn...

Ha ha. Thanks. I'm ready to trespass now!
Hmmm. I look forward to seeing what new developments are brewing for that lot.

[Matthew]

I think part of the 1887 building may have lasted longer than just 20 years? The second floor of the new building, in the 1906 photograph, looks exactly like the second floor of the 1887 building? Was part of the old building reused for the new building? I looked for the original 1887 cast-iron column (at the entrance) in the 1927 photograph and it also appears to be there?

Originally Posted by HossC

Here's a better view of the Los Angeles National Bank Building. The description says that there was a Masonic Temple located upstairs, and the Shriners had their first meeting hall here in 1888. LAPL has a similar picture which also adds that the building was completed in 1887. It was designed by Kysor & Morgan in the "Modern Gothic" style, includes a basement and cost $65,000 to build. The building materials were granite, iron and pressed brick. MacKay & Jones were contractors. It lasted less than 20 years!


USC Digital Library

This 1906 picture shows the construction of the Equitable Savings Bank, the seven-story structure which replaced the Los Angeles National Bank building.


LAPL

Here's the completed building housing the Security Trust and Savings Bank in 1927. I'm guessing that it had a facelift at some point because the picture above shows slightly arched windows on the second floor, and two-tone brickwork which is missing from the shot below. The building is just visible in the background of one of the LA Times bombing pictures I posted a couple of weeks ago in post #23075. Of course, this building didn't last much longer than its predecessor, and the site is now the corner of the park next to City Hall.



LAPL

[Beaudry]

Originally Posted by Tourmaline

Given the times, writing tickets for faulty equipment was probably something that could keep the average traffic cop busy all day long - and then some. But in 1935, much of LA's population was still affected by the Depression and one might guess that Vehicle Code enforcement for missing tread was spotty if not somewhat arbitrary. (Just ask the Joad family.)



1940 - three wheeled parking enforcement feasibility testing.
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics05/00022021.jpg

I'm a sucker for any Bunker Hill image I haven't seen before. If this hadn't've come up on Noirish I might never have entered "three-wheel motorcycle" into the LAPL engine...this is looking north on Flower, the route made famous in the "Drive Through Bunker Hill" process footage from Shockproof.

Looks a little different in 1965:

calstatelibrary

Note that in both images, about center/top, is the Stanley at Flower & 2nd. Also, the building directly above the motor officer is the same remaining structure in the 1965 shot at lower right. That's the Berman Apts at 336 South Flower.

[Beaudry]

As long as I'm on the subject...next to the aforementioned Berman is a building with bays, and north of that one with "WE" -- that's the Westmund at 322 and the Glenview at 330. Here they are in Feb '63, so, before their 1965 demo in the William Reagh photo.

hunt

As I also mentioned the Drive Through Bunker Hill, despite our collective having done that about a billion times, let's do a little bit of that, just for fun:



I'd say our threewheeler was parked about where that driveway is, south of that lampost kittykorner from the Berman. As in, a driveway was added -- into the gas station? between 1940 and '49.



The "X" on the building in 1940 shot, that's the building on the right, the Hotel Lennox, at 315/319.



Then after crossing Third, you make the trek up the hill and there's the Stanley, sitting atop the 2nd St Tunnel.

[loyalton]

Originally Posted by C. King

ER,
.Engine 43 shown above is a 1940 Kenworth/United. One of 3 that the LAFD bought. Nicknamed a "Coke Wagon" from the design of it.

Just a car guy blog
http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2013...epartment.html

This is the sole survivor of only five, according to the source above. This one indeed went to the Beverly Hills FD. These were United Aircraft builds on Kenworth chassis. Like those sunshades?

[ethereal_reality]

A couple more amateur slides I came across on ebay. The seller dates them as 1960.

[ethereal_reality]

1967

ebay

[ethereal_reality]

yes, ebay again

[ethereal_reality]

Los Angeles Sheriffs Dept. weapons inspections. (no date)


www.badgehistory.com

I have NO idea why they're posed in front of a feed store.
__

[Retired_in_Texas]

Originally Posted by loyalton

Just a car guy blog
http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2013...epartment.html

This is the sole survivor of only five, according to the source above. This one indeed went to the Beverly Hills FD. These were United Aircraft builds on Kenworth chassis. Like those sunshades?

Perhaps the most interesting thing about this fire truck is its Art Deco design, which may have been copied from a well established Los Angeles truck maker.



Gilmore obviously had a thing about "flashy" trucks.




Above three images from:
http://georgedennis.blogspot.com/201...2_archive.html

Can anyone come up with a photo of The company's building?

[westcork]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

1967

ebay

Looks like DWP was ahead of the curve:
Attorney Henry G. Bodkin, Water & Power commissioner (taller man of the two) and Edgar Konouse, general manager & chief engineer of the DWP inspects the "Volts Wagon," an electric truck used to research the feasibility in relation to city. Photo dated: May 22, 1967.

LAPL

A view under the hood of an experimental electric powered auto being promoted by the Department of Water and Power. Called an "electrauto," it is smog-free and economical.

LAPL


And it looks like others were trying electric too:

LAPL


LAPL


LAPL


LAPL


LAPL


LAPL

[westcork]

Originally Posted by FredH

L.A. Times

Times story is here:

http://framework.latimes.com/2014/08...ith-gas-masks/


I'm not sure how well you can see out of the damn thing, but it might beat an eye full of smog.

Anyone know where the photo was taken?

1984
Robert Drifka pedals his bicycle down the 400 block of North Wilton Place. Drifka, who works as an electronic tech, says he wears the mask because of the pollution in the air. Photo taken at 1 p.m. on an unidentified day in July 1984.


LAPL

1966
In the smog battle a Los Angeles commuter wears an only slightly satiric gas mask on October 2, 1966. Automotive experts show how a new smog device cuts down on the emission of car fumes, while testifying before the California Assembly.

LAPL

1954
Northern California ships pure air to smoggy Los Angeles in cans on November 15, 1954, in an all out public service campaign put on by the Committee to Send Pure Air to Southern California Smog Sufferers in Los Altos

LAPL

[FredH]

Remember when the signs on freeways headed north gave the mileage to Bakersfield? They were all changed to Sacramento years ago because it was
claimed that no one knew where Bakersfield was. Four or five years ago, I was lost somewhere underneath the 5 freeway leaving a Dodger game (I get
lost every time) and ran into a sign that still pointed to Bakersfield. I wonder if it has survived.


Ebay


These Volkswagen buses with all the windows (something like 17 or 19) are worth a fortune now.


LAPL


The guy in the gas mask is driving an MGA. I had one (I think it was a 1957) a long time ago. You could drive about 150 miles
between major breakdowns.


LAPL

[loyalton]

Originally Posted by Retired_in_Texas

Perhaps the most interesting thing about this fire truck is its Art Deco design, which may have been copied from a well established Los Angeles truck maker.





Can anyone come up with a photo of The company's building?

The 1942 directory gives the address as 2423 E. 28th St., on or near the corner of Santa Fe, in Vernon. Being in a pretty gritty industrial town/district*, I suspect the headquarters to be pretty basic with Gilmore putting the promo budget in the forefront. There are 1950s and later aerial views around but Gilmore was apparently gone by 1945. It looks like everyone's favorite aerial photo source is reloading over the weekend, so stay tuned.

*Farmer John meat packing is covered in a mural, done in 1963. That may be it for Vernon's contribution to the Arts. The mural does not cover the stockyard smell, which was actually less than what I expected. I also remember a dirt road in the mural (now painted over) that some Wile E. Coyote-type tried to drive into.

[JScott]

Originally Posted by HossC

The whole sign can be seen in the picture below. It says "Crandall Aylsworth Company" in the center, with "Up To Date" and "Bargains" around the top and bottom.

USC Digital Library, "Intersection of Spring Street and First Street looking south, ca.1900-1904".




This rooftop sign has been a puzzlement to me since I first saw it. Was it electrified and illuminated? I'd think it almost had to be, because in broad daylight, with its see-through letters, the sign would be barely readable (below). And yet it was clearly a very fancy (and probably quite pricey) piece of metalwork, so why would a business spend good money to make a sign for its store that is difficult for people to see? Obviously it wouldn't – the sign must have stood out in some way, but the only way it could would be if it were illuminated at night.



USC Digital Library, "Hamburger's Department Store seen from down a very busy street ca.1890-1899" (detail, enhanced).





And what's that apparatus at the top? It looks like a canvas shade on a roller. It's affixed in such a way that it would cover the sign from the front, which makes even less sense, as when let down, that would make the sign flat-out impossible to read. What the hey is going on with this thing?




USC Digital Library, "Intersection of Spring Street and First Street looking south, ca.1900-1904" (detail).



But, if it was an electric sign, what was the source of illumination? It couldn't be neon – in the aughts, that type of lighting hadn't been introduced to this country yet. Anyway, there aren't any glass tubes to be seen. It doesn't even have any light bulbs, like the sign on the cornice of the store next door in the second photo, or on Hamburger's rooftop sign in the background. Not even sockets for lights.


The sign does appear to be electrified, though. See the power line coming in from lower left, connecting to the insulator on the roof line, then appearing to connect to the metal frame of the sign? There also appears to be another smaller insulator on the frame a couple of feet above the connection point. And the rest of the wires connecting to various parts of the sign. A few of those seem to be for structural support, but others appear to have no other function than to connect one part of the metal sign to another (presumably to conduct current).




USC Digital Library, "Intersection of Spring Street and First Street looking south, ca.1900-1904" (detail, enhanced).




But again, if the sign was electrified and meant to be seen at night, what could the source of illumination have been? I'm baffled, myself. Ideas, anyone?

[Retired_in_Texas]

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=23356

Originally Posted by loyalton

The 1942 directory gives the address as 2423 E. 28th St., on or near the corner of Santa Fe, in Vernon. Being in a pretty gritty industrial town/district*, I suspect the headquarters to be pretty basic with Gilmore putting the promo budget in the forefront. There are 1950s and later aerial views around but Gilmore was apparently gone by 1945. It looks like everyone's favorite aerial photo source is reloading over the weekend, so stay tuned.

*Farmer John meat packing is covered in a mural, done in 1963. That may be it for Vernon's contribution to the Arts. The mural does not cover the stockyard smell, which was actually less than what I expected. I also remember a dirt road in the mural (now painted over) that some Wile E. Coyote-type tried to drive into.

I believe you misunderstood the suggestion of a photo search question. I was addressing the Standard Auto Body Works that was located 1501 Central Avenue not Gilmore.

Gilmore Oil Company was purchased by Socony-Vacuum (later called Mobil and even later EXXON-Mobil) in 1940. The Gilmore trucks were repainted and remained in service. The below is a similarly designed delivery truck bearing the MOBILOIL trade name and belonging to a gasoline wholesaler known as General Petroleum. Barely visible above the windshield on this truck is the Pegasus logo of the old Magnolia Oil Company which had been acquire by Mobil in the 1930s.




http://georgedennis.blogspot.com/201...2_archive.html

I'm guessing that all three truck designs were from the mind and hands of Wellington Everett Miller who was also associated with a truck builder by the name of Advance Auto Body of Los Angeles, California, last located at 4700-4950 Anaheim-Telegraph Rd.