noirish Los Angeles

[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by Handsome Stranger

Here's 1815 West Adams as of this afternoon, 2 February 2021.

This is great HS--thank you so much. The history of the house will soon to be added to https://adamsboulevardlosangeles.blogspot.com/

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

In doing the Hilldale to Clark posts the last week, I ended up with some other things that came to my attention while doing it and so here's some other odds and ends:


The NBC Radio City building at Sunset & Vine was demolished in 1964. Before the Home Savings and Loan building that replaced it was built, the area was a huge vacant lot. A few 1965 views of the location from Ed Ruscha:

This was my bank from 1972-76. It had several large mosaics in the lobby.
During this time I was in college on the GI Bill which kept me in food and rent money.


Chase bank

Its now a CHASE bank and a tribute to Hollywood history. Read more about it here: https://www.laconservancy.org/locations/chase-bank-1

[Martin Pal]

I'd still rather they hadn't torn down NBC, CBD. At least the building on the corner.

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

I'd still rather they hadn't torn down NBC, CBD. At least the building on the corner.

I kind of agree, Martin.

But the corner property was worth a fortune and the day of live radio was dead.

[ethereal_reality]

.
mystery vantage point.

Here's a slide, currently on eBay, that I am sure most of us would like to have.




SUBJECT: "A shot from Bunker Hill in Los Angeles, CA. In the scene are the Richfield Oil Building, Statler Hilton Hotel and the Tishman Building."

DATE: August, 1964


eBay

This is certainly a great view. By 1964 most of Bunker Hill was gone. It makes me wonder where (exactly) the photographer was standing.

It's nicely floral wherever it was. (are those roses, odinthor?)

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[ethereal_reality]

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This might be fun. Three mystery locations.

The following three slides are originally from the Los Angeles Planning Department.

No location or date is given.







#1


eBay











#2


eBay










#3


eBay





There is also a fourth slide but it's fairly. .umm. .suburban. (and kinda boring) Go HERE





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[odinthor]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

.
mystery vantage point.

Here's a slide, currently on eBay, that I am sure most of us would like to have.




SUBJECT: "A shot from Bunker Hill in Los Angeles, CA. In the scene are the Richfield Oil Building, Statler Hilton Hotel and the Tishman Building."

DATE: August, 1964


eBay

This is certainly a great view. By 1964 most of Bunker Hill was gone. It makes me wonder where (exactly) the photographer was standing.

It's nicely floral wherever it was. (are those roses, odinthor?)

.

Hmmmmm, e_r . . . They look like old-style Fish Geraniums--really really old-style, the lanky primitive "Geranium red" kind, before they developed other colors. These are pretty healthy, and so must get watered sufficiently. I've seen whole hillsides of these around Avalon, surely escapees from the local gardens of the Aughts, Teens, and 1920s; but these "gone wild" ones are unwatered and much leaner.

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

.
mystery vantage point.

Here's a slide, currently on eBay, that I am sure most of us would like to have.




SUBJECT: "A shot from Bunker Hill in Los Angeles, CA. In the scene are the Richfield Oil Building, Statler Hilton Hotel and the Tishman Building."

DATE: August, 1964


eBay

This is certainly a great view. By 1964 most of Bunker Hill was gone. It makes me wonder where (exactly) the photographer was standing.

It's nicely floral wherever it was. (are those roses, odinthor?)

.

^^^
The view seems to be a street or two east of Flower (and north of 4th), maybe along Hope or Grand, judging from the position of the Richfield & Tishman buildings which were both between Flower & Fig. So, my guess would be the pic was taken near where the Wells Fargo Center now stands. Less likely near the Bank of America tower location or California Plaza area. Wells Fargo "hill" my best guess. Nice view of the building that almost everybody misses, the Richfield.

As odinthor says, fuzzy leaf ("fish"?) geraniums that have gone "feral" or wild do pretty well in L.A. without being watered. The 15 inches of rainfall is just enough to keep them going. They come from and are adapted to a similar dry summer mediterranean climate area in So. Africa with just a bit more winter rain. Of course during drier than normal years they do struggle and should be watered. Geraniums (pelargoniums) with smooth leaves (Martha Washington and "ivy" geraniums) have a harder time surviving our dry summers without being watered, derived from ancestors that lived in more humid areas. The "fuzzy" leaved kinds like the ones in the picture are more tolerant of our dry summers.

The large bush on the left might be a euphorbia or stick "cactus". These are the kind that bleed white sap when you break off the stems. The variety that are orange are called fire stick plants.

[Lorendoc]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

[SIZE="1"].[/SIZE? e mystery locations.

The following three slides are originally from the Los Angeles Planning Department.

No location or date

Number two is looking southeast above 5th Street and San Julian.

[CaliNative]

How much of the Charlie Chaplin "English Village" studio buildings near Sunset & La Brea survive? I recall that Jim Henson's operations took over some of the buildings. Is the statue of Kermit as Chaplin still there? How many of the original "village" buildings remain? Were the original United Artists operations that Chaplin formed with Doug Fairbanks & Mary Pickford housed there? Lot of questions. Any good pictures of the "village" as it exists today and as it looked when Chaplin was around? Thanks

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

This might be fun. Three mystery locations.

The following three slides are originally from the Los Angeles Planning Department.

No location or date is given.

#1


eBay

This one is looking east from the intersection of the Harbor and Santa Monica Freeways. The two buildings in the lower left corner are still standing, but pretty much everything else up to Figueroa has been replaced by the Los Angeles Convention Center. I posted about the saving of the turreted building near the middle in post #18664 back in 2014.

[ethereal_reality]

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Thanks Hoss.

The turreted building is the one that caught my eye so it was great to revisit your 2014 post.


.

[ethereal_reality]

.
#2

Originally Posted by Lorendoc

Number two is looking southeast above 5th Street and San Julian.

Thanks Lorendoc. I was stumped by this aerial.




Let's take a closer look. Three of the buildings are still in place.


detail


As you can see below the parking lot with the multi colored cars is now a park.


google_aerial



I was under the impression the bldg. with the green sign (in the vintage aerial) was the Ross Hotel. It's actually the Russ Hotel.




I was pleased to see the vintage blade sign is still intact.




Russ is spelled out at the top of the sign.



And SRO is at the bottom. "Single Room Occupancy"





If you look closely (and, perhaps, squint) the reddish blade sign is visible in the vintage aerial.



See it?


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[ethereal_reality]

.
Once more. . .


eBay

Originally Posted by odinthor

Hmmmmm, e_r . . . They look like old-style Fish Geraniums--really really old-style, the lanky primitive "Geranium red" kind, before they developed other colors. These are pretty healthy, and so must get watered sufficiently. I've seen whole hillsides of these around Avalon, surely escapees from the local gardens of the Aughts, Teens, and 1920s; but these "gone wild" ones are unwatered and much leaner.

Thanks for answering my question, odinthor. I appreciate it.



I've never heard of Fish Geraniums so I thought I'd look them up.

Fish Geraniums:

"Not too many people seem to ask for this classic plant anymore, which was customarily grown in clay pots."

The mention of pots backs your claim that the plants are "escapees" from the gardens of the old Bunker Hill mansions. I think that's really cool.

.

[Beaudry]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

.
mystery vantage point.

Here's a slide, currently on eBay, that I am sure most of us would like to have.

SUBJECT: "A shot from Bunker Hill in Los Angeles, CA. In the scene are the Richfield Oil Building, Statler Hilton Hotel and the Tishman Building."

DATE: August, 1964


eBay

This is certainly a great view. By 1964 most of Bunker Hill was gone. It makes me wonder where (exactly) the photographer was standing.

It's nicely floral wherever it was. (are those roses, odinthor?)

.

That is a nice shot. You can bet I've got a bid in on it!

So remember that 1955 aerial from the blimp?

usc

The white structure center is in our slide, and note a corner of the Richfield at very upper left.

Here's a close up—



That white apartment house is the Briggs (Frank H. Peters, 1907), known as the Barbara Worth after 1926, at 407 South Hope St.

My theory is this was taken in front of the former 343 S Bunker Hill. It was demolished in the summer of '62 and the slide was shot in '64. The red flowers may be the same? A zoom-in at the pic makes me think they're hibiscus though.

huntington

Look close and you'll see that behind the trees the skyscrapers line up the same.

[ethereal_reality]

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That is fantastic....There's odinthor's Fish Geraniums.


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[Martin Pal]

see next post

[Martin Pal]

That seller on eBay (with the Bunker Hill shot of the RIchfield bldg.) has several other interesting slides available shot on Bunker Hill.

One is a very similar look as the photo below of the Minnewaska Dome Hotel, but the slide (LINK) from 1964 is labeled "right after the fire." Was there a story behind the fire in this hotel at that time? A google search says the fire was on July 25, 1964. In the eBay photo: behind the palm tree you see the corner of the new Dorothy Chandler Pavilion nearing completion.

flickr

[Lorendoc]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

.
This might be fun. Three mystery locations.

The following three slides are originally from the Los Angeles Planning Department.

No location or date is given.


#3


eBay


.

Ok, this one was driving me slightly bonkers until I realized e_r's photo was flipped horizontally.


Google Earth Pro

When unflipped, it's looking south near 6th and Towne.

[Beaudry]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

That seller on eBay (with the Bynker Hill shot of the RIchfield bldg.) has several other interesting slides available shot on Bunker Hill.

One is a very similar look as the photo below of the Minnewaska Dome Hotel, but the slide (LINK) from 1964 is labeled "right after the fire." Was there a story behind the fire in this hotel at that time? A google search says the fire was on July 25, 1964. In the eBay photo: behind the palm tree you see the corner of the new Dorothy Chandler Pavilion nearing completion.

flickr

There's not that much of a story apart from it was likely set off by a cigarette smoldering in a lobby sofa or somesuch. It killed three. There has long been speculation that the fire was set to punish/scare off Frank Babcock, Dome owner, who had put the City through the wringer with multiple lawsuits concerning the legality of redevelopment. But that's just speculation.

(Shameless plug alert) I cover all this, with some rare photos of the Dome on fire, as part of my three-page spread on Hill conflagrations in my recently published Bunker Noir!