noirish Los Angeles

[BillinGlendaleCA]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

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[mod edit: clean-up]

Here is an original hand-tinted photograph of a line of tourist bungalows facing one of the canals in Venice California. [1924]


eBay

It was taken by a photographer visiting from Michigan. Note the two children watching him take the photograph on the porch. - - - >



too green hand-tinting man.
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I looked at Google Street View at the streets that used to be canals, and many are still there. Here's some on the current canals:
_5190034-Edit.jpg by BillinGlendaleCA, on Flickr

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by Noir_Noir

Automobile Patrol plan to fight Spanish Influenza in Los Angeles.



Los Angeles Herald - 6 December 1918


Some other approaches.


Lemons!


Los Angeles Herald - 23 October 1918



No kissing!



Los Angeles Herald - 31 October 1918



And lots of laxative!



Los Angeles Herald - 5 November 1918

Lemons have lots of Vit. C....can't hurt. No handshakes...how modern. "Bromo Quinine" and hydroxycloroquin. Hmmm. Excellent articles. They seemed more intent on enforcing quartentines. In some ways, they did it better even though their medical knowledge of viruses was tiny. The microscopes couldn't even see them. That would take electron microscopes in the 1930s. They DID know that it was a tiny infectious agent that could pass through a filter. The term "filterable virus" came into use by researchers. The 1918 pandemic was a historic event, a dark "nourish" event that we got through and maybe we can learn some things about what worked at didn't to help us get through our nourish pandemic. This will pass like it did in 1918-20. The Roaring Twenties just around the corner. That will be fun. Bring back the Charleston and flappers. L.A. was a fun place in the 1920s except for prohibition. Maybe the 2020s will be similar once the pandemic ends and the economy gets back on its feet. Things should be just fine by the Olympics. Nourish L.A. history, not politics. Agreed. I'm bummed that the Farmer John plant has an outbreak. I need my Dodger Dogs. I chowed down on 2 or 3 with beer at the stadium back when they actually had baseball. Beer, hot dogs and baseball, the good old days.

[ethereal_reality]

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Currently on eBay.



Three intriguing images taken in downtown Los Angeles. [1947]



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Parker House.





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Tattoos & B-B-Que.






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I am not entirely sure of the exact locations but I'm pretty sure the passed out man is on Main Street.

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[ethereal_reality]

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I almost forgot the two horizontal photographs from this same group. (also 1947)




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That movie advertisement on the billboard appears to have left off the title of the movie. Does anyone recognize the squarish art-deco building behind the billboards?






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...............Busy................Busy. Busy.


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[corriganville]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

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I almost forgot the two horizontal photographs from this same group. (also 1947)




eBay

That movie advertisement on the billboard appears to have left off the title of the movie. Does anyone recognize the squarish art-deco building behind the billboards?






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...............Busy................Busy. Busy.


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The movie title is there: "The Wicked Lady". It appears to be in red to the right of James Mason. Doesn't come out good in the photo.

[BillinGlendaleCA]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

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I almost forgot the two horizontal photographs from this same group. (also 1947)




eBay

That movie advertisement on the billboard appears to have left off the title of the movie. Does anyone recognize the squarish art-deco building behind the billboards?

That's the old Los Angeles Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco at Olive and Olympic. They moved to the corner of Grand and Olympic and the old building is now The Reserve Lofts.

_B030031.jpg by BillinGlendaleCA, on Flickr
_B030030.jpg by BillinGlendaleCA, on Flickr

ETA: The second photo was taken at 7th and Broadway looking north.

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Another film in the archive includes a segment that shows a person using one of these neighborhood ice machines.

...

Much to my surprise, the person who walks up and purchases a block of ice (and lugs it away!) is none other than Jean Harlow!

Here is the sequence:

Jean walks into the frame.



...

There are also several mystery locations in the film. Watch for the posts.

I thought you might've posted this "mystery location", e_r.


www.huntleyarchives.com

Just after the ice machine sequence, this blonde girl crosses the street toward Campbell's Book Store. I think it must be Campbell's Book Store at 856 N Vermont Avenue. It opened in 1924 opposite the UCLA campus. An LAT article says the store moved to 10918 LeConte Ave in Westword Village when UCLA moved in 1929. I'm guessing they ran two stores for a short while as e_r's video is dated as "1930's".

Believe it or not, 856 N Vermont Avenue is the building we saw last week as Burleigh's. It may even be that the girl operated the same stop signal that's drawn onto the picture below.

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Here's a funny snapshot that someone doctored up with a ball point pen.


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[Beaudry]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

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I am not entirely sure of the exact locations but I'm pretty sure the passed out man is on Main Street.

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Oh yeah, Main St in all its glory. The Hotel Royal was 416 S Main, in the good ol' Alcazar at Main and Winston, which I'm sure we've seen here before. Became a parking lot in August/September 1950.

CalStateLibrary

[Beaudry]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

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Currently on eBay.



Three intriguing images taken in downtown Los Angeles. [1947]



eBay

Parker House.

The Parker House was at 409 East Fifth St.

LAPL

Wrecked in late '55 for an auto park.

[Martin Pal]

A couple days ago SAG-AFTRA posted this on their Twitter page...

SAG-Aftra/Twitter

Cinematographer, #oscar winner and restauranteur James Wong Howe's ad for his Chinese restaurant from the September 1941 issue of Screen Actor magazine. Howe broke barriers as one of the most sought after cinematographers in Hollywood.

My goal was to find a photograph of the place...but the following is what I did find out.

In a Google search, a book called Chinese in Hollywood, had this information:

Cinematographer James Wong Howe operated Ching How restaurant at 11386 Ventura Blvd. in North Hollywood [Now known as Studio City]. Nominated for ten Academy Awards and winning twice [for The Rose Tattoo and Hud], Howe is one of the most successful Chinese Americans in the film industry. His wife, Sonora Babb, managed the restaurant; her sister handled the accounting; and actor Albert Wong worked as a waiter. Ching How's celebrity patrons included Marilyn Monroe Clark Gable, Greta Garbo, Kirk Douglas, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Sessue Hayakawa and more.

In the Chinese American Eyes blog, HERE, there is this ad from the February 1, 1940 edition of the Hollywood Reporter:



In an interview with character actor Marvin Kaplan on Classic Showbiz blogspot, HERE, he talks about a 1951 film he was in, Behave Yourself, and says:

Marvin Kaplan: The picture was directed by the man who wrote it - George Beck. It was photographed by James Wong Howe. He was magnificent. Great. Great. They tell a funny story about him. He had a restaurant. Chinese restaurant. Someone was photographing something by the restaurant. Howe came out and told them [the proper way] to use their camera. The guy said to Howe, "Listen, buddy, you stick to making your noodles.

The site also had this image......after the paragraph, but nothing about it.

The Felix in Hollywood Facebook page has this photo: "John Garfield (left) and Claude Rains (right)......make like cooks in the kitchen of Ching How restaurant, owned by brilliant cinematographer, James Wong Howe.

And I found a matchbook cover:
FrankKelsey/Flickr

Looking up various info, one place said it was around for ten years, around 1940-1950, but there were a couple instances of people talking about the place where they seemed to think it was near the Ventura Freeway. Wondering if he bought another place later on?

The 11386 Ventura Blvd. address is in Studio City where Tujunga Ave. t-bones Ventura Blvd. GSV Link. When I looked up the address on GSV I realized this is the address of one of the stores in the small chain of video stores I used to work for. So this address is now a strip mall and has been since at least the mid-80's when this video store location opened. (It is now a marijuana dispensary called Urban Treez.)

c.2011:
Patch/Studio City

[robeach11]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

A couple days ago SAG-AFTRA posted this on their Twitter page...

SAG-Aftra/Twitter

Cinematographer, #oscar winner and restauranteur James Wong Howe's ad for his Chinese restaurant from the September 1941 issue of Screen Actor magazine. Howe broke barriers as one of the most sought after cinematographers in Hollywood.

My goal was to find a photograph of the place...but the following is what I did find out.

In a Google search, a book called Chinese in Hollywood, had this information:

Cinematographer James Wong Howe operated Ching How restaurant at 11386 Ventura Blvd. in North Hollywood [Now known as Studio City]. Nominated for ten Academy Awards and winning twice [for The Rose Tattoo and Hud], Howe is one of the most successful Chinese Americans in the film industry. His wife, Sonora Babb, managed the restaurant; her sister handled the accounting; and actor Albert Wong worked as a waiter. Ching How's celebrity patrons included Marilyn Monroe Clark Gable, Greta Garbo, Kirk Douglas, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, Sessue Hayakawa and more.

In the Chinese American Eyes blog, HERE, there is this ad from the February 1, 1940 edition of the Hollywood Reporter:



In an interview with character actor Marvin Kaplan on Classic Showbiz blogspot, HERE, he talks about a 1951 film he was in, Behave Yourself, and says:

Marvin Kaplan: The picture was directed by the man who wrote it - George Beck. It was photographed by James Wong Howe. He was magnificent. Great. Great. They tell a funny story about him. He had a restaurant. Chinese restaurant. Someone was photographing something by the restaurant. Howe came out and told them [the proper way] to use their camera. The guy said to Howe, "Listen, buddy, you stick to making your noodles.

The site also had this image......after the paragraph, but nothing about it.

The Felix in Hollywood Facebook page has this photo: "John Garfield (left) and Claude Rains (right)......make like cooks in the kitchen of Ching How restaurant, owned by brilliant cinematographer, James Wong Howe.

And I found a matchbook cover:
FrankKelsey/Flickr

Looking up various info, one place said it was around for ten years, around 1940-1950, but there were a couple instances of people talking about the place where they seemed to think it was near the Ventura Freeway. Wondering if he bought another place later on?

The 11386 Ventura Blvd. address is in Studio City where Tujunga Ave. t-bones Ventura Blvd. GSV Link. When I looked up the address on GSV I realized this is the address of one of the stores in the small chain of video stores I used to work for. So this address is now a strip mall and has been since at least the mid-80's when this video store location opened. (It is now a marijuana dispensary called Urban Treez.)

c.2011:
Patch/Studio City

James Wong Howe was the cousin of Anna May Wong. I'm sure she visited the restaurant as well.

[Martin Pal]

I'm skeptical/dubious about that claim, though I haven't researched it. While I was looking up things about James Wong Howe, she was never mentioned in what I read. If you look her up, there's a reference here and there, but in instances where he shot a film she had worked on and it's mentioned, they don't say anything about them having been related in any way, which is curious to me. An example is this from a New York Times article about her and a film retrospective: In 1936, seeking to increase the authenticity of her depictions of Chinese women and hoping to find her spiritual homeland, Wong set off on an 11-month visit to China. (The retrospective includes newsreel scenes shot by the renowned Chinese-American cinematographer James Wong Howe of her strolling through the streets of Shanghai.)

There's many instances like this. Wouldn't it be mentioned they were related? I'm wondering if just because "Wong" is in both their names, it is assumed they're related and it's not a fact.

The two online instances I saw this referenced were someone who wrote biographical info on IMDB, though James Wong Howe is referred to as "an actor cousin". (?) And the other was on a silent film blog that says this, but without annotations. So I'm skeptical about this, so far.

[ethereal_reality]

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Here is another photograph taken by the visiting photographer from Michigan in the 1920s.


"1920* West Adams Avenue - Los Angeles, California - Tallest Palm Trees"


eBay

At the bottom there appears to be a run-down park(?) overgrown with weeds & an old stone gate and entrance. There's also a slight hill in the background


At first I thought the two trees might be the famous two palms in front the coliseum but they wouldn't have been nearly that tall in 1920.

*The 1920 in the seller's description is the year and not the street number but I could be wrong. (it was April, 1920) ....see below







Let's take a closer look at the bottom of the photograph.



detail

Does this area look familiar to anyone?....It's not ringing any bells for me.




For review: the photographer's hand-tinted photograph of Venice cabins Here
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[ethereal_reality]

Yet again, another mystery camel. . .

But this one is alive!

"VINTAGE 1920'S LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA SHRINERS CONVENTION EXPOSITION PARK(?) PHOTO"



eBay

I'm a bit perplexed by the large open-air building with the cupola in the background....(the first thing that sprang to mind was Churchhill Downs)

Was there ever a building like this at Exposition Park?.... . .or am I having a brain freeze?


There was one at Exposition Park, Pittsburgh

[odinthor]

2727 Budlong Avenue . . .

No particular reason . . . the building caught my eye . . .


gsv



LA Times, 10/13/1929



LA Times, 4/16/1983



LA Times, 5/22/1994

[BillinGlendaleCA]

Originally Posted by odinthor

2727 Budlong Avenue . . .

No particular reason . . . the building caught my eye . . .



LA Times, 4/16/1983

The Deputy DA in that case later became a judge and presided over the Reginald Denny beating trail(I was in his court about 6 months later on jury duty).

[ethereal_reality]

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Hey folks, here's a restaurant we haven't seen on NLA.




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Boyle and Olympic Aves....................................................................................................Los Angeles


It appears to have been just north, and in the shadow, of the monolithic Sears Store.







A closer look.







I wasn't going to post the inside of the menu because it's difficult to read.

.....................................................................................................................................................I changed my mind.


eBay

Now I'm hungry. .......Bon Appetit!


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[HossC]

This is the best picture I could find of Swally's.

"Looking east down Olympic Boulevard from just west of where it crosses Rio Vista Avenue (right, not visible) in Boyle Heights. Seen are a Foster and Kleiser billboard for the 1949 Ford, a large used car lot, Swally's restaurant and Pelton's service station. The eastern portion of the decorative Olympic Boulevard Bridge is visible on the left. Photograph dated November 11, 1949."


LAPL

A comparable view from 2017 (the last time the Googlemobile was on the same side of the road). The wall and the lights are still there.


GSV

[UphillDonkey]

If the date of the Photograph were correct, then the billboard should read "Watch the '50 Fords go by" As the 1950 Model Year would have started in about September 1949.

[CityBoyDoug]

I see we have the presence of Xelebes here on NLA.

Cheers Xelebes and good luck. .....