noirish Los Angeles

[ethereal_reality]

Kodachrome slide, 1959.


Back when there were hand painted signs.


eBay

[ethereal_reality]

Here's an interesting ' RED LEAD' ad from 1964 showing the Elysian Viaduct Bridge ramp.


eBay / under paper

Lead Industries Assoc.

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[FLL David]

And Bert Lahr (the Cowardly Lion), and high kicking Charlotte Greenwood

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

This 'mystery' snapshot from the 1920s has all kinds of written 'clues', but I can't make heads or tails out of it.


eBay

in white border:
"These Hollywood Quizz Kids & I. Watched girls on side walk instead of camera."
"SPL Packard Speedster"

in black border:
"Chauffeur for Rudolph Valentino" (with arrow pointing toward photograph)
"These are not his kids, movie stars and relatives kids."
"Rudolph Valentino liked me because my name was Rood(?)."
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If you look closely, there is a movie camera in front of the car. (and it looks like the car is being towed)



There's also a mighty fine house in the background.

I believe this is from the same seller that had the photographs I posted back in May showing a silent movie being filmed at the Muller Bros. Service Station. (6380 Sunset Blvd.)

Here's the earlier post:
http://skyscraperpage.com/forum/show...ostcount=28764

I just came across this photograph on eBay that I believe shows the man that claims he was Rudolph Valentino's chauffeur in my earlier post above.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-1927...item2802ece7a3

R.H. Rood
February 27-1927
(at the Ostrich Farm)


I located his home address in the 1927 Los Angeles City Directory (and he's listed as a chauf!)


lapl

408 N. Hill Street



And I'm pretty sure this second photograph shows Mr. Rood's traveling companion on his trip out to the Ostrich Farm.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-1927...item5b14e3737d

[tovangar2]

Wait, is this the same fella?

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

408 N. Hill Street, 2 blocks from City Hall, circa. 1927.

"Mrs. Cern (landlady) and I"

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-1927...00363532&rt=nc


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[alanlutz]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

It sounds as if you have a fascinating second career Alan. Good for you!



http://matterhorn1959.blogspot.com/2...1_archive.html

A tourist taking a photograph and two Jungle Cruise employees (the boat loader, left, and the boat skipper under the awning), 1960s.

-note the name of the boat....the Nile Princess. (is there still a 'Nile Princess' today?)

Thanks guys, yes It is a great job working at the Happiest Place on Earth and being a Jungle Cruise Skipper. Yes, we do still have a Nile Princess. It is one of the two wheelchair loading boats we have, the other being Ucayali Una, although we usually only have one on the river at a time, the other being in rehab. There are 12 in all according to this wikipedia article and 9 in the usual we run at one time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungle_Cruise
Thanks for the photos of the original African Queen, T2 and the 60s one, ER.

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

Wait, is this the same fella?

OMG, you're right t2! That's 408 N. Hill Street. I had forgotten about that snapshot.

I really despise when sellers on eBay break up photo albums so they can sell the photographs individually in order to make more money.
Together the photographs tell a complete story. If they're sold individually, we're lucky to piece them together to understand the original narrative.

It's quite frustrating.

[Noircitydame]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I really despise when sellers on eBay break up photo albums so they can sell the photographs individually in order to make more money.
Together the photographs tell a complete story. If they're sold individually, we're lucky to piece them together to understand the original narrative.

It's quite frustrating.

I agree. I won't buy from them. Same goes for letters and scrapbooks.

[oldstuff]

Originally Posted by alanlutz

Thanks guys, yes It is a great job working at the Happiest Place on Earth and being a Jungle Cruise Skipper. Yes, we do still have a Nile Princess. It is one of the two wheelchair loading boats we have, the other being Ucayali Una, although we usually only have one on the river at a time, the other being in rehab. There are 12 in all according to this wikipedia article and 9 in the usual we run at one time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungle_Cruise
Thanks for the photos of the original African Queen, T2 and the 60s one, ER.

As for the picture above, you can certainly tell how long ago it was since the trees and the Oldham bamboo currently are about 70-80 feet tall.

[oldstuff]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I just came across this photograph on eBay that I believe shows the man that claims he was Rudolph Valentino's chauffeur in my earlier post above.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-1927...item2802ece7a3

R.H. Rood
February 27-1927
(at the Ostrich Farm)


I located his home address in the 1927 Los Angeles City Directory (and he's listed as a chauf!)


lapl

408 N. Hill Street



And I'm pretty sure this second photograph shows Mr. Rood's traveling companion on his trip out to the Ostrich Farm.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-1927...item5b14e3737d

Here is a short bio on Ralph H. Rood, the supposed chauffer of Rudolph Valentino:

Ralph Harrison Rood was born in Elkhart, Indiana on May 25, 1895, the son of Wilson Rood, who was a manufacturer of tile. He registered for the draft in WWI, living in Elkhart, Indiana. In 1917 he married a Terol King (spelled Ferol in the 1920 Census). They lived in Goshen, Indiana. They were divorced before 1930 when she remarried in Chicago.

A 1924 Voter registration shows that he is in Los Angeles, living at 115 A. North Olive and he is listed then as a chauffer. He then appears in 1930 at the Hill Street address in Los Angeles, divorced and working as a chauffer. He is not found in the 1940 Census, but a voter registration for 1944 shows him living on Grand in Los Angeles. The viewer is having problems today so the street number is not legible. A 1948 directory of Goshen, Indiana, shows him living there with his mother, who is listed as being a widow of Wilson, and he was working as a carpenter. He was living in San Diego in 1966, from information in a directory. Mr. Rood died in San Diego in December of 1977.

[ethereal_reality]

Excellent information oldstuff! Thanks so much.
I've tried to find excerpts from various Valentino biographies in hopes of finding a mention of his chauffeur by name. -no luck yet.






-mid-century modern:

Snapshot of 3000 Clyde Avenue, 1950s. (just north of W. Jefferson Blvd.)


eBay


and today

gsv




It's located next to some pretty intense looking power lines.


gsv





In this aerial the power lines are at top. (there's a second garage in the back) -or maybe it's a rental property.


google earth



notice that the high-voltage power-lines are missing in the 1950s views. the owner must have been pretty pissed when they erected them so close to his house.


eBay


eBay

[tovangar2]

Just one more Egyptian-style building. This one, a ten-unit garden apartment complex, was built in 1925. It's at 1426 S Bonnie Brae in Pico-Union, just 1/2 block from Terrace Park on Alvarado Terrace. Check out that monumental door-case one can see through the archway (the winged sun symbol above the arch is repeated on each unit's entrance)...


gsv

and note the bas-relief images on the archway surround. I wonder if they were originally painted in bright colors?:


gsv

...because they were blue in 2007:


gsv

And whoa, that palm tree. It's still alive, but its mates on either side are dead.

[ethereal_reality]

Bellevue Court in Pasadena, circa 1924.



eBay

S. Marengo Avenue (but no street number)

[C. King]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Bellevue Court in Pasadena, circa 1924.



eBay

S. Marengo Avenue (but no street number)

ER,

Looks like the court is still there. Present GSV views show the bungalows having addys in the mid 400 blk of Marengo. Look on the east side of Marengo Ave., 2 blks north of California Blvd. Marengo is one blk east of Arroyo Parkway.

Hope that helps.

[tovangar2]

427 S Marengo, corner of E Bellevue Dr may well be it. The building at the apex looks as though it is now single-story though.

Street widening, remodeling and landscaping make it hard to tell.

I'm a dope. I was looking on the wrong side of the street.

The bungalow court is at No. 446.

[ethereal_reality]

C. King, is this the court bungalows you spotted?


gsv



There are two lamp poles in the courtyard (just like the ones in the photograph from 1924)


detail





Here's a closer look at the front bungalow on the right. (I'd sure like to see inside)


gsv



And finally, a view of the bungalows from Bellevue Drive.


gsv

Courtyard apartments work better when they're located mid-block. There's no excuse for having the back of buildings facing a street. ugh!


Thanks for your help C. King

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

...because they were blue in 2007:


gsv

Good eye t2. I never thought of looking back to 2007.

[Flyingwedge]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

-mid-century modern:

Snapshot of 3000 Clyde Avenue, 1950s. (just north of W. Jefferson Blvd.)


eBay

and today

gsv

It's located next to some pretty intense looking power lines.

In this aerial the power lines are at top. (there's a second garage in the back) -or maybe it's a rental property.


google earth

notice that the high-voltage power-lines are missing in the 1950s views. the owner must have been pretty pissed when they erected them so close to his house.

3000 Clyde was built on the site of short-lived Spartan Field, which was at 2801 Clyde. On the lower map, the street that hits Jefferson in the lower right corner is probably Hauser Blvd:

Airway Bulletin No. 940, March 1, 1930 @ HathiTrust -- http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?i...ew=1up;seq=285


Airway Bulletin No. 940, March 1, 1930 @ HathiTrust -- http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?i...ew=1up;seq=286

Spartan Field was gone by February 1931:

Air Commerce Bulletin v. 2 No. 15, February 2, 1931 @ HathiTrust -- http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?i...ew=1up;seq=404

This c. 1940 Spence Air Photo looks south at the Baldwin Hills. The two streets entering the hills are La Brea at left and Moynier Lane (now La Cienega) at right by the 57.
The former Spartan Field site is in the triangular area near the lower right corner. The intersection at the area's southwest corner is Moyner/La Cienega and Jefferson Blvd.
The street that runs through houses left to right near the bottom of the photo is Blackwelder Street, whose western terminus is at Clyde. Clyde's southern terminus is at
the edge of the old Spartan Field site, about where the utility line right-of-way is today.

Photo from Rancho Cienega o Paso de la Tijera by Virginia French (John D. Roche, Inc., Los Angeles, 1970)

The Spartan Field site today, looking north:

GoogleEarth

[C. King]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

C. King, is this the court bungalows you spotted?


gsv



There are two lamp poles in the courtyard (just like the ones in the photograph from 1924)


detail





Here's a closer look at the front bungalow on the right. (I'd sure like to see inside)


gsv



And finally, a view of the bungalows from Bellevue Drive.


gsv

I think courtyard apartments work better when they're located mid-block. We're only seeing the back-side of each bungalow .


Thanks for your help C. King

Yup! That's the one. Used to pass it on my way to work when I lived in Pasadena little over 10 yrs ago.

[ethereal_reality]

I don't believe we've seen this image on NLA.

"Los Angeles City Hall seen from US 101 and Interstate 110 interchange. 1950"
(photograph taken near Sunset Blvd. and Figueroa Street)


http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/vie...198/zz0002qqw5

I'm curious about several things.



What's up with the crazy chimney flues? Does anyone know what building this is?


detail





To the right of City Hall we get a glimpse at the top of the Hall of Records building.
(I've never seen the rooftop flag-pole so prominent....so I was a little perplexed at first)


detail




Here's a detail of the lower right edge of the photograph. I think that's a Café sign (red arrow). -and what is 'Challange' advertising?


detail








Here's the complete photograph as it appears in the UCLA Digital Archives.


http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/vie...198/zz0002qqw5

So glad UCLA added the zoom feature.
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