noirish Los Angeles

[ethereal_reality]

I just found this postcard of the Mayflower Hotel...of course the first thing to catch my eye was the oversized rooftop sign!
I had completely forgotten about it.


ebay



below: While searching for a better view of the rooftop sign, I came across this amazing photograph.

-looking south on Grand from 4th Street. -October 15, 1954- looks like early morning to me.

http://photos.lapl.org/carlweb/jsp/F...olNumber=50344

Man, that's quite a drop off! (and as you can see the rooftop sign is gone as early as 1954)
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[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

you guys have great L.A. memories! thx for sharing.



wonderfully noir, but no address or date.


http://photos.lapl.org/carlweb/jsp/F...olNumber=10196

Does anyone recognize this street corner?
__

That's the Merritt Building at the northwest corner of Broadway and 8th.

GSV


LAPL


A little history is here.

PS And here, ER!

[ethereal_reality]

Is this a public restroom? (notice the man going down the stairs)


unknown
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[ethereal_reality]

"Hirohito gets the boot." at the Hawaii Theater next door to Florentine Gardens.


ebay


reverse

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[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by kznyc2k

Awesome 1946 map by planner Henry Wall and associated story at Los Angeles Magazine.

Thanks so much for the map. This is the way I always think about LA. Topography first.

It reminded me of this great shot of the Station Fire, 2009:


http://rcstopandask.blogspot.com/

From this height humans don't seem to have had much of an impact. 250 years of development appear to have vanished or never have happened.

Originally Posted by alester young

Thx for the post -great example of late 1950s architecture. Does anyone know whether this banking hall survived in any shape or form or has the building since been refitted or demolished?
Regards
alester

I'm pretty sure there's nothing left of the old interior except some ceiling height.

Start here (next to last paragraph):
http://blogdowntown.com/2009/11/4865...er-of-a-ground

la.curbed.com has a mass of posts on the SB Tower. They're here:
http://la.curbed.com/tags/600-spring

600 Spring is a Claud Beelman building BTW.

Originally Posted by kznyc2k

The view west over Court Hill:

All shots from September 23, 1949 and are over at USC

detail

Thanks! I was amazed to see that the Bixby house was still there in '49.


cal state lib (detail)

It's heartbreaking that this house wasn't moved and saved. Anyone who's read Sarah Bixby Smith's "Adobe Days" (1931) knows this house. It would have been a great resource. My kids still love her book and so do I. It really would have meant a lot to have been able to walk through those rooms.

The Bixby house made it into this postcard:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

_____________

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Is this a public restroom? (notice the man going down the stairs)


unknown
__

LOL, I always wondered what that was:

http://silentlocations.wordpress.com...n-los-angeles/

[kznyc2k]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

Thanks! I was amazed to see that the Bixby house was still there in '49.

Turns out the Bixby and its neighbors managed to survive 'til the very end, which in this case turned out to be 1954-55.

She's still there in '52 (note the torn up streetcar rails):


LAPL

But by May 16th, 1954, all the homes are gone:


LAPL

And then almost exactly a year later, May 10th, 1955, nearly everything else is history too:


LAPL

Another shot dated 1955 (but if that's correct then it must've been super early on) showing the Bixby mostly torn down and its neighbor already turned into a mighty fine lookin' parking lot:



unsure of source...acquired from here

[MichaelRyerson]

Hancock Oil fire in Signal Hill, 1958

23 May 1958. Hancock Oil Company fire at Signal Hill from air shortly before noon today".

USC digital archive/Los Angeles Examiner Collection, 1920-1961

[Chuckaluck]

1745 E. Seventh Street - Walnut Growers' Bldg.


Circa '24
Lapl

Circa '38
Lapl

Contemporary
http://la.curbed.com/archives/2012/1...ork_condos.php

[westcork]

Weber's Bread Truck

LAPL

Watkin's Chacolates

LAPL

Ralph's Grocery

LAPL

Holly Poltry Co.

LAPL

Globe Ice Cream

LAPL

Diamond T Armored car
View of Guarantee Service Company's 'Diamond T' armored truck. The Diamond T Motor Car Company was formed by Charles Tilt of Chicago in 1905. During the first 6 years, custom built passenger cars were manufactured by hand in the rear of a small one story garage. Diamond T switched exclusively to building trucks, discontinuing its passenger line in 1911. In 1958 Diamond T was purchased by White Motor Corporation and became a division of White. Photo taken at an unknown location in Los Angeles.

LAPL

Giant speaker mounted on the rear of the truck in the 1920's or 1930's, used as a portable loudspeaker system.

LAPL

Gilmore Road Oil

LAPL

A Transit Mixed Concrete Company truck is parked in front of a storage tank. There were several locations around Los Angeles in this time period including 1000 North La Brea Avenue in West Hollywood, 780 Union Pacific Place at the southeast end of the 7th Street viaduct, and 3492 East Foothill Boulevard in Pasadena.

LAPL


A man drives a specialized truck loaded with loose lumber past a cargo ship, cranes and more lumber stacked on the dock at the Port of Los Angeles.

LAPL

A man (probably the vendor) assists a woman standing in front of a truck parked in a residential neighborhood which has been specially modified to sell fruit, with open paneling, an awning, and display crates that keep the fruit separated during transportation.

LAPL

Someone has attached a canopy to his truck to mimic a covered wagon probably for the Desert Circus week held March 13-19 in 1939. This annual event, which started in 1931, included parades, old west activities and parties. The truck is parked in front of the Palms Springs Drug and Import Company located at 160 North Palm Canyon Drive. Notice the postcard and newsstand racks by the open door.

LAPL


A driver/milkman for Adohr Creamery Company, sits at the wheel of his delivery truck.

LAPL


Delivery vehicle of the H. Jevne Co., a wholesale grocery supplier, taken in Highland Park in 1906. The company was located at 208 and 210 South Spring Street. This early truck has no steering wheel but uses a metal post device and has no front enclosure.

LAPL


A delivery truck for the Los Angeles Times in 1901.

LAPL


Mack Truck 1917
The 100-inch telescope glass being hauled up the one-way dirt toll road from Altadena to Mt. Wilson by truck in 1917. It was boxed in and draped with an American flag. A 200-inch mirror was put in place on April 10, 1936, giving astronomers the ability to see even further into space.

LAPL

1926
A driver is receiving a traffic ticket in 1926 from motorcycle police. Next to the car is a truck marked "Justice Court," perhaps with a judge to dispense instant justice?

LAPL


1928-1929
A car is set up for broadcasting with microphones on the roof and above the driver's head. On the truck are the call letters of KEJK radio station of the MacMillan Petroleum Co., and the name Freeman Lang. Lang was the chief engineer of the station, which he founded in 1927 under the call sign of KRLO. He sold the station in February 1928 to Ernest J. Krause, who changed the call letters to fit his initials, KEJK. Just two months later, KEJK was sold to R.S. MacMillan Petroleum Company of Beverly Hills, which owned KEJK when this photo was taken. They would change the call letters on March 14, 1930, to KMPC to fit the company name.

LAPL

1929
A Salvation Army model A truck makes a pickup of donated items in Los Angeles in

LAPL

1929
Unloading avocados from truck to the Calavo Growers Association processing plant.

LAPL


1931
Tow truck in front of the Royal Coach Auto Body Works, a body and repair shop.

LAPL


1937
During a film strike taking place outside the Bronson Gate to Paramount Pictures studio, May 5, 1937, a truck is parked in the entrance. Film poster on the truck advertises upcoming 1937 movie, Internes can't take money. Policeman guards the entrance as workers wait outside. In 1937 seventy-five set decorators broke away from the IATSE (International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and Moving Picture Machine Operators of the United States and Canada) to form their own association, the Society of Motion Picture Interior Decorators (SMPID) and negotated an independent contract with the producers. In 1943 they would affiliate with the CSU Local 1421.

LAPL

1951
A driver of an Adohr milk truck is shown picking up pieces of glass milk bottles that shattered in the street after the delivery van hit the palm tree seen on the left. The accident occurred in the middle of St. James Park. Various models of cars are parked on the street in the background. Photograph dated January 13, 1951.

LAPL

1956
Scoop trucks like this one have played an important part in reducing the cost per ton for collecting and disposing of rubbish in the Los Angeles harbor area. The project there cut cost from $14.23 in December to $8.00 in March, during which time the amount of rubbish collected increased more than four times! Mrs. Barbara Brown of Torrance watches the operation. Photo dated: May 2, 1956.

LAPL

1957
Driver takes new type of truck for hauling combustible rubbish through a serpentine course in a five-part test to qualify drivers for the new trucks being staged at Chavez Ravine. This test is one in which a driver must start with a course which simulates conditions in a narrow alleyway. It starts with a 1 1/2 foot clearance on each side, and narrows down to three inches. Photo dated: April 3, 1957.

LAPL

1965
Officers hold a suspect and search his vehicle on a gas station lot near Slauson and Avalon Avenues. Patrolmen reported they found a 22 calibar weapon inside of cleaners delivery truck. Photo dated: August 15, 1965.

LAPL

1967
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

[Chuckaluck]

Which one is Bright? Hard to tell the players without a scorecard. The truth lies somewhere in between the quoted material below.

"Chemical Engine Co. No. 1 from 1892 to 1907, located at 137 S. Belmont (later changed to Loma), near W. First Street. Referred to as 'The Hill'. Chemical Co. No. 1 closed in 1907 and Hose Company No. 4 moved in and went into service at the same station. Two of the firemen pictured are identified as William Glenn and George Bright, but it is not known which man is Glenn and which is Bright."

Lapl

"Hose Company No. 4 opened on February 22, 1900 and was originally located on Jefferson Street, between Thirty-Second and McClintock Streets. In 1906-07, Hose Co. No. 4 closed and moved to its new location (pictured) at 137 S. Loma Drive (previously Belmont), which had formerly been occupied by Chemical Engine Co. No. 2, known as 'The Hill'. In 1924, Hose Co. No. 4 closed, and Engine Co. No. 58 opened in this same building."

Lapl




Chemical Engine Co. No. 2 - Central Avenue & 34th Street

Circa 1900. Big fires, watch out!
USC Digital

[belmont bob]

Westcork…these are just great!!! Love the old trucks…keep um coming if you have more…I can still remember seeing some of similar examples as a young boy…these are all terrific…thanks for posting…

[Chuckaluck]

Bungalows, all in a row.

"Sunset Boulevard, east of Echo Park" (undated)

Lapl

[Chuckaluck]

Originally Posted by BifRayRock

http://www.lafire.com/stations/FS061..._1929-1984.htm

Recycled blueprints? Stations, 61 and 66.

lapl

[Chuckaluck]

Having a dead-whale of a time? Fun for everybody!

Undated







AllLAPL


Wind on the Water . . . sigh

[GaylordWilshire]

LAT


An L.A. native friend of mine once told me she was moved by Joan Didion's Where I Was From (wonderful book) to look a little closer at all the California mythology she grew up with--what it really was like, for instance, in the days of the Californios, who, apparently, weren't too bright, certainly not well educated, slovenly in the eyes of coming Easterners, patriarchal of course--their power came from owning vast swathes of land, which gave some of them a royalty complex. The image of Sarah Bixby Smith (Adobe Days) is that of an old librarianesque nostalgician, but, having plenty of money, her own sense of importance, and her complicated love life and involvements with various Reverend Smiths made her a little interesting than that.

Her first husband, Rev Arthur Maxson Smith, father of their five children, never met a gal he didn't want to shag (coeds in his charge, au pairs and boarders in his own house--he liked to joke about becoming a Mormon). Eventually, after setting up a girlfriend (a Miss Giffen, the boarder) in an apartment in New York and sleeping with her in every hotel in L.A., passing himself off when convenient as her husband, all the while married to Sarah, he was busted and divorced ensued. While still married the Arthur--before the final decree came down, at least--it seems that Sarah hit the sheets with her next dog-collared Smith, one Rev Paul Jordan Smith, 14 years younger than Sarah and coming off his own scandalous divorce and who later added the pretentious hyphen to his name to avoid confusion with yet another Rev Smith (with whom, it seems, Sarah did not sleep). Anyway, Sarah's exploits and connections to a fast crowd make for semi-interesting reading; the story of Paul Jordan-dash-Smith's presumption to know better than others what made good art and his hoax along those lines is sort of amusing, especially since he seems at some point to have given up the dog collar and gotten used to the superiority, respectability, and lush life Sarah's money allowed him.

The whole mess here: http://http://so-cal-arch-history.com/archives/3597


GSV

4800 Los Feliz Blvd, where Sarah Bixby Smith Smith lived with Paul Jordan-dash-Smith ca 1927-1932.

[unihikid]

Great story GW. I dont know if this was posted before but since were in the last days of winter here is a nice pic of San Marino.


Photo by PEHS

And here is a super cool then and now of Mt Lowe


Photo by PEHS

[Godzilla]

Originally Posted by unihikid

Great story GW. I dont know if this was posted before but since were in the last days of winter here is a nice pic of San Marino.

= http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=8027


1938 - Post Advocate Bldg., Alhambra (Irving Place? Is it still there?)

Lapl



Alhambra City Hall - of Yesteryear. No date

google

[ProphetM]

Originally Posted by westcork

Someone has attached a canopy to his truck to mimic a covered wagon probably for the Desert Circus week held March 13-19 in 1939. This annual event, which started in 1931, included parades, old west activities and parties. The truck is parked in front of the Palms Springs Drug and Import Company located at 160 North Palm Canyon Drive. Notice the postcard and newsstand racks by the open door.

LAPL

That conversion was made from a 1937 Willys. They've cut down/modified the windshield surround, and the doors are also not original.

[DouglasUrantia]

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

LAT


An L.A. native friend of mine once told me she was moved by Joan Didion's Where I Was From (wonderful book) to look a little closer at all the California mythology she grew up with--what it really was like, for instance, in the days of the Californios, who, apparently, weren't too bright, certainly not well educated, slovenly in the eyes of coming Easterners, patriarchal of course--their power came from owning vast swathes of land, which gave some of them a royalty complex. The image of Sarah Bixby Smith (Adobe Days) is that of an old librarianesque nostalgician, but, having plenty of money, her own sense of importance, and her complicated love life and involvements with various Reverend Smiths made her a little interesting than that.

Her first husband, Rev Arthur Maxson Smith, father of their four children, never met a gal he didn't want to shag (coeds in his charge, au pairs and boarders in his own house--he liked to joke about becoming a Mormon). Eventually, after setting up a girlfriend (a Miss Giffen, the boarder) in an apartment in New York and sleeping with her in every hotel in L.A., passing himself off when convenient as her husband, all the while married to Sarah, he was busted and divorced ensued. While still married the Arthur--before the final decree came down, at least--it seems that Sarah hit the sheets with her next dog-collared Smith, one Rev Paul Jordan Smith, who was coming off his own scandalous divorce and who later added the pretentious hyphen to his name to avoid confusion with yet another Rev Smith (with whom, it seems, Sarah did not sleep). Anyway, Sarah's exploits and connections to a fast crowd make for semi-interesting reading; the story of Paul Jordan-dash-Smith's presumption to know better than others what made good art and his hoax along those lines is sort of amusing, especially since he seems at some point to have given up the dog collar and gotten used to the superiority, respectability, and lush life Sarah's money allowed him.

GSV

4800 Los Feliz Blvd, where Sarah Bixby Smith Smith lived with Paul Jordan-dash-Smith ca 1927-1932.

I read your delightful post Mr Wilshire but I must confess that at the end I was totally confused by the endless bed-hopping. Its not your fault at all. I suppose a huge graphic with photos, lines and arrows might make it more clear but to what point. Let's just say these people were real pros at committing serial adultery. Their 'lives' were really one faux honeymoon after another.


Lovely Deodar pines in the parkway at the right. They're basically native to India.
The stately Los Feliz home of the Smith entourage. The aerial view shows there is a large pool and tennis court.


Google SV.

[GaylordWilshire]

Well, it was Sarah's first Smith who seems to have done most of the bedhopping. Second husband "Dash" may have been less randy, but he was 14 years younger than Sarah...and they did divorce sometime after Adobe Days came out. Seems like the two Reverend Smiths might have really liked her more for her money than anything else.

She died on September 13, 1935, at age 64, reportedly of food poisoning.


Btw, another, less-heralded volume if old-SoCal reminiscences is John Hyde Braly's Memory Pictures, An Autobiography, available to read online here. With a little more here....