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-   -   noirish Los Angeles (https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=170279)

Scott Charles Jul 23, 2019 2:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Handsome Stranger (Post 8638903)
When did exchange numbers cease to be a thing? I remember as a very young child the exchange at our house was Richfield...but if memory serves, by the time I was 12 or so they weren't in use any longer.

According to Wikipedia:

Quote:

As demand for telephone service grew in the post–World War II period, it was foreseeable that the demand would exceed the addressing capacity of the existing system of using memorable telephone central office names as prefixes in telephone numbers.

...as the growth accelerated, the Bell System decided to implement all-number calling (ANC)...

All-number calling was phased in starting in 1958 and most areas had adopted it fully by the mid-1960s. In some areas it did not become universal until the 1980s.

https://i.imgur.com/9AgsVzL.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_exchange_names
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teleph...ephone_numbers
I'm too young to have ever encountered an exchange number - I only learned about them from old movies.

citywatch Jul 23, 2019 2:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott Charles (Post 8638205)
Whenever someone asks about my hobbies, and I try to explain what we do here, it takes me an entire paragraph to give any kind of reasonable explanation... and I still don't feel I explain it well. Then they look at me like I'm nuts.


as of right now, this thread is listed as having 29,206,377 replies. The next closest thread in the current main list shows only about 1,000,000 replies.

Is there something about old LA....including noirish LA....that makes for a topic that grabs ppl's interest in a way that other places don't? If so, is it the hollywood connection? The weather? Nostalgia for a place that changes more dramatically than certain other cities like in europe or in the US like chicago, SF, DC, boston do?

or is it the town's wacky cultural trends going back generations? Like bldgs shaped like food or furniture?

Or maybe the OP is more committed to his thread than other OPs of other threads are?

.

Bristolian Jul 23, 2019 4:06 AM

Telephone Exchange Trivia
 
I believe this is pretty obvious but who remembers what was on the other end of the line when you dialed Richmond 9-5171?

FredH Jul 23, 2019 4:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott Charles (Post 8639049)
According to Wikipedia:


I'm too young to have ever encountered an exchange number - I only learned about them from old movies.


Our phone number in Ohio was Spring 7-0215. I believe, sometime in the mid-1960's, it was converted over to just 777-0215. I remember that there was some grousing at the time, but as things became digital a few years later, it was a necessary change.



I believe you could call the mission of this site as : The resurrection of L.A.'s lost history and memories.

HenryHuntington Jul 23, 2019 4:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott Charles (Post 8638205)
A question for all in attendance:

What do you call this hobby of ours? That is, the research and appreciation of the old buildings of Los Angeles.

Whenever someone asks about my hobbies, and I try to explain what we do here, it takes me an entire paragraph to give any kind of reasonable explanation... and I still don't feel I explain it well. Then they look at me like I'm nuts.

Is there a term or phrase you folks use to describe what we do in this thread here? Or am I doomed to sound like a crazy person??

THANKS!

_____________________________

The term urban archeologist found some usage about 30 years ago, though it was applied to researchers looking at other cities, too. I like it because it retains focus on our subject and doesn't limit us practitioners to any specific body of evidence or investigative method. The field is interdisciplinary and thrives on collaboration.

As for the relative degree of sanity accorded to us, we happy few, vs. the rest of humankind, I do feel a degree of pity for those who've never adopted or considered or even heard of our quest. Poor blighters!

Hollywood Graham Jul 23, 2019 5:03 AM

Beachwood 4-5789 you can call me up any old time, she told me.

Otis Criblecoblis Jul 23, 2019 5:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bristolian (Post 8639122)
I believe this is pretty obvious but who remembers what was on the other end of the line when you dialed Richmond 9-5171?

The Olympic Auditorium.

ScottyB Jul 23, 2019 5:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Otis Criblecoblis (Post 8639169)
The Olympic Auditorium.

I can hear Dick Lane now!

FredH Jul 23, 2019 5:44 AM

This is a screen grab from the 1970 Kris Kristofferson video Sunday Morning Coming Down.

https://i.postimg.cc/sDd50tdM/Capture.png

I thought I could find this intersection in five minutes. However, it seems as though La Maida is one of those streets in the Valley that are chopped into a bunch of little pieces.

Translation: I can't find the damn thing.

BillinGlendaleCA Jul 23, 2019 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FredH (Post 8639177)
This is a screen grab from the 1970 Kris Kristofferson video Sunday Morning Coming Down.

https://i.postimg.cc/sDd50tdM/Capture.png

I thought I could find this intersection in five minutes. However, it seems as though La Maida is one of those streets in the Valley that are chopped into a bunch of little pieces.

Translation: I can't find the damn thing.

Looking at the aerial from FrameFinder, it could be the southwest corner of Laurel Canyon and La Maida.

GaylordWilshire Jul 23, 2019 11:36 AM

:previous:


Looks like it's been a liquor store since at least 1946--the ad below is from 1966--

https://i.postimg.cc/ryQzFk60/emersonsad-bmp.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/sXmqSKym/emersons1-bmp.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/vmdNNCZX/emersons2-bmp.jpg

The building is now painted red.

Bristolian Jul 23, 2019 2:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott Charles (Post 8639049)
According to Wikipedia:


I'm too young to have ever encountered an exchange number - I only learned about them from old movies.

Including "Klondike 5" used in movies and television so the prefix would be the never issued 555?

Scott Charles Jul 23, 2019 3:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Otis Criblecoblis (Post 8639169)
The Olympic Auditorium.

I went to see boxing at the Olympic for the somewhat brief period that it was reopened as a boxing venue. I believe it's a Korean church now, if I recall correctly.

AlvaroLegido Jul 23, 2019 5:28 PM

???
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by citywatch (Post 8639065)
as of right now, this thread is listed as having 29,206,377 replies. The next closest thread in the current main list shows only about 1,000,000 replies.

We are at #52 114 posts. I don't understand what are these 29 206 377 replies.

Martin Pal Jul 23, 2019 7:49 PM

:previous:

I believe he meant "views" currently at 29,213,726!

Yes, replies are 52,144. The next closest thread in replies is 2,020, which is a thread titled Aerial Photos.

See HERE.

Martin Pal Jul 23, 2019 8:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by citywatch (Post 8639065)
as of right now, this thread is listed as having 29,206,377 replies. The next closest thread in the current main list shows only about 1,000,000 replies.

Is there something about old LA....including noirish LA....that makes for a topic that grabs ppl's interest in a way that other places don't? If so, is it the hollywood connection? The weather? Nostalgia for a place that changes more dramatically than certain other cities like in europe or in the US like chicago, SF, DC, boston do?

or is it the town's wacky cultural trends going back generations? Like bldgs shaped like food or furniture?

Or maybe the OP is more committed to his thread than other OPs of other threads are?

.
_________________________________________________________________


I think all of those reasons are a factor, particularly:
"...maybe the OP is more committed to his thread than other OPs of other threads are?"

E_R's personal interest in this thread keeps it going, IMO, and also his willingness to let us stray from the "noirish" theme that he started it with. That, in itself, the name of the thread, is also a factor in why people have gravitated to it.

Example: One summer I attended a film at AMPAS's Goldwyn Theatre. They showed a double feature of Hitchcock Films, Lifeboat and Shadow of a Doubt. They also had an exhibition of Hitchcock memorabilia in their gallery. The screening was sparsely attended; the theatre was half-full if that.

The following summer they had a Film Noir Series. The selections were one film from each year, 1940 - 1949, and all of them had their screenplays nominated for an Academy Award. The 1943 selection was Shadow of a Doubt. When I attended that screening I was really surprised at the full house. I asked the host of this series in the lobby at some point why he thought there was such a big turnout for Shadow of a Doubt? After all, it's not one of his most famous or best loved films that people might want to see in a theatre, and it also had been shown the year before with one of his better known films and it drew a tepid showing.

His reply, "Just put 'Film Noir' in the advertising and you'll drawn a big audience!"

TRUE! The annual Film Noir series at the American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre is always a huge attraction.

E_R's inclination to name the thread Noirish Los Angeles, was a very good one.

P.S.: Thank you, E_R!

mrfredmertz Jul 23, 2019 8:54 PM

How about calling ourselves "Cityologists" or "Metroligists?"

Lomara Jul 23, 2019 9:05 PM

The Noirish Spelunkers
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott Charles (Post 8638205)
A question for all in attendance:

What do you call this hobby of ours? That is, the research and appreciation of the old buildings of Los Angeles.

Whenever someone asks about my hobbies, and I try to explain what we do here, it takes me an entire paragraph to give any kind of reasonable explanation... and I still don't feel I explain it well. Then they look at me like I'm nuts.

Is there a term or phrase you folks use to describe what we do in this thread here? Or am I doomed to sound like a crazy person??

THANKS!

The first word that came to my mind is "spelunking". We seem to be spelunking through the city and its hidden crevices, unearthing some dark secrets.

The Noirish Spelunkers. That sounds like a bowling league team. Let's all meet up at Highland Bowl and toss a few rocks sometime, eh?

FredH Jul 23, 2019 9:22 PM

https://i.postimg.cc/59STDSTb/Capture70.png
YouTube


Thanks BillinGlendaleCA and GaylordWilshire.

I was about 3 1/2 miles off (over by Notre Dame High School) and moving in the wrong direction.

By the way - Does anyone know why so many streets in the Valley are chopped up into little pieces?

citywatch Jul 24, 2019 12:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martin Pal (Post 8639761)
:previous:
I believe he meant "views" currently at 29,213,726!

Yes, thanks for clarifying (pronoun isn't accurate, however). In general, this LA thread has gotten so many more posts & views than the other ones.

your using the example of what you were told at the goldwyn theater is a good explanation....ethereal_reality's keeping the thread alive is another good explanation. speaking of which, I believe he lives in the chicago area.

I saw a vid of two major movie critics based there, the late siskel & ebert, reviewing a classic "LA" film, chinatown.....one of the two of them said something about LA having a certain vibe or odd charm.

that to me is a major reason I've found this thread interesting through the yrs. It makes me think of the nostalgic mood & melancholy theme music occurring at the end of Chinatown....


Video Link


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