Thanks for posting this photo HossC! The building at lower right was one of the earlier brick homes in Los Angeles, built in probably c. 1865-70 by longtime Los Angeles blacksmith Louis Breer. Here it is closer; its address was 215 S. San Pedro St.:
http://i1165.photobucket.com/albums/...9.jpg~original

I mentioned the Breer home at the end of this post, which was mostly on the nearby Lugo Adobe at 2nd and San Pedro.

More on Louis Breer: http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?i...iew=1up;seq=24

About his son Carl Breer, the automotive engineer: http://books.google.com/books?id=_dj...ksmith&f=false

An oral history interview with Carl Breer's son, sculptor and filmmaker Robert Breer: http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/in...rt-breer-11951

:???: Wondering...

While looking at some recent postings with Pacific Electric Red Cars in them I was wondering why more Hollywood films of the 30's, 40's and 50's didn't make use of them, specifically, or use them as atmosphere at the very least? Off the top of my head I can't even think of a film with a scene that takes place on one? (Although I can think of a couple that use Angel's Flight.)

Does anyone know of a list of films that might feature or show the PE cars within context of a film story?

A lot of people lament the demise of the Red Cars in Southern California, but I am also wondering--was this applauded in the 50's by the general public? Was the public happy about getting rid of them?

Also, I remember reading or hearing that when Disneyland was being planned, Walt Disney wanted to build a monorail from the Disney Studios in Burbank all the way to Anaheim and was going to do it at his own expense. All he wanted was the city to give him the right of ways. Does anyone know about this plan?

:previous:


Never heard about the Disney monorail, but the demise of the PE is a subject that will open a can of worms. There are dozens of books, some rabidly claiming it was a dastardly conspiracy of GM, Standard Oil and Firestone (or some such combination of companies), others that poor service, the old equipment, and a poor safety record sealed its fate. Seems to me that people just wanted to drive their own cars, and why wouldn't they? The new systems are great, but only if you live and work near the lines.

These Green Lantern photos are fascinating. I never knew malted milk was that popular.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps3e4be650.jpg
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/co...id/13721/rec/8


However, this bunch doesn't strike me as your typical malted milk crowd.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...psab8c8e60.jpg
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/co...id/13721/rec/8


Hey look! This guy has one in a brown bottle.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps8ff8eaa6.jpg
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/co...id/13721/rec/8

Monorail to nowhere in 1955?
 

When Walt Disney was first planning Disneyland Anaheim he offered to the City Council of Los Angeles, to build a monorail line from LAX, via Downtown to Disneyland.

The deal was, he would build it if LA would operate it. The Council refused, they figured that Disneyland would never amount to anything, would eventually be a flop and probably have to close down.

The rest is history.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...psc927bec4.jpg
Disney Image

Today, more than 50 years later, Disneyland is jammed with crowds everyday....even when it rains. BTW, its around $100 per adult person to enter.

1955
General Admission Ticket
~ Adult ~ $1.00
~ Junior 12-17 ~ unknown
~ Child 3-11 ~ .50¢

Rides were extra.

Funny you should mention that, because earlier today I came across this 1939 picture of Main Street.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...1.jpg~original
USC Digital Library

Martin Pal recently posted a couple of pictures of Harold's at 555 S Main Street, but it used to be a Majestic Malted Milk Shop (there were other stores at 300 S Broadway, 762 S Figueroa and 321 W 5th).

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...2.jpg~original
Detail of picture above.

This picture was taken slightly further up S Main Street. USC date it as 1938-1958, but it's clearly from a similar time to the one above. I guess that must be the Optic that's showing Dick Powell's 1939 movie, 'Hard to Get'. The five-story building appears as Your Hotel in the 1936 and 1942 CDs, but is not listed in the ones in between. In Martin Pal's earlier pictures it's become the Dover Hotel, still with 100 rooms. In this picture they're severly undercutting the nearby Rosslyn - I wonder if the Rosslyn was worth twice the price?

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...1.jpg~original
USC Digital Library

In the middle is a different variant of the Waldorf Cellar sign

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...2.jpg~original
Detail of picture above.

Looks like the Breer house was still around in the mid-1950's when this photo was taken.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps3e621fe0.jpg
Earl Witscher, Modernage Photo Service

NE view from Santa Monica Blvd. and Highland.


1928 Hotel Cinema 1119 N McCaden Place

http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/single...d/8237/rec/454

http://hdl.huntington.org/utils/ajax...XT=&DMROTATE=0http://hdl.huntington.org/utils/ajax...XT=&DMROTATE=0
http://hdl.huntington.org/utils/ajax...XT=&DMROTATE=0http://hdl.huntington.org/utils/ajax...XT=&DMROTATE=0

Muller Bros.
http://hdl.huntington.org/utils/ajax...XT=&DMROTATE=0http://hdl.huntington.org/utils/ajax...XT=&DMROTATE=0

http://hdl.huntington.org/utils/ajax...XT=&DMROTATE=0http://hdl.huntington.org/utils/ajax...XT=&DMROTATE=0http://hdl.huntington.org/utils/ajax...XT=&DMROTATE=0http://hdl.huntington.org/utils/ajax...XT=&DMROTATE=0

Train or street car tracks
http://hdl.huntington.org/utils/ajax...XT=&DMROTATE=0

1928 - Aerial view from Fifth and Hill


http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/single...d/7995/rec/443


http://hdl.huntington.org/utils/ajax...XT=&DMROTATE=0http://hdl.huntington.org/utils/ajax...XT=&DMROTATE=0
http://hdl.huntington.org/utils/ajax...XT=&DMROTATE=0http://hdl.huntington.org/utils/ajax...XT=&DMROTATE=0


http://hdl.huntington.org/utils/ajax...XT=&DMROTATE=0http://hdl.huntington.org/utils/ajax...XT=&DMROTATE=0
http://hdl.huntington.org/utils/ajax...XT=&DMROTATE=0http://hdl.huntington.org/utils/ajax...XT=&DMROTATE=0

1929 Santa Monica and Gower, western view (??).

http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/single...d/7353/rec/320




http://hdl.huntington.org/utils/ajax...XT=&DMROTATE=0http://hdl.huntington.org/utils/ajax...XT=&DMROTATE=0

http://hdl.huntington.org/utils/ajax...XT=&DMROTATE=0http://hdl.huntington.org/utils/ajax...XT=&DMROTATE=0
http://hdl.huntington.org/utils/ajax...XT=&DMROTATE=0http://hdl.huntington.org/utils/ajax...XT=&DMROTATE=0



http://hdl.huntington.org/utils/ajax...XT=&DMROTATE=0http://hdl.huntington.org/utils/ajax...XT=&DMROTATE=0


Looks like an eastern view of the late and lamented Sears at Santa Monica and Western.
http://hdl.huntington.org/utils/ajax...XT=&DMROTATE=0

This is the first time I've come across a stand alone iced tea stand in 1940's Los Angeles.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/855/9kpg.jpgebay

So where is this exactly?
..and what is that, along the curb, to the right of the danger sign?
__

:previous:

ER - My guess is that it's this place. Across the street from Union Station.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps2ae96905.jpg
Earl Witscher, Modernage Photo Service


http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...pse95ab1d1.jpg
Earl Witscher, Modernage Photo Service


...And, do you think the dark building to the left of the iced tea stand in your photo could be the front of the Dragon's Den?

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p...psc8059735.jpg
Criss Cross, Universal Studios

:previous:

I agree with your guess, FredH. Here's a closer picture from 1954. The Dragon's Den and Lugo House have gone, but there's a nice Gruen clock right in the center in front of the Methodist Church. The photoset include four similar views.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...iousMalts1.jpg
USC Digital Library

The iced tea stand has moved on to selling "Delicious Malts" for 19¢. The structure on the sidewalk that was pointed out by e_r is visible on the right, although I'm still not sure what it is.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...iousMalts2.jpg
Detail of picture above.

I'm trying to decide if the iced tea/malt shack is a remodeled version of the old White Log Coffee Shop, or a new structure on the same site. At the moment I'm leaning toward the former.

There were other issues too.

To roughly quote professors George Hilton and John F. Due from their book The Electric Interurban Railways in America - "By the 1920's the privacy and convenience of the automobile was beginning to make streetcar riding seem utilitarian and a little grubby."

Another phenomena was discovered in the 1970's. For many people the only time they had exclusively to themselves during the work week was the commute in their car.

Cheers,
Jack

Signal Base.
 

ER, the object on the curb with the pole and weatherhead is a Union Switch and Signal Company railroad signal base. Note that there is a power line running vertically to a tie with the pole line. While I am not sure exactly what it controlled at this location, I suspect it had something to do with Pacific Electric's express service at the south end of LAUPT (Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal) or Los Angeles Railway's Macy loop at the north end, both of which lay adjacent to the SP tracks on Alameda Street.

Ref: http://inhabitat.com/los-angeles-unv...ion-station-4/

Cheers,
Jack

A slightly off-topic footnote, file under "how times have changed":

A good friend and mentor in college was the editor of the Stanford University Press. In those days the Press operated under a loss goal, the idea being they were to publish worthy books that were not economically viable. Unaware of the legions of train fans in the country he accepted Hilton & Due's book, which immediately went off the charts and got him called on the carpet in front of the Trustees. He always referred to it as "that damned trolley car book."

Today, of course, any university press would be happy to have a best-seller.

Cheers,

Earl

Great story, Earl. Thanks!

Cheers,
Jack

The business model when it opened was low admission to the park; then there were "classes" of rides with higher prices for the better rides. I went the first summer it was open. In those days, amusement parks were often free admission/ten cents a ride. Disneyland came as a big shock. It was also way the hell out in the country, surrounded by fields and orange groves. There was no place to stay, either, until he opened the Disneyland Hotel a few years later.

Chuckaluck, I happened to see this related photograph (below) yesterday that shows a PE car turning the corner between the two buildings at the bottom of the photograph you posted! It's captioned:

Pacific Electric streetcar no. 5113 with a "Subway Terminal" destination sign passes through a curve at Van Deever Stationery in Hollywood in this undated photo. Inbound car from Van Nuys makes the left turn from Highland Avenue onto eastbound Santa Monica Blvd.

http://www.pacificelectric.org/wp-co...-hollywood.jpg
Alan Weeks Photo, Alan Weeks Collection

Thanks for the follow up. I was exploring the "Movielab" aspect of the intersection mentioned in another post 6823 Santa Monica Blvd. http://skyscraperpage.com/forum/show...ostcount=11782 Never noticed the curved building and street, so I am guessing the change to "perpendicular" occurred long ago. I have heard that the area had many film vaults originally designed to handle unstable "nitrate" film.