:previous:
I did post something about old signs and have made other references to old signs on various posts, but I don't remember when that was and where in this thread they'd be...

One post about street signs:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...gn#post4568783


Here's an interesting sign--hope it hasn't been seen here before. Fargo
Street, Echo Park:

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics35/00067297.jpgLAPL
Who was D.B.?

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics44/00071509.jpgLAPL

Another shot of the Mandarin Market--this time, "landscaped", awnings decorated. NE corner Vine and LaMirada.

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics33/00066387.jpgLAPL

Another market, a few centuries ahead in design. Beverly Boulevard.

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics23/00046409.jpgLAPL

Inspiration for LAX?

^^^Those are great finds GaylordWilshire.

I love the extreme shadow effect on the lettering at MERLO'S.

The old sign on Fargo Street is wabi-sabi coolness.

Thanks for the sign link!

Being a traffic engineer, I love signs, especially old ones. I found a fenced in building and lot in Phoenix that has a TON of old signs (from Phoenix) I'd love to get my hands on. It's like the perfect "american pickers" lot, but the owners don't sell anything.

Aside from street signs, there are old stop signs and warning signs that have the old "cat's-eye" marble reflectors, just laying around. Those things go for a lot of money. Do you notice any of these type of old stop/warning signs with cat's-eye marbled reflectors still in existence in LA?

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i265/phxrep/sign2.jpg

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i265/phxrep/sign.jpg

(in that lot I saw an "S Curve" sign, a "Slow" sign, among others, just like the above pictures).

PHX31, here's a link to an earlier post by 'Los Angeles Past' that you might find interesting.


http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...&postcount=613



Sopas_ej had also posted a very cool photo of a stop sign that was actually embedded into the middle of the roadway.
If I'm not mistaken, it lit up as well.

Do you remember this sopas_ej? I looked for the post but was unable to find it again.

Thanks!

I remember that post now (and his story of trying to steal the sign). I think having the "Los Angeles Motor Club" logo on that stop sign (or any old sign) would make it even better.... how much did you pay for the stop sign on ebay, los angeles past?

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics33/00051434.jpgLAPL

"Close-up view of a the back of a flashing stop sign powered by a one-year battery. It is manufactured by Pacific Signal Co."--per LAPL photo notes. A one-year battery back then must have been revolutionary. I wonder how long the battery actually lasted? Interesting precursor, however, to today's self-contained devices along the road--solar-powered ones. (In northern climes with less sun such as in Scotland, some signs are even lit by tiny windmill generators.)


http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics33/00051433.jpgLAPL

Ethereal--here's another stop sign with a striped pole-- the sign obviously bigger than the little one you showed us. Now that I look at it and see the flasher, I think this must be the front of the battery sign above. Btw I've noticed here in the East that pole-painting is being revived--highway departments have taken to applying red reflector tape on stop-sign poles from sign to ground, and yellow tape on yellow signs.

I think the street sign might say Figueroa. The cropped handwritten caption at the bottom also appears to read something "at Figueroa," but I can make out what the something is. Appears to end in an "l" or a "d."

On second glance, it looks like it may read "2nd at Figueroa." That'd make some sense seeing the bus reads "Beverly Blvd."

LA Times Dec 1951
 

Looks like 2nd and Fig is likely the location.

http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/5...mesdec1951.gif

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...NG-4129-B?v=hrUSC

A 1936 aerial of Figueroa & 2nd--I think the building at the lower right of the intersection must be the one housing the U.S. Cut Rate Store--the size seems right, and the trolley-wire pole on 2nd Street set back from the corner seems to be the same one in ethereal's 1952 downpour shot.

Excellent, Pete! It's great that there just happened to be that number 44 bus in the picture.

Now that I think of it, west of the 110 freeway and east of the the overpass that connects to Beverly, that stretch of 2nd street still has those lamp posts, which I assume, also used to hold the trolley wire for the streetcars.

Pete_R & GaylordWilshire, you two could be sleuths!
I stared at that photo for a long time and missed every clue you found.

It seems the lack of information on these old photos sometimes works in their favor.
Instead of being quickly forgotten, they are perused and discussed.

I think that kind of interaction in this thread is what makes it so interesting.

:previous:
I agree; this thread is very interesting because it's like putting a puzzle together.

Yes I do remember posting that, but I'd have to look for the photo. The stop sign didn't light up; it's all metal, but it is indeed embedded into the roadway. I took a picture of one that actually exists in my town.

FYI: This coming Monday, August 30th, TCM is showing Thelma Todd half hour shorts all day long.



http://a.imageshack.us/img99/1024/11toddthelma02.jpg
unknow



link to a previous post on ill-fated Ms. Todd.
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=1094

I paid $200 for it! No regrets! :tup:

More gas
 

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...NG-1289-B?v=hrUSC

Another filling-station shot--note the initials "VCT" on the door of the roadster. She coulda been in pictures--is she a Hollywood star? Vilma C. Tanky? (Don't know what she's mooning about--he's not exactly Ramon Novarro.) Or is she a debutante from Berkeley Square? Note the Pan-Gas station across Figueroa and the standardized corporate architecture, including lighting and fencing, seen before at Washington and Gramercy in ethereal's post #1685. Also note the street signs--white stenciling on black.

^^^ At first I thought V.T. might stand for Verree Teasdale (actress married to Adolphe Menjou) ; but there's no resemblance.

The woman above looks more like Norma Shearer with mumps.

Yes, ethereal, the girl in the roadster does remind me of Norma.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FrcKYI1I67...r+New+Year.jpgMGM

But Norma didn't drive herself around town.

http://cache1.asset-cache.net/xc/317...52222F25EC092CGetty Images/Hulton Archive http://cache1.asset-cache.net/xc/317...52222F25EC092C

The initials on the roadster door--especially the first one--also put me in mind of another Los Angeles babe:

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...tiacDeluxe.jpgWarner Bros.
"You think just because you made a little money you can get a new hairdo and some expensive clothes and turn yourself into a lady. But you can't, because you'll never be anything but a common frump whose father lived over a grocery store and whose mother took in washing." And, who could ever forget "Mrs. Biederhoff is distincly middle class!"

Chords to 'SIGN' by Five Man Electrical Band.

D C G
Signs, signs, everywhere signs
D C G
Blockin' up the scenery, messin' my mind
D A
Do this, don't do that
C
Can't you read the signs.




http://a.imageshack.us/img405/3532/l...lopyjourna.jpg
BrerHair on jalopyjournal, probably from ulca archives








http://a.imageshack.us/img405/2391/l...opyjournah.jpg
BrerHair on jalopyjournal. ucla archives

I love Ann Blyth. Or shall I say Veda Pierce? Now you got me started, I've seen the movie like at least 21 times. "With this money I can get away from you. From you and your chickens and your pies and your kitchens and everything that smells of grease. I can get away from this shack with its cheap furniture. And this town and its dollar days, and its women that wear uniforms and its men that wear overalls."

I'm sure you're right. You can even see the same "Hotel" sign in both photos.

If I was rich, I could spend whole days trying to ID locations in old LA photos. Like the guy who did those books on Keaton and Chaplin filming locations.

In the works
 

http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...c8JfejOHTaJY4=medialibrary

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...qjXjUrv2rSAiw=HBO
Kate Winslet: Mildred II

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...Cp2yxM8iBREso=HBO
Evan Rachel Wood: Veda II

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...K7YlOC126bcwA=HBO
"...this town and its dollar days, and its women that wear uniforms and its men that wear overalls...."

In production now is the remake. If it's going to be remade, I guess HBO and Kate Winslet are the ones to do it, though I can't imagine it'll ever come close to the original even with them--will it? Hope it's not filmed in Bulgaria rather than on location in L.A.--remember the travesty of the 2006 Black Dahlia? Neither was I a fan of Far from Heaven (2002)--not an "L.A." movie, but one sharing directors with the new Mildred--Todd Haynes. It should be interesting to see a filmed MP set in the novel's Depression background, although it's hard to imagine it being better than the pure noir '40s of the 1945 version.

My goodness. Those are museum pieces. Someone could probably start a decent retirement fund on the $$ those signs would fetch today...

Oh, say it isn't so, a remake? Well at least it'll be on HBO (a station I don't get, incidentally) and I assume it'll more closely follow the novel? I haven't read the novel.

I never saw "Black Dahlia." I did like "Far From Heaven," though; I thought it was a good tribute to Douglas Sirk, hehe but another good Douglas Sirk homage is "Polyester," at least in my opinion.

I know I'm going off topic but a few months ago I saw a movie on DVD which was set in old Los Angeles but was actually shot in South Africa, called "The Fall," which I actually liked but I don't think it did well at the box office. I say this because there was another film which I haven't seen yet, an adaptation of Fante's "Ask the Dust" starring Colin Farrell, which was also shot in South Africa but set on old Bunker Hill in LA.

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...OdTkGdeWLG_xg=

Ask the Dust is discussed at some length here, with interesting pictures: http://www.onbunkerhill.org/AsktheDust

The Continental Air Map Company.
The company responsible for many of the wonderful aerials of Los Angeles back in the 1930s.




Below: Their hanger at Long Beach Airport.

http://a.imageshack.us/img153/5360/l...ntalair2ma.jpg
R.T. Gerow Collection / Mark Gerow




Below: Russ Gerow

http://a.imageshack.us/img261/1271/l...ntalrussge.jpg
R.T. Gerow / Mark Gerow






Below: Their offices were located in this building at 114 S. Beaudry.


http://a.imageshack.us/img153/5424/l...ntalairmap.jpg
R.T. Gerow Collection / Mark Gerow






Below: This photo was taken many years later in 1977 (notice how much the plants have grown).

http://a.imageshack.us/img259/5424/l...ntalairmap.jpg
R.T. Gerow Collection / Mark Gerow

Notice the Department of Water and Power building over on Hope Street peeking out in ethereal's 1977 shot.


Continental Air Maps' interesting building is gone, but its wall is still there:
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TQ...02308%20AM.jpgGoogle Street View

the site is now a parking lot....funny that they left the retaining wall and entry steps:???: i guess it was cheaper to put in the ramp in lieu of leveling the site. not very efficient having a two tiered parking lot though......

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4114/...2bf0e511_o.jpg

a few more then and now's of images posted in this thread from the the past


looking south on broadway from 10th street 1962 and now

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4119/...568b51a2_b.jpg

looking north on hill street between 5th and 6th 1954 and now

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4099/...d542f237_b.jpg

looking nw at the intersection of broadway place and main street 1953 and now

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4134/...63132cda_b.jpg

looking ne on main street at the intersection of market street 1935 and now, (the flag poles in the now image is where market street once ran)

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4136/...05f0efd1_b.jpg

looking east on wilshire across detroit street 1954 and now

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4100/...1bb19b1f_b.jpg

looking north on gardner across sunset 1948 and now

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4136/...59209e91_b.jpg

looking north on main street from 2nd street 1953 and now

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4114/...6a9060db_b.jpg

ne corner of wilshire and crescent drive 1940 and now

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4079/...ce2c0cf0_b.jpg

sw corner of wilshire and ridgeley 1939 and now

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4100/...e23f93ab_b.jpg

Could it possibly be that the "architects" (I use the term loosely in connection with the current structure at the sw corner of Wilshire and Ridgeley) actually looked at pictures of Coulters, gone for years, when designing their building? I ask because there is a vague resemblance in the corner and in massing. Or am I dreaming?

GSJ-

I meant to thank you awhile back re: the story of the original southern terminus of Broadway. Fascinating! When I visited Los Angeles in 2009 and went to take a "now" picture of where my mother was walking on Broadway in October, 1936, I had to park just south of Olympic, and I noticed that odd, abandoned alignment immediately. Since then I've always wondered what the story was behind that, and thanks to you, now I know! That really was great.

I was also intrigued by your and ethereal's photos of Wilshire before its widening. I remember reading somewhere that Wilshire was originally laid out as a real four-lane boulevard, but clearly that was not the case.

Anyway, thank you all again for your great contributions! This is undoubtedly the greatest internet thread ever on the subject of L.A. history! :tup:

Actually, it was-- but only if you look at it from when and where Wilshire was originally laid out.

Wilshire originally only extended west from what's now MacArthur Park; it was from there that it was originally a real, true four-lane boulevard; it even had the restriction that no streetcar line would ever "clutter" it. It wasn't until the 1930s that Wilshire was extended eastward through MacArthur Park and into downtown; the trouble was, east of MacArthur Park, the only street that would line up with the Wilshire Blvd. axis was Orange Street, a narrow street that was broken up by city blocks. So they actually had to demolish whole buildings and blocks to extend Wilshire to Grand Avenue; this stretch east of MacArthur Park was always the lackluster part of Wilshire Blvd. and never became the prestige address that it did on the western part. In fact, the downtown section of Wilshire was lined with many surface parking lots well into the 1950s and 1960s.

Here's a picture of the intersection of where Wilshire ends at Grand Ave., looking west, in downtown LA in 1946. The large parking lot in the foreground is now the site of the One Wilshire building.
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics41/00070236.jpg
LAPL

Here's Wilshire Blvd. downtown, looking east to where it ends at Grand Ave. and the One Wilshire Building, in 2006.
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...neWilshire.jpg
SpaceMan1's photo from SkyscraperCity

http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics19/00009289.jpgLAPL
Gaylord's original stretch of Wilshire, west from Westlake Park. From right are the Otis, Earl, and Henderson houses.

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics23/00061331.jpgLAPL
And to the east of the park, two houses (including the Shatto residence at right, also seen below) on Orange Street, which became Wilshire in the '20s.

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics24/00061756.jpgLAPL
The Shatto house, 1213 Orange/Wilshire. George Shatto once owned Catalina.

Yes, that makes perfect sense now. It was Wilshire immediately west of Westlake Park that I heard was the original wide boulevard. I guess I just assumed the rest of it was built that way, too, and maybe it was to the west, but to the east - yeah, that had to be brutally widened in places...

Those mansions on Orange were extraordinary! I can't recall seeing anything like those pictures before. Thank you for posting them.

-Scott

Speaking of Wilshire Boulevard--we've seen before here a number of shots of the Gaylord Apartments at 3355, including a few from just before completion, but I just came across these from as early as groundbreaking:

http://helios.library.ca.gov/soca/la.../2005-0261.jpgCSL

http://helios.library.ca.gov/soca/la.../2005-0262.jpgCSL

http://helios.library.ca.gov/soca/la.../2005-0263.jpgCSL

http://helios.library.ca.gov/soca/la.../2005-0265.jpgCSL

http://helios.library.ca.gov/soca/la.../2005-0266.jpgCSL

http://helios.library.ca.gov/soca/la.../2005-0268.jpgCSL

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics14/00026729.jpgLAPL
The completed Gaylor from the grounds of the Ambassador.

^^^Wow, the sepia photos are wonderful GaylordWilshire. I imagine they are very rare.
Good find, and thanks for sharing.

Urban remnant
 

I've found an interesting urban artifact from Orange Street--apparently an original piece leftover from the ca. 1892 Shatto house on the nw corner of Orange/Wilshire and Lucas, where Good Samaritan now stands (FULL STORY HERE: http://losangeleshistory.blogspot.co...o-see-our.html):

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics37/00068341.jpgLAPL

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TQ...62245%20PM.jpgGoogle Street View

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TQ...62435%20PM.jpgGoogle Street View

Note the slightly raised block on the curb, between the pole at left and the hydrant--could this possibly be the detail in the corresponding place in the b&w shot? Can the original curbs still be in place, folded into the modern paving? I think I might be tipping into obsession here....

I'm convinced! That looks like the same wall to me, too. Awesome! :tup:

:previous:
I'm convinced too. That's really awesome!

i wonder why they left the retaining wall on the north side, and removed it entirely on the east side?

that's quite an elevation grade angle. you would think run off in the annual winter heavy rains would be a concern..............hmmmmmmm

here's another image from 1905

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics35/00067294.jpg
LAPL

Beverly Hills in signs
 

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics19/00019404.jpgLAPL

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics20/00019517.jpgLAPL

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics19/00019494.jpgLAPL


http://dlproj.library.ucla.edu/deriv...0178536a_j.jpgLAT
Members of 17th District American Legion Un-American Activities Committee picket the premiere of the film Moulin Rouge in front of the Fox Wilshire Theater in Beverly Hills, December 1952.

Roosevelt Highway, later PCH.

http://a.imageshack.us/img266/8209/l...lthighwayl.jpg
D. Endico





below: Malibu Inn Cafe

http://a.imageshack.us/img80/6608/la...buinncafe2.jpg
old postcard/ebay

Before the highway.





Ninety-Nine Steps at Pacific Palisades in 1889.


http://a.imageshack.us/img153/2688/l...nicaco2nin.jpg
usc






below: Looking south from Ninety Nine Steps (1889).

http://a.imageshack.us/img153/6164/l...nicacoastl.jpg
usc





below: Looking south toward the Ninety Nine Steps and Santa Monica in 1898


http://a.imageshack.us/img153/9209/l...nicawithpa.jpg
usc







below: Same view, more or less, in the 1930s.

I believe the large building with the numerous chimneys is Marion Davies' famous beach house.
The guest house closest to the camera still exists. The main house (with a 110 rooms) was torn down in 1956.


http://a.imageshack.us/img137/3136/l...nicamarion.jpg
usc

The longest wharf in the world located off Pacific Palisades (1892).


http://a.imageshack.us/img101/2322/l...nicamilelo.jpg
postcard/ebay





below: The Santa Monica Railroad leading to the Big Wharf, March 3rd, 1894.

http://a.imageshack.us/img810/8120/l...nicarrlead.jpg
usc





below: Pacific Palisades mile long wharf in 1893.

http://a.imageshack.us/img261/1985/l...ficpalisad.jpg
usc

Notice the RR turntable in the lower right corner.







below: An excellant view of the mile long wharf in 1916.

http://a.imageshack.us/img576/3531/l...npacificwh.jpg
usc







below: This 1912 view really illustrates the extreme length of the wharf. It's just amazing.
To be honest, I didn't know this wharf existed until a few months ago.


http://a.imageshack.us/img90/8828/la...gwharfin19.jpg







below: Pacific Palisades in the 1920s.
The description on the photo didn't say, but I'm guessing this is where the mile long wharf used to be.

http://a.imageshack.us/img225/3631/l...cificpalis.jpg
usc

Santa Monica arch rock in 1878.


http://a.imageshack.us/img185/8007/l...nicaarchro.jpg
usc





below: The Santa Monica arch along the old stage road in 1893.


http://a.imageshack.us/img185/5127/l...nicaarchol.jpg
usc






below: Construction of Santa Monica Pier in 1890.



http://a.imageshack.us/img227/8696/l...nicapierco.jpg
usc