I feel like I need to walk through these rooms in Hush Puppies.

Here's a rare look at the interior of the Wilshire Bowl Nightclub (later Slapsy Maxie's)

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...922/UymU4m.jpg
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ORIG-Vintage...wAAOSwLF1X2W0N

I'm somewhat surprised by the wooden bar...I thought it would be fancier (this looks like something my grandfather might have built)


Here's the photographer's stamp on the reverse.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640...922/CXHuLF.jpg
detail



Luckily, "Wilshire Bowl" is written on the back. (I doubt that we could have figured out the location without this info)

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...922/pRBZcB.jpg
reverse
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Here's a reminder of what the nightclub looked like in the 1930s when the above photograph was taken.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...921/bIKbYV.jpg
https://www.laconservancy.org/locati...ies-demolished






I believe this excellent night view from 1947 is new to NLA.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...922/q9CqFm.jpg
https://www.laconservancy.org/locati...ies-demolished



Here's a brief history for newcomers to NLA.

"The site originally housed the petite Art Deco tower of the Wilshire Bowl, a nightclub that offered dinner and dancing
to the big-band sounds of Phil Harris' orchestra for the flat rate of $1.50 ($2 on Saturdays).

The building later changed owners and became Slapsy Maxie's, then the Mardi Gras, both nightclubs.

It was eventually demolished to make way for the sleek lines of the modern Van de Kamp's coffee shop designed by Welton Becket and Associates,
whose offices were next door at 5657 Wilshire.

The large coffee shop was designed to serve 13,000 individuals a day and beckoned to Wilshire motorists with a bright canopy, glass walls, and pair of
huge Van de Kamp's windmills attached to an integrated sign pylon.

The structure was eventually demolished, and an office supply store now occupies the site."
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more images here:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=3770

a sepia photo here
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=3772
_

rare 'noirish' ephemera


Business card for private detective, Si Darling.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...924/OEDWd7.jpg
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1930s-Busine...MAAOSwwpdW3jjw

The seller says this is probably from the 1930s, but the graphics make me think earlier, like the 1920s . (but that's just a guess mind you)
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:previous: I remember gazing through the windows of the old Spanish Kitchen too.

Do you remember an old Chinese restaurant on the same side of the street as the Spanish kitchen?
We used to eat there when the lines at El Coyote were too long.

I remember once, the waiter brought out a stack of plates to a large table next to ours and when he got down to the fourth plate or so
two or three cockroaches were scurrying around on the plate. The whole table screamed and fled.

Oh, and I just remembered....

You could park in the back and walk through the kitchen!
(it was surreal, there were boiling pots with steam everywhere and chicken parts & men chopping vegetables with huge cleavers.

I hope someone remembers the name of this place. I'd love to find an old matchbook or something.
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One more thing:

Here's the link to a Los Angeles Times article from 1986 about the 'deserted' Spanish Kitchen.

http://articles.latimes.com/print/20...local/me-then1

(first posted back in 2011)

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Si Darling's detective agency is listed at 9406 S Main Street in the 1934 and 1939 CDs (it disappears between these dates). The 1934 CD lists his home address as 340 W 132nd Street. There's a Si Darling at 231 W 118th Street in the CDs from 1956 through to 1963, although it doesn't say whether this is a home or a business address. Maybe oldstuff can dig up some census info to narrow down the date of the card.

HossC, thanks for the interior photos of the Bowler House!
I love looking at them, but I don't know if I could actually live in that house!

The interior is so visually stimulating I wonder if one could ever find a calm spot to sit and relax.

The Hawaii Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard isn't new to NLA (see links below), but we haven't seen these Julius Shulman pictures before. This is "Job Lee-H: Hawaii Theatre, undated". As you can see, the set is undated. According to cinematreasures.org, the Hawaii Theatre opened on 6th May 1940. The information with this photoset credits S Charles Lee as architect, but Cinema Treasures and the online building records say the architect was Clarence J Smale. 'The Mill on the Floss' was released in 1936.

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

I've omitted half of the pictures in this set so you don't get overloaded. I hope Martin Pal will spot anything I've missed :).

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...2.jpg~original

This is the first view of the auditorium that the audience would have had, but it's usual for it to be photographed.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...3.jpg~original

Here's a view of the back from near the screen.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...4.jpg~original

The Hawaiian theme went all the way down the walls.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...5.jpg~original

Did the theaters have a child minding service? There are two pictures of this room.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...6.jpg~original

All from Getty Research Institute

As I said above, we've seen the Hawaii Theatre before, including color shots showing off its neon - see post #9959, post #29399 and post #29814. The theater has been in the hands of one religious organization or another since the mid-60s. Here's a reminder of how 5941 Hollywood Boulevard looks today.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...7.jpg~original
GSV

:previous:








http://www.neonclock.org/images/Disp...en11_2011a.jpghttp://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=28503

Here's an interesting slide from the 1950s that shows the wide median strip of the Hollywood Freeway near Vermont Ave. (so says the seller on eBay)

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...922/7oCA1s.jpg
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LOOKING-TO...AAAOSwpLNX9Xyi


They're a bit difficult to see, but could one of the buildings in the distance be the recently discussed Jewish Federation Bldg?


this one (with the gold key)
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...924/9Farlw.jpg
eBay
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Here's a closer look at the buildings in the distance.
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...923/boYNtc.jpg
detail

I don't recognized that 'tower' apartment building on the hill over on the right------>

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:previous: Thanks for the information on Si Darling Hoss.



Here's his 'office' that's printed on the card.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...924/b0swOp.jpggsv
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640...924/2eb1nF.jpg
ebay



And his residence.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...923/38VKbm.jpggsv
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640...921/AVhdyl.jpg
ebay
I think 'Si Darling' is a perfect name for a noirish private eye.

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The tower is the end of the old Osteopathic Sanitarium Hospital. As GW's post pointed out, the building's still there, although it now has an addition on the Temple Street side.

The white houses below the tower in the original picture are still standing on Oakwood Avenue.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...akwoodAve1.jpg
GSV

To answer the original question, the Jewish Federation Building would have been behind the camera to the left.

I should have waited a few minutes.

Here's a second Hollywood Freeway slide from the same photographer.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...921/nzmHm3.jpg
http://www.ebay.com/itm/OLD-CARS-Los...EAAOSwpLNX9Xzp

:previous: What's flowering odinthor?

Be sure to pan right to see the large building at the edge of the photo-----> I believe it's the old Bekins Bldg on Beverly Blvd, right?



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:previous:

GW's showed us that one too. It's the former American Storage Company building on Beverly Boulevard. See post #7809. Here's a current view.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...anStorage1.jpg
GSV

:previous: One of my favorite buildings! It's the one that used to have a nightclub at the top in the 1920s/30s. I forget club's name. I think it was a number.



oops. I thought we were looking west.

Here's another slide I just found on eBay.

It shows the Spring Street entrance to City Hall with a Shelter sign out front.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...921/bXlUGI.jpg
http://www.ebay.com/itm/LOS-ANGELES-...EAAOSwLnBX5keI


Does anyone know when the Shelter signs were taken down and replaced with the nuclear fallout signs?




http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640...924/3Izun9.jpg
http://www.civildefensemuseum.com/signs/


Come to think of it, I don't recall seeing any Fallout Shelter signs on City Hall. I'm sure they were there somewhere, right?

(or was the Hall of Records building the designated fallout shelter for government employees)


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