.
A prickly mystery.


A cactus garden at the Egyptian Theater!?

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...924/ic6lWJ.jpg

I've never seen this before.



And here's a closer look.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...922/csQOVQ.jpg
ebay / snapshot / 1940s

I imagine the garden is a promotion for the film that was showing at the time. (also notice the little wooden hut with the two dormers little houses on top)



reverse
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...922/UD7tGS.jpg

no longer listed on eBay
.

.
And while we're revisiting the 1940s. . . .



We have seen the highly popular Paris Inn numerous times on NLA. In fact, in the early days of the thread Bert Rovere's nephew would occasional post about his uncle restaurant.

(are you still out there Bert Rovere's nephew?)
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/8...922/Ydkaao.jpg
This item was listed on eBay several months back.




The photograph shows two handsome military men enjoying a night out with their glamorous dates.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...924/fRdN5V.jpg



The reverse includes a date stamp.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/8...922/iVc6K1.jpg

As you can see NOV. 6 - 1943.

.

https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...080&fit=bounds
forums.aaca.org

Unidentified woman (or is it a woman?) on Vine St. opposite the Huntington Hartford Theatre, undated but likely late '57 or 1958.


The show at the Hartford, "Mask and Gown", ran for 39 performances on Broadway in Sept./Oct. '57.....The musical starred female impersonator T. C. Jones (Thomas Craig Jones) who had risen to prominence the previous year in the musical revue "New Faces of 1956" (directed by Paul Lynde) and became well-known for his impersonations of Bette Davis and Tallulah Bankhead among others....T.C. Jones is on the Hartford marquee, it's probable the entire original cast came out here....


https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds




https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds




Jones appeared in "An Unlocked Window", a memorable 1965 episode of "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour", playing a psychotic killer who dresses as a female nurse....here with Dana Wynter....

https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds

"An Unlocked Window" is arguably the best of the Hitchcock series, at least the one hour shows....it scared the crap out of me the first time I saw it, in the mid-'70's.....I did not see the twist coming at the end, it really worked on the small screen....apologies for the spoiler to anyone who has not seen the film.....James Bridges directed, he went on to a feature career ("The Paper Chase", "China Syndrome", "Urban Cowboy" etc).


The original forums.aaca.org poster claims that is T.C. Jones in the Vine St. photo, I don't see it, I think Jones was just too husky to pull that off....

“Unidentified woman (or is it a woman?) on Vine St. opposite the Huntington Hartford Theatre, undated but likely late '57 or 1958.”

at least some things of those were fake.

You are correct riichkay, I did some searching and this woman is a British model/actress names June Wilkinson. I found a webpage with many photos on it, including this alternate one of the image in your post:

https://www.bygonely.com/wp-content/...lkinson_17.jpgByGonely

Pardon my next line, but I have to: June is really bustin' out all over.

From the link:

June Wilkinson is a former model and actress. She started her career as a stage performer at the age of 12 and became the youngest dancer at the age of fifteen at the Windmill Theater in London. In 1958, June appeared in Playboy magazine. After that, she became the most popular cheesecake model. June made her screen debut the TV Series ’77 Sunset Strip’ in 1958. (It continues...)

This photo is from a different source, it's a couple blocks down the street at Sunset & Vine. Southeast corner.

https://64.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l...x4bjo1_540.png
The Dream Tiger/Michael Ochs/

Wallich's Television CIty
Dot Records
American Broadcasting Company (ABC)

Great photo, E_R, and I love your sense of humor.
Do you know what year it was taken?

I found this on the L.A. Theatres blogspot:

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-z2Z8XgzX0...ian-HDL-42.jpg


With the following info:

1942 - A snapshot of a cactus garden along the west wall. Thanks to Kim Cooper of Esotouric for finding the photo in the Huntington Library collection for a post on the Esotouric's Secret Los Angeles Facebook page. She also shared it in a post on the LAHTF Facebook page.

That appears to be an animal cage on the far right. Cashier Totty Ames talked about coming to work there in 1943: "The Egyptian was in excellent condition then. They had just taken the monkeys out when I got there." She's quoted on page 193 of Paul Zollo's 2002 Cooper Square Press book "Hollywood Remembered: An Oral History of its Golden Age."

.
Thanks for helping to solve the cactus garden mystery, Martin Pal. :)



"They had just let the monkeys out when I got there."..TOTTY AMES

Martin, I've heard..the dejected Egyptian Theater monkeys were given a one-way ticket Monkey Island.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/1825/70LkGr.gif
............................................................Cue: Theme to Midnight Cowboy







Oh, and about that Totty Ames.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/8...923/phrPyT.jpg
obscureactresses

As you can see, TOTTY was a HOTTY.

.

.
A mystery location.

Here's a one of a kind snapshot showing a Chicken-In The-Rough restaurant in April of 1958.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...924/YBfH3h.jpg
found on eBay / no longer listed

The problem is I think there were more than one Chicken-In The-Roughs in the Los Angeles area.




Let's take a closer look and search for clues.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...922/jgNTFg.jpg

Does anyone recognize this area? :shrug:

.

.
Here's another mystery location. This time in living color.


Seller's description:...Burbank, California, Cafe Restaurant Diner & Car in 1950's, Kodachrome Slide


https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/923/132et1.jpg
Currently on eBay

Any ideas?





Here's a closer look at the walk-up mini cafe. . .

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...922/tN8LoH.jpg

A cute little place from the past. (hamburger stand?)



. . .and the business.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...924/Gt3oRg.jpg

It has a generic name for a business in Burbank. There are literally hundreds of Burbanks this and Burbanks that so I haven't had any luck in finding the location.

And the colonial-esque clock tower? .. I don't know Burbank well enough to recognize it. (and it appears to be missing a clock face)


.

This is the clock tower. It's on the St. John Paul II STEM Academy at Bellarmine-Jefferson. This is the view from E Olive Avenue, but the tower has clocks on the sides and what looks like a plaque on the front and back. To get the mountains behind, we'd have to be looking from the opposite side. I might be imagining it, but I think the sign on the traffic signals says Glenoaks Boulevard, so the original image is looking from its intersection with E Orange Grove Avenue (I can't replicate the view in GSV as the clock tower is no longer visible from there).

https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...TEMAcademy.jpg
GSV

Delete

Deleted

That's Harry Carpenter's Drive-in that was at 3201 Wilshire Blvd. (NW corner with Vermont.)


Seen here in 1934 in this picture you posted in June of 2015 .



And to the right in this picture from 1948.


https://i.imgur.com/QVvMMZj.jpg
waterandpower.org


They had Chicken In The Rough in a box to take home if you so desired.


https://i.imgur.com/zV20kKd.jpg
etsy.com

Not a lot of chicken on that breakfast menu.

.
Thanks HossC and Noir Noir for figuring out the two recent mystery locations (the Stem Academy clock tower in Burbank and the Chicken-in-the-Rough location at Wilshire and Vermont) I was definitely surprised Chicken-in-the-Rough was in the old Carpenter's building. Hmmm I see that they covered up the upper part of the two large arches in order to have room for their over-sized CHICKEN IN THE ROUGH.




Tonight I have a couple of amateur color slides from 1957. The first one is a mystery location and the second slide is a semi-mystery location with a mystery car.

Here's the first slide with the seller's description.

Original Slide, Del Prado Apartments in Los Angeles, 1957

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...924/kKiad2.jpg
eBay


I thought this would be fairly easy (to find the location) but I kept running into obstacles. (like more Els than Dels and a hell of a lotta Prados :eeekk: )




Here's the second slide with the seller's description.

Original Slide, 1957 Robertson Blvd. Los Angeles Street Scene, Jade Tree

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...924/NDtIda.jpg
ebay

So we know it is Robertson Boulevard but where on Robertson Blvd?
And there's the amazing car I mentioned earlier. - - - - - >

Jaguar? :shrug:


.

In the 1960 CD, Leslie Marks Importers was at 138 S. Robertson and the "Jade Tree of Laguna Beach" [??] was at 140. So we're looking northeast, north of W 3rd street. There are two S Robertson addresses with this same street number, one in Beverly Hills, the other in Los Angeles. The CD has a gap between 494 and 800 S Robertson, into which gap the Beverly Hills portion of the street fits nicely. This picture is of the LA portion.

https://i.imgur.com/EVKgh3e.jpg
GSV

https://i.imgur.com/vE4jQZM.jpg
rescarta.lapl.org


Nowadays known as the Hillside Courtyard Apartments (7215 Hillside Ave.) - right at the northern terminus of La Brea Ave.


https://i.imgur.com/vi3O78c.jpg
forrent.com

I think you're right, e_r, it looks like a Jaguar XK140 roadster (made between 1954 and 1957). I'm going to guess that it's parked behind a 1947 Buick Roadmaster convertible.

.
Thanks Lorendoc, Noir Noir and HossC! You made my morning! :)


.

.
BIG mystery!


Does anyone know if carousel horses were manufactured in the. .wait for it. .BRADBURY BUILDING?

Seller's description: 3 Original Photos - Downtown Los Angeles Broadway Bradbury Bldg Late 1960s..Link


I'll start with this close-up of one of the pics.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...922/GmLRgV.jpg
detail




And here are all three of the photographs.

#1
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/8...922/WAnLGg.jpg





#2
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/8...924/JkIGGB.jpg





#3
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/8...924/I8rsbz.jpg


The seller includes this . . .

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...922/ufyoD2.jpg
For search purposes - Kempel's Manufacturing Co.

. . .but I don't know why the seller thinks it's the Bradbury Building. :shrug:




Oh, and one more thing.

If this is true, could this be what inspired Ridley Scott to place the toy shop in Blade Runner inside the Bradbury Building???



.

.
One Day Later:..I guess everyone is still stumped about the carousel horses. (or maybe they're rocking horses?)


A mystery location.


Here's a color slide of Cerny's Auto Paint Body & Repair. Los Angeles area.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...924/JooMBT.jpg
eBay

We have a rather big clue. .the street number! ..1514... .but not the name of the street. :(

.

:previous:

From kustomrama.com:

George Cerny was born in 1916 in Huntington Park, a suburb of Los Angeles. He got his first car at the age of 10 or 11, a Model T Ford that he gave five bucks for.

...

In 1942 George decided to open up his own shop, and leased a property at 1514 North Long Beach Boulevard in Compton. He erected a rickety building, and called his new venture Cerny's Auto Paint & Body Shop.

There's a separate page about the body shop here. The current building doesn't match the one in the photo.

.
:previous:

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...924/pklQSQ.jpg


Thanks Hoss!..I appreciate it.



Here's Cerny on the right.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...924/zubcrr.jpg

"Jack Stewart on the left and George Cerny on the right showing the old flamed hood side with stock louvers.
This was to compare it with the custom unit with three rows of louvres George created for the car."

customcarchronicle


.

Hi E/R! I'm still kicking. Retired and moved from Vegas after 66 years and living in Wichita Falls, TX. Still collecting memorabilia about Uncle Bert and his properties; The Paris Inn, Lucca, and The Hurricane (San Francisco). It's amazing how much is out there waiting to be found. This site is still the best. Thanks again for establishing it.

.
:previous:

It's great to hear from you, Ninja! I'm glad you're doing well.

Don't be a stranger. :)

.

,

Here's an intriguing snapshot...(and a mystery location!)


https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/8...922/7Gvskj.jpg
eBay


Luckily there's writing on the back.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/8...923/u1jkKE.jpg

I know that Tom Mix had a ranch in Arizona but I didn't know that he had a ranch in Beverly Hills (he had a mansion) and his 'Mixville' was located in Edendale (between Glendale Blvd. and Teviot).
Tom Mix once lived at 2401 Laurel Canyon Blvd. (in the original Laurel Tavern, built 1913) This photograph of George and Betty makes me think that this could be the canyon. Whatta' ya think :shrug:


Link: The Log Cabin




Lastly, let's take a closer look at George and Betty.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...922/Mzhetb.png

note the diagonal guy wire(s) going up to the utility pole. . . and if you look closely you can see the fence that was mentioned on the back of the photograph.
One of the fence posts is visible behind George's left shoulder.

.

May I suggest that if anyone does another post about Tom Mix, that someplace on the post you write TomMix, so it can be located in a search. It will not search Tom and/or Mix. It will search it regardless of capitalization.

I never use the site search feature. For this, I would use a Google search like this:

site:skyscraperpage.com noirish "tom mix"

It should pull up all the previous Tom Mix posts (independent of case).

These are courtesy the hemmings.com automotive site, both are supposedly here in the city.....


https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...080&fit=bounds

A commentator on this pic at the hemmings.com site sees a white '59 Caddy waiting at the light upper right, presumably we are around that year.

I ran Western Camera in late '50's Yellow Pages in the central/western books, nothing turned up....we have a clue in the "7901" street number painted at the top of the building.




https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds

Undated, but that's a '68 Sedan de Ville on the left, so likely late '60's...

Plenty of signage clues but I can't make them out, other than the traffic sign hanging over the street upper right that seems to read San Diego Fwy.

Could it be 7901 Santa Monica Blvd. (at Fairfax), looking much different today? I used this angle because we can see the hill in the distance.

https://i.postimg.cc/ZqyvxCZb/7901-Santa-Mon-GSV.jpg
gsv

This location was Standard Camera in 1955:

https://i.postimg.cc/t4cV6FKv/7901-S...-1955-5-15.jpg
LA Times, 5/15/1955.

odinthor, I think you may have it, the profile of the hills seem to line up.

Here's the Ed Ruscha image of the corner from 1974....


https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds

Santa Monica Blvd. & Sepulveda Blvd. looking Southwest? The Eastbound traffic looks to be splitting off to the Santa Monica Blvd. South roadway (which becomes Little Santa Monica Blvd. in Beverly Hills). Street light at the far right is typical of those found on Santa Monica Blvd. West of Beverly Hills before the major reconfiguration for the busway. The white sign on the same corner was commonly used when two numbered routes intersected: (Former) CA-7 for Sepulveda Blvd. and (Former US-66) for Santa Monica Blvd.?

Western Camera Supply appears in the directories for two years, 1961 & 1962, at 7901 Santa Monica Blvd.

https://i.imgur.com/78eH2x2.jpg
rescarta.lapl.org


By 1963 they had moved a little east and across the boulevard to 7856.

I believe you're right, acorn8332.

Look at the three palms in the distance:


https://i.postimg.cc/ncj1PcnW/Palms-Santa-Monica.jpg


They're still there!:

https://i.postimg.cc/c15mh8GY/Santa-Monica-Palms1.jpg
gsv


They're at 1719 Beloit.

https://i.postimg.cc/0j30yh0Z/Palms-...719-Beloit.jpg
gsv

Great work accorn8332....

https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds

Santa Monica & Sepulveda it is.....I lived in Westwood/Brentwood for 30 years (starting in 1979 when I was just up the street at Sepulveda/Ohio), I went through this intersection a thousand times, and just did not see it....suffice to say the corner changed mightily from the late '60's to the late '70's.



The light standard protruding on the foreground right is for the Mobil station that still stands....the photographer would have been perched on the rooftop of the building to the right, there's the light fixture...from the 1974 Ed Ruscha images...

https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds


More '74 Ruscha....


Here's the San Diego Fwy. sign....

https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds




The Shell station at the s.e. corner was a Texaco before its demise....    

https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds




Here's the karate studio on the s.w. corner...

https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds




And the fast food place....

https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds


The Westwood Gateway office towers have occupied the s.w. corner since about 1980.

WHAT WAS THERE: Before commerce, there were houses on Wilshire, such as
641 S Vermont Avenue. It occupied the future site of Carpenter's at the nwc corner of
Wilshire and Vermont and is seen here as it was being demolished. More on the house here.

https://i.postimg.cc/jqQ1wGMf/641-SV...ky-TALL-FB.jpg

.

. .a mystery location.

Skippy's Bar..Los Angeles...1933


https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/923/niohLP.jpg
eBay


I love this fun little drinking establishment. ..I take it that's Skippy behind the bar.


The details on the back are priceless. .

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...923/QvwjJR.jpg

. .but he forgot to include the street address and the name of the bar. (Skippy's?)






Some details.

Skippy

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/8...922/zOpE1V.jpg





the men in the mirror.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/8...924/2KdiEZ.jpg




The drawings on the wall.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...922/KPT4C9.jpg

FDR!




What dis?

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/3...923/nrrm4Z.jpg





UPDATE

I just found a photograph of Skippy's larger establishment! I'll post it this afternoon or later tonight. :)

.

A 1901 image looking north up Fairfax Ave. from Santa Monica Blvd. now West Hollywood.

https://www.hollywoodphotographs.com...ISC-1901-1.jpg

:previous:

The profile of the hills is similar to this one, taken south of La Brea and Sunset.

.

As promised, here is Skippy's larger bar that unfortunately broke his bank.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...924/2f34KP.jpg


This time we have the name of the bar and the address!..

Globe Cocktail Lounge...1317 East seventh St....Los Angeles, Calif.



Jack Skippy . . To Greet You

:previous: Skippy is his last name! I certainly wasn't expecting that.






Let's take a closer look.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/922/VdEgFb.jpg
eBay

Obviously, a more serious drinking establishment. No cartoons on the wall. ...I prefer his smaller bar.


Reverse.
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/8...924/eXO9Gy.jpg


I feel bad that Skippy lost his dream.


.

:previous:


I don't think the Globe Cocktail Lounge would have been Jack's business. :shrug:

1317 E. 7th was owned by the Globe Dairy Lunch Company who operated a number of bars, cafes and a bakery.


https://i.imgur.com/Ra6DMBx.jpg
ladbsdoc.lacity.org


Today it houses the offices of the Skid Row Housing Trust.


https://i.imgur.com/Kib1t83.jpg
GSV


I think the "work" he refers to on the back of the first beer parlor picture includes his barman job at the Globe Cocktail Lounge.

The two bars he owned were back around 1933 but I can only find a listing for him in 1937.


https://i.imgur.com/9ZQUzLO.jpg
rescarta.lapl.org


This is the Produce Hotel and is just yards around the corner from the Globe Cocktail Lounge site.


https://i.imgur.com/S1u0jml.jpg
GSV

.
Noir Noir, this Globe menu from July 7, 1938 says the owner and operator is George Barraclough. . .and yet, much to my surprise, Jack Skippy signed the menu for someone named Lena. :shrug:


Where to begin?


How 'bout here.
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...922/MTYrax.jpg
eBay





Now for the men's names. (Barraclough and Skippy)

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...924/yLTJDG.jpg
eBay

I figured (wrongful, perhaps) that when Jack Skippy found himself in financial difficulties he sold his bar to George Barraclough.



. . .and here's Skippy's appearance on the menu.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/8...922/mxo6eT.jpg
eBay

I can't figure out why Jack Skippy would have signed the menu if he had nothing to do with place.





Just for fun let's take a closer look at the interior photograph.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...924/86kGsz.jpg

Note that the address is 613 South Hill Street and not 1317 East Seventh Street.



. .and here's an example of the dinner choices.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/924/wLN8vp.jpg


. .and additional drink choices.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/922/CD5LnR.jpg

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/922/dhFE7p.jpg

:drunk:



.

:previous:
I'm really trying to wrap my head around the prices; are those really all in cents?

Which is fine, but then, for example, you can get a bonded Old Fashioned for 35 cents, but then for only 20 cents more, you can get a whole roast sirloin?

These menus from the past really baffle me with the prices.

Here's the listing for the Globe Dairy Lunch Co from the 1937 CD. 613 South Hill Street seems to have been the office, but it's also listed as a restaurant location in other places/years.

[Globe] Dairy Lunch Co (G A Barraclough) office 613 S Hill restrs 629 S Olive, 1232 Produce ct, 418, 532 and 746½ S Spring, 248 Werdin pl, 116 W 3d, 118 W 4th and 1319 E 7th.

I think that the handwritten text above the interior picture says "Picture of one of our Bars Down town".

.
I just had a flashback to a post from almost 10 years ago. (2013)

Barraclough's name is written in parenthesis after "Globe Coffee Shop". At the time I didn't know what it meant.


SoCal1954 followed up with information on Barraclough, HERE


.

There's no shortage of VW bugs in this picture!

Plus the one of making a left turn is being followed by a Type 3 :)

Cheers,

Earl

More on our Mr. Barraclough:

https://i.postimg.cc/N0wznZ9q/Barrac...-1963-1-27.jpg
LA Times, 1/27/1963.

And his wife Gretchen:

https://i.postimg.cc/k4TYB4jq/Barrac...1962-11-12.jpg
LA Times, 1/27/1963.

Mrs. Barraclough, and likely George as well, seems to have been fun-loving. She did a fan dance at one social event, and here she is "attired as Cleopatra" for another event:

https://i.postimg.cc/pXHkRKVz/Barrac...-1916-4-27.jpg
LA Herald, 4/27/1916.

Other hijinks of the Barracloughs were a few tickets for speeding; and once Mr. Barraclough caught an employee red-handed, embezzling out of the till at an eatery, by . . . Barraclough's getting into a large box, with holes, which he had delivered to the premises in question, and from which he could observe the employee he suspected.

:previous:


Still more Barraclough:


https://i.postimg.cc/xC59v5F2/WSQSIr...t1-USETHIS.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/CKy8XMMK/WSQsir...2ndcard640.jpg



George Barrclough lived at 525 S Irving Blvd in Windsor Square for over 30 years. More here.


https://i.postimg.cc/SNhNBXC3/wsqsir...54-NLA-bmp.jpg