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Like so many large-formats, you just get lost in 'em...
Yes, you do Beaudry. Ain't it fun? Anyway, what I noticed was the LACK OF HANDRAILS on the steps leading from just below Harold's right knee to his co-star's a.. uhhh... I mean....shoes. Also noticed the same in Kiss Me Deadly. For those familiar with the movie, as I now am: Mike is on his way to get information from the opera singer, who lives in the Hillcrest. He drives north on Clay, under Angels Flight in that now-famous shot of the passing Sinai and Olivet, and parks at the foot of the stairs There are two sets of stairs, actually - one alongside the Sunshine Apts, to the left, and the other alongside the Astoria, on the right, with some sort of concrete drainage culvert between them. The camera shows Mike beginning to ascend the stairs and then cuts to the entrance of the Hillcrest, at top, Mike walking through the lobby doors and we overhear a cabbie in an adjacent phone booth. Nary a handrail in sight. (While the "lobby-shot" does show handrails, it was established earlier that it's an entirely different set of stairs than we see at the beginning of Mike's hill-climbing adventure, as the actual Hillcrest was ABOVE the Sunshine, on Olive.) How long would it be until somebody like Cal-OSHA was camped on your doorstep if you tried to pull that off today? Five minutes? Perhaps life is safer now. Maybe less dangerous. Certainly less interesting. http://www.americanfilmnoir.com/_wp_...wpd55fdf8d.jpg [/QUOTE] |
Beaudry might get a kick out of this. About a year ago, he helped me locate the SRO hotel where my mother and her sister shared a room when they first moved out on their own in 1936. There were photos of the place in our family album, but I never knew exactly where it was. Beaudry looked it up in an old directory and found out that the Barker Hotel was located at... well, you can see for yourself on this linen postcard I found recently:
https://otters.net/img/lanoir/barkerhotelpc_lg.jpg Here were the photos Mom had from her time at the Barker (1936-1938). https://otters.net/img/lanoir/barkerhotel_sm.jpg Mom was a secretarial student at Woodbury College at the time. (I still have those same art deco picture frames!) https://otters.net/img/lanoir/momatb..._101637_sm.jpg Isn't it neat how hotel residents used to socialize like this? My how times have changed! https://otters.net/img/lanoir/barker...s2_1938_sm.jpg https://otters.net/img/lanoir/barker...s1_1938_sm.jpg Enlargements of these family album photos can be viewed in my blog post about the Barker. -Scott |
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By the way, I've been meaning to ask. Is anybody archiving this thread? This has become a very important online source on the subject of L.A. history, but unfortunately, websites like this tend not to endure for very long. I wouldn't even count on skyscraperpage.com being here next year, let alone 5, 10, 20, 50+ years from now... -Scott |
an amazing cloud shrouded sky looking west on wilshire boulevard from new hampshire street in the 30's
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...27-1-ISLA?v=hr Source: USC Digital Archives http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...27-1-ISLA?v=hr |
some more harold lloyd fun!
In safety last, harold llloyd scales the von's department store facade to drum up business, (and to save his job to boot).
it's quite a challenging endeavor, but what makes it more nerve racking.....the dayum building keeps moving on him whilst he's scaling about like a human fly! Here are a series of screen captures to demonstrate how this seemingly solid, well built immovable edifice gets around town more than a dishwater blond with a charge account at every downtown watering hole.............. we start off with an establishing long shot showing the building to be scaled . well lookee here, it appears to be the International Savings & Exchange Bank Building, (later known as the bank of italy building), at the corner of spring street and temple street. the old hall of records is peaking out on the left side of the building http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5284/...58ef94a2_z.jpg the next shot is looking up the facade of the building showing the clock which will figure into some trouble for our hero later on http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5208/...e7635115_z.jpg now wait just a dab blammit minute there........ howcome we didn't see a clock in the 1st establishing long shot????!!!??? oh... wait a minute, there it is, (must have had some prototype keebler elfs doing stagehand chores....ahhhhh the magic of hollywood). note the hall of records still peeking out on the left..... http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5042/...0a79ffef06.jpg Harold begins his climb, and reaches the 1st ledge......wait a second.....what view is that? blackstones??? further up on the left the majestic theater?!!!?....well bless my soul, the building has developed wings and has flown to a new location at the intersection of 10th, (to be named olympic in a few years when the .......well olympics come to town). and broadway. broadway splits into broadway to the left, and broadway place which merges with main st. on the right. http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5084/...8242451e_z.jpg not seemingly being bothered by the buildings new address, 10 blocks to the south, and two blocks to the west of where he started.....(i say two blocks because new high street used to run between spring and broadway). view looking down showing that soon to be pesty clock. http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5082/...c073e5ab_z.jpg keep on climbing....keep on climbing....kee.....what in the sam hill balzes is going on here???!!!, this varmint building has moved again....it's back to where it originally was. we are now looking south up spring street from temple street. you can see the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California building (soon to become the million dollar theater building), off to the right in the distance, which is located at 3rd and broadway http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5087/...171fb79f_z.jpg keep climbing....keep climbing....there's the roof of the old post office building on the right.....whew...the building seems to be staying put for now. http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5168/...a906fd03_z.jpg harold seems to be trying to grab the ledge to his left.........whoa nelly!!!! how in tarnation did we get back to 10th and broadway??!!? harold shoulda taken some Dramamine before this trip. http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5163/...8de871b4_z.jpg never mind, he reaches the ledge and........yoiks!!!!!! we're back to temple and spring fer cryin' out loud. i sure hope harold is gettin' frequent flyer mileage points for this trip! http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5089/...cf6a30f0_z.jpg never mind....just keep climbing.......he's almost up to the clock.....doh! the building has lept once again to broadway.....but wait a second, this ain't 10th and broadway......why it's ninth and broadway. the majestic theater which had loomed off in the distance, is now directly across the street, and there's the old hamburger's, (soon to be may co.) department store at 8th and braodway!!! http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5286/...a1fb9813_z.jpg i knew that clock was gonna give harold trouble....lets see if he can grab that rope to get him out of this jam........(thank goodness, the building once again is staying put....... http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5284/...fa3001ab_z.jpg all right...good, he got the rope.........what the.....??!!?? the building has lept a block south back to 10th and broadway http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5006/...702a1b03_z.jpg ok...almost at the roof.....whoa...whoa....wait just a cotton pickin' minute.......we're back on spring street, but it's 6th street and spring....??!!?? there's the alexandria hotel at the corner of spring and 5th http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5089/...56705756_z.jpg whew! made it to the top, and the building is staying put again, that lanyard for the flag pole looks like trouble though........... http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5082/...405dc95d_z.jpg wheeeeeee! a nice shot looking south on spring street....there's the stock exchange on the right between 6th and 7th http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5284/...a30397a9_z.jpg ahhhhh finally! at the top, and in the arms of his true love............and once again, the building has moved three blocks south and one block west back to 9th and broadway, there's hamburgers once again with the white coast federal savings building across 8th street...i don't know about harold, but i sure am exhausted! http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5046/...5580a587_z.jpg so the next time i need a taxi, i'll just hail a building! |
an interesting comparison of two views looking west on 6th street between main and spring street.
it appears that both images are taken from the roof of the central building located at the sw corner of main and 6th. the 1st view is 1905 http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...-4-8-ISLA?v=hr Source: USC Digital Archives http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...-4-8-ISLA?v=hr the 2nd is from 1917 http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets.../CHS-5721?v=hr Source: USC Digital Archives http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets.../CHS-5721?v=hr it is simply amazing at how fast the downtown area grew in a short 12 years |
A & P Revisited
On this sad day for The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, a brief tribute to its time in Los Angeles:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Ei2Ik5quiI...lyshopping.jpg Los Angeles Times, May 2, 1950 http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...CHS-43866?v=hr USC Digital Library http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...1346/CHS-43866 Larchmont Boulevard http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Ei2Ik5quiI...lyshopping.jpg http://pleasantfamilyshopping.blogsp...acific-in.html Gayley & Lindbrook, Westwood. Demolished. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Ei2Ik5quiI...lyshopping.jpg http://pleasantfamilyshopping.blogsp...acific-in.html Wilshire & Cochran. This building's facade (if not the whole building) still stands, now incorporated into a Staples store that has a Guggenheimesque addition to its left. http://jpg1.lapl.org/00082/00082758.jpgLAPL http://jpg1.lapl.org/00082/00082758.jpg East Foothill & Rosemead Blvd, Pasadena. Grand Opening, April 1959 http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...2V4U3VU4LH.jpg California State Library http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...2V4U3VU4LH.jpg Vernon http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Ei2Ik5quiI...2B1930%27s.jpg USC Digital Library http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...1385/CHS-41356 One we've seen here before: Sunset & Fairfax http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics27/00048175.jpgLAPL http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics27/00048175.jpg Per the LAPL: "A train of the L.A. Junction Railway Co. is stopped in front of the warehouse of the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co., importers of tea. Photo dated: January 7, 1932." Read the complete L.A. A&P story here: http://pleasantfamilyshopping.blogsp...acific-in.html And here is all the rest you could possibly want to know about it: http://www.groceteria.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=494 http://www.groceteria.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=872 |
gsjansen, your Harold Lloyd post was extremely FUNNY.
Do some more...please. Scott, I don't think anyone is archiving the thread. (is it possible?) But I agree, it should be preserved one way or another. There is more information in this thread than most books on Los Angeles history. I like those A&P photos |
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http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/6858/elroyale.jpg originally posted by Beaudry I found it! The tourist court on the right (in the above photo) is the El Royale Motel. http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/7...estudiocit.jpg googiesque http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/533...ebytimhoff.jpg Tim Hoffarth Below: I LOVE this decrepit sign. I wonder if it still lights up? http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/7...estudiocit.jpg googiesque http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/7...estudiocit.jpg googiesque It's AMAZING that this place still exist. It looks more like a movie set than a real place. I would stay here for sure. |
Crown Motel Redux
Great work on The Crown, Ethereal.....I know it, or know OF it, fairly well....
http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/...telisstill.jpg I have a friend who works at Carl's Jr. HQ, which is a block or so away from The Crown, and just south of the eastbound 91. I saw it one day and went into "Motel Hunter Mode", which is basically when I ask myself "WTF is this old motel doing out here, on THIS street, in THIS neighborhood?" (I'm sure most of you can relate.) As it is now, The Crown is surrounded by mostly vacant lots, a tire store, a Salvation Army outlet. Lots of bums and homeless in La Palma Park across the street. It is in some sort of urban redevelopment zone, though as in many cases the emphasis is more on clearing of lots than "redevelopment". Well, as with most things, there is a reason.....and a story. Prior to the Freeway Age, the "Coast Route", U.S. Highway 101, took the motorist from Downtown through East LA, Whittier, and La Habra before turning south and hitting Fullerton, Anaheim, Santa Ana and points south. Here's a 1941 map. http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/...try-shrunk.jpg Let's examine Orange County more closely......and what is that little 45 degree jog to the right, about halfway between Fullerton and Anaheim? http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/...apalmazoom.jpg THAT, my friend, is Los Angeles Street - now renamed La Palma Parkway, and was the main highway entering Anaheim back in the day. (Now the postcard makes sense!) The Crown is "1136" in the middle of the satellite photo.) http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/...loverfield.jpg http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/...tel1136nla.jpg La Palma Park has it own interesting history. Built in the mid-1930s it was soon washed away by the horrific floods of March, 1938 (I suggest a quick google of "Los Angeles flood 1938" to learn more.) You can clearly see the diagonal "Los Angeles Avenue" in the air photo.....and YES, that is a house, washed off its foundations and deposited in the middle of the road. http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/...i-res-zoom.jpg http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/...-res2-zoom.jpg The park was rebuilt and for a few short years - from 1939 through 1941 - was the spring training home of the Philadelphia Athletics. Now named Glover Field, still in use for high school football games (see the grandstands across from The Crown) |
The Copacabana Inn at 5304 S. Figueroa St.
http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/925...anafiguero.jpg Joey Zanotti http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/7...anebyjoeyz.jpg Joey Zanotti And it's still in business. Phone 1-323-234-1844 for reservations. |
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Thanks for the information malumot. Also those maps you posted are really great. |
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You're welcome!
I first started looking into the "Los Angeles Street Diagonal" a couple of years ago actually. That was when I first downloaded the map and the flood pics. The street is relatively wide (enough for two lanes of traffic in both directions) but rarely used. (Note there are no cars parked on the street in the current Crown photos.) Plus parts of the street still retain their original concrete surface - had not been asphalted over like most. "There's something going on here!" I said to myself........ ...sure enough..... piece of forgotten Anaheim history. Quote:
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Wow, some really great posts! Great Harold Lloyd post, gsjansen. And malumot, great post on the Crown Motel. I love the maps you posted, too. I have a Renie Atlas of Los Angeles County from 1943, but it's only of LA County (with a California state highway map). It's cool seeing a map of pre-freeway Orange County. Gaylord, the post on the A&P Markets is also very interesting. Of course seeing the list of locations, I just had to Google map the Alhambra address, being that I live near Alhambra and I wanted to see where it was located/if the building still exists. Unfortunately it's gone. A strip mall circa 1980s is there now, in the heart of downtown Alhambra, even, the southeast corner of Main and Garfield. I'm wondering if the Pasadena location on Foothill and Rosemead is now the Whole Foods that's located there. There's a shopping center there that includes a Sears, but the center itself looks like it might've been remodeled many times over the years.
I know the Charles Motel and El Royale Motel well. Not because I ever stayed at either of them, but because across the street and a little west from that location was a great Hungarian restaurant called Lazlo's Hortobagy. It was very good, and the clientele was always an interesting bunch-- old loud San Fernando Valley Jews, young couples dressed up for dinner, and sometimes TV celebs. I remember seeing Eric McCormack from "Will & Grace" there (a show I never watched). But the Charles Motel always looked so seedy, especially at night, and it had these weird colored floodlights shining on the walls. And there were always a few cars in the lot, I assumed they were charge-by-the-hour illicit trysts. I haven't been there in a while because Lazlo's Hortobagy closed like 2 or 3 years ago; last I saw, it had become an Indian restaurant. This is probably a long shot, but I was wondering if anyone might have any info on a place called the Wulpole Hotel, on or near Main and 5th in downtown Los Angeles? I ask because... well, it's kind of a long story, but on a birth certificate dated from 1946, for the address listed for the birth parents, all it says is "Wulpole Hotel, Main and 5th, Los Angeles." There's no exact street address given. I've looked up Wulpole Hotel online and can't find any info on it. |
What kind of a name for a motel (or any other kind of establishment) is WULPOLE? Ha!
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Here's a few images of The View (since we seem to be on the subject of Shows We Don't Watch lately) and the Midwick: http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5207/...8c6f0769_b.jpg http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5127/...7322932c_b.jpg Once 2436 W Garvey, now just 1901 Garvey. I really want to underscore what a sexy, successful piece of modern architecture this motel is. That roofline, that corner window, the tower-as-sign: http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5203/...a73cc053_z.jpg Of course the tower-as-sign was covered in neon; of course they recently stripped it of all of its neon. http://www.flickr.com/photos/7623944@N03/4029756630/ The tubing is gone from the letters, reversible, but the can for the drive-in-here is dumpstered, presumably. Note in the postcard image the sign was made up of horizontal boarding -- interesting choice -- which one can see more of in the avilon_music close-up. As for The View up the street, once 2500 W Garvey, now 1851: http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5288/...5428e91f_b.jpg Blessedly as of this writing it remains pretty unchanged. The sign has lost where it read "Apts & Rooms" but otherwise, at least it's still neon. http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5168/...ebdae530_b.jpg http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5009/...e002f403_o.jpg (...I thought Midwick was an interesting name for a motel, and so learned some [I thought] interesting things about the Midwick Country Club while I was at it...go here http://www.cityofalhambra.org/commun...ing/index.html and scroll down to Midwick Tract... also http://www.cityofalhambra.org/community/midwick.html and http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedi...ub-alhambra-ca ) |
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I figured a) if anybody'd appreciate this, all y'all would, and b) if anybody'd be able to find another angel...
http://www.laobserved.com/visiting/2...ing_richfi.php |
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