At least they kept the original sign when they renamed it. It looks like they took the "Mo" from the original "Motor" letters, and the "tel" from the original "Motel" letters and scootched them together.

Gaylord: Thanks! And loved also the blog that Jansen refers to.

Thanks Jansen: That is fascinating - and what photos. Quite a story, and a sad one except for the huge profit Oliver made - but at what a cost.

The Occidential Life Building built in 1965.


http://img811.imageshack.us/img811/1...ntalbldgpc.jpg
ebay


http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/8...talbldgpc2.jpg
ebay

I find it fascinating that in 1965 a 456 ft building was novel enough to have a restaurant on the 32nd floor called "The Tower".
Wouldn't you love to go back in time and have an elegant dinner there.




Below: I found this slightly earlier postcard. Notice the 3rd building of the Occidental Center hasn't been built yet.

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/632...cidentalpc.jpg
ebay


So, my question is this:
What is that impressive building they tore down? It resembles the Biltmore Hotel.


Below: You can see the older building in this photo as well.

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/738...taljunctio.jpg
usc digital archive


note: The Occidental Center is now the AT&T Center.

:previous:

ethereal-- the building that looks like the Biltmore is the old Chamber of Commerce building. Here it is in 1968, getting ready to be torn down, the Occidental Center looming:

http://jpg1.lapl.org/00078/00078700.jpgLAPL http://jpg1.lapl.org/00078/00078700.jpg


And in better days--1939, 14 years from new:
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics30/00064836.jpgLAPL http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics30/00064836.jpg


http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics25/00062255.jpgLAPL http://http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics25/00062255.jpg
Imagine a child, professional or not, being allowed to do this today--per the LAPL, this
is "...a young girl acrobat [standing] on her head on the roof of the Los Angeles
Chamber of Commerce building near the Los Angeles Examiner."

So this is the same building but showing the back side......right?


http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/1...ween11th12.jpg
usc digital archive

I can't remember all the different addresses of the Chamber of Commerce.
It seems like they moved all around the downtown area. (perhaps those moves were all prior to this location)

:previous:

Yes, that's the same building. You can see a wing of the Examiner building and one of its small domes just north of the C of C. This C of C building was built in 1925.

The same general area showing the Case Hotel and Examiner Building in 1955.

http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/3...elexaminer.jpg
usc digital archive




Below: The backside of the Case Hotel.

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/306...elexaminer.jpg
usc digital archive




http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/9...elexaminer.jpg
usc ditial archive




http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/3...elexaminer.jpg
usc digital archive





Below: The rooftop Case Hotel sign is absolutely huge.
The Examiner Bldg. can be seen on the left in this photo.


http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/306...elexaminer.jpg
usc digital archive


I believe this series was recently added to the USC Digital Archive. I don't remember seeing them before.

I found a few more impressive photos of the Chamber of Commerce Building 1925.


http://img585.imageshack.us/img585/6...ofcommerce.jpg
usc digital archive


Above: The aerial walkway is very cool, but it seems a bit redundant.






http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/6...ofcommerce.jpg
usc digital archive

The Chamber of Commerce Building under construction.


http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/6...ofcommerce.jpg
usc digital archive






http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/139...underconst.jpg
usc digital archive








Below: Dedicated in 1924.......the brand new Chamber of Commerce at 12th St. & Hill St.

http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/1...brandnew19.jpg
usc digital archive

An aerial of the Occidental Center with the Chamber of Commerce Building still intact.


http://img837.imageshack.us/img837/2...tallifebld.jpg
usc digital archive






Below: Say goodbye to the Chamber of Commerce Building. :(

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/2...tallifebld.jpg
usc digital arcive


Can you tell I had a lot of time on my hands today? lol
It was a snow day here in the midwest.

OK I admit, my last posts have been a little dry.


Below: Abbe Lane posing in front of Ciro's in 1954.


http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/205...neatciros1.jpg
unknown/usc possibly




Below: The Follies at 337 S. Main Street in 1946.

http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/5...theater194.jpg
mazooma1 on j_journal








Below: Mr. Muscle Beach 1957, Venice CA.

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/2...ebeach1957.jpg
unknown





Sex sells. ;)

:previous:

You sold me. And I was about to post something fascinating about Occidental apparently utilizing the C & C building before tearing it down-- the rooftop and cornice signs... anyway, I certainly don't mind having my attention diverted to another structure... Also love that in one of the other pics we see that Xavier Cugat was also at Ciro's...

:previous:

Ah, a bit of cheesecake and beefcake. Something for everyone. ;)

Those are great photos of the Chamber of Commerce building too, ethereal. I didn't know that that building even existed. I'm wondering what else was torn down to build what is now called the AT&T Center (I've always known it as the Transamerica Center). I'm wondering how that area evolved.

A bit of scholastica.

USC, 1940. Trousdale Parkway. This is back when USC wasn't an enclosed campus, but had actual streets with through traffic running through it.
http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/2844/usc1940.jpg
USC Archive

USC, circa 1946. The Bovard Auditorium, on the corner of Trousdale Parkway and Childs Way.
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/2...iumusc1946.jpg
USC Archive

This was captioned as "Student examining catalog card in Doheny Memorial Library, on the campus of the University of Southern California, ca. 1950s." Judging by his crew cut and the cut of his jacket, I would think this was the very late 1950s, maybe even 1960.
http://img808.imageshack.us/img808/5...brary1950s.jpg
USC Archive

Now this I recognize. On the left is the old Student Union, my very first job ever was in the bookstore, which was in that building (it has had it's own building further down Childs Way since 1989)

When I started at USC in the fall of 1976, they pretty much had the same sidewalks and street set up as in the above pictures, although by then, Trousdale Parkway had been sealed off from the outside, and access was pretty much limited to official University vehicles who used a key card to pass a gate set up at (I think) W. 34th St. Sometime later, they redid the streets and got rid of the sidewalks so that it was a continuous mall type deal (though vehicles could still drive on the street). I forget when it was done, but I know it was before the 1984 Summer Olympics. You can get an idea of what it looked like after that (and today) on Tommy Cam

sopas_ej, your photos of USC with streets running through it are great.
I just figured it was always a street free "campus"....I should have known better. duh


GylordWilshire, tell us your story of how Occidental Life utilized the old Chamber of Commerce building.
You mentioned something about the rooftop.

:previous:

Well, no story-- I just noticed that in a couple of your pics of the Chamber of Commerce that Oxy Life seems to have once occupied the old building--there is a painted OCCIDENTAL sign on the rear (ne) corner above the Examiner bldg (post #2248, third pic down), and a script rooftop sign (post #2251). The script sign replaced the WESTERN STATES LIFE sign seen in the second pic of post #2249. It seems logical that a company named Western States might have become Occidental, but a cursory Google doesn't bear that out.

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TQ...Q/s512/oxy.jpg http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4119/...568b51a2_b.jpg

Another photo looking south showing an Occidental sign on the C of C on 12th Street.

OK, I see it now. I had completely missed it in this aerial photo. You have a good eye GW.

http://img837.imageshack.us/img837/2...tallifebld.jpg
usc archive

The YWCA at 251-255 Hill Street.

http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/1...255hillstv.jpg
usc

Above: Notice Angels Flight in the lower left corner, next to the vegetarian cafeteria.









http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/1...20ywca1917.jpg
usc digital archive