Athletic Model Guild, historic S Bonnie Brae & artist David Hockney
 

I have a very slight connection to AMG in that my daughter lives within the S Bonnie Brae Historic Tract, Pico-Union, across W 11th st from the former AMG compound. She took a picture of it for us from her porch:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-B...73606%2BPM.jpg
t2, jr

AMG was also on the final at art school because one of the most influential painters of the 20th century, Englishman David Hockney (born 1937), was basing paintings on images he found in AMG's Physique Pictorial magazine before he had ever visited LA:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-v...84740%2BAM.jpg
Man in Shower, Beverly Hills (1964) Tate Gallery, London
http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/...4/text-summary

Hockney soon followed AMG's siren song to Los Angeles and was both repelled and intrigued by the scene he found on W 11th St,

"I went to visit the place where Physique Pictorial was published, in a very seedy area of downtown Los Angeles. It's run by a wonderful complete madman and he has this tacky swimming pool surrounded by Hollywood Greek plaster statues. It was marvelous!" He found the lads in attendance, "all a bit rough looking, but the bodies are quite good. The faces are terrible, not pretty boys really."
https://books.google.com/books?id=ub...83084600251530

Hockney was not the first immigrant whose LA fantasies didn't quite match LA's reality.

Hockney lived in LA from 1964 to 1968 and again from 1978-2005 before returning to his native Yorkshire. He still maintains a home and office here.

Some norishers may recall it was Hockney who designed the squiggles painted on the bottom of the pool at the Hotel Roosevelt which caused a bit of a flap in 1989.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-l...55226%2BPM.jpg
http://www.sherrijphotography.com/20...l-photography/


The homes on the S Bonnie Brae Historic Tract were built in 1890-1905 on former farmland. However, according to the LA Conservancy, two, Nos. 1047 & 1053, opposite my daughter's, were moved to S Bonnie Brae in 1909 from downtown to escape the crush of commercial development. I do not know their former addresses: https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-2...03741%2BAM.jpg
gsv (as one can see, maintenance is a bit uneven on S Bonnie Brae)

Big changes are due for Pico-Union (and Westlake). Properties are changing hands at incredible rates. The area's convenience to DTLA & the downtown views is tempting developers.

More info on the S Bonnie Brae Historic Tract/Pico-Union:

LA Conservancy Walking Tour: https://www.laconservancy.org/sites/...n_Tour_new.pdf
Wiki page:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_B...toric_District
Big Orange Landmarks on No 1036 S Bonnie Brae (the queen of the block): http://bigorangelandmarks.blogspot.c...ae-street.html

Quote:

Originally Posted by tovangar2 (Post 6893576) Big changes are due for Pico-Union (and Westlake). Properties are changing hands at incredible rates. The area's convenience to DTLA & the downtown views is tempting developers.

I'd imagine that the proposed Farmer's Field FB Stadium in the area, voted a go 12-0 by LA Council might have something to do with the changing market.
I pretty much guarantee it but what do I know. Was it mentioned?

:previous: I thought Farmer's Field was to replace the west hall of the Convention Center? But, you're right, any more development around there will increase the pressure on Pico-Union.

When 747s and the other widebody planes were introduced in the early 1970s, the air stairs were still needed, presumably because the jetways couldn't always be raised as high as the cabin doors on the newer models.

As a kid I used to think the jetways were the coolest thing ever; when you walked onto the plane it was like merely walking into another room.

Palmdale Intercontinental Airport
 

The LA Department of Airports was aware of the limitations of LAX back in the late Sixties, and by 1970 began purchasing land in Palmdale for a proposed Palmdale Intercontinental Airport. They chose this location because land there was cheap and the area was largely undeveloped, thus minimizing the impact of heavy air traffic upon populated areas.

To facilitate access, the Glendale Freeway (California Route 2) was originally planned to continue through the San Gabriel Mountains, using a tunnel that if I recall correctly would have been seven miles long, and terminate at the airport.

This whole plan was widely and loudly ridiculed at the time as a huge boondoggle. It was held that its remote location would doom it to failure. Another objection was the environmental impact the freeway would have on the Angeles National Forest. The project was more or less abandoned in the early Eighties, its only remnant the current Palmdale Regional Airport.

Georgia?

A Famous Hollywood Movie Studio....males only.
 

Interesting connection Tovangar. The blue house in your photo [above] is where Bob Mizer lived. His brother lived in the house to the left. When I met Bob in 1976 his era was slowly drawing to a close. Here's the link to one of my previous posts about the AMG Studio.

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=23872

I've posted on this topic before. Its been several decades since I was inside the AMG compound. Sleazy places usually don't bother me but I must add this...the AMG movie studio was certified sleazy. Once was enough for me.

Bob as he looked in 1945.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...pskweohbyh.jpg

Oh!
Totally busted here. Virginia was Georgia's daughter. Thanks for paying attention. I thought steetcars was it these days
I've got sort of a crush on the Maj''s and Georgia's daughter, Virginia. That just slipped....

http://i61.tinypic.com/2rdj1gw.jpg

http://i59.tinypic.com/2hxavi8.jpg

I have PDF screen caps of her recollections if anybody's interested.
LA Times gets the credit.

Yes, please.

Mizer AMG compound
 

Do you mean Bob's brother Joseph lived in this 1898 red-roofed charmer to the east? https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-2...91331%2BAM.jpg gsv
I read somewhere that the Mizer compound covered four city lots.

http://i59.tinypic.com/2hxavi8.jpg

http://i61.tinypic.com/14b2csi.jpghttp://i57.tinypic.com/23wqzgh.jpghttp://i59.tinypic.com/o9pbts.jpghttp://i59.tinypic.com/53agit.jpg

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/re...oll65/id/14804

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/utils/...XT=&DMROTATE=0http://www.ebay.com/itm/1937-Overton...item46253abf33

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1937-Car-o...item51ca46b225

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1937_Indianapolis_500

It would still accommodate 23 million passengers nicely!

Like stopping construction on the subway to the sea in the 1980s - very bad decision that cost us dearly. Now, I don't see us with anything other than an increasingly crowded, borderline unworkable LAX.

Mizer AMG compound
 

These 4?:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-g...95816%2BAM.jpg

gsv

Just joined.
 

Hi, all. Thought it was time to join and say hello. I've been lurking for the last few months. enjoyed looking at all the great pictures and reading all the wonderful comments. There is a wealth of L A knowledge here.
I moved to Chino in the early 70's and explored the Inland Empire for several years. I lived in Brea and worked for an engineer on 3rd St. I would ride my motorcycle around downtown on my lunch hours taking in the city. Then my bike got stolen and I had to ride the bus. That was an interesting time, as well, because I never would have seen the areas the bus route travelled.
I then lived in Huntington Beach and El Toro. I now live in Bakersfield.
I was most surprised by the posts and pictures of Mt Lowe. I had never heard of it until the posts here. What a great place that must have been to visit.
Hope to chat with you all soon. Thanks for your great stories.

BS

http://www.csulb.edu/~odinthor/BuHiHs.jpg
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/ha...s/012020pv.jpgLOC

Actually, the sepia photo and the LOC.gov photo are one and the same; the sepia has had the man removed (plus power lines, and the Alta Vista) to give it that olde-tyme look which works with its website. The LOC image is October 1960 and the Huntington shot with the palm frond is June '61, so while they were lackadaisical about the thing, it wasn't there for years on end I'd wager (as much as I like the idea). For example, here's 251 SBH in 1964—
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7440/...20311dfe_o.pngcalstatelib

—so they did climb up there and fetch it at some point, at least.

(Note as well that the Alta Vista is gone in the Palmer Conner image, so we can peg the removal of the Alta Vista to between October '60 and June of '61—a little more on 251, and its proximity to the AV, can be seen here.)

We've seen the Hody's at Hollywood and Vine many times on NLA, but I can't find any previous mentions of the one on the corner of S La Brea Avenue and Rodeo Road. The card gives the address as 3553 S La Brea, and is postmarked 1952.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...dysLaBrea1.jpg
http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...dysLaBrea2.jpg
eBay

Here's an aerial image of the restaurant from 1952. It's also visible on the 1948 and 1964 images, but gone by 1972. I'm not sure if it Hody's the whole time.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...dysLaBrea3.jpg
Historic Aerials

Hody's!

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8588/...53183b42_o.jpg