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http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...rminalBldg.jpg Detail of picture in USC Digital Library |
Alameda
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I found this postcard titled "Los Angeles Glittering at Dusk" on eBay last night. We've seen similar views dating back to the opening of City Hall, but I don't recall seeing it at night.
http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...k.jpg~original eBay The picture above gives us a good look at the elevated section of Grand Avenue (don't forget to scroll right). The sides have now been filled in with many buildings, and it's easy to forget that there's a roadway underneath. The 1982 image below gives a good view along the barrier before construction of California Plaza and the Museum of Contemporary Art. http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...2.jpg~original USC Digital Library |
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From a couple posts last August: Quote:
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Of course nowadays it's all selfies! ___ P.S.: I keep forgetting to mention, Don Draper goes to see this movie in one of last year's Season 7/Part 1, Mad Men episodes. |
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The Crossroads of the World
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I dunno what was going on in 1972, but Crossroads of the World has a bit of a noiry backstory: Racketeering crime Boss Charles Crawford, "The Wolf of Spring Street", had many underworld connections. In 1921, he and his associate, Kent Kane Parrot, chose lawyer George Cryer to be candidate for mayor to defeat "reform" incumbent Meredeth Snyder. Parrot ran Cryer's campaign, and, on election, became shadow mayor, giving Crawford's "City Hall Gang" firm control of the city government from 1921 until 1929, with particular control over the LAPD. This politicians/cops/criminals racketeering arrangement was known as "The Combination" and by some as "The System". Business leaders (even those not on the take) and the newspapers enthusiastically supported this because the City Hall Gang gave full rein to the LAPD's vicious "Red Squad", keeping LA union-free. Eventually, even the newspapers had had enough of graft and corruption and promoted John C Porter, a senior Klan member, for mayor. On Porter's election in 1929 (which didn't slow down the Red Squad one tiny bit), without Parrot's and Cryer's protection and after narrowly escaping conviction in the Julian Oil scandal (the indictment was dismissed at the last minute), Crawford tried to go straight. Charlie opened a real estate office in a bungalow he'd had built in 1924 on Sunset Boulevard (next to Blessed Sacrament RC church) and started a periodical, "Critic of Critics", run by newspaperman Herbert Spencer, to harry his opponents. Charlie also made seeming efforts to act like a family man. Here he is with wife Ella and daughters Joan and Eleanor: https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-u...11201%2BAM.jpg LMB Couture However, Charlie could not escape his past. In May 1931 Crawford and Spencer were gunned down in the bungalow. David H "Debonair Dave" Clark, prosecutor and candidate for judge confessed to the killings, claiming self-defense. Clark's first trial resulted in a hung jury (the one "Guilty" holdout juror found a bomb on his front lawn the next day). Unsurprisingly, Clark was acquitted of all charges at the retrial, but went downhill from there, killing again. The scene of the crime (before Crossroads of the World) 6665 Sunset Blvd, circa 1929-1935: https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-R...71654%2BPM.jpg uscdl (detail) Clark's run for judge was interrupted by his indictment on double homicide charges: https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-U...25952%2BPM.jpg deranged crimes It's what sells newspapers: https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Z...21650%2BPM.jpg crossroadsoftheworld The widows, Ella Crawford and Frances Spencer, at Clark's trial (LAT 8/6/1931): https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-K...31711%2BPM.jpg kcet Clark and his wife Nancy in court, 1931. She looks like she has her doubts. (Nancy divorced Clark in 1939): https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8...55120%2BPM.jpg lapl (detail) Mayor Cryer left office a millionaire, living to 87. He had a massive funeral, his body lying in state in the rotunda of City Hall accompanied by an Honor Guard of LAPD officers. Kent Kane Parrot died in bed at 73, a rich and unrepentant man. For more info see here, here, here, here, here and, of course, here Meanwhile, after the murders (and a disastrous, but brief, second marriage), Crawford's widow, Ella Crawford, left with two young children, needed an income. She invested her extremely ill-gotten inheritance in a shopping center and office complex, the Crossroads of the World, on the site of her husband's murder, hiring architect Robert V Derrah (who concurrently worked on his Coca-Cola building): https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Z...11246%2BAM.jpg onlyinhollywood Heralding the 29 October 1936 opening: https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-s...14440%2BAM.jpg thecrossroadsoftheworld (previously posted by Martin Pal) The 57 shops and 36 offices were charming. Alfred Hitchcock and The Screen Actor's Guild moved in. In 1955 the complex was converted to offices only, except for the Sunset Blvd frontage. Some of the initial shops: https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-5...53037%2BPM.jpg kcet The complex in 1936 when it opened: Ella Crawford and an unnamed companion celebrate the opening: https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-K...34018%2BPM.jpg https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-6...70928%2BAM.jpg The tower of the First Baptist church in the background: https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-y...70844%2BAM.jpg https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-x...70824%2BAM.jpg https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-8...70635%2BAM.jpg https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-6...70530%2BAM.jpg https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-r...70324%2BAM.jpg The tower on the left was the one originally built for Blessed Sacrament. Both the church and tower were later replaced: https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-I...70023%2BAM.jpg Pix above from a total of 19 at the Crossroads of the World site via Jim Heimann (Taschen Publishing is a CotW tenant) Ella Crawford, her marriages behind her, looking happy at last, in her Crossroads of the World office circa 1935-36: https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-A...11550%2BAM.jpg LMB Couture Neon close-ups: https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-S...20202%2BPM.jpg experiencingLA (previously posted by Martin Pal) https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-t...13200%2BPM.jpg crossroadsoftheworld https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-T...23828%2BPM.jpg crossroadsoftheworld The Derrah proposal: https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-E...10727%2BPM.jpg crossroadsoftheworld As built (the building on the right covers the footprint of the bungalow where the slayings took place): https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-x...60223%2BPM.jpg gsv Martin Pal's taken us down this road before: http://www.skyscraperpage.com/forum/...ostcount=19705 |
Mystery sidewalk object.
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The object at the bottom with the blue arrow seems to be too small for an elevator. Also see the two boxes on either side. Is someone selling something? Objects appear to be hanging on the side. I'm not sure what it is. Any ideas? http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...pskfrohpac.jpg previous photo enlargement Tovangar: My mother used to live in the Orphanage next door to Blessed Sacrament Church, on Sunset Blvd.. This is 1930 and the Depression was happening. I think she lived there two years. Her father couldn't pay the fee, so he moved her to Church Home For Children in Glendale [?]. Yes, that Crossroads did have a checkered history. |
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Thanks...Mike. |
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I appreciate the extra information Ed_Workman.
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__ I looked to see if I could find evidence of that rail spur between 1st and 2nd streets on Alameda....but everything in that vintage photo has disappeared. :( http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...537/VW4oQ0.jpg google_earth __ I didn't notice that open elevator in HossC's photograph, until you pointed it out CityBoyDoug. I had to snicker at the little box with side panels...it looks like someone is setting up a magic show. http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640...673/7EuBoD.jpg |
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Mid 1950s |
:previous: Thanks again Ed! I really appreciate the info.
Street scenes from a 1929 tourist photo album. I believe they were all taken in Hollywood. http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...673/saELHJ.jpg http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...673/VpWlOL.jpg eBay :previous: Note the interesting diamond-patterned sidewalk......eventually covered up by the Hollywood Walk of Fame. we get a big thumb in this one. http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...538/kiLCBU.jpg http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...913/3yAMeN.jpg eBay |
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Here's the area on the 1921 Baist map. Alameda is the street with "Southern Pacific" written along it. Follow Alameda to the right and that's north on this map. http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...1.jpg~original www.historicmapworks.com The spur route is still easy to see on this 1948 aerial. http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...2.jpg~original Historic Aerials |
:previous: That's great Hoss! -you took my hint. :)
...and two more from the same photo album. A fine look at the Roosevelt Hotel and the one-story shops along the south side of Hollywood Boulevard. scroll right---> to see Grauman's blade sign, circa 1929 http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...538/8ITZj2.jpg http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...910/zd1f6Z.jpg eBay http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...537/Cg34CM.jpg http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...537/RWSCgL.jpg eBay This looks like lunch hour to me. (:previous: is that Homer Bedloe?) __ |
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You previously posted these 1929 images (and one more) in post #17222, e_r. In response to your question about "the diamond shapes in the sidewalk", I posted the picture below. Quote:
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