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ethereal_reality Jun 8, 2015 7:50 PM

'mystery' location.


http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640...912/pTvhJG.jpg
eBay


enlarged
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...909/84yXEc.jpg

Can anyone figure out where this was taken? (I especially like the building in the distance at the end of the street)

__

Earl Boebert Jun 8, 2015 7:58 PM

Re: Riding public transit. One of my fondest memories of growing up in the SF Bay Area was riding the Key System F train from the end of the line in Albany to their terminal in San Francisco to have lunch with my father on school holidays. The units had two cars on three trucks like the articulated buses of today. The motorman's cab was just one seat wide, so there was a seat beside it that looked out the front window. If you were quick (and I was *very* quick) you could snag that seat and get the motorman's view all the way through Berkeley, Oakland, and over the Bay Bridge. Then it was lunch at Foster's, hang around here and there, go by the hiring hall at the Embarcadero to see if you could catch a glimpse of Eric Hoffer (and if you were feeling brave, give him a wave) and back home the same way. Good times, none better.

tovangar2 Jun 8, 2015 8:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality (Post 6254543)
Here are a few more images from that sepia group on ebay. (no information other than downtown Los Angeles)

Bilicke(sp)-Rowan Hotel?
http://imageshack.us/a/img542/989/zgo4.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img31/6281/yz44.jpg

Re-reading the thread's back pages, I noticed the two 1905 pix above of the John-Parkinson-designed Alexandria Hotel under construction. Really nice to see. I didn't notice any follow ups on these two particular shots and google image search claims they are uniquely published, GIS can't see into the DLs though, but I checked the main ones. Thank you e_r.

There's groundbreaking and first-brick-laying ceremonies photos (both may be seen here), but the only other Alexandria Hotel construction shot I think I've seen is this one, taken at the same time as the first photo above:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-2...24129%2BPM.jpg
lapl

The Alexandria's developers, Bilicke and Rowan, had a great many real estate interests, both as partners and separately, including the Hollenbeck Hotel.


(Mr and Mrs Bilicke were famously dumped in the sea by a badly-lowered Lusitania lifeboat in 1915. She survived. His body was never found. To survive a sinking ship, only to die in a lifeboat accident, seems unfortunate in the extreme.)

Tourmaline Jun 8, 2015 8:56 PM

Oiled dirt and gravel.


Quote:

W. Adams St., Los Angeles, Calif. City outfit repairing oiled dirt & gravel street. Monarch 15 T. Roller. Petrolithic Gang Rooter
Undated.

http://images.nypl.org/index.php?id=480831&t=whttp://images.nypl.org/index.php?id=480831&t=w


1944 - Third Street repaving
https://latimesphoto.files.wordpress...tpaving970.jpghttps://latimesphoto.files.wordpress...tpaving970.jpg

Martin Pal Jun 8, 2015 9:07 PM

Thanks, Slauson Slim, for your thoughts on riding the P.E. cars!
___

Liked those shots of Khrushchev riding through the L.A. streets, E_R!

(By the way, the eBay slide posted with a date of Dec. 1959 is probably incorrect as
he visited in August of 1959. I don't think he returned. Khrushchev was supposed to visit
Disneyland, but Police Chief Parker wouldn't guarantee his safety there so he was denied
access and Nikita threw a bit of a tantrum over it. So the story goes.)

Here's another I found:


The motorcade of the Soviet Leader Nikita Khrushchev making it's way towards Hollywood.
(The only part of the road sign I can decipher is "Los Angeles River.")
http://mediastore4.magnumphotos.com/.../PAR137223.jpgDennis Stock/Magnum Photos


Here he is on the 20th Century Fox lot watching a scene being filmed for the movie Can-Can.
http://thumbs.media.smithsonianmag.c...0_q85_crop.jpgSmithsonian Magazine


On the soundstage of Can-Can at 20th Century Fox.
Nikita Khrushchev talking to Shirley MacLaine. His wife,
Nina is next to her. Frank Sinatra is also pictured.
http://mediastore2.magnumphotos.com/.../PAR137221.jpgDennis Stock/Magnum Photos (No relation to stock photos, heh!)

ethereal_reality Jun 8, 2015 9:39 PM

Bernice's Beauty Salon.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...537/Yve20c.jpg
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BERNICES-BEA...item2ee25ed509

Street number 4932 , but what street?

Fanny Bjornsen

__

Beaudry Jun 8, 2015 10:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality (Post 7055102)
Bernice's Beauty Salon.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...537/Yve20c.jpg
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BERNICES-BEA...item2ee25ed509

Street number 4932 , but what street?

Fanny Bjornsen

__

Bernice's was at 4932 Huntington Drive South—

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/374/18...da6a2dc7_c.jpg

Check out the awesome neon axe on the hardware store! That's at 4938; Bernice's has been lost to a Food 4 Less.

jdcamb Jun 8, 2015 10:24 PM

Awesome Thread. Big fan!

ethereal_reality Jun 8, 2015 11:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beaudry (Post 7055143)

Check out the awesome neon axe on the hardware store!

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...538/09Uhbd.jpg
http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/newla...lH3jfGn6yN9pVg

..and it still works!

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...540/jK9Zzp.jpg
http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/newla...TP6HsHSvxof1aA

4938 Huntington Drive South. Thanks for pointing this out Beaudry.
__

ethereal_reality Jun 9, 2015 12:37 AM

"Exterior of salesroom, 2916 W. Pico, Los Angeles 1934."

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...540/Vbz47G.jpg
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/co...d/55301/rec/18

:previous: Mohr Brothers. (were they related to the Pretzel Mohrs? http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=28803 )



And here's the building as it appears today. :(
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...540/YfCnOU.jpg
gsv





detail of brick work.
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...905/7RgnHG.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...912/Kofz0w.jpg
usc and google_earth

Albany NY Jun 9, 2015 1:24 AM

Just a few blocks away.
 
originally posted bytovangar2.

http://imageshack.com/a/img538/9876/1WYnmq.jpg
posted by tovangar2

I think what we're actually looking at here is the intersection of N. Virgil Ave and Virgil Pl., where they meet Fountain Ave. I have labeled the 2 Virgils here.

http://imageshack.com/a/img905/6927/qu5sns.jpg Bing Maps

Here is a current view of Virgil / Virgil / Fountain. As you can see, a few buildings from the earlier views are still among us. The original listing as Sunset and Hollywood is off by just a few blocks.

ethereal_reality Jun 9, 2015 1:45 AM

Here's a rare find.


'mystery' movie set, 1922.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...538/kPwA1O.jpg
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1922-BEVERLY...item2800ce4b74

The seller says this might be Fox Studios. (?)


If you look closely, there appears to be an impressive residence behind the set.
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...537/AJ1GUg.jpg
detail


The set resembles a mock-up of the Anasazi cliff dwellers.



"Anasazi Cliff Palace" in 1891 by Gustaf Nordenskiold.
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...540/unIl08.jpg





Mesa Verde National Park
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...673/fq1edx.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancestral_Puebloans

Does anyone recall a silent film from the early 1920s featuring the Anasazi?

__

ethereal_reality Jun 9, 2015 2:03 AM

OK, now I see why the seller thought the 'pueblo set' might be Fox Studios.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...633/Z6HVTj.jpg
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1922-BEVERLY...12211572&rt=nc

written along the bottom border......"Took Dad and Mother to Fox Hill Studios & etc."








And then, there's this.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/910/YPccjG.jpg
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1922-BEVERLY...item5b12fec417

"Me" appears to be quite handsome ;). (but Mom & Dad look like they came straight from the Iowa Picnic)

Wig-Wag Jun 9, 2015 3:44 AM

Streetcar Belles and Whistles
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Slauson Slim (Post 7054132)
Martin Pal wrote:

"Just wondering about your visceral memories of this. Were the cars noisy? Did
they have bells or whistles to signify anything? Were there any particular odors associated with the cars? How were fares paid? Were they usually clean? Were stops called out? Stuff like that."

I do not recall them as unduly noisy, noise of the wheels, traffic noise and car horns, there was a bell when starting, and I don't recall stops being called out. They were not smelly or dirty - but more like most public transit, they were not spotless like a Swiss train. Fares were paid at the front to the motorman, and he made change. On the LA Ry or MTA during crowded commute hours people would board by the middle door - a conductor on the street would take the money and make change and hand out transfers and let folks on - he wore a belt with a change holder.

I remember the older cars with a seat and controls for the motorman at both ends. These had wicker seats. None of the cars were air conditioned - it could be hot in the cars. I remember people leaving newspapers on the seats that others would read.

I most often took the 7 Car Downtown from Slauson and Broadway - many times with my mother shopping at May Co. or The Broadway, etc. A treat was lunch at the Pig n' Whistle or Clifton's, or an Orange Julius with an egg. She always wore a smart suit or dress, gloves and a hat with a veil - one dressed up to go shopping. She never carried packages, she had things delivered. We never ate or drank in the cars - my mom said it was bad manners. We would go to Hollywood and Wilshire too, but I don't have much memory of that.

To ad a bit to Slauson Slim's excellent account, the narrow gauge Los Angeles Railway, later (LATL) cars had bells only. Most were mounted under the floor of the car and operated with a spring loaded "pedal" that was activated by briskly stepping on it with the motorman's foot. Two bells were sounded when the motorman was about to pull forward and multiple bells in rapid succession when issuing a warning.

Paciific Electric cars also had bells mounted and used in the identical manner, but most also had two Westinghouse air whistles to sound a warning at grade crossings. These were activated by pulling on a wooden handle attached to a cord, which in turn was tied to a lever inside the car. If one examines photos of PE cars the whistle is usually visible on the left hand side of the car just below the roof line as a long tube. On the old wooden cars they were often mounted vertically on the left hand window frame. (Left hand refers to the view when facing the end of the car).

The Orange Empire Railway Museum at Perris, CA offers the visitor the opportunity to experience riding both types of cars.

http://www.oerm.org/collection

Folks outside of Southern California can find other trolly museums on the internet.

Cheers,
Jack

Tetsu Jun 9, 2015 4:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beaudry (Post 7053912)
So, there should be no argument that Maidens of Fetish Street AKA Girls on F Street is a weird, terrible, wonderful picture—described in a review here—and note, if you will that in the accompanying video, at 1:04, there's the stained glass of The Castle. It's not the only Bunker Hill reference, later on the narrator makes a point of saying the "House of Fetish" is up on the Hill, first mentioning that our protagonist Nick takes the Flight:

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8896/1...0acc8a89_z.jpg(all screen grabs, from Maidens, SWV)

This is the Angels Flight...that ascends and descends countless times daily...where the angels fear to tread, the flight that is incapable of surmounting the plight of our human misery. Where this hill has never budged and bridged the border of the ravaged slum with all its potent and stomach turning smells, when each individual's flight to the top of the hill never seems to leave behind his despaired hopes and disillusioned agonies. Nick is no different from all the others; and its thirty-second journey of hopeless dejection.

Which brings us to the question, where was the House of Fetish? Because when Jim Dawson said it was the Berke Mansion, up on Bunker Hill at Second and Hope, and I took a look at the film, I was sold. But years later I took another look and it's not the Berke. Compare:

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/428/18...5b45702e_c.jpg
https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/401/18...93d99209_c.jpgcalstatelib

I mean you can see how one would certainly think so, but no. Some more shots of the mystery house:

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8834/1...39cca072_c.jpg

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8834/1...94811002_z.jpg

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8885/1...5854900c_z.jpg

I thought I'd figured it out, actually—it had to be that mucked-up house at the corner of Edgware and Carroll. But no, turns out that was the Stilson-Bradford House, looked nothing like this. What got me thinking that in part is that after Nick rides up Angels Flight and it shows the panorama of "the Hill," that's actually shot from the roof of the Stilson-Bradford House:

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8835/1...5e9294f6_c.jpg

Moreover, in the establishing shot of "the city", judging by the way the DWP is turned, its relationship to City Hall, and how the Hwd Fwy runs, certainly seems like Carroll Ave, or nearby:

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8857/1...f0005664_z.jpg

Of course I just realized that I could have just posted a single image of the house and one the Noirishers here would have in ten seconds said "Oh yeah, that's the Schmendrik-Doppes House" or somesuch...but explanatory text and pictures are much more fun.

For no reason other than "a feeling," I've got my money on the house not being in LA. Or, at least, not in LA proper. It just seems like somebody here on NLA would've already covered a beautiful Victorian like that at some point. :shrug:

Mstimc Jun 9, 2015 4:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Earl Boebert (Post 7054953)
Re: Riding public transit. One of my fondest memories of growing up in the SF Bay Area was riding the Key System F train from the end of the line in Albany to their terminal in San Francisco to have lunch with my father on school holidays. The units had two cars on three trucks like the articulated buses of today. The motorman's cab was just one seat wide, so there was a seat beside it that looked out the front window. If you were quick (and I was *very* quick) you could snag that seat and get the motorman's view all the way through Berkeley, Oakland, and over the Bay Bridge. Then it was lunch at Foster's, hang around here and there, go by the hiring hall at the Embarcadero to see if you could catch a glimpse of Eric Hoffer (and if you were feeling brave, give him a wave) and back home the same way. Good times, none better.

I was born three years before the last of the L.A streetcars went offline, so if I rode any, I can't remember. :( However, just for perspective, when we visit SF, we use public transportation to get just about everywhere. Between BART and SFMUNI, you can get around quite easily. Last time we were there, we took a trolley (not a cable car) to the Castro and then hopped on a bus to GG Park and another to the Presidio. Buses/streetcars came by about once every ten minutes on the busy routes.

On the other hand, in the OC, where most of the buses operate nearly empty...I once figured out how long it would take me to ride a bus from home to work--7 miles one way. For the time I start in the morning, it would take more than two hours, including a half-hour standing at a bus stop, in the dark during winter. Its a vicious circle; there isn't enough ridership to expand the routes or schedules, and because there aren't enough convenient schedules, nobody wants to ride.

Metrolink is a good option if you're near a station at both ends of your route, and whenever I go urban exploring in DTLA, I take it Because its faster, less aggravating, and cheaper (counting parking) than taking my car. But, unfortunately, Greater L.A. was built around a car culture and riding public transportation, especially a bus, still carries an unfair stigma that the only people who use it can't afford a car. There's an old PE station in Fullerton (now a trendy Scotch bar/restaurant), and I can easily imagine myself taking the car all the way to L.A. back in the day.

HenryHuntington Jun 9, 2015 4:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality (Post 7054930)
'mystery' location.


http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640...912/pTvhJG.jpg
eBay


enlarged
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...909/84yXEc.jpg

Can anyone figure out where this was taken? (I especially like the building in the distance at the end of the street)

__

We're looking south on New Hampshire Ave. from Monroe St. What was then the southern border of the LACC campus is behind the photographer. The building that ER fancies was and is at 4247 Melrose Ave.

CityBoyDoug Jun 9, 2015 5:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality (Post 7055426)
OK, now I see why the seller thought the 'pueblo set' might be Fox Studios.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...633/Z6HVTj.jpg
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1922-BEVERLY...12211572&rt=nc

written along the bottom border......"Took Dad and Mother to Fox Hill Studios & etc."








And then, there's this.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/910/YPccjG.jpg
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1922-BEVERLY...item5b12fec417

"Me" appears to be quite handsome ;). (but Mom & Dad look like they came straight from the Iowa Picnic)

How this set fits into the Hollywood ''movie ranch'' history I can't fathom. Something's missing here....or misnamed.
This is indeed a mystery location. The barren hills in the background give us some clue...but what clue?

Are those buildings in the background a medieval village from Europe?


here's a link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movie_ranch

Beaudry Jun 9, 2015 7:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tetsu (Post 7055545)
For no reason other than "a feeling," I've got my money on the house not being in LA. Or, at least, not in LA proper. It just seems like somebody here on NLA would've already covered a beautiful Victorian like that at some point. :shrug:

I can't help think the same thing...a house this grand, with such distinguishing features (the tower is great, but that double wraparound porch is incredible) that survived at least through 1965, well that we shoulda seen among the various image depositories we plumb so happily. It just strikes me as odd that here the moviemakers were, filming away in downtown LA, Angeleno Heights, etc., and couldn't find a Big Old House to shoot in?

HossC Jun 9, 2015 7:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mstimc (Post 7055549)

I was born three years before the last of the L.A streetcars went offline, so if I rode any, I can't remember. :( However, just for perspective, when we visit SF, we use public transportation to get just about everywhere. Between BART and SFMUNI, you can get around quite easily. Last time we were there, we took a trolley (not a cable car) to the Castro and then hopped on a bus to GG Park and another to the Presidio. Buses/streetcars came by about once every ten minutes on the busy routes.

On the other hand, in the OC, where most of the buses operate nearly empty...I once figured out how long it would take me to ride a bus from home to work--7 miles one way. For the time I start in the morning, it would take more than two hours, including a half-hour standing at a bus stop, in the dark during winter. Its a vicious circle; there isn't enough ridership to expand the routes or schedules, and because there aren't enough convenient schedules, nobody wants to ride.

Metrolink is a good option if you're near a station at both ends of your route, and whenever I go urban exploring in DTLA, I take it Because its faster, less aggravating, and cheaper (counting parking) than taking my car. But, unfortunately, Greater L.A. was built around a car culture and riding public transportation, especially a bus, still carries an unfair stigma that the only people who use it can't afford a car. There's an old PE station in Fullerton (now a trendy Scotch bar/restaurant), and I can easily imagine myself taking the car all the way to L.A. back in the day.

This seems like the approriate time to quote Colombian politician Enrique Peñalosa:

"An advanced city is not a place where the poor move about in cars, rather it’s where even the rich use public transportation".


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