Here's another Kodachrome slide by the same seller that posted the 'Hot Dog Show slide.

This one shows Vivian Laird's Restaurant and Night Club in March 1953 [Long Beach]

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...921/NqyX9R.jpg
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-Sli...kAAOSwHMJYPfrE

As most of you know, we have visited Vivian Laird's several times on NLA.

Here's the most recent. (with interior views)
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=35932

__

In the 1950s, 730 E Broadway in Long Beach was the Victor Hugo Restaurant.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...1.jpg~original
Historical Society of Long Beach

Here's a matchbook.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...2.jpg~original
Frank Kelsey on Flickr

Well, I finished enumeration district 60-114 for the 1940 census. As I've posted previously this is "Barton Fink" territory, I found all manner of industry types. Actresses from the silents on the way down, screenwriters from N.Y. on the way up. Roommates who were Disney animators, and who led the strike against the studio. Film music composers, editors, wardrobe managers. And of course countless wanna-be's who never-were, folks who identified themselves as "actress" or "writer" with no credits to their name.

The last page of 60-114 is kind of an addendum, residents that apparently were not found in April when the census takers came around, as the page is dated July. A couple of addresses on N. Cahuenga at Odin St., Whitley Terrace area, right where it now runs into the freeway (I think this part of the freeway would have been under construction in 1940).

The enumerator knocks at 2307 Cahuenga, a small apartment court (now gone, it was replaced by another apt bldg in the late '80s). Answering the door is a young man who identifies himself as Sidney King Sheldon:

http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/...psl6kvedav.png

I can't find any other reference to Sidney Sheldon with the middle name "King", why he gave that to the census guy God only knows. Maybe the enumerator just didn't hear him right. Anyway, Sidney said he was 23, out here from his native Chicago, and working as a script reader:

http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/...pspfak6tdw.png

He was born Sidney Schechtel. Arrived in Hollywood 1937, and got the reader job at Universal. Moonlighted with a friend touching up scripts for B pictures at Republic. He enlisted after the war broke out, trained as a pilot but his unit was disbanded and he never saw action. Returning to civilian life he went to N.Y. and had immediate success, writing or co-writing the books for 3 musicals. All were produced and at one point were running simultaneously.

Returning to Hollywood he wrote the screenplay for 1947's "The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer", for which he won an Oscar. He continued writing for film in the 50's and tried his hand at directing as well. In 1953, with Grant & Kerr, the picture is "Dream Wife":

http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/...psvefi1qoz.jpg

In the early '60's he turned to producing (and writing most of the scripts) for
television sit-coms. "The Patty Duke Show", "I Dream of Jeannie". In the '70's "Hart to Hart".

Then he really hit it big, writing popular fiction, many of the books adapted for TV mini-series. He's rated the #7 best-selling author of all time, and #1 in translation to foreign languages (51). Total sales of 300 Million.

He told the census taker that he worked 50 weeks at Universal in 1939 (column 31) earning $2200 (column 32). That's $44 a week.

Variety, upon his death in 2007, estimated his net worth at $3 Billion.

Tudor Regency meets Brighton Pavilion?

I like the original portico much better.

Onion dome and tent roof, Brighton Pavilion:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/HQ...CtA=w1366-h768
https://historicengland.org.uk/listi...-entry/1380680

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...923/la2GLb.jpg
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Authentic-Vt...sAAOSwuhhXXbEK

"Framed Los Angeles County Coroner Crime Scene Photo" [undated]



http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...922/cWicEV.jpg
detail

L.A. County Coroner patches on the uniforms.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...923/JxUArx.jpg
detail



Merry Xmas, Happy New Year (stenciled on windows)

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...921/RSjZZ2.jpg
detail

:(
__

'mystery' location

I found this earlier today on ebay.

The seller's description is quite vague..."Los Angeles, 1964"

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...922/mQpvh0.jpg
http://www.ebay.com/itm/SL25-VINTAGE...AAAOSwwo1Xe9R9

I'm hoping someone here on NLA will recognize the street.

sidenote:
I tweaked the color a bit.
__

I was looking through the LA Daily News photo archive at UCLA and found this noirish image:

http://i.imgur.com/2Y7UMIj.jpg
UCLA Special Collections

The man on the gurney was responsible for this:
http://i.imgur.com/o7Vwqmy.jpg
Footlight Parade - Warner Brothers 1933

...as well as the deaths of three people in a drunk driving accident.

The caption of the first picture was: "Choreographer and film director Busby Berkeley being carried into his manslaughter trial on a stretcher, Los Angeles, 1935."

I wondered where the first picture had been taken.

The scene, what little there is of it, looks suburban and small, very unlike the surroundings of any of the downtown courthouses. In the background attached to the front porch across the street is a billboard that says "F. G. Bauer Sewer Work and Repairs" and some illegible stuff below that.

I looked at the Los Angeles CDs c. 1935 but found no F. G. Bauer listed. Then I remembered that this accident took place on the Roosevelt Highway (now PCH) and so the trial might have taken place in Santa Monica or West Los Angeles. And the 1936 Bay Cities Directory contains the following:

http://i.imgur.com/9Hfjsny.jpg
ancestry.com

So the picture was taken looking west across the street from 1619 Purdue Avenue.

Here are a Sanborn mosaic and an aerial view of the location, both from the late 40s:

http://i.imgur.com/YdEewxb.jpg
lapl.org

http://i.imgur.com/YjqQepJ.jpg
HistoricAerials.com

Mr. Bauer's house was demolished in 1951, and the site today is a parking lot. The Civic Center was demolished in 1959 and today is the site of the Felicia Mahood Multipurpose Center, run by Jewish Family Service of LA. This part of WLA still has a number of undistinguished civic buildings - police, library, courthouse - nearby.

So after spending a couple of hours on this, of course I find GW posted this 2.5 years ago:

With the help of Jerry Giesler, Busby survived two hung juries and eventually won acquittals on three counts of second-degree murder.

Tov2....very apt comparison. I could not help but to post the Pavilion which is located in the UK.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ps66q5zu1k.jpg
nat.geo.mag.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...1.jpg~original
ref: previous Hoss reply

Merry Whitish Christmas to the Noirish society from the frenchie of the thread.

Thanks, riichkay, for the material on Sidney Sheldon. I never met the gentleman, but he was gracious enough to mention me in the acknowledgements to one of his books, evidently based on a paper I had written as an undergraduate. My only connection with best-sellerdom :-)

Cheers,

Earl

:previous: Excellent sleuthing on the Busby Berkeley photo Lorendoc!








Here's one of the injured from the crash.

"Alvin Hudson, in jacket, pants, with bandage on chin, squatting and pointing to car involved with three way collision.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...924/szA3WS.jpg
http://lit250v.library.ucla.edu/isla...latimes%3A7923

Alvin Hudson was a student and pest control worker from Santa Paula who reported he had pulled into the middle lane on the Roosevelt Highway
when all of a sudden two headlights appeared in front of him and the crash occurred. The three way collision occurred 400 yards north of Santa Monica Canyon
on Highway 1, and was the fault of Busby Berkeley, film dance director, who was driving in the wrong direction while intoxicated.
Six people were injured in the accident, and two died."


___

and I just found this...

Betty Hickman in court waiting to serve as a witness in the manslaughter trial of Busby Berkeley, Los Angeles, 1935

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...921/eXx1lY.jpg
http://lit250v.library.ucla.edu/isla...ilyNews%3A5585

It doesn't say, but I believe Ms. Hickman was a passenger in Busby's car.
__



A little more on Betty.

"Tom Healy and his first wife, dancer Betty Healy."

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...924/JtDVzb.jpg
http://www.nj.com/entertainment/inde...ted_healy.html



clipping
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...923/ej9Doz.jpg
http://bookstevebijou.blogspot.com/2...ted-healy.html

:previous: This is such a great photograph GW.

Sears played a big role at Christmas time back in the day.

It was pure heaven when the Sears Catalog arrived at your house.


1952

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...922/wAeAUW.jpghttp://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...924/wi2ps7.jpg




1958

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...921/MG2cRx.jpghttp://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...923/pAutTx.jpg

I want this! and this! and this! and this! and this! and this! and this! and this! and this! and this! and this! and this! and this! ;)

from http://www.barbigirl.com/SearsCataloguePages.html

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...922/3ep6kq.jpg
Stahl House http://www.contemporist.com/modern-c...e-stahl-house/

With the help of Jerry Giesler, Busby survived two hung juries and eventually won acquittals on three counts of second-degree murder.[/QUOTE]

When I was a kid in LA in the 50s, the saying was still:
"If you're guilty, get Geisler!"

Gladys Towles Root known for her large HATS and large fees.
 

Gladys was famous in Los Angeles for defending males who were arrested for the so-called crime of ''lewd conduct'' inside gay bars and public restrooms. [Charge: Touching another male, etc..]

She charged outrageously huge fees to terrified men who were victims of a corrupt system.

But she was basically a scam because all she did was plead them guilty to lesser charges such as ''disturbing the peace''. Her clients did not realize that you do not need an attorney to plead guilty in court.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...psr23evmkl.jpg
historical images dot com

I would be happy and proud to produce as much quality content as Mr. Masters! However, Beaudry is simply Nathan Marsak, no great slouch in my own right I suppose, but I wouldn't want to accidentally take credit for another's work.


Happy holidays y'all!

https://c8.staticflickr.com/1/536/31...9e3ed475_b.jpg
lapl

Not very noir, and no pix; but here's an Old Los Angeles Christmas:

Here is a little about the Christmas traditions typical of the 1830s-1840s in L.A. from the reminiscences of Don Arturo Bandini (quoted from "Navidad/Pastorela," edited by Susanna Bryant Dakin, 1958):

"Navidad! Pasquas! Noche Buena! Christmas! What memories of good
old times gone, never to return, must the above words bring back to
the minds of old Californians. [ . . . ] For us muchachos and
younger folks, however, the Vispera de Navidad, or Christmas Eve, was
the day of great expectations. I remember how a lot of us would get
on the roof of our large adobe house to watch for the arrival of the
different great rancheros escorting [from his rancho to the area of
the Plaza in Los Angeles] each his individual gaily decorated carreta
(ox-cart) which contained his family. What canopies these humble
conveyances carried! Great silken bedspreads, worked with the most
beautiful flowers, the fringe serving as a screen and reaching to the
axle. Others had coverings of gay rebosos, China crepe, and lace
curtains, with flowers and figures embroidered in vivid colors. And
the escorts: how shall I describe the trappings of the gallant horse
and his still more gallant rider, and not be charged with
exaggeration? Fortunately, I know many, both Americans and Spanish-
Americans, that can corroborate my statements.

"The costume of the early Californians was picturesque and
serviceable; for riding, especially, it was most appropriate; the
short, graceful jacket, beautifully embroidered in silver or gold, the
trousers snug at the seat, but expanding from thigh to ankle; the
side-seams being open, the wearer, if he so preferred, could bring
them together by means of silver buttons or clasps in the shape of
tiny shells; underneath all this was the snowy calzonillo, or riding
drawers. Others used knee-breeches and botas, a species of leggings
worn to protect the lower part of the leg. On the bota the
embroiderer used her greatest ingenuity to show it to the best
advantage; indeed the early Californian was more particular about the
beauty of this article than almost any other part of his dress. The
bota was wrapped two or three times around the leg and fastened at
the top by a wide and tasseled garter. As in the middle ages some
knights carried to extremes the length of their pointed shoes, even
to the extent of attaching the end to their girdles, so did some of
the early Californians with the cords and tassels of their botas, the
ends of which would touch the ground. [ . . . ]

"Such were some of the sights of olden California. In those days
everybody knew everybody else, and as the well-known families passed
by, the bright curtains would part, young and old faces peered out,
and shrill greetings flew from carreta (wagon) to house, and vice
versa. But the event was yet to come. Gaily decorated and festooned
carretas, prancing horses, and splendid horsemen were a common enough
sight for us, but the Pastores—--Ah! that was something that occurred
but once a year during Navidad--—Christmas time. Los Pastores—--The
Shepherds—--is a species of sacred drama, something like the Passion
Play [ . . . ] The last play given by the pastores in Los Angeles
City was on the Christmas eve of 1861. The place selected for the
occasion was the site on which now stands the present Pico House,
then a large courtyard pertaining to the Pico homestead [ . . . ]

"It is a sad task to recall to mind, and more so to note down, all
the events and customs of those happy days. Still some comfort may
be derived from the knowledge that the perusal may afford the reader
pleasure, and that he may join with the chronicler in heartily
bidding the good old times a `Feliz Noche Buena!' ."

Best yuletide wishes to NLA-ers!

The Civic Center was demolished and rebuilt to a master plan by architect Albert Criz from 1960 to 1965. The five-unit complex started with the regional public library, by Allison & Rible, in 1956, before the old Civic Center was torn down. After demolition, Criz added the public community center (now the Mahood Center), the amphitheater, branch City Hall and the court building. This last is on the other side of Purdue; part of this block of Purdue is now a pedestrian mall.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/iR...Nq4=w1366-h768
google maps

The previous Civic Building held the branch City Hall, Library and Fire Station at 11354 Santa Monica Blvd:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/fj...Q=w721-h579-no
lapl/dick wittington



The new Civic Center was supposed to look grand, but as you noted, many people think it "undistinguished". Grim outdoor spaces, too many parking lots and poor maintenance kinda kill the atmosphere. Also, the Mahood Center walled off the Community Building and the Amphitheater after they took over, leaving the Civic Center w/o focus.

I think the best of the buildings is the Allison & Rible library, which faces Santa Monica Blvd, but the dead landscaping doesn't help:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/mq...NOU=w1366-h768
gsv

LA Conservancy has a page on the West LA Civic Center here. They call it "eye-catching".


The bunkerized police station was built a block to the west by KVA in 1972. One has to walk through a ridiculous tiled baffle, bristling with security cameras and a fish-eye mirror to enter. They must think they're under imminent attack:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/hu...rgc=w1366-h768
gsv

The former police station was on the west side of Purdue at No. 1653:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/0d...A=w656-h510-no
lapl



P.S.

One of the only interesting buildings near the WLA Civic Center is the old Masonic Lodge, built in 1925-26 by Buckeye W[illiam] Asa Hudson (1890-1975), at Santa Monica and Butler, the next block west from the current library. The two floors of lodge rooms sat on a retail base. Now sadly diminished, although well-maintained, it's been home to The Village Recording Studios since 1968.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Yh...IN0=w1366-h768
gsv

W Asa Hudson, after coming to California from Cleveland, moved his offices from DTLA to Santa Monica before finally settling in Beverly Hills. Over a long and prolific career, he built business blocks, churches, homes and, memorably, the bungalows at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

The south side of the Masonic Lodge carries the faded ghost of the mural, "Isle of California" (1972), by the LA Fine Arts Squad (Victor Henderson, Terry Schoonhoven, Jim Frazin), now shot through w/ retrofitting bolts:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/aU...de8=w1366-h768
gvs

Here it is when relatively fresh:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/tN...jME=w1366-h768
experiencingLA

And a future echo courtesy of The Village Recorders:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/hC...O-A=w1366-h768
greenbook

The Permit:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/q5...D_s=w1366-h768
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Lv...Xu0=w1366-h768
ladbs


Don't miss e_r's post on the Village Recorders' interior and history.




.