Random Los Angeles pics from the year

1955

For some mood music, here was a hit from that year:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FFUe...eature=related" target="_blank">Video Link

All pics from the USC Archive. Some of these might be reposts, but what the hell!

Wilshire looking west from McCarthy Vista
http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/2...ngwestfrom.jpg

Selpuveda Tunnel at LAX
http://img810.imageshack.us/img810/1...unnelatlax.jpg

New Van Nuys Court Building
http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/5...rtbuilding.jpg

USC Election Campaign. Notice how someone is supposed to "Go Ape" but the costume is that of an abominable snowman or Yeti or something.
http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/8...ncampaign2.jpg
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/5...ncampaign1.jpg

Skid Row, East 5th Street. These pics make skid row look like it was a cool place to hang out.
http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/1...eetskidrow.jpg
http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/7...street1955.jpg

Stabbing suspects
http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/8...ngsuspects.jpg

Signal Hill oil wells
http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/5...signalhill.jpg

Parked car hit by truck
http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/3...hitbytruck.jpg

Rain over Los Angeles
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/3...losangeles.jpg

This was captioned as "Ding Dong Daddy" divorce. I don't know what that means.
http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/4...dydivorcew.jpg

I love the Graflex Camera.
http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/9646/...ddydivorce.jpg

Downtown freeway slot and Federal Courthouse
http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/1...ndfederalc.jpg

Subway Terminal Building
http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/4...hillstreet.jpg

Looking south on Spring Street across Hollywood/Santa Ana Freeway towards the Federal Courthouse and City Hall. I don't know why they didn't choose to use the same type of street light standards for the ones over the freeway; to this day, they still don't match, not that I care.
http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/9...useandcity.jpg

Handing out free streetcar tokens. The woman in the middle of the pic looks pissed off, like "oh no you did NOT just skip me over for that old cracker in the cheap suit!"
http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/6...tcartokens.jpg

3-car collision at Santa Barbara Ave. and Normandie
http://img840.imageshack.us/img840/2...atsantabar.jpg
http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/5420/...antabarbar.jpg

"Bus strike can be fun."
http://img830.imageshack.us/img830/7...kecanbefun.jpg

Cahuenga Pass
http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/3706/cahuengapass.jpg

"Carrier Boys at Orpheum Theatre." I don't know what a carrier boy is. Is the guy on the left wearing a Calypso shirt?
http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/8...pheumtheat.jpg

College Street Bridge over the Arroyo Seco Parkway
http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/884...reetbridge.jpg

Continental Building
http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/8...albuilding.jpg

Deer killed on freeway in Cahuenga Pass
http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/6...reewayinca.jpg

3400 Wilshire Blvd. Postwar Modernism meets prewar historic revivalism.
http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/5...lshireblvd.jpg

Ding Dong Daddy!
 

Incredible post sopas_ej! I am going to be spending hours studying everything in those photos. 1955 was the year of my very first visit to Los Angeles, but since I was two, I remember nothing. Its just fun to get an idea of what it looked like then.

What I really want to write about is:

I'll be ding-dong-danged but I'm pretty postive that is Francis Van Wie behind those manilla folders, the famous Ding Dong Daddy of San Francisco!

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/3...2thumb300x.jpg

Good ol' Francis was a very short, chubby, bespectacled guy who managed to get 18 women to marry him! I am attaching a great newsletter article about him from a Market Street Railway blog from 2005. I've been a member of the railway association for years and your posting made me recall the story, so I searched the blog archives and here it is:

http://www.streetcar.org/blog/2005/1...eal-story.html

That has to be him in the photos!

~Jon Paul

[QUOTE=sopas ej;5469424]Random Los Angeles pics from the year

1955

This was captioned as "Ding Dong Daddy" divorce. I don't know what that means.
http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/4...dydivorcew.jpg

I love the Graflex Camera.
http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/9646/...ddydivorce.jpg

I never knew that radio station KNX was located on Vine. I did a bit of digging around and learned that it was in the Otto K. Oleson Building at Vine Street and Selma Avenue from 1933 to 1935. They moved to 5939 Sunset Boulevard in 1935, joined the CBS network in 1936, and finally settled into the Columbia Square location in 1938.

It's astonishing how many landmarks were located on Vine in the two blocks between Hollywood Blvd and Sunset Blvd. NBC's fabulous west coast studios; the CBS Radio Playhouse (kudos to Mary for her writeup!); the Hollywood Brown Derby...even ABC was on Vine for a time. And even more landmarks were located north of Hollywood Blvd! No wonder the intersection of Hollywood and Vine was so famous.

To the best of my knowledge there are no longer any radio stations based in Hollywood. The only remaining broadcaster is television station KTLA.

That was a great group of photos sopas ej.

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/6409/parkedcar.jpg


Well, you can't say he wasn't warned:

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg208...jpg&res=medium

And, I'll take one of these...either one:

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg253...jpg&res=medium

Certain pictures make me go straight to Google Earth to see what's left--interestingly, in this view, really only the lot containing the gas station has changed... the house or apartment building on Santa Barbara/MLK to the station's left is still there, as are the four houses to its right on the east side of Normandie....

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-m...7%252520PM.jpg

:previous:
Wow, Gaylord, I find that amazing that those structures next to the the old gas station are still there.

Thank you very much for that information, Jon Paul, very interesting! That is indeed Francis Van Wie in the photos. I looked it up on the USC Archive again, and sure enough, on the info, his name is there.

Haha that's great sopas! I'm glad that that I remembered that blog post. Figures though, my other half recently compared my mind to an episode of Hoarders :D

So, was there ever a trailer park on Bunker Hill? Seems unlikely, but I think the idea is wonderful.

Exhaustive study of all the blocks comprising the Bunker Hill and Fort Moore areas have not revealed trailer parks - prior to surge in paid parking lots , there were few open spaces. The Clover Park was situated high above Chinatown neighborhood - the street running eastward towards the gasometer tanks beyond Terminal Annex Bldng is Ord St. Jim Dawson and I tramped all over the area several years ago to correct E.Muller's referring to this Cry Danger set location- he'd remarked that it was up on Fort Moore south of Sunset Blvd which I knew was impossible..

:previous:

in this 1875 map, based on the 1849 Ord survey. High street is what became Ord street, the street as Rick M mentioned is the street you see from the Clover Park Trailer Park.

even though technically the hilly portion above Ord Street is not Bunker, nor Fort Moore Hills, it is definately part of the same geological formation.

http://jpg1.lapl.org/maps/lg//MAP_0042.jpg
Source: LAPL Map Visual Collection

In this 1877 Birdseye map, Ord Street is the 2nd stree to the right of College Street. it certainly looks like the area of above Ord Street should be considered part of Fort Moore Hill. However, Fort Moore Hill is considered to be bound by Temple on the South, and Sunset on the North.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5109/...a9f00b67_o.jpg

Does anyone know what the hilly area was called between Fort Moore Hill and Elysian Park?

New from across the pond !
 

Hi everybody - I found this thread by chance some time ago and have been so enthralled by it all that I haven't looked at anything else - I have been through all 259 pages and am amazed by the knowledge and information generated by a simple photograph - the detective work in locating and placing a subject is marvellous and I am also amazed at the number of photographs of Los Angeles that exist and how clear they are - in fact some of the old black and white are clearer than the modern coloured ones.

Living in Southern England - and having only passed through L A on a couple of occasions I am afraid I can not add anything to this site - however I do have an interest in 1930/40 LA and I hope that you will help me with information and photos.

I take my hat off to all of you for a wonderful thread and once I fathom out how to use the site will post a question - keep up the good work and thank you.:worship:

:previous: Welcome to the thread Bilbo!

I was away for the weekend and came home to all these great posts.
Mary, your history of the Vine Street Theater was extrememly interesting. I had no idea it had such a wondrous past.
I was also amazed 684 North Hill Place is still there....thanks for pointing that out SilentLocations.

I just found this great shot of the Clover Trailer Park from the movie Cry Danger. The caption reads: Dick Powell, Richard Erdman, and Jean Porter wait between shots.

http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/8257/clover10.jpg
www.electricearl.com
Courtesy of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Check out the great old house across the street, just loaded down with gawkers.

The old tires leaning up against the fence railing add a real touch of class to the place! :cheers:

Glendale
 

On the second map under Glendale Airport - the is an entry for "night club" - I believe this was the "Club Continental" - a night-club and casino for the rich and famous owned - or run by - an LA crime lord called Nola Hahn.

Hahn seems to be a mysterious character and I cannot find any photos of him - or the Club Continental - does anyone have any information on him and any other clubs he was invovled in ?:shrug:

:previous:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-h...2520AM.bmp.jpgParadise Leased

That's Diana Dors and hairstylist Raymond of London in front of 9550 Heather Road in Beverly Hills. What has this to do with Nola Hahn? Apparently the house was owned by Nola in the '30s. He sold it to Dick Powell and Joan Blondell. They divorced in 1944... aside from Hahn, Powell, Blondell, and Dors, the house has had quite a few celebs in residence: http://la.curbed.com/archives/2010/0...terclick_1.php


What you see on the map is not a separate Glendale airport but rather the Airport Gardens Night Club. Here is an interesting item on the Club Continental, which replaced it in 1934:
http://www-tc.pbs.org/opb/historydet...tinental_1.pdf

I'm sure there must be a pic or two of Hahn the man in old Los Angeles Times articles--not easily accessible for free outside of a library.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/--...ertanhouse.jpgSt. James Park/Historic Los Angeles

Bulletin from the publicity department of Gaylord Wilshire Enterprises: In the manner of our history
of Berkeley Square, we have begun a new blog meaning to tell the story of another West Adams
enclave, St. James Park. Unless the Countess Doheny has any objection to the spotlight being
diverted from her Chester Place fiefdom, please visit us here for an introduction:

http://stjamesparklosangeles.blogspot.com/

James Lileks at the Biltmore Hotel
 

James Lileks, the Minnesota blogger, writer, and admirer of the past is in Los Angeles for a bloggers convention and is staying at the Biltmore. You can read is impressions here:

http://lileks.com/bleats/archive/11/11/110711.html

Be sure to watch his little video in the middle of the blog entry.

Here is another day:

http://lileks.com/bleats/archive/11/11/110911.html

If you are a fan of motel postcards and old match books, check out his collections on his home page:

www.lileks.com

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-y...2520PM.bmp.jpgdowntownla.com

I am of the belief that noir extended through the '60s, and even into the '70s, through the writings of Joan Didion. Worth reading, or rereading, are Slouching Toward Bethlehem and The White Album, both of which contain essays evocative of the era in noirish terms--I think her descriptions of the effects of the Santa Anas in "Los Angeles Notebook" and of such incidents as the Tate-LaBianca murders are mesmerizing. Not specific to L.A., but still intensely felt, are her feelings about growing up in & around Sacramento in Where I Came From--like her earlier essays, an incredible literary delineation of the meanings of California.

She has a new book out, Blue Nights, which, though not about California, prompted this post. I notice that, as part of a week the Los Angeles Review of Books is devoting to her, is "An Evening With Joan Didion" on November 16, here:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-9...2520PM.bmp.jpgUSCDL
St. Vibiana's, 214 S. Main

More info: http://www.laobserved.com/intell/201...oan_didion.php

Hi Bilbo, welcome!

Digging through different files I found out a little bit on Nola Hahn and Club Continental. No pictures yet, but I'm hoping to come across some soon.

That is indeed Club Continental on the map. The building originally housed the Airport Gardens Supper Club, which was a well-known speakeasy during prohibition. After the repeal, Nola Hahn was brought in by a group of investors to establish an illegal gambling club for high rollers. The club was also remodeled extensivley and quite elaborately.

Nola had established himself as a leading expert on designing gambling pits that could be hidden away by panels or other camouflaging contraptions in case of a bust. Club Continental was seen as his crowning glory. The club was set back quite a ways from Sonora, with a very long driveway. Guards watching the street entrance could radio the club and the gambling area could be completely converted to a dining room by the time agents reached the front door.

Raids didn't happen often since the then mayor of Los Angeles, Frank Shaw, was one of the club's best customers and received kickbacks from the operation. By 1938, Hahn seems to have ended his partnership in the club because he then bought the Trocadero from Billy Wilkerson. His timing for that purchase was not good because later that year Mayor Shaw was recalled and Fletcher Bowron was voted in as his successsor. Bowron ran on the platform of a crackdown on vice.

Nola Hahn kept the Trocadero for a couple of years, then sold it and headed for the pre-Bugsy Siegel Las Vegas. He opened the hugely successful Colony Restaurant and within a few years became the go to guy when it came to designing legal gambling clubs.

There is not much of anything about him after that, other than he committed suicide in 1957 at the age of 60.

~Jon Paul