Now that is a great interview!
You look especially dapper and handsome in that vintage suit Marc. :)

___

C.C. Pierce photos
 

Interesting slide-show of 30 images of late 19th/early 20th century Los Angeles from the C.C. Pierce photo collection (Huntington Library).

http://framework.latimes.com/2012/07...hy-collection/

-Scott

Rare postcard found on ebay.

http://imageshack.us/a/img811/5348/l...estmoorepc.jpg

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Friday in Santa Monica at the Long Wharf
 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7248/7...0f4499de_b.jpg
Santa_Monica_3

(ca. 1893) - View of Santa Monica beach was taken north from the Hotel Arcadia. Eckert and Hopf's Restaurant for hot and cold lunches can be seen on the left, two buildings are marked John Wieland's, and on the far right a Pavilion Restaurant sign can be seen. Port Los Angeles Long Wharf upper left.
LAPL

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7250/7...357a7945_b.jpg
sm_mammoth_wharg

ca. 1893) - Aerial view of the S.P. Mammoth Wharf, Port Los Angeles, Calif. The wharf was also known as the old Santa Monica Long Wharf, north of Canyon. It was the longest wharf in the world at 4700 feet long - about a mile and a half (?). A white cloud of smoke can be seen from a train travelling on the tracks to the business end, at the end of the wharf. The Long Wharf has been designated as California HIstorical Landmark No. 881. (may be some slight error in calculation of length)
LAPL

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7258/7...22acf149_b.jpg
Long_Wharf

(ca. 1893) - Southern Pacific wharf, 4700 feet long, for the projected Port of Los Angeles, near Santa Monica, built in 1893. View is from the end of the wharf towards the shore. Train (white smoke) is on the wharf.
LAPL

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8290/7...b15407de_b.jpg
SM_1st_Steamer

(1893) - Southern Pacific wharf, 4700 feet long, for the projected Port of Los Angeles, near Santa Monica, built in 1893. This photograph shows the arrival of the first steamer at the wharf in 1893. Note train at right.
LAPL

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8303/7...ef4108b2_o.jpg
Wharf

(1898) - Photo shows the business end of the mammoth wharf in Santa Monica. This wharf was the longest in the world at 4,700 feet long. Also known as the Los Angeles Long Wharf the site was designated as California Historical Landmark No. 881.
DWPLAPL

Westmore Hotel, Seventh Street and Francisco Street, Los Angeles, 1910. Surprisingly clean given what looks like unpaved street with trolley tracks.
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...D15CBEDA8?v=hrUSC Digital

This showed up in the funny pictures thread yesterday over at my usual stomping ground, the forums at Ars Technica:

http://i38.fastpic.ru/big/2012/0515/...c262e8f0da.jpg
Link to post, but no further info on source.

Excellent interview OBF.
I particularly like the question that the interviewer put to you:

"You've got your Oviatt suit and tie, and your Spectator shoes," I tell him later. "What does it feel like for you to be here? When you look out the windows, do you see 2012? Or does time stand still?"

I was reminded of the film Somewhere in Time with Christopher Reeves. I just saw it again recently on Netflix thinking I'd just see the first five minutes and then move on. I didn't. I watched it from beginning to end.

The ability to step back in time at will is one of my favorite daydreams. That must be something we all have in common here at Norish Los Angeles. That's part of the reason why this thread exists and continues to grow, I'm sure.

Thank you very much for sharing that article and your passion for all things Oviatt.

ETA
Now that I've buttered you up, would it be possible to organize a private tour of the Oviatt building for members of this board with you as our guide?
If that's at all possible, communication could be handled by Private Messaging.

Hi MRyerson,
I believe VOD BITS is shorthand for "Vaudeville Bits" on the poster in post #8707
also, I am very intrigued by your reference to a Vodafone music transcribing system.
I poked around and could find nothing. Do you have anymore info on that?

...great stuff here from everyone, as usual

[QUOTE=MichaelRyerson;5782222]My best guess on 'Vod Bits' is short music trailers taken (probably with permission) from then current releases, Vod being short for Vodafone a popular music transcribing system of the day.

OMG! I completely forgot about that! Sometimes my sense of humor
 

gets me in trouble. I thought that was a pretty droll line and someone would jump on it quickly but...here we are. Sorry for any inconvenience I caused. really. I've now gone back and entered a disclaimer in the offending post. I thought it was hilarious when I wrote it. now, not so much.

I noticed the sign in the background...

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8427/7...dc9c5e39_o.jpg
DemateisandBro
Demateis Winery at N. Alameda near Olvera Street I Courtesy of Italian American Museum of Los Angeles

Always glad to see some kind of success come from such modest beginnings. Now I can't stop thinking about those poor colobus monkeys.

Wireless? I can't read the rest of the sign. Can anybody make out what is says underneath "Wireless"?

As best I can make out, beneath "Wireless" it says:

"See the Great Yacht Scene" and then something undecipherable in smaller text.

Below that: "Wonderful Wireless" and some more text I can't read, then "There's Never Been Anything Like It."

Seems to be an advertisement for a play at the Belasco Theater. The first of two theaters in Los Angeles bearing that name was at 337 S. Main Street from 1901 until it was renamed the Republic Theater some years later. I bet Lewis S. Stone is the same Lewis Stone that played Judge Hardy in the Andy Hardy movies.

ha! that's why all I could find is modern day telecommunication companies.
actually quite funny. my naivete is showing :)
(harrison ford and vodaphone in the 20's.. who knew?)

could be another early Vodafone application...or it could be something like this

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8438/7...153cf3ab_o.jpg
dubya-cheerleading

sorry, more humor. I'll have access to our tech dept Monday, maybe they can freshen and enhance it for us.

Thanks Mark, you're a good sport.

I haven't been able to find a better copy of the "Wireless" photo, but I did come across this. It's from the pages of the New York Clipper, published Feb. 20th, 1908:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7139/7...c45725a7_z.jpg

[source: fultonhistory.com]