.
A mystery location found earlier today on eBay.


Seller's description:...Vtg 1918 Cabinet Card Los Angeles Police Dept Graduating Class Koessler LA.


https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/8...924/uLAhMZ.jpg
eBay


And here's the writing on the back.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...922/sqsnW4.jpg




My specialty: A closer look. :)

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq70/924/uLAhMZ.jpg
eBay





And lastly, here's a better view of the photographer's stamp.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/8...924/VggjsO.jpg

Any ideas where this 1918 graduation ceremony took place? :shrug:


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And now for something more modern. (also a mini-mystery location)

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...924/S0s3ZI.jpg
eBay



A Kodachrome slide taken somewhere in Hollywood. (1966)

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...922/uJRafH.jpg
eBay

If I were to guess I would say the Gulfstream(?) trailer is being used as a star's dressing room during location shooting.

I've never seen gold propane tanks before... Tre Chic :haha:


,

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Oh my, this is most interesting!


Seller's description:..Photo Negative Rex Stuart Western Film Production Hollywood CA Trailer Vintage.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...923/2xFjJM.jpg
eBay

I hurriedly look through several city directories but found nothing on the Rex Stuart Film Production Co.

Go forth, minions! ..:superwhip
.

:previous:

Not Production Company; but here's a start:

https://i.postimg.cc/pThwy6ck/Rex-St...-1962-3-29.jpg
LA Times, 3/29/1962, slightly edited

https://i.postimg.cc/3RsPGFPh/Rex-St...-1962-9-17.jpg
LA Times, 6/17/1962

Bring your boots
 

This thread is a go to for me. To have all this in one spot! woohoo Thank you er

This is a link to a compilation of old pics of Los Angeles on Jarid Booster's YT page. My hat is tingling... ;-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGTrD2GUm5Q&t=3s

noirish. Moorish. I hope this is ok :)

https://i.imgur.com/6qc9S5p.jpg





Same or different Rex Stuart? :shrug: Operating in Texas around 1939 to 1942.


https://i.imgur.com/IKBRK7Z.jpg
archive.org - Boxoffice, March 25, 1939



Working on a Buffalo Bill project in 1939.


https://i.imgur.com/kvcy9EI.jpg
archive.org - Boxoffice, Sept 16, 1939


He turns up in Palm Springs making western music in 1943.


https://i.imgur.com/KT4YOyZ.jpg
cdnc.ucr.edu - Desert Sun, 30 July 1943


He's still working on Buffalo Bill.


https://i.imgur.com/Ur3a86X.jpg
cdnc.ucr.edu - Desert Sun, 30 April 1943


He turns out with his horse King Gold at various parades. Here in Santa Rosa in 1947.


https://i.imgur.com/VEFxaWc.jpg
cdnc.ucr.edu - Press Democrat, 17 May 1947


The publicity for these events laud him as the famous Lone Ranger from Movieland and the star of other western films.


In court in 1954 looking for compensation for the death of King Gold, Rex downgrades his movie career somewhat.


https://i.imgur.com/hmDKVjF.jpg
cdnc.ucr.edu - Napa Valley Register, 11 November 1954

Reversing the negative doesn't tell us much more...

https://i.postimg.cc/wMJdJHXK/rexstuart-bmp.jpg



Rex seems to have had a short career as a cowboy crooner. Nothing in city directories and apparently only a mention or two in the press. Then it looks like he opened a western-wear store in Pacoima, which an item in the Valley Times on Feb 23, 1950, covering a break-in referred to as a "second-hand store." The store seems to have had a longer life than the owner's entertainment career--the ad below is from June 1, 1961.

https://i.postimg.cc/DZ2pvhZf/rexstuartad-bmp.jpg


A sheet music cover:

https://i.postimg.cc/T1jrpLHZ/rexstuartcover-bmp.jpg

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:previous:
Thanks for turning the Rex Stuart negative into a positive image, Noir Noir and Gaylordwilshite. I appreciate it. :)



I wonder if Chief Knothead survived... If he did (survive), I'd like to know where it is.


Chief Knothead reminded me of a childhood memory I have of an Indian sculpture on Rt. 1 north of Danville, Illinois. It stood for years in front of a heating and plumbing store.

see it here


A Tin Man was added later but it was atrocious.
.

https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds

A familiar intersection, Sunset Bl. at Highland Ave. looking east....undated but I found a reference to the Datsun "How's this for openers?" campaign in the spring of '72, and I believe that's a yellow Ford Pinto facing us, the Pinto debuted in Sept. '71.....so we are in that time frame....


Now, as to this....


https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds


At first glance I thought "Druscilla" was possibly a forerunner to Angelyne, someone who was promoted for the sake of being promoted....or maybe she fronted a band called Lakewood Pipe (recall these were the days of The 1910 Fruitgum Co., Pacific Gas & Electric, Chicago Transit Authority etc)....wrong and wrong, turns out there was a Lakewood Pipe....


https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...370&fit=bounds



https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...720&fit=bounds



Karen and Richard Carpenter released the single "Sing" in Jan. '73 ("Sing, sing a song, sing out loud, sing out strong", that record)....the tune peaked at Billboard #3.....on the flip side was a song about a rock groupie called "Druscilla Penny" (the tune initially appeared on a Carpenters album released in '71)....


https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...370&fit=bounds


The Carpenters recorded in the studios located on the lot of their label, A&M Records, as often noted in the thread A&M was housed in the former Chaplin studios property at Sunset/La Brea.....so just a few blocks west of Sunset/Highland....

....to me that's too much of a coincidence, I have to think Richard Carpenter and/or his co-composer John Bettis copped the "Druscilla" name from the subject billboard.

Anyone recognize this place?

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...72af3f8d_b.jpg

It's terribly familiar and I seem to thing it was up around New High Street or thereabouts. (I think there was a post a couple years ago and we talked about how it used to have a more prominent tower?)

Thanks in advance!

It used to have three towers! That's the 1887 Clinton Block aka Sunset Hotel at the NWC of North Spring and Ord.

Here it is, de-towered (above the pedestrian's head), looking west on Ord in 1948:

https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag..._2001-0410.jpg

2001-0410 at CA State Library



This image is dated c. 1935; the Clinton Block is north across Ord, beyond the vacant lot. The building's distinctive corner is
at the right edge:

https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...-_00067304.jpg

00067304 @ LA Public Library



Here's a c. 1920 view showing two of the towers (note "Sunset Hotel" atop west wall above Wrigley's ad):

https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...378_-_1024.jpg

CHS-6378 @ USC Digital Library



The Clinton Block is on the left in this undated photo looking NE -- we finally see all three towers:



Here we're looking SE at it in probably late 1887:

https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...oss_street.jpg

Denver Public Library



It was still hanging on as a one-story building in February 2023!

I don't remember the Texaco station nor that "Riviera Motel" at 6757 Sunset Blvd. there, either. Especially something that looked like this:

https://www.cardcow.com/images/set881/card00372_fr.jpgCard Cow

Last fall, it was announced that this was going to be built on that corner:

https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/20..._0-852x553.jpg

https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/20..._2-852x500.jpg

More info here:
https://la.urbanize.city/post/develo...hland-site-44m

I don't recall mentioning this.

The often mentioned area of Sunset Blvd. and Crescent heights, where the Lytton Bank was located and before that the Garden of Allah, now pretty much looks like this:

https://wehotimes.com/wp-content/upl...5/IMG_3061.jpg

It was all leveled to make way for the 8150 Sunset Blvd. Project, a Frank Gehry designed building. That design was subsequently scrapped. A new design was to be constructed. Apparently as of this year:

8150 Sunset Blvd Project is a Bust – Lot Once Home to Garden of Allah is for Sale

It appears the 8150 Sunset Blvd Project is a bust. The lot located on the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Crescent Heights is back on the market. A listing for the land that was once home to The Garden of Allah and the recently destroyed Lytton Savings Bank Building is appearing in multiple websites advertising the sale of the 2.5-acre property.

https://wehotimes.com/8150-sunset-bl...h-is-for-sale/

True or not I don't know, but a commenter wrote: Townscape is known for bait and switch. They had multiple iterations of projects for this land, but within the development community, it was well known they never planned to build anything here. They wanted to clear the land and then sell it.

A new iteration of the Garden of Allah should be built.

:previous:

With a model of the Lytton Bank in reception to bring things full circle. :)

Yes yes yes! Thank you so much.

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Here are a couple of interesting amateur snapshots currently on eBay.


Here's the one I happened upon first. Luckily, the seller provides clues in the description.

"OLD PHOTOGRAPH CARS YARROW'S HOUSE MAYHEW HOLLYWOOD LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA PHOTO."

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...924/0bKuzB.png
eBay

Does anyone recognize the area? ....(if I were to guess I'd say Silverlake)




The second snapshot clarifies what the seller meant by "Mayhew" ..(it's handwritten below the photograph)

"VINTAGE PHOTOGRAPH YARROW'S HOUSE MAYHEW HOLLYWOOD LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA PHOTO."

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...922/1kUO4D.jpg
eBay

But no street number.






Well, actually there are street number but they're too small (and far away) to read

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...923/hLT10c.jpg

. . .even if you squint.

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Maltman Avenue
 

Could it be 1407/08 Maltman Avenue, Los Angeles?

:previous:


Nice tip-off Noir Lady. :tup: The chief detective will be pleased.


https://i.imgur.com/WClU4ol.jpg
rescarta.lapl.org


"Lloyd R. Yarrow and Bert Massey, incoming and outgoing chief liquor control officers, Los Angeles, 1935"

https://i.imgur.com/bOKtZtf.jpg
digital.library.ucla.edu


1407-1409 Maltman Ave.

https://i.imgur.com/kfkQ5vj.jpg
GSV

Thank you, Noir__Noir for filling in all the details.

This of Yarrow and Massey turns out to be much more Noirish than one might have expected. The details are too byzantine and lengthy for me to reproduce or even summarize here; but it involves corruption, manipulation of liquor licenses, the State Board of Equalization, phone calls with disguised voices, a secretary with chutzpah and a little red book and a little maroon book, a man named Parrot, and indeed a host of colorful characters male and female.

Here are just three little items which caught my fancy, the first one being a bit of background on Massey:

https://i.postimg.cc/25b4YWCZ/Yarrow-LAT-1923-7-8.jpg
LA Times, 7/8/1923

https://i.postimg.cc/Sx5MgKcN/Yarrow-LAT-1935-7-24.jpg
LA Times, 7/24/1935

The proceedings of the inquiry seem to have been made for a noir film. This detail of the testimony made me chuckle:

https://i.postimg.cc/bNrr4hyG/Yarrow-LAT-1936-6-23.jpg
LA Times 6/23/1936

You'll be pleased that Yarrow was clean, but due to regulations he could not serve longer than the unexpired term of the person he replaced, Massey, and so had to step down from his position (and returned to his old job).

1407 Maltman
 

If that is Maltman then the 2 story building on the right is probably the old Micheltorena St School torn down in 1935 because of damage from Long Beach earthquake. It was rebuilt..

HossC! LOL! :tup:

I played with the Topaz "AI Based" image sharpener and it looks like the street number on the left hand door was one four something seven something. FWIW.

Cheers,

Earl

I believe there are letters after the numbers i.e. 1407A and 1407B to designate separate duplexes

I agree.

Cheers,

Earl

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Here's yet another photograph from the 'Yarrow' photo-album.


https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...922/sZVeEd.png
Link..eBay


As you can see it says, "Crestmont from Maltman Ave."


For quick comparison here's the similar photograph I posted the day before yesterday.

In historical terms it's too bad the seller isn't selling the photo album intact instead of selling everything piecemail. :no:

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Mulholland Drive at Cahuenga Pass 1946
 

Another cover from the Pacific Electric employees' magazine, from May, 1946. A lot of the roads are basically unchanged. The magazine described the cover image as: COVER PICTURE—Portion of the beautiful Hollywood Parkway through Cahuenga Pass. Pacific Electric's double-tracked rail line in the center of the divided highway increases by many times the efficiency of the parkway for transportation purposes. Source is Internet Archive at: https://archive.org/details/pe-mag-1946-05-may
https://i.imgur.com/4IrIfIu.jpg

A view from Google Earth (date not available there) shows many similarities to the magazine image:
https://i.imgur.com/I7Ql3PI.jpg

That would mean the building at the right is Philippe The Original or at least part of it now. Some of the brickwork at the top is gone but the window looks the same. At first I thought the partially hidden sign in the old photo was the start of "Hot Sandwiches" Now I think it is the start of a hotel sign. The way the space upstairs at Philippe is divided seems like it could have been a hotel in the past.
Add edit: Philippe didn't move to the current location until 1951, three years after the old photo was taken.

https://i.imgur.com/jLM6JQl.pngGSV

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And, sadly, here's the old Sunset Hotel (formerly Clinton Block) as seen from the middle of the intersection.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...922/hOH2OV.jpg
GSV

It should be a crime to treat a once dignified building this way.

If there's a basement I'd like to rummage around in it.


Of course it was already past it's prime in Beaudry's painting.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...923/UcJGaq.jpg

It's none of my business but did you buy this painting, Beaudry?

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:previous:

Just for the record, here's the Clinton Block on the 1909 Birdseye map.

https://i.postimg.cc/VLfcGNHc/Clinton-Block1909.jpg

--which reminds me of an old question: The Birdseye map was copyrighted in 1909 . . . but can we determine when it was actually sketched? Are there buildings of 1909 which aren't on the map? 1908? 1907?

:shrug:

For anyone who needs a link to this very useful map:

https://www.loc.gov/item/2005632465/

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:previous:

Thanks, odinthor. :)

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Here's a mystery snapshot from Los Angeles of a cook, waitress and hostess(?) posing in front of a couple of 1940s cars.


https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...924/T2wyKE.jpg
eBay (I can't find it again so it must have sold)


I didn't think we would be able to figure this one out until I noticed something odd in the background on the right.




Is this some sort of elaborate sign?

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/8...922/59DFRY.jpg
detail


Sally forth, norishers! :whip:


.

I asked the question, When were the sketches done for the birdseye map of L.A. which was copyrighted in 1909?--anticipating that it would have been a year or two before.

By chance, I ran across a starting point, the C.C. Chapman Building at the northeast corner of Wall and 5th, breaking ground on or about Valentine's Day 1909:

https://i.postimg.cc/hvN235hX/CCChap...-1909-2-14.jpg
LA Times, 2/14/1909

Well, golly, it's on the birdseye map:

https://i.postimg.cc/dVPW2pzX/CCChapman-1909.jpg

So, should it ever make a difference: The 1909 birdseye map was very up to date!

:tup:

,
:previous: That's good to know, odinthor.



Here's another mystery location. ...This time a film negative.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...923/m48aCV.jpg
eBay




I'll start with this film positive - courtesy of the eBay seller.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...923/Za4RdR.jpg




Here's a closer look at the neg.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...922/oJDAJw.jpg

Thankfully there are street numbers visible so it should be easier to find (and be certain of) the location.



The word "Mandalay" has appeared three times on NLA always in reference to a club at 9236 Sunset Blvd....You can check it out Here

.

eBay listing for above photo (maybe this helps.)

Is the sign atop the old Belmont Theatre at 1st and Vermont?

:previous:

The Belmont Theater sign is much closer than anything I found, but I don't think it's quite right. Here's a couple of previous posts:

Here's e_r's sign for comparison:

That was my thought too, but
I wonder if the north side view is different from the south side view?
I recall as a kid that the sign was a "V"
Note how the street lights are similar

Pretty sure it's Bard's Glendale, discussed here previously.

The map should have been correct as of the fall of 1909. However, the mapmakers included the Union League building at 2nd and Hill,
the construction of which did not begin until about the very end of 1909 (it opened in March 1911).


https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...ioned_1024.jpg

October 3, 1909, Los Angeles Times @ Newspapers.com



https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...t_to_start.jpg

December 19, 1909, Los Angeles Times @ Newspapers.com


Nonetheless, thank you Mr. Lawrence and Mr. Gates!

Looks right to me, Mackerm!

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xhPijsVan...en-Bayless.jpg

There are some great shots of L.A. landmarks in the opening credits for the 1956 Dean Martin / Jerry Lewis film "Hollywood Or Bust". These are from a fuzzy print on YouTube, but...enjoy. Where is the Old West set?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTNFziyvOzM

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ebc7bf64_b.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5ac3a9d4_b.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...0172d7a0_b.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a7c16ef8_b.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...257bce3c_b.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...76845aa0_b.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...9db27a89_b.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...40b55ab5_b.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...78ddbd06_b.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c5a403d0_b.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c509f905_b.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...6108b011_b.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f62c3b41_b.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...483b4c2c_b.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1b013a2f_b.jpg

Brooks (1942, Harold S. Johnson)
6307 - 6311 Hollywood Blvd.
Clothing store under construction next door to Melody Lane at Hollywood and Vine. The store was moving from its previous location at 6666 Hollywood Blvd.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b7df30ea_b.jpg
eBay
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...940d4f6b_z.jpg
Los Angeles Evening Citizen News
03 Jun 1942

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a0842768dc.jpg
Huntington Library
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e604a7f1_z.jpg
LAPL
This location was later "Backlot Books" Hollywood Wig and a smoke shop and must have burned in the Basque nightclub fire that destroyed the corner building. Here it is shortly before demolition in 2007.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...90866aa513.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f310605b_b.jpg
GSV
This rendering is dated 1935 so perhaps it was the earlier location at 6666 Hollywood?
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3cb32910_b.jpg
UCLA

It looks like the Paramount Western set which came complete with a fake mountain in the background. This grab is from the 1957 Henry Fonda and Anthony Perkins movie 'The Tin Star'. There are more pictures of the set at the link below.

https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...acklot1957.jpg
www.invisiblethemepark.com

I'm guessing the women are sisters. They could be twins

In the original photo, the streets look like they're meeting at a sharp angle, but Riverside and Fletcher is pretty much a "+". I couldn't find any other photos or aerials showing the same buildings

Anybody want to have another crack at it?

(Well, I'd forgotten this. The Library of Congress has an online collection of white and yellow page phone directories. )

While looking for more information on the 1909 Birdseye Map, I ran across a portion of a 1913 such, purporting to show newer buildings in town. I don't believe it has been featured on NLA before. This was published in the Los Angeles Herald December 6, 1913.

https://i.postimg.cc/zDtJ4Jqs/Birdse...-1913-12-6.jpg

Along the bottom are images of some buildings:

https://i.postimg.cc/zvV1qgq9/Birdse...-1913-12-6.jpg

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:previous:

Oh, that a great map, odinthor!...And you're right. I don't believe we have seen it before. Good job.


And thanks to everyone who helped figured out the mystery sign snapshot. :worship: ..You guys are the best!

.

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Here's a rather haunting snapshop of a lady standing in a field of oats. (c.1915)


https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...922/J3bIeC.jpg
eBay

I imagine that is her fine looking home in the backgound.




For search purposes:...Jean Hungerford...Los Angeles

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Not in a hundred years would I guess this is Beverly Hills, California.


https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...923/7LKq1f.jpg
eBay

I'll take a stab at it and say this is Rodeo Drive.




wink.