Stupid me wasn't enlarging the photo before pasting. I'm getting the hang of this.
That's my Grandma and my Dad. He was the manager of Lucca!!

http://cdn.cstatic.net/cache/gallery...53f59575_o.jpgGeorge Mann
525 W. 2nd St., about half a block up from the NW corner of 2nd and Olive.
The old houses are coming down! (With the Daily Planet building in the
background, ya gotta love the back end of the Lois Lane Rambler wagon at
left.)

Wow! You're spot on GaylordWilshire. Thanks for the info. :)

This is Universal City. The black modern building was known as the "Black Tower" and housed offices for many universal studio execs in the 60's, and the newly rising building is the Universal Sheraton Hotel, completed in 1968. The picture was taken most likely from a hillside above Cahuenga Blvd, south of the Hollywood Fwy, looking northeast with the mountains behind Burbank in the background.

I grew up in LA, born in '52. I LOVE this forum, and will try to add my 2 cents when I can. I have TONS of very good memories of 1950's LA. For starters, I saw the Carnation Sign on Wilshire from my bedroom balcony at night when I was 3, in 1955. I can still recall the elaborate sequence of red and white neon and flashing bulbs it cycled through.

This is Universal City in the Valley,1968 for sure
 

The Shearaton Universal Hotel is under construction(1968), and the black office building was called the "black tower" in the 60's, and housed many of the Universal Studios executives. Picture likely taken from hillside above Cahuenga Blvd across Hollywood Fwy, facing northeast, with Mountains above Burbank Area in the Background.
http://www.thestudiotour.com/ush/fro...mcatower.shtml

The groundbreaking for the hotel attended by Bobby Darin, Sandra Dee, Tippi Hedren and Ernest Borgnine:
http://www.efootage.com/stock-footag...iversal_Hotel/

Yeah, like I said at first, I had a suspicion this was the Valley, I just couldn't be sure. Thanks! I know exactly what I'm looking at now. ^^

-Scott

Go Acme!
 

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_z...32407%20PM.jpgHBO

Well, this detail looks promising, even though we are looking at a building on the SW corner of Madison
Avenue and 27th Street in New York.... While some scenes in the trailers look as though they may not
be satisfying individually, it does appear that the overall effect of the new Mildred Pierce could prove
to be.... OK, OK, I'll reserve judgment. HBO, Sunday, March 27, 9pm.

That picture appears to show the local headquarters for the Women's Christian Temperance Union. Their pro Prohibition billboard is eye catching. I guess these gals were kind of pissing in the wind by the time this photo was taken.

:previous:


https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_....bmp.jpg?gl=US
551 S. Kingsley


Actually, the girls are still at it, in new digs:

http://www.wctusocal.com/

If you liked that WCTU billboard you're going to love this one.

http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/9489/111maestro.jpg
usc digital archive

I originally posted this photo in June 2010.

The wctu building used to be 5 stories tall. There's a photo of it somewhere in the thread.....but I can't find it at the moment.

A Cushman Kodachrome I don't think we've seen before...
 

http://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/ar...ull/P05742.jpg
February 24, 1952: "West 6th St.-4200 Block from Bronson Ave." Charles W. Cushman http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/cushman/index.jsp

59 years later:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_z...50048%20PM.jpg Google Street View

Gaylord's Car Crashes
 

I love the look of those cars -

but boy oh boy..they couldn't take a punch very well.

No wonder death and injury rates were stratospheric in those days.

Today's cars are superior in every way but one: Visual appeal. They look like clones of one another.

^^^very cool....great before/after GaylordWilshire.
It's wonderful that Indiana University put Cushman's photographs online.

_________

Ninja55, the Lucca photos are fantastic!!
I especially love the first one. The Lucca matchbook showed utility poles in the dining room and sure enough there they are!

_________



A 1937 photo of one of the Chili Bowls.
Notice the interesting neon over the door and elsewhere.

http://img863.imageshack.us/img863/8...acular1937.jpg
unkown


below: I found this snapshot on ebay the other day.

http://img571.imageshack.us/img571/6...irsmallish.jpg
ebay


close-up

http://img863.imageshack.us/img863/5...rsmallish1.jpg
ebay

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5215/...61b018b5_b.jpghttp://farm6.static.flickr.com/5215/...61b018b5_b.jpg


Joe Musso and his partner standing out in front on Wilshire blvd.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5137/...3f405777_b.jpghttp://farm6.static.flickr.com/5137/...3f405777_b.jpg


Inside Musso's

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5219/...629fb42b_b.jpghttp://farm6.static.flickr.com/5219/...629fb42b_b.jpg


Inside Musso's

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5255/...c61e677e_b.jpghttp://farm6.static.flickr.com/5255/...c61e677e_b.jpg


Joe Musso looking impressive outside his place.