The La Brea Bakery! Cool.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-d...23911%2BPM.jpg
gsv

Aand this was Seymour's mother's house in opening shots of original B/W "Little Shop Of Horror"

And this was Seymour's mother's house in original "Little Shop Of Horror"

This tree once grew within the perimeter wall of the Lewis Bradbury mansion - across No.Hill is the Sarah Bixby house - next to Stevens Apts adjacent to top of Court Flight. The tree probably 4 stories in height- likely just a weed-like ash tree.

Yes, it's outside the LAX Flight Path Museum on Imperial Hwy!

http://i1165.photobucket.com/albums/.../Plaque2-1.jpghttp://i1165.photobucket.com/albums/...aque3small.jpg

- Photos by me

The building is still standing, albeit subsumed into a much larger complex:

http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/52/lamarket.jpg

La Dow, Then and Now?
 

http://i1165.photobucket.com/albums/...School1885.jpg

Photograph of a view of students posing in front of the La Dow School in Los Angeles, ca.1885. A large number of young children can be seen lined up along a wooden picket fence in the foreground. Several adults are visible as well, standing behind the group at left. The two-story schoolhouse is in the background. It is a clapboard building with a tall bell tower at center. Two large trees are visible, one of which partially blocks the view of the school.

Photoprint reads: "The La Dow School. District formed in the late 60's. Named in honor of S.W. La Dow who gave the first site for a schoolhouse. Boundaries -- east, Figueroa Street, north Jefferson, south Manchester, west Pacific Ocean. [Wow, just going to school every day was a field trip!] About 1873 acre purchased across street, southeast corner of Vernon and Normandie and two story building erected. Lower part classroom, upper hall for meetings, dances, etc. When two teachers were needed, a room was added about 1884. Also, as pupils increased new districts were formed in the old one to take care of them. In 1906, the district was within territory annexed by Los Angeles and it became a part of the L.A. City School system. In 1908 the old buildings were sold and moved away and a new building erected. This is now the Normandie [...] schools, 4416 S. Normandie Ave. The old school house is now located on Vernon just east of Vermont and looks about the same as this photo shows it. Bell tower removed". [my emphasis]

[Text and picture from USC Digital Library: http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/search...1353738219214]

# # #

With the above italicized text in mind, here's 970 W. Vernon Avenue, just east of Vermont and about a half mile from Vernon and Normandie:

http://i1165.photobucket.com/albums/...School2012.jpg
- Photo by me

The LA County Assessor website says 970 W. Vernon was built in 1899/1900, which doesn't match the info with the old picture, but it's listed as a commercial/industrial building, which could be consistent with the reuse of a former school building.

Obviously there are differences between the buildings in the two photos (e.g., the rear half looks bigger now -- enlarged when the bell tower was removed? -- and the windows on the front half are closer to the roof in the old photo). But unless the info for the 1885 photo is wrong, or other similar-looking buildings were built in the area back then (and there's nothing else like it on either side of that block of Vernon), it seems like it would be a coincidence if 970 W. Vernon isn't the former c. 1873 La Dow School.

Los Angeles landmarks, 1891.

http://losangelespast.blogspot.com/2...landmarks.html

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lr...sduo1_1280.jpg
http://tmblr.co/ZvK8Dx9Yzvpb

"...colder than a ticket taker's smile at the Ivar Theater..." (Tom Waits)

ca. 1980's, when I spent a lot of time exploring LA after business trips to the Honeywell facility in West Covina. In those days the company would let you fly night first class because it was the same fare as day coach, so after the last meeting I'd meander my way to LAX and the Western red-eye to Minneapolis. It left at 1 AM, and the last flight to Vegas left at midnight from the same terminal. Watching that plane board was better than a trip to the zoo. And no, that's not me in the picture :-)

Cheers,

Earl

Bif you're posting some great stuff of labrea,the only building im waiting for is the present 99c store which is across the street from this building going south,when i was growing up it was Bargain Circus,a redish building.I hated going there but my grandmother and parents loved the place,it was very dark inside and for a 8 year old you could get lost very easily with all of the junk in there.It had a huge clown face on the outside and just freaked me out.mind you i like clowns but this place was just creapy.catty cornered was KCOP it was a grey complex.

Bargain Circus
 

Bargain Circus was on La Brea from the late 1950's until at least the end of the 1990's. Can't find a still of it, but it's shown to good effect in the Angelina Jolie/Ryan Phillippe film "Playing by Heart" (1998). It was such a landmark, with its big clown face and vertical red and white stripes, I still get confused where I am on La Brea without it.

P.S.

Here it is:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-P...31822%2BPM.jpg
flickr

...and:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OexDuEEKbs...+circus.2.jpeghttp://shirtofflame.blogspot.comhttp://www.loopnet.com/Attachments/9...CF08813D__.jpggoogle



I have a vague recollection of this business from the 1990s. I have no first hand knowledge of the place before that, e.g., the '50s - '80s. The address seems to have been 852 N La Brea, per the 87 -73 directories. Before that, it may have been a different business. However, advertising the telephone number beginning with an exchange "HO" suggests older. Notice Aaron Bros. was located at 900 La Brea (where Moderncraft was) in 1973, before it moved into its present location at was the Bell & Howell building. http://rescarta.lapl.org:8080/ResCar...us&submit=Find

Anyone care to join me at Edna Earle's Fog Cutter 1635 N. La Brea? Please bring an extra ID, in case they card us!

http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Edna-Earles-F...z+w~~60_58.JPGhttp://i.ebayimg.com/t/Edna-Earles-F...J9Q~~60_58.JPGebay

http://i.ebayimg.com/t/La-Brea-Tar-P...Fz!~~60_57.JPGebay

http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Los-Angeles-C...HFQ~~60_57.JPGebay

Bargain Circus
 

"Bargain Circus was founded in a different Hollywood location as a discount furniture repair shop. When it rained, owner Lee Dolf would erect a circus tent. A name was born. The store moved to its present location (once the site of a supply outlet for Charlie Chaplin's studios) in the late '50s and metamorphosed into an all-purpose knickknack shop."
LAT, 6-1-97
http://articles.latimes.com/1997-06-..._cheap-guitars

More Quonset-hut-esque for you all

Just one man's idea. Stiles Clements sketch for proposed Sports Arena, ca. 1954
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...BUI-631~1?v=hr
USC

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...BUI-628~1?v=hr
USC

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...BUI-633~1?v=hr
USC


Sports Arena nearer. Stiles Clements sketch for proposed Los Angeles Sports Arena, 1956
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...BUI-638~1?v=hr
USC

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...BUI-638~2?v=hr
USC