:previous:

Culver Boulevard, 1929
http://a.imageshack.us/img822/3313/1929hotelculver.jpg
USC Archive

According to Wikipedia, the Culver Hotel was built in 1924 on the site of Culver City's first movie theater. It was originally named the Hotel Hunt, and then later on as the Culver City Hotel. Harry Culver, who founded Culver City, had offices on the 2nd floor. Harry Culver and movie icon Charlie Chaplin jointly built and owned the hotel.

I haven't been able to find any info on the Hotel West End.

Sieg Heil?
 

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/phot...410_salute.jpgLAT

Always a fan of light reading, I'm in the midst of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, a great book that has reminded me of what I'd long heard was once standard practice while pledging allegience to the flag. Above is an L.A. example. (Btw, no idea of what the Knothole Gang was.)

Given the rare opportunity of an empty Hollywood and Vine lot, wouldn't it be fantastic if some Hollywood hipster was able to unearth the architectural plans for Neutra's cafe and rebuild it at Hollywood and Vine? Of course, a one-story building would never fly in today's L.A.--so how about going ahead and finally building Laemmle's proposal? Alas, here we are in the middle of another economic mess--

:previous:

Oh that would be awesome for Hollywood and Vine. I walked by there last month and noticed that that northwest corner lot is now a surface parking lot; leave it to the owner to capitalize on parking, huh?

That flag salute photo is also interesting. Heil, Die Vereinigten Staaten!

Here a few more photos from the LAPD collection that were published in the book "Scene of the Crime Photographs from the LAPD Archive" All photos are scanned from the book

7th Street Bridge Suicide 1959

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4076/...a0acd596_b.jpg


Henry Whitfield, an ex-convict telephoned poice from a Glendale Boulevard restaurant and confessed to shooting his now ex hold up partner, Robert Hayes. Upon his arrest Whitfield stated;

"I killed him, and i'm glad". "He was no good, i shoulda killed him a long time ago".

The two quarreled over a woman and division of a sum of money. $2,351.00 was found on the now dead Hayes, Whitfield carried $500.00 at the time of his arrest

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4117/...9dfcdb87_b.jpg


On December 9th, 1969, the Los Angeles Police Department's experimental Special Weapons and Tactics, (SWAT), division had it's first live challenge in a four hour siege and shootout at the headquarters of the Black Panthers organization at 41st and Central Avenue, after the Panthers refused to allow officers to search the building for weapons.

Thousands of rounds were fired, three officers and three Panthers were wounded in the confrontation.

The Swat concept originated in response to the Watts riots of 1965. The special force was conceived by former police chief William Parker and then detective inspector Darryl Gates.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4081/...ca736db7_b.jpg


Tony Trombino and Tony Brancato were well known to law enforcement agents as "shake-down" artists and mob muscle men.

They were found shot to death in a 1949 Oldsmobile on North Ogden Drive.

The two Tony's had been named as suspects in the attempted hit on Micky Cohen outside Sherry's on the Sunset Strip. Brancato had been arrested as a suspect in the killing of Bugsy Siegel but was released.

The murder of the "Two Tony's" was finally solved in 1978 when Mob hitman, Jimmy the Weasel Fratiano confessed to the killings as part of his testimony before entering the witness protection program.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4095/...e509e0a6_b.jpg


Police arrived at a Wilshire apartment to find the body of Mary Lindsay who had been stabbed. The home was known to police as a fancy drinking and gambling joint. Later that same day the body of miss Lindsay's live-in companion, Emmett Hicks was found hanging from a crossbar of the high tension electrical power line tower at 99th and Zamora Street. The police report stated;

"a clear case of murder and suicide"

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4142/...dfc2f8a6_b.jpg


this last photo is a scan from the book "Sins of the City The Real Los Angeles Noir"

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4134/...4b59c26f_b.jpg

The salute was, (is), known as the Bellamy salute. The Pledge of Allegiance was written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy and was originally published in the September 8 issue of the popular children's magazine The Youth's Companion as part of the National Public-School Celebration of Columbus Day, a celebration of the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas. The event was conceived and promoted by James B. Upham, a marketer for the magazine, in a campaign to encourage patriotism and the display of the American flag in public schools.

The swearing of the pledge is accompanied by a salute. An early version of the salute, adopted in 1892, was known as the Bellamy salute. It started with the hand outstretched toward the flag, palm down, and ended with the palm up. Here are the instructions on how to properly salute and pledge Allegiance that were published in the 1892 Youth's Companion Magazine;

At a signal from the Principal the pupils, in ordered ranks, hands to the side, face the Flag. Another signal is given; every pupil gives the flag the military salute -- right hand lifted, palm downward, to a line with the forehead and close to it. Standing thus, all repeat together, slowly, “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands; one Nation indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.” At the words, “to my Flag,” the right hand is extended gracefully, palm upward, toward the Flag, and remains in this gesture till the end of the affirmation; whereupon all hands immediately drop to the side.


Because of the similarity between the Bellamy salute and the Nazi salute, developed later, President Franklin D. Roosevelt instituted the hand-over-the-heart gesture as the salute to be rendered by civilians during the Pledge of Allegiance and the national anthem in the United States, instead of the Bellamy salute. Removal of the Bellamy salute occurred on December 22, 1942, when Congress amended the Flag Code language first passed into law on June 22, 1942.

The Bellamy Salute being performed during the pledge 1942

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...y_salute_1.jpg
Wikipedia

The Bellamy Salute be performed during the pledge 1941

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...edge_salue.jpg
Wikipedia

Thanks for the welcome! I'm still working my way through the thread, almost half-way through! Such cool stuff.

I should say that I work downtown, so many of these pictures are absolutely fascinating in terms of what used to be. The elevated bike path between Pasadena and LA, back on page 43? Coolest thing ever, had never heard of it. Hope to learn more about it in the next 40 pages. :)

OK, way back in March, you asked if anyone can pinpoint this view. Check out the post right before it, #875. That picture, looking north from Broadway, is just to the left of this picture. There are two buildings on the right of 875 that correlate to two on the left in 876: The "W.P. Fuller" building, and the "Rives-Strong Building" (the one with the large sign on top, left center). So, that's Spring Street, I assume. The diagonal street is that weird thing between Broadway, Main, and Olympic.

Sorry if this has already been pointed out, still making my way through the thread. Didn't see anything on this for a few pages after those posts.

OK, even better - I believe those two pictures were taken on the same day. If you put them side by side and nudge them around a bit, you get this:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4120/...6b6e621f7d.jpg

Same lighting, and the clouds even match up. Must have been, what, mid-summer, a storm brewing over the Antelope Valley?

Oh, what the heck, I did the same thing for the other three pictures on that page from 1931, "in the vicinity of the Herald Examiner building." They match up pretty well.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4114/...17a6dc262d.jpg

Sorry they're so small, still figuring out this Flickr thing. I can post a link to the big pics, if anyone's interested.

Edit: OK, one last thing! I didn't realize that in post #895, sopas_ej had posted a picture of the "Western Pacific Building" today; now that I see what it looks like on the right-hand side, you can see that all five of these pictures go together, probably all taken on the same day, as something of a panorama:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4080/...ac2783ccd0.jpg

I'll probably find out in about 10 pages that someone already put all of this together, right?!

great work chinghis! it appears that the photo question that ER posted some time ago is now solved! the photo was probably taken from the roof of the chamber of commerce building which was next door to the south of the examiner building on broadway.

lately, i've been having fun with google street maps, and syncing up photos from the archive with the googlemap images.

here are a few

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4100/...a742befe_b.jpg
Broadway between 3rd and 4th looking north 1900 and now

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4078/...3b7be885_b.jpg
looking west on what was once court street across broadway 1920 and now

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4116/...fea66ecc_b.jpg
looking west on 2nd at broadway 1890 and now

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4094/...7a36f4d6_b.jpg
looking nw across grand just south of temple 1928 and now

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4102/...8edbc298_b.jpg
4th and hill looking west 1939 and now

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4122/...ed087040_b.jpg
looking se across grand at 4th street 1890 and now

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4077/...699baa48_b.jpg
looking west from hill street just south of 3rd 1895 and now

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4094/...7a721f33_b.jpg
looking west on 2nd across olive 1960 and now

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4120/...b7dc1a37_b.jpg
3rd street tunnel looking east between flower and hope 1903 and now

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4102/...585d173b_b.jpg
vine street looking south across selma 1925 and now

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4082/...f724144d_b.jpg
rodeo drive looking north across wilshire 1968 and now

^^^I wonder why the lady is running in that last photo.


In today's Los Angeles Times there is a story straight out of the bleakest 'noir'.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lano...-basement.html


Two babies dead for 70 years found in a basement, wrapped in the L.A. Times
along with letters and tickets to the 1932 Olympics Closing Ceremonies.




KTLA did a segment on the discovery as well.

http://www.ktla.com/videobeta/?watch...6-24455aae42a1

:previous:
I read that this morning too! I was very intrigued by it. I think it could be the basis for a great movie.

I'm also wondering why that lady in the last pic is running. I doubt she's trying to catch a bus. The pic also looks like it might be from the late 1950s, judging by the clothes and the running lady's hairstyle (it looks teased, which women started doing in the late 50s before it evolved to the full-blown beehive and bouffant hairstyles of the early 60s).

some more google maps street view then and now's

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4135/...51c64b52_b.jpg
nw corner of sunset and gower 1913 and now

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4097/...c2cc0e80_b.jpg
looking se on olive between 3rd and 4th 1967 and now

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4140/...0a3c7ac7_b.jpg
sw corner of olive and 4th 1920 and now

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4097/...140ee600_b.jpg
nw corner of wilshire and fairfax 1939 and now

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4096/...7d9d0845_b.jpg
ne corner of alexandria and wilshire 1937 and now

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4140/...935ee259_b.jpg
looking south on flower and figueroa from temple 1932 and now

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4073/...c4ef6570_b.jpg
black dahlia crime scene 1947 and now

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4114/...87105c72_b.jpg
ne corner of vine street and la mirada avenue 1929 1954 and now

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4118/...a7cb4d49_b.jpg
looking east on third from fremont 1932 and now

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4096/...ed1ab0c6_b.jpg
looking north on vine street from sunset boulevard 1938 and now

Fascinatingly noirish indeed, ethereal. Hope there's some follow-up to this story. Even in the '30s this was still a pretty fancy part of town--right across the street from this building the landmark Bernard house still stands at #845:

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics24/00061719.jpgLAPL


The estimable "Floyd B. Bariscale" has documented it beautifully here:

http://bigorangelandmarks.blogspot.c...-carriage.html

Your comparison photos are GREAT jsgansen!


Gaylord Wilshire
Thanks for posting the photo of the Bernard House.
I've been trying to remember what that area of the city was/is like.
In one of the articles it describes the area as one of the oldest and densest in the city ; I was a bit surprised by that.

Also they mention the apartment building was home to many actresses back in the day (1930s).
It seems every aspect of this sad story is intriguing.

Hopefully someday, evidence will be discovered in similar fashion relating to the Black Dahlia.

Always enjoy your Kuehn-inspired then-and-nows, gs. The details intrigue me--for instance, the same fire hydrant and the line of phone poles in these shots. And what's that in the driveway? Too big to be Betty's purse.

Ethereal--The area was definitely a "silk-stocking" district when first developed, as you can see by the Bernard house. Many of the the earlier houses were replaced by sizeable apartment buildings in the '20s (such as #842, the scene of this recent grisly discovery) when the population exploded and property owners wanted to capitalize on soaring land values. Generally, despite the arrival of movie people and their disgraceful behavior (including the tawdry murder not far away of William Desmond Taylor, goings-on that would tighten even further the marcels of Friday Morning or Ebell Club matrons), the neighborhood seemed to hold on to at least some of its upper-middle-class respectablilty even into the '50s, judging by such things as Blue Book listings. As for the Dahlia case, let's hope so. I've read all the books--I get the various scenarios and details mixed up now, but I still like the one that has Betty connected to Brenda Allen, and Harry Chandler being involved. It fits in well with the whole noir Chandler/Noah Cross moguls-with-rapacious-appetites thing. (Cue the Chinatown score here.)

Great then and nows, gsjansen. Very interesting.

And great info on the Bernard House, Gaylord. The Westlake District has always fascinated me, and the fact that it's been run-down for a long time also just adds to it for me. I'm sure gentrification is right around the corner; hell, the fact that the apartment building where they found the two dead babies in the basement, is being turned into condos, is proof of it.

All this Black Dahlia talk is kinda putting me in a noir mood, though the current hot temps we're getting here in LA, somehow kills the noir mood for me; hot late summers remind me instead of the Manson Murders or the Nightstalker.

But the Black Dahlia also makes me think of Georgette Bauerdorf. Makes me wanna drive by her murder apartment building again.

http://www.georgettebauerdorf.com/wp..._palacio_h.jpg
georgettebauerdorf.com

I completely agree with you about the weather sopas_ej.

The Santa Ana winds in the winter months always made me feel like I was in a Raymond Chandler novel (especially 'Red Wind').

The Los Angeles summers seemed more claustrophobic and violent.
My first dead body was a person shot in the head at Venice Beach (I had just moved to L.A.).

Figueroa Street extension showing three tunnels (1931)



http://a.imageshack.us/img507/1874/l...astreetext.jpg
usc









below: The north portal of the fourth tunnel. (1935)



http://a.imageshack.us/img245/3078/n...the4thtunn.jpg
usc







http://a.imageshack.us/img217/643/figueroa1938works.jpg
public works










below: Figueroa tunnel and construction. (1940)


http://a.imageshack.us/img265/3087/l...ghway10now.jpg
usc

Poor Georgette. She must have met the wrong guy at the Canteen. My favorite part is that her next-door neighbor was Virginia Weidler, who was keeping out of such trouble by toiling away at MGM under L.B.'s thumb, playing parts such as Little Mary Haines and Dinah Lord --and who could ever forget her in Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch? She did die young though--heart attack at 42.

http://www.movieactors.com/photos/PhilStory125.jpegmovieactors.com

"Oh Lydia, oh Lydia
Say, have you met Lydia
Lydia, the tattooed lady..."

a few more than and now's.....................(let me know if this is becoming boring.....)

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4140/...24695962_b.jpg
looking west on 5th street across grand 1923

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4081/...a48e8d2e_b.jpg
the crescendo 8572 sunset boulevard 1957 and now

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4073/...e58c589a_b.jpg
looking se on sunset between crescent heights boulevard and laurel avenue 1947 and today

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4123/...1758bb09_b.jpg
looking south on sunset plaza drive across sunset boulevard 1945 and now

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4098/...c3df71eb_b.jpg
looking west from the intersection of n. spring street and bellevue towards the intersection of sunset boulevard and broadway 1945 and now