.

Speaking of miniatures. . . .



Is this what I think it is? :shrug:

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/924/N9xHwF.jpg
From the Hollywoodland cache recently found on eBay

Unless my eyes deceive me it's an elaborate on-site model in Hollywoodland...I wasn't aware such a model existed!




Here it is a bit larger for closer inspection.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/924/iWhZhv.jpg

Please tell me someone saved it.

.

That $5,600 from 1964 would be somewhere just over $50,000 in today's money, depending on which website you believe.

E_R, we've never really gotten a good look at that building, which is on the corner of Santa Monica Blvd. and San Vicente Blvd., but I found a b&w one!

I don't know if this photo was posted previously. It was on the Studio One Forever Facebook (I believe) page, dated 1980. We can see that "art deco" roof structure.

https://wehotimes.com/wp-content/upl.../rage-1980.jpg

Signs for Hilldale Coffee Shop, Fred Mayer Jeweler, Propinquity, Pacific Saw & Supply Co.

The following photo from the WeHo Times, a screen capture taken from a Facebook group, shows us that building c.1974!

https://wehotimes.com/wp-content/upl...Rage-1974a.jpg

There was Bail Bonds location above the West Holly Rexall Store. A sign for Emerson's Locksmith. I do know that eventually both Emerson's Locksmith Co. and Fred Mayer Jeweler moved across the street on the south side of Santa Monica Blvd. Fred Mayer's is no longer there. Emerson's Locksmith moved in July of 2018 to 406 N. La Cienega Blvd. I can't verify it, but I believe that Propinquity moved at some point to the east across San Vicente Blvd.

E_R found a photo of this intersection c. early 1980's.

And HossC posted a current GSV view of the intersection.

That is a great snapshot E_R!

I recently saw a Hollywood Blvd. Christmas postacard on eBay and I liked it because of the bright green neon on the Egyptian Theatre.
The photo quality itself isn't so hot, though; here it is.

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/hmAAA...EUl/s-l400.jpgeBay

This great photo of the Sala de Oro at the Biltmore Hotel appeared on eBay today. This is before Wayne McAllister converted it into the Biltmore Bowl nightclub in 1934.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c0cb4172_b.jpg
https://www.ebay.com/itm/255888340432
Here's another great one from the Los Angeles Public Library collection
https://tessa2.lapl.org/digital/api/...07/default.jpg

:previous:
Appears to be a miniature scale model sales prop of a single building (mansion, community center, clubhouse?) the developers planned to build on that Hollywoodland lot to entice buyers. I hope they saved it too like they saved he "Garden of Allah" model! Appears to be a very well made model. I wonder if that building was built?

Building in Hollywoodland stopped fairly quickly after the '29 crash ushered in the Great Depression. In fact, construction and real estate sales in SoCal already had started to slow even before the crash, late in 1928 or early in 1929. In Florida, the real estate bubble ended even earlier, in late 1925 and early 1926, even before the great Miami hurricane hit in October 1926 and supplied the coup de grace.

While economic activity peaked in early 1929, the stock market kept chugging along until the late summer of '29, hitting the high price on Sept. 4, just after Labor Day. It then started down, crashing in October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average reached 381 the day after Labor Day. The low price of 200 was hit October 29th. In less than two months, the stock market lost almost 50%. From November 1929 until April 1930, the stock market recovered almost half the losses. But after that it was mostly down, until the DJ average settled at the low price just below 50 in July 1932. From 1929 peak of 381 to 1932 trough of 41, stocks had lost more than 85% of their peak value, the worst bear market in history. The Dow Jones Industrial Average didn't reach the 1929 peak level of 381 again until 1954.

That Pacific Saw building at 8911 Santa Monica Blvd. went up in 1931 as the Mar-Kee Market. It has been Rage nightclub since 1983.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...cc8c5214_z.jpg
Hollywood Daily Citizen 8.20.31
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4eff2998_z.jpg
Hollywood Daily Citizen 8.27.31
It became a Spanish restaurant called "Espartacus' Fiesta" in 1982 and Rage in 1983.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...fc3ced10_w.jpg
LAT5.8.82

:previous:

Thanks for that additional information Snix!

Rage closed in 2020, another pandemic casualty.

Landlord Dispute Leads to Closure of West Hollywood’s Legendary Rage Nightclub
The 37-year mainstay of Santa Monica Boulevard has closed permanently
by Mona Holmes Sep 9, 2020
https://la.eater.com/2020/9/9/214293...spute-covid-19

A new club called Heart — which replaces the historic club Rage — opened on February 11, 2022 from the owners (one of which is Lance Bass of NSYNC) of the popular Rocco’s, which is directly across the street.

17 minutes of Christmas on Hollywood Blvd., December, 1939!

• Video Link

The description reads: "Kodachrome 8mm footage shot the last week of December, 1939, in Hollywood."

Loved this film footage. I wish it could have been clearer and cleaned up, but am glad to see it.

It's random, jumping around at different places along the boulevard from Vine Street to the Chinese Theatre. In the opening footage you'll see the Hollywoodland sign in the hills. There's lots of walking along the street where the people don't seem to notice the camera at all. A good thing as it allows it all to feel natural. It's great people watching, seeing what everyone was wearing back in 1939. Every once in awhile there's a peek inside the store windows to see what they're selling. You'll see the old blade traffic lights working, P.E. Red Cars up and down the street, a couple cowboys, a sailor, a policeman and Santa Claus makes an appearance.

Paul Muni is playing in a movie at the Warners Theatre, but I couldn't make out what it was. The description above says this footage was shot the last week of December, but we visit the Chinese Theatre where the movie playing is Judge Hardy and Son with Lewis Stone and Mickey Rooney along with Nick Carter Private Detective starring Walter Pidgeon. That double bill played for one week only there from Wednesday, December 13 - through Tuesday, December 19, according to:
http://www.graumanschinese.org/1939.html

In 1939, the metal Christmas trees along the boulevard were of the white variety as though they'd been snowed on. The weather appears to have been on the warm side that year. The last 4 minutes of the footage is at night when they're lit up.

If anyone notices anything of interest we should look out for, please give a shout out!
___

ETA - From the December 10, 1942, edition of Pacific Electric Magazine, in a column titled "West Hollywood" by G.R. Stevens, G.R. writes:

We may spend happier yuletide seasons, but there will never be a more memorable one than this Thanksgiving, followed by Christmas Holidays. Hollywood's Christmas decorations have gone to war. 100 Santa Clauses, made of non vital materials, are decorating Hollywood's Santa Claus Lane this year. Each Santa is 19 feet high. These giant Santas are taking the place of metal trees which we are so accustomed to seeing on glamorous Hollywood Boulevard. The trees, which had 20,000 pounds of metal in them, have found their way into the scrap metal drive for Uncle Sam. The kiddies everywhere are getting a big bang out of these huge Santas and are awaiting anxiously for St. Nick to arrive at their home. There is a spirit of trust and cheer in all the homes of the American people this Yuletide, even in time of war and even though it finds many of our own sons, friends and relatives, battling on fronts all over the world, to assure us all the right to celebrate the Holiday Season forever. This Christmas 1942 finds many of the men far from home, but the hospitality of our Hollywood Canteen, U.S.O., and many other organizations plan to show those boys on leave near here a swell Christmas dinner with turkey and all the trimmings. West Hollywood trainmen too are aiding in this move by inviting soldier boys to share their dinners at home and they are giving war saving stamps and war bonds in place of the usual gifts to friends and relatives.

Internet Archive - Pacific Electric Railway

I neglected to mention that the Valley Ho Restaurant was built by tire store magnate Mark C. Bloome....


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



And speaking of Mark C. Bloome....


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

....a 1960's "Uniroyal Gal" beckons to customers at a Bloome store supposedly here in the city, as per the pinterest.com post.....Uniroyal distributed these nationwide.

The gals were made of fiberglass, stood 18 feet tall and (depending on the source) they weighed either 230 or 450 pounds.

These ladies were local, out of the International Fiberglass Co. in Venice, who also gave us the famous Chicken Boy now standing in Highland Park....from Wikipedia.....

"International Fiberglass was a company founded in Venice, California in about 1963, and best known for their large moulded fiberglass roadside advertising sculptures commonly called "Muffler Men".

The company was formed when Steve Dashew purchased Prewitt Fiberglass Animals and acquired all of the molds created by Bob Prewitt. One of the molds which Dashew acquired in the transaction was a 20-foot human figure, which Prewitt had used in 1962 to create an oversized statue for the Paul Bunyan Cafe in Flagstaff, Arizona. The company had made fiberglass boats, but Dashew decided to use the mold to create some business during slow boat-building periods."

He began advertising his outsize figure-making capability, and began selling his giant figures in 1964. The outsize figures eventually included a female, who could be fitted either with a bikini swimsuit or a dress. In 10 years of production, International Fiberglass sold hundreds of oversized figures, including cowboys, Indians, astronauts, giant chickens, dinosaurs, Yogi Bears, and tigers- selling each for $1,800 to $2,800 (or as low as $1000 when ordered in bulk, as when the Texaco Company ordered a batch of 300).

Dashew ceased production in 1974, and sold the company assets in 1976. The outsized molds were destroyed after the sale."

I was curious as to where International Fiberglass was located in Venice....here's the '68 book....


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



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

1038 Princeton Dr., and to the left 1042....the street is now considered to be part of Marina Del Rey....


Turns out the fiberglass company was neighbor to automotive history, as legendary car designer Carroll Shelby operated his first Shelby American shop out of the 1042 Princeton building....

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

Steve McQueen and Carrol Shelby at the 1042 Princeton building, June 28 1963.....that's McQueen's Ford-Cobra roadster.

Re: The wonderful "Hollywood Blvd. at night" film.

Paul Muni's film "Hudson's Bay" was the only one to play, in Jan. 1941. Muni had no showing at Grauman's in 1938 or 39.

I didn't realize before that Bradley's had such an illuminated sign on its building!
___

Hi, BDiH! Yes, when I saw the big splash of red of Sontag Drugs, I was reminded of this photograph E_R posted.

Hollywood Blvd. in color
 

THANK YOU for sharing this - hands down the most beautiful vintage color footage of Hollywood, or anywhere else for that matter, that I've ever seen - outside of a 30's or 40's technicolor movie. The colors are so vivid and jewel-like. As an artist, the nighttime colors are dreamlike, almost surreal. So grateful that someone preserved this.
And yes, like most viewing this, can't believe how "smart" (1939 lingo) and well-dressed everyone is - not one person looks sleazy, odd, or bedraggled, as would be typical today. Truly another world.

Model of Hollywoodland mansion
 

I knew this house model looked familiar - sorry if I'm coming late to the party & you already know this - but that's a model of Mack Sennett's proposed dream-home. I recall seeing a drawing of it. Here's an article describing the house & Sennett's plans. The article says the house was to be in Hollywoodland atop "Cahuenga Peak," but I thought the area above the Hollywoodland sign was called "Mt. Lee." Whatever...

https://underthehollywoodsign.wordpr...cahuenga-peak/

JeffDiego, I'm glad you enjoyed this as much as I have!

We've seen some Hollywood Blvd. photos at Christmas with celebrities pointing to their photos on the Christmas decorations--there's a really well known one of Claudette Colbert and also, I believe, Fredric March.

Here's a couple I haven't seen. From this link, HERE.

https://i.etsystatic.com/7769938/r/i...99087_dpu2.jpg

On the left is Edward Everett Horton on the ladder and Douglas Fairbanks holding it. Dated 1933. Not exactly sure where they are on Hollywood Boulevard.

The lady on the right is Verona Gittere in front of Grauman's Chinese, looking east toward the First National Bank building at Highland.

https://i.etsystatic.com/7769938/r/i...39984_m1jp.jpg
https://i.etsystatic.com/7769938/r/i...41504_nu2f.jpg

Several days ago I posted a 1979 photo of "Santa" in front of the La Brea Circus in 1979. Apparently that was photo journalist Elisa Leonelli as Santa Claus and she took photos of herself all over Los Angeles as Santa Claus. Many were published in the French Photography magazine ZOOM:

https://ccdl.claremont.edu/digital/a...45/default.jpg

A FEMALE SANTA CLAUS IN L.A.The Santa Claus figure is the symbol of Christmas In most parts of the world, but nowhere is it so pervasive as in the United States.Here he is not only a character from a fairy tale, that children dream about and hope to see some day. Everyone has a chance, at Xmas time, to meet Santa Claus and get a picture taken with him. There is a plethora of these red costumed figures walking around. Businesses, stores and institutions rent costumes and beards and hire unemployed actors to impersonate the old fellow. They hope to show their goodwill, get the people into the Christmas spirit, and sell more merchandise. In the country where fairy tales come true Santa Claus is a physical presence, the guy next door.As Xmastime approached last year, I, an Italian photographer living in Los Angeles (L.A.), was trying to figure a way to get into the Xmas spirit, so I decided to become Santa Claus. I went to a toy store, bought a Santa Claus costume, and put it on. With cameras and tripod I set out In the streets to take pictures of him (me) in L.A.People from Europe and from the East Coast often complain that it doesn't feel like Christmas in Los Angeles, because there is no snow, but actually I found out that there couldn't be a more perfect setting for Santa Claus. The fairy tale character comes alive in a city that looks like a fairy tale dream come true. The gingerbread houses, the Disneyland-like parks, the art-deco buildings, the bright colors -Santa Claus is at home in L.A.(c) Elisa Leonelli 1979.

Here's one at the now defunct Gilmore Drive-In...

https://ccdl.claremont.edu/digital/a...46/default.jpg

...and another at the now defunct Pan Pacific Auditorium.

https://ccdl.claremont.edu/digital/a...01/default.jpg

Check out all 58 of them at the links below. Post any you might like to, there's locations in Chinatown, ABC Entertainment Center, Tail o' the Pup, Brown Derby, unkn own houses...and other places around Los Angeles.

Calisphere from Claremont College Collection: LINK.