Originally Posted by BifRayRock (Post 5863109)

Originally Posted by Martin Pal (Post 6507013)

Incidentally, the (1985) apartment complex, The Crescent, currently occupying that location, boasts an amenity I don't recall being offered anywhere else before, plus a "new" one!

http://www.thecrescentapts.com/

Exclusive Amenities in West Hollywood

Fitness center overlooking the resort-style swimming pool.
Poolside wet bar, BBQ grills, and outdoor movie theater.
Outdoor Wi-Fi cafe and fire pit lounge. We are making the
transition to a Smoke-Free community. Please see the lease
policy for details on our newest amenity...fresh air.

Originally Posted by Blaster (Post 6507112)

Is anybody disturbed by the miniature passenger in the blue shirt in the left front window? Compare his head size to that of the people around and behind him. A trick caused by sun reflection on the glass of the window? Or perhaps captured on film at last, an actual leprechaun.

Originally Posted by Tourmaline (Post 6507196)

Rush Hour and traffic jams do not always apply to automobile traffic. - http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/single...id/5489/rec/15



1914 Trolleys on East Seventh Street, waiting to cross Main Street.
http://hdl.huntington.org/utils/ajax...XT=&DMROTATE=0http://hdl.huntington.org/utils/ajax...XT=&DMROTATE=0
http://hdl.huntington.org/utils/ajax...XT=&DMROTATE=0http://hdl.huntington.org/utils/ajax...XT=&DMROTATE=0

Originally Posted by HossC (Post 6507334)

Wouldn't a leprechaun be wearing a green shirt? :)

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire (Post 6507111)

I guess I'm just not ready to throw in the towel on the state of the world, of design and luxury. It's all out there, preserved in some places if not all, and in incredible new things, cars, houses, public building etc etc. Seek it out. (Like one's youth, the old stuff ain't ever coming back.) As far as today's cars go--functionally far less useful? More practical, safer, lower-maintenance, and more durable cars are less useful than a 1962 Cadillac, say? Now this is novel. But I'll stick to architecture...



Like these century-old-examples?

http://media.nola.com/home_impact/ph...93dd_large.jpghttp://www.americanbungalow.com/wp-c...Image_0002.jpghttp://www.americanbungalow.com/wp-c...Image_0003.jpg
New Orleans/Florida/Washington State

http://www.americanbungalow.com/wp-c...Image_0003.jpghttp://www.americanbungalow.com/wp-c...Image_0006.jpghttp://housesofminneapolis.com/house...ngalow_007.jpg
Atlanta/New Hampshire/Minneapolis

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Q...ascraftman.jpghttps://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-w...hoenixbung.jpghttps://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Q...2520PM.bmp.jpg
Dallas/Phoenix x2/Colorado Springs

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug (Post 6497364)

Originally Posted by jg6544 (Post 6507140)

In addition to the design, the fixtures, and the staff, what made stores of this era (and into the 1950s) so elegant was the minimalist approach to merchandise display on the sales floor. In stores of the caliber of I. Magnin, Bullocks Wilshire, or Neiman-Marcus in Dallas, very little was actually on display - only a selection of the merchandise. To find something in the correct size, the customer had to ask a sales associate, whose job it was to "sell" the customer on what he or she was seeking and more. On the really elegant floors of these stores, there was no merchandise on display at all. it was modeled for the customer under the supervision of a sales associate who, ideally, knew the customer, her tastes, her size, and what her price range was. Now, everything is just slapped out on racks or, worse yet, on tables for people to paw over. I'd rather shop on the internet.

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire (Post 6498935)

:previous:

Quite a gathering of Fords in the river... a '53 (or possibly a-4), a '54, a '53 Merc, a '49 Ford, a '52 Ford, and another '53 Merc....


Have we seen Jack Landon's L.A.-built clown cars here before?

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-a...852%2520AM.jpghttps://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-T...2520AM.bmp.jpg
Looks like the Pacific Tank Company in the background--the plant was down at 4820 S Santa Fe and appears to be gone now. At right Landon appears to be near the Hoover curve of Wilshire.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-C...2520AM.bmp.jpg

More of the story at the blog Pepito and Joanne.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-r...2520AM.bmp.jpgPepito and Joanne

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-W...2520AM.bmp.jpgGoogle Books

Pics LAPL/The Old Motor

Originally Posted by Those Who Squirm (Post 6507444)

Anyhow, when the conversation turned to dine-in-your-car restaurants, wasn't the allusion to the places that used to exist where a waitress (usually on skates) would bring you a tray which was fastened to your car door? She'd take your order and bring it to you as well, so it was full service, IIRC. (I'm a little too young to have seen these places except in old movies.) As for the roller skates, it almost sounds like a cliched stereotype, but if you stop to think about it I'm not sure how else those waitresses could have done their jobs.

Still, even then I wouldn't have wanted to eat in the car, if my interior was white leather.

Originally Posted by Those Who Squirm (Post 6507462)

I just have to ask: I've heard of so-called "midget auto races" in the late 1940s-early 1950s. Were these contests between normally-statured drivers in scaled-down cars, or between little people in regular cars, or between little people in scaled-down cars?

Originally Posted by Chuckaluck (Post 6501831)

http://imgzoom.cdlib.org/Converter?i...0&w=1030&h=643http://imgzoom.cdlib.org/Converter?i...0&w=1030&h=643



:previous:



Borrowing from HGraham's '33 or '39 empirical observation, I am inclined to agree with the '33 crowd.

The prime indicator of date (for me) might be a contemporaneous newspaper ad, review or playbill of the "world premier." It may be far from common for a live performance to be one show only, but it has been known to happen on Broadway and plenty of High Schools, so why not Ocean Ave? For all we know, the show was preempted when the Navy unexpectedly canceled all shore leave. Come to think of it, Long Beach's world premier could have had a loose but novel plot line involving three sailors on 24 hour shore leave. With just the right musical numbers and a different Port City, it might have inspired . . . ? Well never mind.

Respecting license plate dates, I assume the conclusion is based on shape rather than issuing numbers and possibly color, since previous Long Beach imagery has included many out-of-State plates. Bus shapes are not necessarily determinative of date.

If the image is from '33, there is no obvious earthquake damage. Either it has been quickly swept up or this area escaped with easily remedied damage. It is also possible that the photo was taken pre-March 10, even though this includes a world premier banner for an event many weeks in the future.

Another observation concerning one photo's caption of the Bank being open. For those keeping score, the '33 LBQuake struck on a Friday at approximately 5:55 PM. That date was also part of a 3-day bank Holiday declared by the Gov. It has been said that the bank Holiday may have spared a few Long Beach'ers who might have been conducting banking or spending their money at other businesses - from serious injury or worse. We will never know. http://ladailymirror.com/2011/08/26/...ch-quake-1933/


If anyone's interested, "Of Mice and Men" was released in - 1939
http://www.pacificelectric.org/wp-co...ch-4-18-39.jpghttp://www.pacificelectric.org/wp-co...ch-4-18-39.jpg



http://www.worldlicenceplates.com/jp...S_CAXX_GI2.jpghttp://www.worldlicenceplates.com/jp...S_CAXX_GI2.jpg

http://www.atticpaper.com/prodimages.../greyhound.jpghttp://www.atticpaper.com/prodimages.../greyhound.jpg

Originally Posted by Retired_in_Texas (Post 6507421)

And yes Gaylord less functional automobiles. More reliable perhaps, but none the less with less functionality. Anytime an average size person cannot sit in the back seat of a so called luxury car without their knees bumping the front seats and one's head bumps the roof, it is less functional.

Originally Posted by Blaster (Post 6507112)

Is anybody disturbed by the miniature passenger in the blue shirt in the left front window? Compare his head size to that of the people around and behind him. A trick caused by sun reflection on the glass of the window? Or perhaps captured on film at last, an actual leprechaun.

Originally Posted by ProphetM (Post 6507625)

Light is coming in from the side doorway, shining on the back half of the boy's head and part of his shirt. At first glance this bright area appears to be part of the background rather than part of the boy, making his head seem very tiny.

Originally Posted by ProphetM (Post 6507625)

While true, passenger space is not the only measure of functionality. Modern cars are much more functional in many other ways. That a car works for much longer, with less downtime for repairs, is perhaps the very definition of more functional.

Originally Posted by ProphetM (Post 6507625)

That's quite doubtful. Your car would be in better shape than theirs, but you would not. In any crash the energy of movement must be dissipated. In a newer, more crushable car, that energy is purposely directed into deforming the body of the car outside the passenger compartment, with airbags taking over as the remaining energy reaches the passengers. In an older, more rigid car, the energy is dissipated more directly into you, as your body is deformed by the seatbelts and/or smashed against the interior of the car. Modern car design is very bad for cars, but much, much better for the people riding in them.

Originally Posted by Retired_in_Texas (Post 6507421)

Hmm, examples that could have come from the Sears catalog between 1908 and 1940. Elegance Fail!

http://www.searsarchives.com/homes/1933-1940.htm

Between 1908 and 1940 Sears sold some 70,000 homes in kit form.

And yes Gaylord less functional automobiles. More reliable perhaps, but none the less with less functionality. Anytime an average size person cannot sit in the back seat of a so called luxury car without their knees bumping the front seats and one's head bumps the roof, it is less functional. Passenger capacity is also a lessening of functionality. Just bought a 2014 Chrysler 300C with all the high tech junk available. Bought that instead of Lincoln or Cadillac because they were worse in overall passenger comfort. I don't buy imports of any nature because I don't want the associated maintenance hassles from crummy parts support for dealers. Safer? Possibly, but one thing is for sure no one wants me hitting their 2014 anything sedan with one of my 6,000 pound '76 Lincoln Mark IVs moving at 70-75 mph. I'll survive, they won't!

Originally Posted by Retired_in_Texas (Post 6507042)

There is no elegance and little imagination expressed in the cookie cutter houses we see everywhere.... Isn't it exciting that one can look at a new home in Orange County and then buy the same or nearly identical home in Atlanta or the suburbs of Miami

Originally Posted by Those Who Squirm (Post 6507444)

Anyhow, when the conversation turned to dine-in-your-car restaurants, wasn't the allusion to the places that used to exist where a waitress (usually on skates) would bring you a tray which was fastened to your car door? She'd take your order and bring it to you as well, so it was full service, IIRC. (I'm a little too young to have seen these places except in old movies.) As for the roller skates, it almost sounds like a cliched stereotype, but if you stop to think about it I'm not sure how else those waitresses could have done their jobs.

Still, even then I wouldn't have wanted to eat in the car, if my interior was white leather.

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire (Post 6493331)

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire (Post 6493331)

http://i.imgur.com/OroTAix.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/4HjLlhk.jpg

Pics jalopyjournal.com