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riichkay Feb 7, 2017 1:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeffDiego (Post 7701819)
Back in October (2016), Godzilla posted this fascinating 1928 "cartoon map" of Hollywood, and soon after Hoss posted a larger image, allowing one to read the text.
An item caught my eye. Next to a tiny drawing of a house at the foot of "Cahuenga Pass" is written "J. Warren Kerrigan made his first picture in 1910." J. Warren Kerrigan, an utterly forgotten name today, was a major star in the early days of Hollywood, often in Westerns. In 1912, Photoplay Magazine called him the most popular star of all, and later another magazine termed him "most popular star in the world." He appeared in some 300 films between 1910 and 1924. He was also quite openly gay, sharing his spacious "Swiss Bungalow" at 2307 Cahuenga with his mother and his longtime male companion, James Vincent, also an actor.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...924/Nnv1Ju.jpg
2307 N. Cahuenga
mitinger-mccarron.blogspot


http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...924/C3Q6Ce.jpg
J. Warren Kerrigan
images tagged j.warrenkerrigan/immortalephemera.com


http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...924/bF2T5b.jpg
James Vincent
wikipedia


Kerrigan's huge popularity took a nosedive in 1917 when he gave a most unfortunate reply to an interviewer's question about joining the military to help fight World War 1. Kerrigan's answer:

"I am not going to war. I will go, of course, if my country needs me, but I think that first they should take the great mass of men who aren't good for anything else, or are only good for the lower grades of work. Actors, musicians, great writers, artists of every kind - isn't it a pity when people are sacrificed who are capable of such things - of adding beauty to the world."

This did not endear him to the public. Interestingly, he continued to appear in dozens of films and actually enjoyed a career surge in 1923/24 when he starred in both the first great epic Western, "The Covered Wagon," and then "Captain Blood," after which he retired.

In 1936 through '38, a former female impersonator name Mansel V. Boyle, known as "Vardaman (his middle name) The Gay Deceiver," is listed on census records as living with Kerrigan at the Cahuenga Ave. house. An online biography of Kerrigan surmises that because Boyle was down on his luck and moved frequently, he may have just been a friendly companion who needed a place to live.

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...nselVBoyle.jpg
Mansel Vardaman Boyle
gay history wiki/wikidot.com



Later, Kerrigan moved to a foothill estate in Sunland (now known as Sunland-Tujunga), then to Balboa Beach, where he died in 1947 at age 68.

The picturesque home on North Cahuenga was later demolished and today a generic 1980's/90's stucco apartment complex occupies the site.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...924/go7JMf.jpg

2307 N. Cahuenga today
www.zillow.com/home details/2307-1

More information about Kerrigan can also be found in "Behind the Screen: How Gays and Lesbians Shaped Hollywood," by William J. Mann, author of the superb "Tinseltown."



Well, we have a little bit of a puzzle here. Back on pg. 1927 I logged a post regarding finding writer/TV producer Sidney Sheldon, age 23, at, I thought, 2307 N. Cahuenga BL., in the 1940 census.

The scribblings on the census pages can be somewhat cryptic, maybe I read this wrong:

http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/...psl6kvedav.png

The enumerator may have been indicating that Sheldon's residence was in the Cahuenga "Block", not "Blvd", and that the building was actually at 2307 N. Highland Ave. But that's right at what is now the entrance to the Hollywood Bowl. Could there have been an apartment court there in 1940?

The other possibility is that Sidney was actually at 2307 N. Caheunga, in the Kerrigan house...maybe whoever owned it at the time was taking in lodgers. Or perhaps the Kerrigan home had been replaced by apts by 1940, which were subsequently replaced by the '80s bldg that is there today.

Those Who Squirm! Feb 7, 2017 2:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tovangar2 (Post 7702944)
A little more info about the school during the plague year at the link




ETA: And PLEASE check out HossC's post re both buildings


Thanks so much!

One thing is confusing me here..in 1924 the Times reported a plague outbreak in which the neighborhood was quarantined. Principal Nora Sterry of Macy Street School was reported to have persuaded authorities to let her through the perimeter to reach the school, where she then organized various essential services for those caught inside the quarantine area. These included testing of residents to show they were plague-free and could be allowed to leave, food and other supplies for residents, and even music and other entertainment for those trapped inside. You mention a quarantined zone in 1937, at the time (Old) Macy Street School was being demolished. But I was unable to find anything in the Times' archives regarding a quarantine event in 1937. Was it somehow left over from the 1924 outbreak? Or something that the highly boosterish and politicized Times would not have reported?

ETA: Now I understand. You must mean that the demolition of the 1891 structure happened in 1937, and that it had been in the quarantine zone thirteen years earlier.

Sterry went on to work for the Board of Education. In 1941, after her death, officials renamed an existing school in the Sawtelle district in her honor.

I'll quote HossC's post with some further remarks.

Or rather, BillinGlendaleCA's since it was he who posted the photo of the 900 Avila building.

CityBoyDoug Feb 7, 2017 2:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire (Post 7703022)
Looking east on Cesar Chavez from Cromwell St...pass the chainsaw


https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pF...=w1003-h603-no


P!

The trees add a lot to the neighborhood....shade and greenery.

foliage, vegetation, plants, green, leaves,

Those Who Squirm! Feb 7, 2017 4:19 AM

As you found out, it was indeed a school. This was New Macy Street School, which had already been in operation on this site since the 1890s, when Clara Street was briefly known as New Macy Street. As I mentioned above, LAUSD tends to keep its original "street names" for schools, never mind if fifty or eighty or a hundred years have passed since the name of the actual street was changed to something else. By the time this new replacement building was planned, beginning in early 1915, it seems this school was intended to serve partly as a community center-cum-night school geared especially for teaching citizenship, English, and manual/craft skills to recent immigrants and their children. I don't know if it was ever used for regular day classes covering an ordinary grammar school program.

On May 02, 1915 the Times reported plans for a "fine new school" to be built on Manchester Avenue, but included an architect's rendering of the 900 Avila building, presumably just to show what architect A. C. Martin had on the drawing boards for both.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/728/3...a35e04_o_d.jpg
(From L.A. Times article that date.)

It would have been a thrill to discover that Manchester Avenue School, at 661 W 87TH Street, looked like the 900 Avila building. From checking Google Earth, though, if it ever did resemble it, it doesn't anymore.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BillinGlendaleCA (Post 7637342)
I've started using Metrolink(the commuter train here in LA) to get to Downtown and then the rail and buses(the Metrolink ticket allows unlimited transfers) to see and photograph things around town. As the train approaches Union Station I've seen this really nice brick building.

https://c5.staticflickr.com/6/5617/3...9ae462ca_b.jpg

by Me, on Flickr

The building is obviously not new construction so I wondered what it's use was earlier in it 'life'. I've downloaded the 1921 Baists from U$C and I found the answer. At the location just north of Macy Street there are two buildings listed as 'School', one wood frame and the other brick south of the older building closer to Macy Street. The picture of the building above is the brick building, built in 1916. The wood frame building is the Macy Street School built in 1881.

https://c6.staticflickr.com/6/5702/3...421c0671_b.jpg

LAUSD

Here's a look inside the front door:
https://c1.staticflickr.com/6/5685/3...61a24c8f_b.jpg_B280003 by Me, on Flickr

The front part of the building doesn't currently have tenants, the back is the offices of Aladdin Bail Bonds(it's right next to the Men's Central Jail).

P.S. I'm up to page 710, I'm catching up to y'all.


ethereal_reality Feb 7, 2017 4:34 AM

Remember that photo of Parsons' famous rocket fuel experiment on Halloween 1936 (shown below)

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...922/rV7DBy.jpg
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/a...-the-magicians



Well the scene is 'recreated' on the Jet Propulsion Laboratory mall.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...924/JQvrlQ.jpg
www.lemonodor.com

No doubt the dummy positioned on it's side is suppose to be Parsons. lol

-seems a bit 'low-tech' for a place as renown as the JPL.


__

ethereal_reality Feb 7, 2017 5:39 AM

Has anyone heard of the 'Figer 8 Grill' on Figueroa?

1956 city directory
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640...923/9EWY1n.jpg
lapl

I thought 'Figer' was a typo in the directory until I came across this matchbook on ebay.


http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640...924/2JH5BJ.jpgebay

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/640...924/cXg0mE.jpgebay

Martin Pal Feb 7, 2017 5:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeffDiego (Post 7701819)
More information about Kerrigan can also be found in "Behind the Screen: How Gays and Lesbians Shaped Hollywood," by William J. Mann, author of the superb "Tinseltown."

I enjoyed your post about J. Walter Kerrigan, JeffDiego. The film THE COVERED WAGON was presented at AMPAS in 2011 in a film series they had that year showing the 1920's winners of each year's Photoplay Award for Best Picture. The series was called The Summer of Silents. I didn't know about any of this in regard to Kerrigan. The film had excellent live musical accompaniment performed by Will Ryan and the Cactus County Cowboys.

I was thinking about reading the book Tinseltown that you mentioned.

oldstuff Feb 7, 2017 3:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andys (Post 7702683)
Thaddeus Lowe II was her father. Thaddeus Lowe was her grandfather. Agree, interesting family.

Andys

Yes, sorry, I knew that and meant to type grandfather but got interrupted in the middle and just sailed on from there. thanks

HossC Feb 7, 2017 8:08 PM

Here's another private house from Julius Shulman. We've seen Carl Maston designs before, but he actually lived in this one (according to the CDs). It's "Job 396: Carl Maston, Maston House (West Hollywood, Calif.), 1949". Here are nearly all of the photos.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...1.jpg~original

A slightly closer view. Note the brickwork coming apart at the left.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...2.jpg~original

I assume that this image shows the side.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...3.jpg~original

Looking out onto the patio area seen in the first two pictures.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...4.jpg~original

There's a pretty good view through this window.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...5.jpg~original

I like the fireplace (although I prefer the one at Ritts).

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...6.jpg~original

A different angle on the same room.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...7.jpg~original

I initially liked this unusual handrail, but thoughts of walking into that sharp angle and children falling through the gaps have changed my mind!

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...8.jpg~original

All from Getty Research Institute

I had to rely on the CDs to find the address - it's 1657 Marmont Avenue. Once I had it, the property websites confirmed that it was designed by Carl Maston, and gave a build date of 1947. You can't see much of the house from the road or the air, so here are a couple of shots I found on takesunset.com (there are four more). The distinctive fireplace remains, but the staircase and handrail have been replaced.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...9.jpg~original
Both from takesunset.com

JeffDiego Feb 7, 2017 9:00 PM

Tinseltown
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Martin Pal (Post 7703319)
I enjoyed your post about J. Walter Kerrigan, JeffDiego. The film THE COVERED WAGON was presented at AMPAS in 2011 in a film series they had that year showing the 1920's winners of each year's Photoplay Award for Best Picture. The series was called The Summer of Silents. I didn't know about any of this in regard to Kerrigan. The film had excellent live musical accompaniment performed by Will Ryan and the Cactus County Cowboys.

I was thinking about reading the book Tinseltown that you mentioned.

Hi MartinPal: Thanks for your interesting comments.

I HIGHLY recommend "Tinseltown," a vivid, non-fiction portrait of Hollywood and Los Angeles in the early 1920's. The focus is old Hollywood and the "motion picture industry," already financially rivaling the biggest industries in The U.S., and the parade of scandals at the time, particularly the notorious William Desmond Taylor murder.

Blaster Feb 7, 2017 11:03 PM

Has anyone ever heard of the Turnabout Theatre which was located at 716 N La Cienega? Its history was completely unknown to me until today.

http://dbase1.lapl.org/turnabout/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turnabout_Theatre

HossC Feb 7, 2017 11:22 PM

:previous:

You can see e_r's 2012 post about the Turnabout Theatre here.

ethereal_reality Feb 7, 2017 11:23 PM

I found this intriguing stereoview earlier today on ebay.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...924/68CZUw.jpg
http://www.ebay.com/itm/CALIFORNIA-N...UAAOSwZQRYf7B9

Do you think this could be a Tongva tribe?

(earliest stereoviews date to 1860s)

the card is blank on the reverse.

ethereal_reality Feb 7, 2017 11:56 PM

I was going through some of my old files and came across this great photograph of Betty White from the 1940s.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/923/pRL2TZ.jpg
ethereal_reality collection

Does anyone have an idea where she might be in this pic?

__

update:
I found the photo again here:
https://plus.google.com/photos/photo...5-d50bfe5e917a

but there's no information with it.

__

John Maddox Roberts Feb 8, 2017 12:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality (Post 7704375)
I found this intriguing stereoview earlier today on ebay.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/128...924/68CZUw.jpg
http://www.ebay.com/itm/CALIFORNIA-N...UAAOSwZQRYf7B9

Do you think this could be a Tongva tribe?

(earliest stereoviews date to 1860s)

the card is blank on the reverse.

A few months ago we saw a picture of SoCal Indians living in what looked like Army Sibley tents from the Civil War. Many of these men are wearing U.S. military jackets and even hats, but they have no military firearms so they are not Indian auxiliaries. Were they given castoff military attire as government support?

ethereal_reality Feb 8, 2017 1:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Maddox Roberts (Post 7704476)
A few months ago we saw a picture of SoCal Indians living in what looked like Army Sibley tents from the Civil War. Many of these men are wearing U.S. military jackets and even hats, but they have no military firearms so they are not Indian auxiliaries. Were they given castoff military attire as government support?

I wonder if the guy I circled below is the chief?

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...924/vzcDSj.jpg detail

I see a couple of the youngsters have bows and arrows.

I agree JMR, the old military jackets are indeed a mystery.

UphillDonkey Feb 8, 2017 4:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by riichkay (Post 7703062)
Well, we have a little bit of a puzzle here. Back on pg. 1927 I logged a post regarding finding writer/TV producer Sidney Sheldon, age 23, at, I thought, 2307 N. Cahuenga BL., in the 1940 census.

The scribblings on the census pages can be somewhat cryptic, maybe I read this wrong:

http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/...psl6kvedav.png

The enumerator may have been indicating that Sheldon's residence was in the Cahuenga "Block", not "Blvd", and that the building was actually at 2307 N. Highland Ave. But that's right at what is now the entrance to the Hollywood Bowl. Could there have been an apartment court there in 1940?

The other possibility is that Sidney was actually at 2307 N. Caheunga, in the Kerrigan house...maybe whoever owned it at the time was taking in lodgers. Or perhaps the Kerrigan home had been replaced by apts by 1940, which were subsequently replaced by the '80s bldg that is there today.

If you look at Historic Aerials it seems the house was not demolished until sometime between 1980 and 1989.

tovangar2 Feb 8, 2017 4:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality (Post 7704375)
Do you think this could be a Tongva tribe?


No. Probably Yavapai, often mistaken for Apache by Whites.

Dinkler Feb 8, 2017 5:38 AM

Betty White location
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality (Post 7704423)
I was going through some of my old files and came across this great photograph of Betty White from the 1940s.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/923/pRL2TZ.jpg
ethereal_reality collection

Does anyone have an idea where she might be in this pic?

__

update:
I found the photo again here:
https://plus.google.com/photos/photo...5-d50bfe5e917a

but there's no information with it.

__

Betty is on the south side of the Wrigley Mansion (Tournament House) in Pasadena. Seems that in the ensuing years, a building extension has been added in/near the spot where she was standing.

A recent photo of the area
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RykAco9cUX..._6587+copy.JPG
Sherry Schmidt Watercolors
http://sherryschmidt.blogspot.com/20...y-gardens.html

ethereal_reality Feb 8, 2017 5:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tovangar2 (Post 7704827)
No. Probably Yavapai, often mistaken for Apache by Whites.

:previous: Thanks tovangar2!

With the information you provided I was able to track down some additional information.



http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...924/kU7tQr.jpg
http://amertribes.proboards.com/thre...ameleon-people

"Pay attention to hair-dresses, cut over a forehead in style of River Yumans and mix of styles in clothes - civilized suit and aboriginal details (Please look at sitting men).
It is a pity that we cannot see footwear but it seems that these people do not carry Apache-style moccasins, first sign of east groups."
-ameritribes.


But I'm a bit confused; the information at the top says the photograph was taken by D.P. Flanders [1873-1874], but on the stereo-view (I posted earlier)
it says "photographed by T.E. Stanton".

I wonder which is correct?

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...924/68CZUw.jpg
found on ebay

and why was it labeled 'Los Angeles Cal'?

__


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