It's farther than you think from Glendale to Pasadena
 

Another reminder to mark your calendar for Sunday, March 27: the new HBO Mildred Pierce
premieres. You've got some mighty big shoes to fill, Miss Winslet.


But first (in the automotive spirit of recent posts), Glendale, 1945:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_z...oairstream.jpg www.imcdb.com
Albert Pierce's 1936 DeSoto Airstream in front of what Veda deemed a shack. (I'd kill for
that shack.)


Global warming: palm trees on Long Island. Well, not exactly, but they've actually put
palms in the ground at the Woolworth house in Glove Cove to pass it off as Monte and
Mildred Beragon's Pasadena mansion in the new version...are these the right
kind of palms? (All eyes are going to be on this new version....)
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_z...41b228fa97.jpg www.glencove.patch.com
Well, it looks suitably seedy here--you can see that the Beragons were definitely in
queer street before Mildred got her hands on it....


And back to 1945:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_z...da%20buick.jpg www.imcdb.com
I never noticed that Mildred's base of operations was at her Beverly Hills unit. That's Veda
pulling out in her brand new Buick--the one with "VP" on the door.

What in the world were they thinking when they destroyed the integrity of the first floor?
Not only did they brick up the windows, they also installed those tacky "carriage house" lighting fixtures.

Kitsch at it's finest.

A ceramic vase in the shape of the Bonaventure Hotel.


http://img833.imageshack.us/img833/4...aventureva.jpg
currently on ebay


It's SO bad....that it's good. :)

wow just what i've been looking for awsome.been inside of this building and the inside has retained alot of it's original charm.the facade is no longer bricked-up.glass all the way around. all take all the images i can get hands on. felix and his bag of tricks will make your heart go pitter patter as i recall. jees now i can't get that jingle out of my head.

thank you

This picture is one of my favorite in this thread because it shows my old high school in the background, Cathedral. It is located in the upper right hand right where the 110 North curves.

Suicide under 1st Street and Figueroa Bridge, July 15, 1951.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...22-0072vhr.jpg
usdcl

Is this the same parking lot where Jim Rockford parked his old beat up trailer in the The Rockford Files?

:previous:


https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_z...ord_Files1.jpg http://stupendouslyamazinglycoololdtv.blogspot.com


https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_z...6/firebird.jpg dvdbeaver.com

Indeed it is, kanhawk. Other than this partial shot, I couldn't find any usable pics of it, but apparently Jim kept his trailer at "2354 Pacific Coast Highway, L.A." in the first couple of seasons. After that he moved to "29 Cove Road" in Paradise Cove next to the pier and restaurant, and the trailer got dolled up.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_z...adiseCove4.jpg http://www.thrillingdetective.com

"36 Hours in Downtown Los Angeles"
 

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_z...01155%20AM.jpgGoogle Street View


In The New York Times tomorrow:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/20/tr...e&ref=homepage


No mention is made of Cole's in the article, but its nighttime alter ego, the Varnish, is listed.

:previous:
I LOVE Cole's. I'm glad it still exists, though I liked the really old feel it had before its renovation, back in the days when they had sawdust on the floor, and you were running the gauntlet of scary/schizophrenic homeless and panhandlers to walk to the entrance, and when you were driving and stopped at a red light at the intersection of 6th and Los Angeles Street, bums would descend on your car and start rubbing the windows with newspaper. And this was the early 1990s.

I've never been to the Varnish. To get to it, you have to go through a door in the back of Cole's. Cole's already has a bar in the front, but I guess the Varnish is more of a "speakeasy." I believe they opened only a few years ago.

Here's a shot of the Pacific Electric building, with Cole's Pacific Electric Buffet, as it was called. The USC Archive captioned this as being between 1900-1920. Uh, yeah. The building itself opened in 1904, with Cole's having opened in 1908. So, you guys be the judge. My guess is 1908-1910, judging by the modes of transportation. I can't imagine having to get used to the smell of horses. If only there were ladies in the photo, I could probably date it by their fashions-- even in the 1910s, women's fashions were constantly changing, the beginning of that decade was considerably different than the middle and end of the decade in terms of what women wore, looking at stills of silent films from that decade.

http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/369/49668868.jpg
USC Archive

mdiederi that's a creepy photo.

"We lived on Corvallis Street where all the houses looked alike. Ours was number 1143."

"I saw father go out... What did you and father quarrel about?"

I love that movie.

Speaking of "Mildred Pierce," the beach house in the film was located at what is now 26652 Latigo Shore Drive in Malibu. The beach house scenes for the film were shot here in December 1944. Here are some cheapie pics I took off of my computer monitor from the "Mildred Pierce" DVD.

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/1072/p1160219m.jpg

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/6030/p1160221l.jpg

Ever notice in movies of that era, that the passenger gets into and out of a car on the driver's side? And, if the car is parked at the curb, the driver will enter/exit the car from the passenger's side? I always thought that was weird.

The house was destroyed after a powerful storm in 1983.

Latigo Shore Drive branches off from PCH just west of Corral Canyon Drive and parallels the shoreline, while PCH continues west, ascending a bluff. But originally, PCH (back then called Roosevelt Highway, which opened in 1929) followed what is now Latigo Shore Drive. In the later 1940s when PCH was rerouted over the bluff, Latigo Shore Drive was turned into a private street, and today the street's name changes as you move from east to west; the street branches off from PCH and is called Seagull Way, then becomes Latigo Shore Drive, and then becomes Malibu Cove Colony Drive: 26652 Latigo Shore Drive, Malibu

I walk under that bridge everyday. It's amazing to see there was just as much trash and graffiti sixty years ago. One big difference is today there is at least twelve inches of guano stacked up on the horizontal portions of the metal beams.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_z...llapse_400.jpg www.malibucomplete.com
"The End" for the Curtiz/Beragon/Rindge
house, 1983



sopas... not that we can drive by and take a look since the Pacific wrecked it, but the address I see most often for Monte's beach house (where he kept all those bathing costumes for his "sisters") is 26652 Latigo Shore Drive. But more interesting is that it was owned at the time of filming by the director, Michael Curtiz. And in a real twist of Malibiana, the owner at the time of the fatal storm was none other than Frederick Rindge Jr. His ma, of course, was the very feisty May Rindge--she who would have preferred that no one other than Rindges ever lived in Malibu in the first place.... Imagine--no movie stars...no Mildred Pierce....

Here is a gold mine of archives photos for you bus and train junkies
http://www.flickr.com/photos/metrolibraryarchive

Ooops, my bad! I'll change it in my post.

Ah yes, the Rindges. Supposedly, whenever a storm or landslide closes off PCH, it's the Rindge Revenge at work.

Speaking of.......

http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/7...mildredpie.jpg
turf cigarettes trading card




_______________________



But this post is about one of the uncredited waitresses in Mildred Pierce (1945). That's her on the right.

http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/2...tmildredpi.jpg
screen grab/Mildred Pierce






She also played the wife in D.O.A. (1950)

http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/7...tdoaasthew.jpg
screen grab/D.O.A.







She was named Miss National Maritime (can you say publicity stunt).


http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/1...tmissnatio.jpg
los angeles times file photo






Her name was Lynne Baggett.


http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/9...tlatimesbl.jpg





http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/544...baggetthat.jpg
Universal Pictures



http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/307...50miiaimav.jpg
Warner Bros.


http://img806.imageshack.us/img806/3...gett2011a4.jpg
cheesecake



_________________



Her rise to fame came to an abrupt halt on July 7th, 1954 when she killed a young boy in a hit-and-run accident.


http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/9...thitrun195.png
los angeles times




Ms. Baggett was driving a car loaned to her by actor George Tobias (Abner Kravitz on 'Bewitched'). That's him in the photo.

http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/4...ttarrested.jpg
Phil Bath/los angeles times



http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/3...tcourt1954.jpg
Ray Graham/los angeles times


She was found quilty of felony hit-and-run (but not manslaughter). She was sentenced to 60 days in jail (served 50).



http://img813.imageshack.us/img813/6...tflickered.png
los angeles times






Sadly, Lynne Baggett eventually committed suicide in 1960 at the age of 35.

http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/289...suicidenew.png
los angeles times




Larry Harnisch at
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thed...y-photo-9.html



Details of Lynne Baggett's life can be found here.
http://www.glamourgirlsofthesilversc...ett/index.html

Ethereal: Fascinating, but what a sad tale!
I recognized her from a few movies, certainly D.O.A. but I think also a 40's musical called "Cinderella Jones" and maybe "Hollywood Canteen."

Couldn't have been St. James' Episcopal Church; that's a few blocks farther west from the old Bullock's Wilshire store. It's on the corner of Wilshire & St. Andrew's Place.

:previous:

Most likely taken from the roof of the Town House

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics37/00068483.jpgLAPL http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics37/00068483.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_z...74927%20AM.jpgGoogle Street View

A moody morning shot of one of the Town House's second-floor Juliet balconies...

The intersection at roughly the center of the photo is Wilshire & Warner. The church to the right (Westwood Methodist) is still there, as is the "monstrously ugly" high-rise (might have been "modernized" to make it even more monstrously ugly). The interesting aspect of the photo is that it shows the pre-Canyon Wilshire Blvd.

BTW, I grew up in Austin and Ft. Worth, but have lived in LA for going on 17 years.

This is a sensational site!
 

It's almost addictive. Hell, it IS addictive. Good job, guys.

PS. I don't know how "noirish" it is, but one of my favorites in L.A. is the former I. Magnin store on Wilshire at New Hampshire. It dates from the mid-late 30s. It is now a Korean mall, but many of the details are intact, including some on the former main floor. You can get a sense of how grand it must have been when it was I. Magnin.

Interesting pictures
 

and from one of my favorite films of the forties, but even more interesting, since the first picture is doctored. From the house that was used, and the physical address of the house, you cannot see Malibu Pier, as it is tucked behind two points of land. Also the shape of the coast in the first picture is not what you would see from this address. I wonder how they did it (pre-photo shop) and why. I guess the image of Malibu Pier gave them an atmosphere that the simple coastline would not, still for the time kind of an interesting special effect for little more than atmospherics. In the second shot, the coastline appears to be the genuine article and you'll notice no pier (and distinctly different bluffs and palisades).

I. Magnin, by way of illustration:

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics49/00059118.jpgLAPL http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics49/00059118.jpg

Per LAPL: "...the interior of the first floor of I. Magnin & Co. department store at the corner of Wilshire Blvd
and New Hampshire Ave.... 'walls are of Rose de Brignolles marble'.... 'Here are exclusive Magnin accessories,
with individual salons for gifts, negligees, lingerie and corsets, shoes, luggage and leather goods.'... The
store received an award in 1939 from the Lighting Fixtures Industries of Southern California for best lighting
installation. Designed by Myron Hunt."


http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics49/00059142.jpgLAPL http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics49/00059142.jpg


http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics23/00061256.jpgLAPL http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics23/00061256.jpg
Per LAPL: "A two-story Mission Revival residence at 685 South Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, in the early
1900s. It later became the I. Magnin store parking lot."

I'm very sure they used a matte; it's an old movie trick. Matte shots were even used during the Silent era, I believe. Sometimes I'll watch an old movie where they use an outside shot of a real building downtown or somewhere else that I know exists, but then surrounding buildings are different (because it's supposed to be set in New York or Chicago or something); then I know that it's a matte shot. This is also how early filmmakers created fictional settings by combining backlot sets with mattes.

Thanks for posting those pictures, GW. (I need to learn how to post pictures on this site.) The exterior of the building is pretty much the same and the bas-reliefs at various points are alone worth a look-see. The chandelier (or a replica) is still there. I believe it is a Orrefors crystal custom-design for Magnin's. The rose de brignolle marble walls are still visible, too, as are the elevator doors, but the space has been chopped up for small selling spaces. I have read that the upper floors are completely unrecognizable. There are two excellent books about the I. Magnin chain, each full of wonderful photos of the L. A. store. They are, I. Magnin & Co.: A California Legacy, Devin Frick and A Store to Remember, James T. Mullane. Until Federated began to ruin the brand in the '80s, I. Magnin, along with Bergdorf Goodman and pre-expansion Neiman-Marcus genuinely set themselves apart as retailers. Not at all like today when you can't tell Sears from Saks.


P.S. I. Magnin and Bullocks Wilshire were among the first retailers anywhere to recognize the importance of the automobile. Their "main" entrances both consisted of porte-cocheres on the parking lot, not the sidewalk, side of the stores.

I'm sure a matte process was the only thing they had
 

for this effect but it's kind of unusual to use it in this sort of a setting and then to forget they needed the pier in subsequent shots from similar angles. Matte shots are usually good for a 'castle' on the hill above a village. Still love these pictures.

http://hiddenlosangeles.com/wp-conte...blvdlight1.gif hiddenlosangeles.com

:previous:

Ah, Gaylord. Great moving gif. I love those Acme semaphore signals. And the one from "Sunset Boulevard," the intersection of Sunset and and Bel Air Road/Beverly Glen Blvd., no less. ;)

Which is why it pains me to see this:

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/653...gueroaacci.jpg
USC Archive

Some guy (or woman) took out an Acme semaphore! In 1952, at the corner of 23rd and Figueroa, according to the caption.

I like to go in here after a long day, descend three stories, and partake of the boiling mineral waters and frigid plunge in the Korean-run baths. Plus a nap on one of the beds in front of the giant weird-Korean-show-blaring TVs. Still, it's the three-hour equivalent of 36 hours at a fancy spa: trust me.

Then, back upstairs. Absolved of sin and devoid of poisons, wandering about after (with a polite nod to the security guard) in splendid isolation, taking in the wonders of the largely intact Moderne interior, soothes the soul all the more.

I. Magnin
 

The photographs of the interiors when it was I. Magnin are spectacular (all in black and white; I wonder what the colors were like). I'll have to see about going to the upper floors of there are remnants.

520 North Rossmore, 1936:
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/8405/...ssmore1936.jpg
USC Archive

520 North Rossmore, Monday, Feb. 21, 2011:
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/9945/p1160222.jpg
Photo by me

This building has a plaque in front of it, calling the building The Mauretania--"Original moderne-art deco. Built in 1934 by Milton J. Black, architect for Jack Haley - the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz. Los Angeles residence of President John F. Kennedy. Home to many of L.A.'s illustrious stars and families. Owned at one time by the Ahmanson Family. Part of the preservation of Rossmore Avenue and the Larchmont area."

Apart from the landscaping and the addition of that (unnecessary) fountain and the letter "M"'s, the building looks just like in the old photo, basically. I'm not sure if that's its original color, though. I wish the guy wasn't there playing with his dog, but I wasn't gonna tell him to get out of the shot.

I can't imagine anyone on this thread isn't familiar with Mackenzie's The Exiles. The film has comparatively recently become famous as one of the Great Lost Documents about Old LA, specifically highlighting maginalized peoples downtown in the late 50s. Its release on DVD might have passed some folk by, in part because, well, it wasn't cheap. It wasn't cheap I'm guessing because (while it would be worth it at twice the price) it included about 9,000 amazing extras. One of which being Mackenzie's 1956 short he did while at USC called, what else, Bunker Hill 1956.

Point being, I'm going to swipe a bunch of screen captures from that DVD extra and put them up here, in slavish worship to its greatness. Now, if you good folk at Milestone, who own the copyright, take issue, I understand. Please send a note and I will remove this post. On the other hand, what I am telling the untold, unwashed masses reading this: your eyes have been blessed with a tiny smidgen of BH56 which is worth one of your fingers in trade. The rest of http://www.exilesfilm.com/ you can judge for yourself.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5258/...258f8aff_o.jpg

The criminally underphotographed Down Third From the Other Direction --

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4112/...f9f4eed4_b.jpg

There's a nice turn of camera across 144 South Grand, as fetishized over here http://onbunkerhill.org/georgemann#comment-347
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5173/...e9cbf2c6_o.jpg

Here's 510 +1/2 W 3rd
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4093/...a1426d7f_o.jpg

...which again, in the canon on BH, is an underphotographed structure. That was a taste, anyway. Go here for more.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/3930393...th/5432990786/

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5220/...1ac051f3_o.jpg

:previous: No film I've ever seen more poignantly illustrates 'the vanished city' than Bunker Hill 1956. Watching it mesmerizes me, and breaks my heart, too. Truly a must-see for anyone interested in L.A. history.

-Scott

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_z...80258%20AM.jpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tHIN...eature=related


A remnant in plain sight? "Mysterious stairs" behind McKenzie, Brackman, Chaney and Kuzak (ok, 444 S. Flower) in this youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tHIN...eature=related


Are these stairs a remnant of old Bunker Hill? It looks it on film, but I can't really tell if the concrete is definitely older than the newer construction. Anyone have any ideas of where they may have once led? (Btw--there are no clues on the big 1931 map of downtown....)

Residential remnant of old Figueroa
 

Well, I do kind of like seeing the Acme mechanism revealed... and if the Plymouth hadn't taken out the signal, street changes due to the Harbor coming through would have soon enough. The car lot is gone, of course; in its place is a charter school--the brick building in the Google Street View below. Notice the corner of the house to the far left in the vintage shot--it's still there--the Colonial house below--and is now part of the charter school. A new street called Figueroa Way is in front, but the house retains its orientation to Figueroa Street, just slightly east.


https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_z...14442%20AM.jpgGoogle Street View

This is an excellent before/after photo sopas_ej. I hope you do more of them!

p.s. I like the kid and his dog. :)

Just like we've been doing on this thread...

____________________


Larry Harnisch over at latimesblog found this small blurb from 1908 about homes sales
in the Westlake district. So he googled the address 690 Burlington Ave.


http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/488...gtonave190.jpg
latimes



Surprise! It's still there. :)

http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/7...burlington.jpg
google street view



______________________




He did the same with this ad.

http://img576.imageshack.us/img576/9...etrack1908.jpg
latimes





The same building today over a hundred years later.

http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/6...etrackhuge.jpg
google street view

I don't believe this photograph has been posted yet / I could be wrong.
_____________________


This is a view up Broadway from 2nd Street with the Los Angeles Times Building and the Hall of Records in the distance.


http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/5...nbroadwayf.jpg
usc digital archive


Believe it or not, this is the first time I have noticed the name of the streets attached part way up the corner lighting fixtures.

My partner and I stumbled upon this a few years ago, and we debated about it, wondering how old it was, if it even is old. I figured that Bunker Hill has been so decimated that it couldn't possibly be old; if it is old, it's like 1970s old, I figure. My guess is that it's probably a landscaping feature that was abandoned, or something. But of course I could be wrong. The "L.A. Law" building dates from the late 70s, while the other building (Stuart Ketchum YMCA) next to it dates from about 1983.

BTW whenever I walk on one of those pedestrian bridges to the Bonaventure Hotel, the theme song from "It's a Living" starts going through my head.

Great photo. You can really see the detail on the lamp posts, too. They were referred to as the "Broadway Rose," because of the rose patterns. When you walk down Broadway today, you can see the rose pattern at the bases of the lamp posts, but not on the posts themselves, being that they're newer. The Broadway Rose posts were installed in 1920; I'm not sure when they were removed.

Undated photo, from the book, "Streetlights-- Urban Details, Los Angeles."
http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/6808/picture1bt.png

9th and Broadway. You can see the detail of the Broadway Rose lamp post. Notice the street signs; from a later era than the ones in the photo you posted, ethereal. I like your other post too with the old houses.

Northeast corner of 6th and Broadway, 1938:
http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/1...oadway1938.jpg
USC Archive

Stone Building, housing Silverwood's. It was such a beautiful building. It still exists today, but it's hideous; the ground floor has been destroyed, and the upper floors are grimy.

"WHY WAIT TILL 1955--We Might Not Even Be Alive"
 

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_z...2/antismog.jpg http://wehadfacesthen.tumblr.com
Optimists? The Anti-Smog Committee of the Highland
Park Optimist Club demonstrating the importance of
their cause at a club function, 1954.

I would SO love to see a similar photo of the west side of this block of Broadway. It's one of my Holy Grails of L.A. history.

-Scott

I need some help on Pershing Square Buildings
 

Hello everybody.
I need some help. I want to recover a bit of the history of Pershing Square, and I woundn't get a mess by my own mistakes, so I was wandering if anyone of you could help me. Let's see the map:


http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/2...631dc998fo.jpg

Uploaded with ImageShack.us


This is a excerpt of the incredible map 'Heart of Los Angeles' showing downtown LA streets in 1931. Thank you gsjansen for share the map. The excerpt shows Pershing Square....
I would like to know what were the vanished buildings around Pershing Square.
Like for instance (I have my list)
-Phillarmonic auditorium (today a parking lot)
-California Club (demolished to make place to the Tittle and Trust Guarantee Building, I guess)
-San Carlos Hotel (where now it's located the Gas Co Tower)
-Saint Paul Cathedral (later to move out to Figueroa St, now where Biltmore Hotel is located)

And many more that I'm missing and I have no clue about them. That's why I was asking you for some help.
I'm also intrigued about what was the building before the City National Bank Building was built...(on south olive and 6th intersection)

Thanks in advance for your help.

Hattem's on Vermont
 

http://www.agilitynut.com/08/4/vtwc.jpg http://www.agilitynut.com/08/4/vtwc.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_z...o/hattems6.jpgLAPL

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_z...A/hattems2.jpgLAPL

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_z...84741%20AM.jpgGoogle Street View


https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_z...0/hattems3.jpgLAPL

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_z...0/hattems4.jpgLAPL

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_z...tyhallcake.jpgLAPL
The grand opening of the second Hattem's Market at 8021 S. Vermont on April 4, 1931, is
celebrated with a giant cake in the form of Los Angeles City Hall, with a replica of the
Lindbergh light on top. (The first Hattem's store was on Western at 43rd [1927--see below]
and has been demolished.) I was surprised to find that such an opulent market was opened
after the Crash, and so far south of downtown. That the building still stands is a bonus.

Some sources (including its own website) claim King Kullen, a chain started in New York in
1930 and still operating, as the first supermarket. It seems, however, that Hattem's Market
predates King Kullen by three years. And apparently Hattem's was the first to issue trading
stamps....


http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics24/00031943.jpgLAPL
The opening of the first Hattem's at Western and 43rd, December 27, 1927.
Per one website, this resulted in the coining of the word "supermarket" when
the Southwest Wave, a community newspaper, described its grand opening.

More history here: http://historylosangeles.blogspot.co...r-17-1927.html

And many more interior photos here: http://photos.lapl.org/carlweb/jsp/D...wdate=&hidate=

I've always loved Pershing square. Here's a bunch of pix over the years:

Love this one. This church in the foreground was removed to build the Biltmore. Looking South, 1884:

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...r/view/CHS-115

Looking North, 1885 at the sight of the biltmore:

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets.../view/CHS-6086

Looking Southwest 1920's

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...view/CHS-36723


Here's a close up of the Philharmonic/Auditorium in 1920

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets.../view/CHS-7196

This picture is printed backwards but it looks north and shows the biltmore and the philharmonic before it's Art Deco facelift in 1925

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets.../view/CHS-9065

Looking Northeast 1927

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets.../view/CHS-6953

Pershing Square looking west, 1930

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...view/CHS-35284

Looking west across the square in 1930:

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...view/CHS-48141

The Underground parking being built in 1951. Looking Northeast at the beautiful old Philharmonic building, now a parking lot.:

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...view/CHS-32449

All these large trees you see looking west across the park in the 30's?

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...view/CHS-36717

They were dug up and moved to Disneyland when the park was redone in the 50's:

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...view/CHS-32461

More to come later.

What does it take to put pictures on this thread?