noirish Los Angeles

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

Thanks for the correction, it was the 4th Grade. It was lots fun of making little wagons of the Natives of the era. I lived a mile from the San Gabriel Mission.
Not being Catholic it was all new to me. My mother was born Catholic but she had long ago left that faith and my stepfather had very many negative reactions to that church, as his legal clients had complaints about priests offering healings for money. Healings can happen via sincere prayer but its not a good idea to involve money.

I know....I've had it happen. One would be very surprised at what the Celestial Beings can do.

My thoughts exactly. Who needs a middleman (priests, rabbis etc) when communicating with the deity(s)? We can always talk directly.

Amazing how the years fly. You're a kid in grade school, and, shazaam! almost 70. People, slow down!..get the most out of each day. Don't let little things bother you. We aren't here that long.

[Mackerm]

Originally Posted by Noir_Noir

The Acme Hotel was in Pasadena -

Poor quality picture despite tweaking, the Acme Hotel building is to the left here at the corner of Fair Oaks and Dayton.


flickr.com - Loren Roberts

Try unsharp mask ... or something ...



California State Library

[ScottyB]

Originally Posted by Mackerm

Try unsharp mask ... or something ...



California State Library

Looks like there's a survivor across the street from the Acme. Note the brick non-discoloration where the turrets(?) were.

[riichkay]

The whimsical Los Angeles roadside architecture of the 1920's and '30's has been well documented and justifiably celebrated on this and other forums....I came across this building which is in the same tradition, it's the former headquarters of the Longaberger Company, a one-time manufacturer of....wait for it....baskets.

Located in Newark OH. (Columbus area)....180,000 sq ft, completed in 1997....

It's yours for $6.5 Mil....

https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/1500...lnlid=21931306

[BillinGlendaleCA]

Originally Posted by Mackerm

Try unsharp mask ... or something ...

Heh, Topaz SharpenAI.

[ethereal_reality]

.
We've only seen the Darlington Hotel one time on NLA. . .until today.


I happened upon this amazing photograph while snooping around eBay yesterday.







The Darlington Hotel is on the far right right. In the middle, three gentlemen (one in a wheelchair contraption) are in front of the Milo W. Barber Jewelry store at #621. On the left, we see the Temple Hand Laundry at #623.

The hotel was located at 619 1/2 6th Street. (the 'half' is on the door but missing on the awning)












You say you want to see some close-up? Well, alrighty then.



detail








detail



Dagnabbit, my close-up of the Darlington is missing. I'll be right back.



The one other time the Darlington Hotel appeared on NLA is in this color slide...(with the Richfield Building)



.

[ethereal_reality]

.
Gazooks! There's another hotel in the photograph.


The Hotel Oaks. . .hiding in plain sight next to the Darlington.



detail

I believe both globes say ROOMS. .... . .and I see they come in different sizes.


I have a question:...Were these globes ubiquitous throughout the city?



Thanks for the photographs of the Acme Hotel, Noir Noir and Mackerm. ...It's much appreciated.
.

[Martin Pal]

That basket building photo, riichkay, looks unreal. I cannot imagine coming upon that building unaware!
______

E_R, thanks for the link to the previous sighting of the Darlington Hotel, as it brought up a photo of the Richfield Building I'd forgotten about!

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

The Hotel Oaks. . .hiding in plain sight next to the Darlington.


detail

I believe both globes say ROOMS. .... . .and I see they come in different sizes.

It looks like the Hotel Darlington had gone by 1965, but the Oaks Hotel was still standing in the shadow of its larger neighbor, the Hotel Savoy. I can't see the "ROOMS" globe, but I've inset an enlargement of the small protuding sign. The lower inset shows the businesses that we can see, including Kleins Camera Store, Rose J-Novelties and the Abbey Book Shop.


Huntington Digital Library/LAPL

[ethereal_reality]

.
That's remarkable, Hoss. I never expected to see that Oaks Hotel sign. ... Bravo!


And guess what: ...I overlooked this photograph of the interior of Milo W. Barber's jewelry store. (the store that appears in the Darlington photograph)



I can't tell if the two young men are the same two young men standing in front of the store. (see below)

This photograph is being sold with the exterior photograph. Go Here if you're interested.



For reference here are the three men that posed in front of the jewelry shop.










Oh, and one more thing........(No, I am not doing a Columbo impersonation)

Below:... Detail of the interior of the store.

For the life of me I can't figure out what's going on within the red oval. (shown below)


detail

All I can say is. .Milo may want to rethink his filing system.




To me it looks like a. .um. .(evil) snowman regurgitating invoices.

[Mackerm]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

For the life of me I can't figure out what's going on within the red oval. (shown below)

All I can say is. .Milo may want to rethink his filing system.

To me it looks like a. .um. .(evil) snowman regurgitating invoices.

Looks like a spindle.

Thanks for remembering the eBay link to the jewelry store/hotel photos. The seller himself did a large amount of research for the descriptions.

[Earl Boebert]

Originally Posted by Mackerm

Looks like a spindle.

Thanks for remembering the eBay link to the jewelry store/hotel photos. The seller himself did a large amount of research for the descriptions.

As in "Do Not Bend, Fold, Spindle or Mutilate"

Cheers,

Earl

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

.
That's remarkable, Hoss. I never expected to see that Oaks Hotel sign. ... Bravo!


And guess what: ...I overlooked this photograph of the interior of Milo W. Barber's jewelry store. (the store that appears in the Darlington photograph)



I can't tell if the two young men are the same two young men standing in front of the store. (see below)

This photograph is being sold with the exterior photograph. Go Here if you're interested.



For reference here are the three men that posed in front of the jewelry shop.










Oh, and one more thing........(No, I am not doing a Columbo impersonation)

Below:... Detail of the interior of the store.

For the life of me I can't figure out what's going on within the red oval. (shown below)


detail

All I can say is. .Milo may want to rethink his filing system.




To me it looks like a. .um. .(evil) snowman regurgitating invoices.

^^^
Maybe a stack of wrapping paper for the jewelry, or a stack of cloth or paper towels? I wonder if the young man in the wheelchair (presumably an employee or son of the owner) was a victim of polio, cerebral palsy or perhaps a spinal chord injury? It looks like his wheelchair has some kind of crank device that allows him to use his hands to move the chair. Back in the early 1960s, I saw a man with cerebral palsy using such a device to move along a street at a pretty good speed, almost bicycle speed.

[HollywoodRocker]

Originally Posted by HossC

The 1956 CD has Ray Luna's Near n' Far at 7823 Santa Monica Boulevard. The Supro Laundry & Dry Cleaning Co and Hollywood City Dye Works were next door at 7819.

Hello, I just found this site forum, and thread today while looking for some other information. I'm really enjoying going through the posts about LA; I moved to LA permanently (which I didn't realize at the time) in 1970, but I have been in and out of LA since the early 60s. I currently live in the heart of Hollywood near Fountain & Vine Sts., having moved into an apartment complex here in 1975. I have been all over the city and, over the decades, have watched the city change. The current mania in Hollywood by developers to raze just about anything they can has resulted in a good many of the fondly remembered sites and landmarks that made Hollywood so unique to be sorely missed...

Regarding the Near n' Far, I found this photo on the West Hollywood History Center site showing gangster Mickey Cohen and the then CA State AG leaving the club that was then known as the Continental:


http://www.westhollywoodhistory.org/...SMB-Todayr.jpg




[Caption: Left: Agent Harry Cooper from the California Attorney General’s office and Mickey Cohen (in hat) leaving the Continental at 7823 Santa Monica Blvd. in July 1949; right: 7823 Santa Monica Blvd. as it appeared recently}


http://www.westhollywoodhistory.org/...g-drag-palace/


The building indeed had a colorful history, it appears. The article notes tohen was indicted in 1951, the new name Near n' Far dates the picture to some time afterwards; I did find an ad in a copy of a B'nai B'rith Messenger newspaper dated 9 March 1956 (page 24) for the Near n' Far:


https://www.nli.org.il/en/newspapers...-------------1


I'm gonna guess the City and county bans on striptease and burlesque in 1951 mentioned in the West Hollywood article didn't last very long since by 1956 the Near n' Far was in business...

[ethereal_reality]

Thanks for posting the links, Hollywood Rocker. It's much appreciated.




MARCH 9, 1956



I wonder if this is the same Ray Luna.


westcoastboxers



westcoastboxers



In 1960 he was living at 1511 Wallach Ave. in Echo Park.


LAPL


1511 Wallach Ave. (in 2009)

google earth

Judging by the lawn, the house might be deserted.






Hmm. . .I don't see how this could be 1511 Wallach Ave. when the street in front of the house is Laveta Terrace.





.

[Noir_Noir]

Ray Luna was also a co-owner of the Regency on N. La Cienega.



Google Books - You've Heard These Hands


From Martin Pal's history of 881 N. La Cienega Blvd. post in 2017.

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

Still the Regency in 1960:



Joe Castro Jazz

[GaylordWilshire]

Speaking of Mickey Cohen


An article in the June 19 NYT about Topanga Canyon and its fire hazards had in an interesting mention of an apparently Noirish property:

"...Bill Buerge, a longtime Topanga resident whose Spanish Colonial Revivial home has had a colorful history as a country club, a gay bar and a gambling joint run by the gangster Mickey Cohen."...


Have we seen this place on NLA before?

[odinthor]

Mr. Buerge (and all of the below appear to be the same Bill Buerge) seems to be a most interesting fellow (all of the following from the Los Angeles Times, via ProQuest, via CSULB Library, date as indicated):

6/7/1965:





10/10/1965:



Five years pass. 7/10/1970:



4/29/1971:



Twenty years pass, 10/4/1992:

[Martin Pal]

That 1992 L.A. Times article said the property was currently being restored. I came across a June 7, 2017, Los Angeles Times article, that begins:


Major Reboot of Topanga House and Gardens was a Passion Project, Builder-Owner Says: ‘I was hopelessly in love...’
JUNE 7, 2017 11 AM PT

When experienced home builder and sometime illustrator Bill Buerge calls the restoration of the Mountain Mermaid his “ultimate challenge,” he isn’t kidding. He compares the Mermaid’s appeal to a siren song. Irresistible. Perhaps it was the Mermaid’s checkered past; built in 1930, it was called the Mermaid Tavern at one point, and Buerge retained that name.

I can't read any more or see the photos as I don't have an L.A. Times account.

https://www.latimes.com/home/hometou...610-story.html

_________________

There's a website about the place called The Mountain Mermaid, which begins with:
http://www.themountainmermaid.com/history.html

Artist's rendering circa late 1920's of the soon-to-be-built Sylvia Park Country Club.

She was originally built in 1930 as the Sylvia Park Country Club.
In the 40’s she was reinvented as an upscale brothel and gambling house run by the infamous gangster, Mickey Cohen.
In the 50's she was reborn as The Canyon Club, a gay night spot owned and operated by a former vice cop named Phil Ewing.
Other assorted identities include an American Legion hall, Jewish boys’ school, a dude ranch, theatre, and a celebrated concert hall called The Mermaid Tavern.

[odinthor]

Photos? You mean, like this:


LA Times, 6/7/2017

or this:


LA Times, 6/7/2017

The other photos (2) are not very edifying.