noirish Los Angeles

[tovangar2]

Thank you so much ProphetM. Your photographs are gorgeous.

What a revelation to see many of the spaces all-but-empty and the Sportswear Room set up as office space.

My all-time favorite store.

Thanks again.

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

Thank you so much ProphetM. Your photographs are gorgeous.

What a revelation to see many of the spaces all-but-empty and the Sportswear Room set up as office space.

My all-time favorite store.

Thanks again.

Too bad this gorgeous building is not more used and seen.

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

Too bad this gorgeous building is not more used and seen.

But, it's super-cared-for, useful to the school and they have open-houses, so I'm happy :-)

[ProphetM]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

Thank you so much ProphetM. Your photographs are gorgeous.

What a revelation to see many of the spaces all-but-empty and the Sportswear Room set up as office space.

My all-time favorite store.

Thanks again.

They may seem all-but-empty, but I think they actually get a good bit of use - This is Southwestern Law School's Library as well as administrative offices. The open house occurs on a Sunday so the school is of course closed. There are a great number of tables for studying and many, many books. There are meeting and presentation rooms, a mock courtroom in the former accessories department, and the Louis XVI Room is used for special functions. The cafeteria & Tea Room are used by the staff & students.

The first, second and fifth floors were the most original portions of the building and the self-guided tour focused on those. The third and fourth floors house mostly administrative offices and as these floors had long since lost their 1929 accoutrements, they had a greater opportunity to remodel, and they did a wonderful job creating modern yet harmonious throwback-style designs.

I have gone back and updated my post with captions - apologies for my glaring oversight!

The full set of photos I took last year is available beginning here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/1045306...65241832055122

There are 200+ photos, all fully captioned. Just use the right-arrow to go forward. Feel free to post any to the thread that you would like. You should be able to right-click and select 'Copy image URL' or similar depending on your browser, and post it directly here with the normal IMG tags.

The full album overview is here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/1045306.../2014SonyPart4

Bullocks Wilshire takes up the final 1/3 of the album; the rest contains photos from an LA Conservancy walking tour in downtown LA, Victorian homes on Carroll Ave., and a few from other areas such as Little Tokyo, Chinatown, the Farmer's Market area, Wilshire Blvd., Colorado Blvd. near Pasadena City College, and a bit more. Again, feel free to post here any pics you find interesting.

[Martin Pal]

Southwestern Law School used to have two tour dates a year where the tours of
Bullocks Wilshire were guided and afterwards you would have a luncheon in the Tea
Room and the last tour of the day was a High Tea, both taken from the original Bullocks
Wilshire menu.

Well, they still do this, but to attend you have to be one of the "Friends of Bullocks
Wilshire" members, meaning you contribute a certain amount that helps continued
restoration projects and educational programs. You need to be a member to be
inivted to those, and also pay the fee to attend.

I attended one of those about ten years ago before they started the benefactor system
and had lunch in the tearoom, with white tablecloths and the works, etc.

ProphetM

ProphetM, did you happen to take a photo of the beautifully colored/tiled water
fountain that was restored, just outside the tearoom above? That's something I particularly remember. Thanks for posting these beautiful photos.

ProphetM

I got to see this mural again last year when I was in the neighborhood and snuck through
the electric gate as it was closing. It's one of my favorite things in the city to look at!
This back entrance of Bullocks Wilshire was used in the film Topper as the entrance for
the Sea Breeze Hotel. I've been trying to locate a sceengrab of it, but as yet have not.

Guided or self-guided, it's worth it if one has the inclination. Looks like they're having a
special evening tour of the place for members this year with a cocktail reception held in
Mr. Bullocks former suite with exclusive access to the tower.

A friend of mine told me that Angela Lansbury used to work in this store when she was
first in Hollywood and years later requested an episode of her TV series be filmed in
there, too.

[ProphetM]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

ProphetM, did you happen to take a photo of the beautifully colored/tiled water
fountain that was restored, just outside the tearoom above? That's something I particularly remember. Thanks for posting these beautiful photos.

You're welcome! And yes:

[Noircitydame]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

Lots of soldiers in uniform from these 1940's color slides, but I haven't seen any sailors...?

Here's some b&w photos of this corner at different times:

1939
Torrence/Hollywood Photographs

1965
Torrence/Hollywood Photographs

1972
Torrence/Hollywood Photographs

1976
Torrence/Hollywood Photographs

1979, just east of Ivar
Torrence/Hollywood Photographs
___

A few other search terms: Hollywood Blvd. at Ivar
Broadway-Hollywood
Lerner Shops
Chandler's Shoes
Furs by Mannis
Leed's
Hi-Rite Drugs
Victoria Discount
Sir George's Smorgasbord

thanks for that on Audie.
I have that other At Ease book, too. It’s just as nice as the first one.

Maybe the sailors were down the block at the 7 Seas?

That 1939 photo above shows the remodel of 6336 underway for Chandler's. They opened there by May 1939. Before 1934 that had been a separate building, with a branch of Whetheryby-Kayser shoes then I. Magnin leased it and remodeled it as part of their larger store alteration. So, then it went back to being a seperate space.

This shot from the early '30s shows 6336 when it was still Whetherby-Kayser

http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics39/00039153.jpg

Nancy’s: after Magnin's moved out, the rest of the space got a moderne remodel in Sept. 1939. It was there until at least Sept 1954 when the founder, Betty Blanc, died. Her daughters were Nancy and Mimi (the former Nancy's space in the Palmer Building became Mimi's). I have the impression B.B. owned this piece of property all along and had leased it to Magnin’s.

Next to Chandler's, that little French style building at 6324-6332 was built or totally remodeled in late 1931 by Morgan & Clements. There were 4, later 5 storefronts. Albert Sheetz's candy shop & restaurant at 6324 was the longest tenant, from 1932 to 1957. Columbia (the apparel half of Eastern Columbia) had been in 6328 but moved out around 1940.


c. 1934-35. CSL

LAT 1-9-41

LAT 1-6-57

Then 6320, the little Deco Roos Brothers. It was there by 1929 until they closed and auctioned everything off in Feb 1946. It was totally remodeled and had become a Lerner’s Shop by 1958.

LAT 2-10-46

Back to corner of Ivar: The Thrifty Drug, designed by S Charles Lee- opened Nov 22, 1935. If you didn't feel like moseying all that way down to Sheetz's you could eat pretty well in their Fount N' Grill.

1-17-43

It was remodeled and became a Leed’s Shoes in Dec 1957.
LAT 12-2-57

They moved there from 6434, which had been the old Chandler's, from 1936 to 1939. Chandler's over at 6336 did a remodel in Feb-March 1958- no coincidence I'm sure.

3-2-58

Speaking of Leed's, it's out of season, but shows the 6600 block with Cinema Sports Center bowling alley & gym at 6624 discussed recently, partly blocked by one of the trees. That was Leed's old-old location before moving to 6434.

1948
pintrest


** yes, the sign E-R pointed out next door does say Lutheran Services Center. It was at 6356 as of a 1943 and I think gone by 1945 (It was in the building that housed the Schwab’s menswear shop).**

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by ProphetM

You're welcome! And yes:

5th Floor elevator lobby drinking fountain, Bullocks Wilshire, LA

We posted about the same time above and, after I did, I saw your link to
all the other Bullocks Wilshire photos, so I went on the tour. So many great
ones! I was just coming back to post this one, LOL! Thank you, I love it!

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

This back entrance of Bullocks Wilshire was used in the film Topper as the entrance for
the Sea Breeze Hotel. I've been trying to locate a sceengrab of it, but as yet have not.

There's kind of a fuzzy copy of "Topper" (1937) on YouTube.

The Motor Court:


Roland Young chauffeuring an invisible Constance Bennett:


Roland Young and Irving Bacon with the "Seabreeze Hotel" signage:


Three wonderful character actors: Frank O'Connor, Eugene Pallette, Irving Bacon interact in the Motor Court:

YouTube

Wasn't the Motor Court designed so one could drive into it and leave one's car with the valet? If that's the case, when did that end? The old usage configuration was, at some point, somewhat awkwardly blocked with planters, etc.:

gsv
Form(?) function(?)


Thank you ProphetM for all the gorgeous detail shots. I see now there was more activity there that day than I realized.

fifth-floor elevator lobby:


dining room:


clock, Sportswear:


vent:


last 5 pix: ProphetM

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

But, it's super-cared-for, useful to the school and they have open-houses, so I'm happy :-)

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=29604
Re: Bullocks Wilshire store.

Sorry, it appears that everyone disagrees with me. Evidently my assessment was way off the mark.

Doug: ''You need to look at things more closely.''

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by Noircitydame

thanks for that on Audie.
I have that other At Ease book, too. It’s just as nice as the first one.

Interesting and very nostalgic for 1941. We do not see this lineup of food choices these days in restaurants. People's tastes have dramatically changed.

Halibut is not even that available today due to overfishing and environmental problems.


previously posted

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

Sorry, it appears that everyone disagrees with me.

Oh, please don't say that. I think different view points and perceptions are what makes life interesting. I never meant to imply that yours aren't valid. I was just yakking. I think you have a wonderful eye. You're the best :-)

[John Maddox Roberts]

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

Interesting and very nostalgic for 1941. We do not see this lineup of food choices these days in restaurants. People's tastes have dramatically changed.

Halibut is not even that available today due to overfishing and environmental problems.


previously posted

Note that they offer buttermilk, something you never see today, much to my wife's dismay. But many more people back then were raised on farms, where buttermilk was a staple.

[Wig-Wag]

[QUOTE=ProphetM;7090339]For those of you interested, I just received a mailer from the Southwestern Law School announcing this year's open house of Bullocks Wilshire. It will be happening on Sunday, August 2. Start times begin at 10:30am in half-hour increments to 1pm. The cost is $25.

The required reservations will be taken beginning on July 15 at 10am, by calling 213-738-6814. Reservations close at 6pm on July 30. Free parking on-site.

I went to the open house last year with my daughter and it is really an amazing place. The start times are mainly just a way of keeping a handle on the number of visitors; you are free to roam about the place after checking in.

Here are a few pics I took last year...

ProphetM, I thoroughly enjoyed your photo tour of Bullock's Wilshire. When I was last there it was still operating as a department store and what I found fascinating in your photos is how much of the original details remain and the level of restoration.

When I came across your photo below, I thought you might enjoy a bit of trivia. The seam locomotive entering the photo from the left is an extremely accurate rendering of a Northern Pacific Railway Z-5 Yellowstone. Talk about a state of the art mural for the time, this was it!

"The Z-5 Yellowstones were two locomotives under one boiler, these were the largest locomotives in the world when delivered in 1928. They eliminated the use of two locomotives on the head-end of freight trains on the Yellowstone Division in eastern Montana and western North Dakota. The 2-8-8-4 was first built for the Northern Pacific Railway in 1928." (Wikipedia)

http://www.american-rails.com/yellowstone.html



Photo by ProphetM.

Cheers,
Jack

[ethereal_reality]

I recently came across this snapshot of a train wreck in Pasadena, circa 1905.



eBay

__

[tovangar2]

pinterest

Still looking for the news reports.....

[ethereal_reality]

Good find t2. your photo includes buildings. (buildings = clues)



I believe this is the first color image of the French Village on NLA.


eBay

The traffic's pretty heavy heading into Cahuenga Pass.









detail / slightly larger








from an earlier post by Martin_Turnbull.


http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=24515

That's just an amazing photograph isn't it. wow!

[Flyingwedge]

Originally Posted by Noircitydame

This shot from the early '30s shows 6336 when it was still Whetherby-Kayser

http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics39/00039153.jpg

Not to copy 3940dxer or anything (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=28330), but since NCD posted such a nice photo looking west on Hollywood Blvd. from Vine toward Ivar, here are screen shots from W. C. Fields' Man on the Flying Trapeze (1935), which was filmed on the same block (a large crowd has gathered on the corner). Fields' car is in front on the left:


It's hard to tell from this blurry copy, but it appears to actually be Fields, not a double, driving the car as the cop pulls him over. After this the film cuts to Fields making a left turn; the curb he pulls up to is at the studio, not on Vine:


Here's that block today:

GSV

After acquiring several tickets, Fields is again on his way but then gets a flat and loses his spare tire down a steep hill. I have no idea which one:


Then the tire rolls onto a train trestle. I vaguely remember reading somewhere that this is on the way out to Glendale; perhaps someone will recognize it:


Just as Fields is about to get hit head-on by the streetcar, the tire jumps over to the other track and Fields follows it there:


But then a train comes up behind him:


Just before Fields is run down from behind by the rear-projected train, the tire jumps back to the other track and finally rolls off the bridge:


Screen caps by me from DVD.

[ethereal_reality]

eBay

Whitney Heights? -note the Hollywood sign stills spells out Hollywoodland.

[ethereal_reality]

"1924 Original LOS ANGELES Photo WEST ADAMS STREET Palm Trees California."



http://www.ebay.com/itm/1924-Origina...item35ed552aaf

Does anyone recognize this apartment building?