Vine Manor Hotel, Vine St, Hollywood, August 1953

Posted on February 5, 2016 by

Vine Manor Hotel, Vine St, Hollywood, August 1953

This photo was taken in August of 1953 at the top end of Vine Street near the Vine Manor Hotel looking south toward Hollywood Boulevard and The Broadway department store building. If we stood at that spot now, the view would be dominated by the Capital Records building, which opened in 1956. I wish the photographer was standing on the other side of Vine so that we could see what was there, and also a better view of the Vine Hotel.

Debra says: “My grandparents owned it and I spent much of my childhood there. I can tell you exactly what was on the south side of the hotel: a small parking lot with a very old wooden building in the corner that always fascinated me as a child. Then a very steep embankment (concrete wall) that abutted the Hotel’s driveway. There was a back building at the East boundary of the hotel property where the handyman and his wife lived.”

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9 responses to “Vine Manor Hotel, Vine St, Hollywood, August 1953”

  1. Jean Hunter says:
    February 5, 2016 at 7:40 am

    Good morning, Martin –

    LOVE this shot so I had to delve into finding out more about it.

    I found some info – this was taken on a hazy day in August 1953. The intersection is Yucca St., and although the Hotel is now gone, the red streamlined building just behind the Vine Manor sign still there. The tall palm tree seen just above it is where the Capitol Records building now sits.

    Reference: https://www.flickr.com/photos/electrospark/4466172862

    Here’s another view from the other side of the street – filming locations for “City of Fear” 1959

    http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IXLOfeiU0BY/UwQ0z_TO12I/AAAAAAAAG6I/vvE1kDyay-k/s1600/06+City+of+Fear.png

    If you want to see more film locations for this movie, check this out:

    http://dearoldhollywood.blogspot.com/2014_02_01_archive.html

    Love your posts, Martin! Jean

    Reply
  2. David R. Ginsburg says:
    February 5, 2016 at 7:45 am

    I believe that this is one of a small series of tourist Kodachromes that turned up on a Flickr photoset a few years ago. All were taken within a few blocks of your posted Vine Street picture.

    Reply
  3. Debra Kaufman says:
    May 18, 2016 at 6:10 pm

    Hello Martin: My grandmother owned the Vine Manor Hotel and I spent my childhood weekends there. I can’t believe it but we don’t seem to have any photos of the hotel besides family photos in the lobby and one photo of my grandparents all dressed up in the front of the hotel. Great to see this shot of it. Best, Debra

    Reply
  4. Jon Michaels says:
    February 8, 2022 at 5:12 pm

    Some of the Munchkins stayed here during the filming of “the Wizard of Oz”:

    https://youtu.be/8V16Ks629Aw

    Reply
    • Debra Kaufman says:
      September 6, 2023 at 2:11 pm

      Yep – you are right! In one documentary made about them, they talk about the hotel proprietor Mrs. Kaufman, my grandmother. She came from the South (via Lithuania) – so they likely heard her tell them to come back ya’ll sometime. Her favorite hobbies were smoking and playing cards, which she often did in the lobby with a couple of long-time residents there.

      Reply
  5. Bill Huens says:
    February 4, 2024 at 10:52 pm

    Hey David !

    Reply

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