It’s rare these days that I come across a vintage photo of LA in which we can see three things that are still with us. This photo of Hollywood Blvd is dated December 1948, and we can see the Pig’N Whistle Café (delicious pizza, btw), the Hollywood First National Bank building on the Highland Ave corner, and on the far left we can see the ‘Now Playing’ board for the Egyptian Theater. If I put “Buttons and Bows” by Dinah Shore on my headphones, and walked that stretch of Hollywood Blvd, I could believe I was there.
The children’s menu at the Pig’N Whistle also doubled as a mask:
1908 ad for the downtown Pig’n Whistle:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_%27n_Whistle#/media/File:1908.12.17.LAT.advert.for.downtown.location.of.pig.and.whistle.png
Interesting article that also explains how the Pig’n Whistle name originated:
http://articles.latimes.com/2001/apr/26/news/cl-55632
Thanks for the pic, Martin.
Jean
My parents used to take me there for birthday parties. The article says it closed down in the 50’s but it must have been the later years. Hollywood Blvd. was so safe back then. My girlfriend and I used to be left off to see movies at the Chinese Theater and others and there was no problem with prostitution, sex slavers and homeless. Then we’d go for sundaes at C.C. Browns.
I was just working on my memoirs called Before I Forget which describes my life and travels over the 83 years of my life including 10 years of working in Saudi Arabia. I was born in 1938 and lived next to Paramount and RKO studios where my brother had a newspaper route inside the studios. Your web site brings back many memories. Thanks. Check out my historical novels (On Amazon) Beyond the Bitter Sea and Beyond the Gates ofAni.
Hi James and thanks for stopping by. “Before I Forget” is a great name for a memoir!