If, for some reason, you were standing atop the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in 1938 and you looked north across Beverly Hills, this would be your view: the ornate Beverly Hills city hall rising like a lighthouse among a sea of trees, not much traffic, a bit of morning haze but otherwise clear skies, and (near the lower right of this photo) the upscale Victor Hugo restaurant, which I think would be a delightful place to meet for lunch. First one there grabs a table. Shall we say one o’clock?