Broadway decorated for a Shriner Convention, downtown Los Angeles, 1925

Posted on October 19, 2019 by

Broadway decorated for a Shriner Convention, downtown Los Angeles, 1925From the look of this photo from 1925, I’m guessing it was a big deal when the Shriners held a convention in town. Or at least they wanted Angelenos to know they were there and parked two stands with camels and palm trees outside the Broadway department store at Broadway and 4th St in downtown Los Angeles. All those flags are probably part of it, too. Even without all that going on, we can see how jam-packed Broadway was back then. Not just the street itself but those sidewalks are almost shoulder-to-shoulder.

I especially love that bus on the left hand side:

When I googled “Shriners 1925” I found them doing this. It’s a dance called the “Yama Yama.” Also, check out their shoes!

The Shriners dance the "Yama Yama" at a convention, circa 1925

And this is the old Broadway department store at Broadway and 4th in 2019:

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6 responses to “Broadway decorated for a Shriner Convention, downtown Los Angeles, 1925”

  1. Gordon L Pattison says:
    October 19, 2019 at 10:35 am

    Even in the 1940’s and 50’s when I was a kid, the sidewalks downtown were crowded shoulder to shoulder as in this photo. Everyone went there to shop in the big department stores like the Broadway.

    Reply
  2. William Bergmann says:
    October 19, 2019 at 12:05 pm

    The Broadway store at 4th looks a lot like the one at Hollywood and Vine. I worked at Bullock’s in 55.

    Reply
  3. Gail Lofdahl says:
    October 20, 2019 at 11:59 pm

    Per Wikipedia: “The Yama Yama Man” was a comical song for the Broadway show The Three Twins, published in 1908 by M. Witmark & Sons with music by Karl Hoschna and lyrics by Collin Davis. It became popular after Bessie McCoy’s animated performance in a satin Pierrot clown costume with floppy gloves and a cone hat. At age 20, she became an overnight sensation on Broadway and was known thereafter as the “Yama Yama Girl”; it became her lifelong theme song, the show ran for 288 performances.The lyrics contain topical references of the era such as street cars and ladies’ fashion while the refrain is about a comical bogeyman—the Yama Yama Man—who is “ready to spring out at you unaware”. Bessie McCoy’s song and dance routine was a standard into the 1930s with a prestigious lineage of imitators including Ada Jones, Marilyn Miller, Irene Castle and Ginger Rogers.

    Reply

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