In this photo from Life magazine, we’re looking west along Wilshire Blvd from around Cloverdale Ave in 1958. It’s hard to count how many searchlights were dotted along Wilshire, but I’m guessing seven or eight. Obviously something big was going on that night. My guess is an event at the El Ray Theatre at 5515 Wilshire, on the north side around halfway along this block. The El Rey wasn’t known as a big movie premiere venue, so maybe it was just a splashy store opening. Whatever was happening, it sure made for a spectacular photo.

** UPDATE **: Andie says “Doesn’t anyone else remember what happened in 1958??? It wasn’t just Wilshire Blvd. The DODGERS were “Welcomed to Los Angeles” I was still in the Army, stationed in San Francisco, but I flew down for the first game at the Coliseum. There were spotlights on major streets all over the city and around Exposition Park. Santa Barbara Avenue, Figueroa, etc.”

Both those buildings in the 1958 photo are still with us. This image is from March 2018: