On May 15, 1927, the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel opened at 7000 Hollywood Blvd. It was financed by a group that included Louis B. Mayer, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and Sid Grauman, which possibly explains why the first Academy Awards ceremony took place there. Not long after that, this photo was taken from Orange Drive, which lays directly north of the hotel. As we can see, the street was lined with trees that shaded the locals from the California sun, but it also looks like finding a place to park was challenging even back then!
Hollywood Blvd itself has more trees now than it did back then, however Orange Drive wasn’t quite so lucky. This all looks rather stark, doesn’t it? (This image is from March 2018)
And here’s a menu dated October 2, 1933. It’s extraordinarily extensive!
I saw Weslia Whitfield and Shirley Horn perform there (separately) in the lounge at the Roosevelt many years ago. One of the places where I’d like to stay someday. Funnily enough, it never occurred to me that the hotel was named after Teddy Roosevelt.
To be honest, I always just assumed it was (named after Teddy) but never knew for sure until I researched for this post.
I love that you include these old menus. So many things that we don’t eat now (or they go under different names).