Vine Street in Hollywood was a quite a (neon) light show at night in the 1950s, when this photo was taken. From left to right, I can see signs for Alexander Stationers, Wil Wright’s Ice Cream (orange and yellow stripes), Spot Lite Cafe, American Broadcasting Company (ABC Radio), Santa Fe Railway, The Broadway Hollywood department store, Plaza Hotel, Miller’s beer on top of the Taft Building at Hollywood and Vine, and NBC’s KNBH Television at Sunset and Vine. The KNBH call letters on the NBC building dates this between 1949 and 1954.
Looking north up Vine Street, Hollywood from Sunset Blvd at night, circa early 1950s.
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From the 1956 Los Angeles Street Address Directory, featuring the Spot Lite Cafe
https://i.imgur.com/XITKLhW.png
Thank, Johnny. I see that Sy Devore had a store and barber shop there too!
When this photo was taken I had just started my first job selling weekend newspapers in front of a supermarket across from my parents gas station on Santa Monica Boulevard. My friends and I would often walk to Hollywood Boulevard to go to the movies. My family lived across from Paramount Studios. I have just finished reading your novel “All the Gin Jounts”. I really enjoyed the read. How accurate was the description of Humphry Bogart and his wife?
Thanks, Jerry. I’m glad you enjoyed “All the Gin Joints.” As for Bogie and Mayo, my main reference was an excellent biography: “Bogart” by A. M. Sperber and Eric Lax and also to a lesser extent Bacall’s autobiography “By Myself.” I tried my best to portray Bogart and his relationship with his wife as accurately as I could.