In this photo, we’re looking west along the south side of Wilshire Blvd past the Melody Lane restaurant coffee shop, over Beverly Dr. to the Beverly Wilshire Hotel at the Wilshire and Rodeo Dr. corner. This photo was taken in the 1950s before Rodeo Drive had evolved into a luxury shopping street. In the distance we can see the instantly-familiar hat-shaped sign of the Brown Derby on the northwest corner of Wilshire and Rodeo. (But don’t go there on a Thursday night. That was their busiest night of the week because it was the traditional maid’s night off.)

These days the view is so crowded out that we can barely even see the hotel. This image is from June 2022.