I don’t know what was going on in downtown Los Angeles on that day in circa 1923, but the sidewalks of Broadway (shown here looking north from 5th Street) were shoulder-to-shoulder packed. And look at the crowd trying to sardine themselves into the streetcar. In the background we can see signs for The Owl Drug Co and The Broadway department store, but what I like most is the big clock reminding people of the time … possibly because not everybody could afford wristwatches…?
Morgan R says: “If I recall from a non-scientific study I did (based on watch ad frequency in National Geographic magazines of the 1920s-30s), in 1923 wristwatches were still mostly considered women’s fashion (being daintier) and men still preferred the more-accurate pocket watch. Practicality during WWI started to change attitudes (officers, charged with carrying out coordinated timed-attacked found pocket watches to be cumbersome to pull out, so they developed thick wrist straps to literally turn ordinary pocket watches into wristwatches). Coupled with improvements to the motions of wristwatches, they rapidly began to be increasingly marketed to men around the turn of the 1930s, though pocket watches remained in use where precision was paramount (e.g. railroading) until some time after WWII.”
To which Gregory H added: “To continue your point, the Fall 1923 Sears catalog has 7 pages of pocket watches (simply referred to as “watches”) with about 15 watches per page. There are two wristwatches for men, but they are called “strap watches,” not wristwatches. Following the pocket watches there are 2 pages of wristwatches with a banner at the top of the first page that reads: “Every Lady Wants a Wrist Watch” They are all women’s and most cost about $20, which on the whole seems to be less expensive than the average pocket watch.”
Andie P said: “They appear to be in winter clothes (and hats) so this may have been during the week of the “January White Sales” a marketing idea that began at the turn of the century- for retailers to unload extra merch stocked for the holidays. Deep discounts in bedding, linens, towels, etc. Many families waited all year to buy new sheets and towels. This was still a “thing” in the fifties and sixties when we were still doing some shopping in downtown L.A. and the streets were just as crowded – and in the fifties, most men were still wearing hats.”
This is that same view in September 2021. I know that the Covid restrictions emptied out downtown a lot, but the difference in the two photos is striking.
Pickpockets must of had a field day.