I do love an atmospheric night shot of LA and this one ticks all the boxes: the glow of neon light, silhouettes of parked cars, 5-bulb street lamp, and streetcar tracks. This was taken in 1940, when Paris Hand Laundry and Argentina Steaks were at 1144 W. 7th St just east of downtown Los Angeles. The only thing missing is a storm to make the sidewalks slick with rain.

I have a LA phone directory from June 1945, so out of curiosity I looked up both these places. Argentina Steaks was no longer around, but Paris Hand Laundry was. And that’s because people will always need to wash their BVDs.

It would be too much to expect that the laundry and the steakhouse to still be around. There’s no trace of them left in this May 2022 image. The huge Medici apartment complex now stands on the site.