A couple of days ago, I posted a circa 1934 photo of Wilshire Blvd through Westlake (aka MacArthur) Park, which showed the “Wilshire Special” streetlights. This one is also from 1934. We’re looking east along Wilshire toward Crenshaw Blvd on the left and Lorraine Blvd on the right. I love how neatly the Wilshire Specials line up. The streets are relatively unpainted, but at least Wilshire has a median strip of paint down the middle. (By the way, if the photographer had turned around and pointed his camera in the opposite direction, we would be able to see Norma Desmond’s mansion from “Sunset Blvd.”
This is roughly how that view looked in July 2022:
I wonder what ever happened to all of those beautiful street lamps? I guess it is to much to have beauty these days on our streets.
In the “now” photo posted, those street lamps are called the Wilshire Twins, but some of those street lamps you admire are still there. From an article I read: “Cruise down Wilshire Boulevard, crossing from the west into MacArthur Park, you’ll notice that the bug-eyed ’60s-era Wilshire Twins give way to the shorter gaslight-inspired lantern designs installed 30 years prior.”
Here’s a description of what those lamps look like up close: “Each lantern is guarded by four silent, Thumbelina-sized, bare-breasted women—amulets of the communities that once relied on them for light.” Driving by them, who would even know this? Even if you got out of a car and looked up at them, you’d need binoculars to notice what’s in that description!
https://la.curbed.com/2018/8/1/17635608/streetlamps-urban-light-history-design
Above is a link to an article from 2018 about streetlights in Los Angeles. It’s quite informative and fascinating. Even with a closer photo of that streetlight described above, it’s hard to see it!
The article says: “Los Angeles has 220,000 streetlights within the city and with more than 400 different types of lamps scattered over nearly 470 square miles, LA is one of the most diverse streetlight ecosystems anywhere in the country.”
There’s a photo of one described as “a very rare twin Olympic Special designed for the 1932 Games in Los Angeles, featuring a cast iron dragon arm with fruit bowl top ornament.”
Good find, Martin. “Olympic Special” – that’s a new one on me!
Martin, Don’t you mean looking East not West in that photo?
Yes! I changed the text in this post after someone on Facebook pointed out I had it around the wrong way.
Does anyone know what that building on the left side of the street was? It looks like a hotel or apartment building.
That’s the Los Altos apartment building.