The photographer who took this photo was facing east on the southeast corner of Sunset Blvd and Crescent Heights Blvd in 1954, looking at two places that took on legendary status in Los Angeles. At the rear is Schwab’s Pharmacy at 8024 Sunset, which had opened in 1932 and quickly became the place where Hollywood wannabes and madeits (I made that word up) gathered to see, be seen, swap gossip and information, grab coffee, read “The Hollywood Reporter,” and fill a prescription. Then, in 1949, Googie’s Coffee Shop opened next door at 8100 Sunset with such a weirdly angled style that it gave rise to a whole new trend in architecture to which it lent its name. When someone finally invites me to ride their time travel machine, I’m heading straight here.

I thought the auto-colorizer did a pretty good job bringing this image to life.

The structure that stood on this corner was called the Crescent Heights Market building. (There was a fairly large market next to Schwab’s.) It’s long gone and in its place now stands a mall anchored by a Trader Joe’s, a Starbucks, and Crunch gym. This image is from May 2022.