As far as I know, this was the only Pacific Electric red car that participated in the war effort during World War II. Car #5000 was rebranded “FLY FOR NAVY” to encourage eligible Angelenos (with high school diplomas) to sign up to the US Navy with a view to, I assume, become a Navy pilot. I don’t know where this photo was taken, but we can see that it was en route to the Subway Terminal in downtown Los Angeles, which was a convenient two-block walk to the Navy recruiting office at 306 W. 3rd St, which put it next to Sid Grauman’s Million Dollar Theater.
** UPDATE ** – Andrew C says this photo “Was taken at a layover yard called “Belmont” that was located at the entrance to the subway tunnel at 1st/2nd/Beverly/Glendale. Now an apartment complex called Belmont Station, even though there was never a station there.”
** UPDATE ** – Martin P. sent me this photo of another Pacific Electric streetcar decked out to encourage women 20 to 36 to “JOIN THE WAVES” at 411 W. 5th St, downtown Los Angeles. This photo is from 1944:
LA Resident Tourist on Twitter says: “I think the car is heading into the tunnel from Glendale Blvd with the Beverly overpass in the background.“
“The” is already missing, I wonder when “for” left the building since US Naval Aviation has been using “Fly Navy” as a recruiting slogan for decades.