There’s something so striking about those old Kodachrome photos. The colors burst from the image so vividly that you almost feel as though you could jump right in. We’re looking west along Wilshire Blvd from around Cloverdale Ave, circa 1950s. That white building on the left is the Dominguez-Wilshire Building at 5410 Wilshire, which opened in 1930 and whose major tenant was Myer Siegel, a well-known women’s clothing store. According to one report I read, the building was named after its developers, the Dominguez family, the heirs to the first land grant given in California by King Carlos III of Spain. And in California, that’s about far back as it gets!
** UPDATE ** – We can also see a sign for Vic Tanny. John J. says it was: “A chain of luxurious health clubs founded in 1947 for men and women. Offering strength training and other health programs. Also in these clubs were swimming pools, skating rinks, movie screening rooms, bowling alleys, and ballet classes. They were aimed at middle class Americans.”
This is roughly how that view looked in November 2021.
Wow. Vic Tanny’s! That’s a blast from the past. There was a hamburger place next door (out of frame to the east) called The Patio. They had the BEST charbroiled hamburgers. It was a real treat when my dad would take us kids there.