The person who sent me this photo of the St George Apartments at 1245 Vine St in Hollywood asked me if I knew what the sign at over the alley at the far left – “The Old World” referred to. Below it, another sign reads “ES RENTALS” so maybe The Old World rented out vehicles? I could find no reference to it in any online LA City Directory, so does anyone reading this know? Aside from that, what a gorgeous apartment building it is, especially that white curved archway in the middle. I also love how each store has completely different signage but “King’s Food & Health” has a sign in the window “Juice Bar.” But cars parked out front are circa 1947, and I wouldn’t have thought many places in LA offered a juice bar. It feels like more of a 1960s thing when the macrobiotic diet became popular.
Camilio H said: “A friend of mine was leasing there and the building is beautiful inside with an amazing Spanish garden with fountain and all. It was purchased years ago and my friend was paid a great amount of money to move out. I guess they refurbished it and now it’s fancier and more expensive.”
Suzanne S. said: “Dr. Max Gerson developed the first anti-cancer diet based on fresh fruits and vegetables in 1920. Dr. Norman Walker invented the first juicing machine in 1930. It was a heavy commercial machine.”
Henrik H. said: “The Old World Galleries at 1237 N. Vine Str. were antiques dealers and also rented furniture, statues, props etc. to the movie studios.”
Here’s a photo of the St George apartments from 1928:
At one point, it was also known as The Elaine Apartments. John J. said: “It was built as the Elaine Apartments in 1925. It was sold in 1954 To Oscar Trippet’s Real Property Investments Inc. and renamed.”
Advertisement for the liquidation sale of The Old World Galleries antiques in the LA Times dated December 18, 1949:
This is roughly how that view looked in June 2024. What a nice surprise to find it largely unchanged.
Hi –
I found this in the 1948 Los Angeles telephone directory:
“The Old World Galleries”
1237 N. Vine Street
Sold antiques.
Hope this helps!
And very close at 1219 N Vine was Competitin Motors, abit later (about 1958} the VW/Porsche distributor and my first real job after Air Force service.
Man Ray lived there from 1940 until 1951!
see page 5:
https://villaelaine.com/pdf/vine-historical.pdf
https://eastofborneo.org/archives/a-schoolboy-visits-man-ray-at-the-villa-elaine-apartments/
p.s. it had unfortunate “earthquake abatement” done to it, I think in the 70s – if you look at the top of the center section, the top cornice is missing, as are the moldings that flanked it. I think this is also when they filled in the windows with mismatched bricks… Apparently, Sinatra and Orson Welles also rented there. You, my penpal, and I share psychic energy, because I was JUST reading about that building last night!
My second comment I sent erased the first one! I’ll try to re-compose…
Man Ray lived there (and used it as his studio) from 1940 until 1951! see page 5: https://villaelaine.com/pdf/vine-historical.pdf and there’s also: https://eastofborneo.org/archives/a-schoolboy-visits-man-ray-at-the-villa-elaine-apartments/
p.s. it had unfortunate “earthquake abatement” done to it, I think in the 70s – if you look at the top of the center section, the top cornice is missing, as are the moldings that flanked it. I think this is also when they filled in the windows with mismatched bricks… Apparently, Sinatra and Orson Welles also rented there. You, my penpal, and I share psychic energy, because I was JUST reading about that building last night!
What a remarkable coincidence that you were reading about this building just yesterday!
Avant Garde photographer Man Ray also once lived here
Health food places have a long history in California. There were places like the juice bar around in the 20s.
Well, what’s in a title anyways. Personally, I’d consider anything below Fountain to be more of a Colgrove location than Hollywood proper. It would partially depend on which direction you walked to get the to nearest Red Car..the Santa Monica line or the Hollywood Boulevard line. But as districts go, there’s almost no end to how big “Hollywood” was. It’s all a matter of perspective. Telephone exchanges might be clearer. Zip codes came later.
What a nice building it was and still is! Thank you for sharing!