This is my last post for a short while. I’m taking a couple weeks off for a much-needed vacation. No computer screen, no social media, no emails, no DMs. It’s time for me to unplug and refresh in a place where I don’t even know the language – but that’s what the Google Translate app is for. See you all next month!
Vacation time!
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Looking west along 7th Street toward the Warner Brothers Downtown Theatre at Hill St, downtown Los Angeles, circa 1937
I love everything in this circa 1937 photo looking west along 7th Street toward Hill Street in downtown LA: the young girl in the checked skirt (I wonder where she was going that day), the woman in the hat to her right checking her purse, and the semaphore traffic light next to her. I love that gorgeous light fixture hanging from the overhead awning and the streetcar running along Hill. In the background the marquee of the Warner Bros. Downtown Theatre, and in the far background the two-light street lamp. (Source: rarehistoricalphotos.com)
This is roughly how that view looked in February 2023. The theater is now a jewelry market.
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Tagged Downtown Los Angeles, Streetcars, Warner Bros., Wiltern Theatre
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Looking north toward the Autry Museum of the American West along the Arroyo Seco Parkway, Los Angeles, after its completion in 1940
On December 30, 1940, the Arroyo Seco Parkway opened as one of the US’s first freeways. The caption for this photo say it was taken in 1940. If that’s correct, it must have been taken on the first or second day after opening. Considering there is only one car in sight, I’m guessing it was taken on opening day. The Arroyo Parkway is now known as “the 110” aka “the Harbor Freeway” as it goes down to San Pedro and Los Angeles Harbor. It is also part of historical Route 66. That building in the background with the tower is the Autry Museum of the American West, but back then was known as the Southwest Museum of the American Indian, which helps up determine the exact location of the photo. (Source: KCET)
Kevin W said: “The car is parked, with no driver. It may have belonged to the photographer, and the photo is probably from before the opening.”
** UPDATE ** – Greg H says: “Although it’s now owned by the Autry Museum of the American West, the Southwest Museum, now closed, and the Autry are two different locations, the Southwest is along the Pasadena Frwy and the Autry along the 5 in Griffith Park. They both have towers though.”
And this is a 1936 view of the proposed Arroyo Seco Parkway looking upstream from Avenue 26, toward Pasadena:
This is roughly how that view looked in June 2024.
Color billboard for Rainbo Enriched Bread near Farmer’s Market, 3rd St, Los Angeles, circa late 1950s
I don’t have a lot of information about this photo. In fact, before I came across it, I’d never even heard of Rainbo bread. The style of its packaging makes it look like it was a contemporary of Wonder Bread. (The Rainbo brand closed down in late 2023.) That red-topped car behind the billboard on the right looks like it’s from the 1950s. And on the left, that green-roofed building resembles Farmer’s Market. If it is, that means this photo was probably taken on 3rd Street looking toward Fairfax Ave. Wherever it was, this photo strikes me as a very ’50s California shot. (Source: Pinterest)
Keith R. said: “The car is a 1955 Buick Roadmaster.”
Rosanne S. said: “In the 50s, the surrounding area of the Original Farmers Market, Los Angeles didn’t have vast open areas.”
Susan S. said: “My father was the plant engineer for the Rainbo Bakery facility in Phoenix, AZ. from the late 40s to the early 70s. Yes, they produced a light, sliced white bread that was very popular during the mid-century. They also produced dinner rolls and other bread products. The parent company (corporation) was Campbell-Taggert which was based in Dallas. Eventually, the product line expanded to include more whole grain products under the Oroweat label. In the late 80s or early 90s Anheuser-Busch bought the corporation.”
Up-and-coming actress, Marilyn Monroe, poses in the quaint village backlot set at 20th Century-Fox movie studios, Los Angeles, 1947
In 1947, Marilyn Monroe was just an unknown-but-hopeful contract player at 20th Century-Fox when she posed for this photograph. It was so early in her career, she wasn’t even blonde yet! But it does give us an idea of what the quaint little village set looked like on their backlot. If you can ignore the scaffolding behind the church facade, it’s not hard to imagine Marilyn is standing in the middle of a medieval European village that survived the bubonic plague, the French revolution, and two world wars. (Source: variety.com)
A wreckage-strewn Santa Monica Beach after the devastating flooding of Santa Monica Canyon, California, March 1939
In 1938, Los Angeles endured unprecedented rains and subsequent flooding. The first storm hit February 27 and 28, unleashing 4.5 inches of rain. Then on March 1, a second storm hit with gale-force winds, dumping ten inches of rain. It ended up taking 144 lives and destroyed thousands of homes. It was so devastating that not long afterwards, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began work on channeling the Los Angeles River with concrete for improved water management. This photo was taken at the Santa Monica Canyon part of Santa Monica Beach. The sign on top of the hill reads: “Huntington Palisades” which I’d never heard of before, so I looked it up. It’s right next to the Pacific Palisades which was engulfed in the wildfires in early 2025. (Source: Water & Power Associates)
I’m not completely sure this is the exact same view, but this is what the Santa Monica Canyon stretch of Santa Monica Beach looked like in May 2024.
Aerial photo of the old RKO studios rebranded as Desilu Studios Inc, Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, circa late 1950s
After Howard Hughes had bought, mismanaged, and bankrupted RKO studios on Melrose Ave, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz’s company bought it and rebranded it Desilu Studios Inc. That transaction happened in late 1957, so this aerial shot was probably taken not long after (perhaps early 1958) when locals were still marveling that a former chorus girl and her business-savvy Cuban husband had bought the studio. In the lower left corner, we can see the huge concrete globe from the RKO logo that sat (and still does) at the corner of Melrose Ave and Gower St. (Source: glitteratitours.com)
Lou L on Twitter said: “Hughes sold RKO in December 1955 to General Tire’s broadcasting subsidiary, which was mostly interested in acquiring the film library. After several months of trying to revive the moribund studio, they sold it to Desilu.”
This is roughly how that view looks these days.
Aerial photo of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber company, 6701 S. Central Ave, Los Angeles, 1923
When the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company factory built their factory at 6701 South Central Ave south of downtown Los Angeles between 1919 and 1920, the land around them was empty. And it was still largely empty a few years later when this aerial photo was taken in 1923. I presume that a factory which produces tires probably doesn’t smell great, so I doubt many people would want to build home nearby—even the employees! (Source: Pinterest.)
The Ghost of Mr Hand on BlueSky said: “The tire factories were among the few industries that hired blacks after the war, and the south central area wasn’t red-lined so it was one of the few areas middle class blacks could own homes.”
Timothy B. said, “The factory closed in February 1979.”
That location is now home to a Post Office facility This is roughly how that view looked in 2025.
Night view looking west past the Warner Hollywood Theatre, 6433 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, 1937
We’re looking west along Hollywood Blvd toward the Warner Theater, which opened in 1928. The movie featured on the marquee is “Dead End” which was the United Artists picture that spawned the well-known “Dead End Kids.” Those two spotlights blazing into the night sky usually meant a premiere was taking place, but there is also a huge vertical banner proclaiming “Major Studio Picture Preview Tonight.” Perhaps the spotlights were to attract a large audience for a test screening of some other movie. At the very least we can say that “Dead End” came out in August 1937, so that helps us date the photograph. (Source: losangelestheatres.blogspot.com)
The Warner Theatre marquee is harder to see these days, but this is roughly how that view looked in June 2024.
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Tagged Hollywood, Hollywood Blvd, Movie Premiere, Night photo, Warner Bros.
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A bright pink 1957 Lincoln Premiere pulls up outside Ciro’s nightclub, 8433 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, circa late 1950s
From the early 1940s to the late 1950s, Ciro’s at 8433 Sunset Blvd in the heart of the Sunset Strip was the premier nightclub in all of Los Angeles. In this photo, a bright pink 1957 Lincoln Premiere pulls into the driveway. This scene looks very staged, so I assume it’s some sort of promotional image, probably for a print ad. But the message is clear: When you want to make a big entrance at a fancy nightclub, you do it in a bright pink 1957 Lincoln Premiere in front of envious friends who are still standing in the driveway.
** UPDATE ** – Pulling up right behind this coral reef is a white ’57 Continental Mark II.
** UPDATE ** – My thanks to David G for finding the original print ad this image came from. (You can click/tap it to go to a larger version.)
Since 1972, the building that was once Ciro’s now houses The Comedy Store. This image is from February 2021.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Advertisement, Ciro's nightclub, Color photo, Night photo, Nightclubs, Sunset Blvd
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