These movie-going motorists snaking all the way to the street (and probably beyond) were waiting to get into California’s very first drive-in theater on September 9, 1934. Because there weren’t any others, it was simply named Drive-In Theater. Located on the corner of Pico Blvd and Westwood Blvd, it was later renamed the Pico Drive-In. That night, patrons were treated to Will Rogers in Fox’s “Handy Andy.” (Not to be confused with MGM’s Andy Hardy series starring Mickey Rooney from the late 1930s.) The Westside Pavilion shopping mall now occupies that site.
Moviegoers wait to get into the grand opening of Pico Drive In, the first drive-in theater in California, at Pico Blvd and Westwood Blvd, Los Angeles, September 9, 1934
Hollywood Boulevard outside of the Roosevelt Hotel, Hollywood, circa 1940s
This busy street scene outside the Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Blvd was captured some time in the 1940s. There’s so much going on you’d almost think it was staged. I’ve never seen those luggage racks on taxis before – were they designed to accommodate traveling trunks? The Rotary sign is very prominent – you really can’t miss it. It looks like The London Store (“Ye Shoppe for Men”) is going in to the space that now has a bar. And I love the guy in the hat on the left reading a newspaper – I wonder if he’s trying to ignore the one in the white jacket who looks like he’s saying “Hey, buddy…” And I also love the woman and the boy in the foreground. Was grandma taking the little tyke for a hot fudge sundae at CC Brown’s across the street? But more importantly, we can see what the sidewalk looked like before the Walk of Fame stars were installed.
Andie P. says “It’s obviously summer as there are a couple of “Panama” hats on two men and the women are in summer dresses. The Roosevelt Hotel and others each had a fleet of vehicles that picked up patrons at the train stations well into the ’50s. They had fold-down racks on the back for trunks and larger suitcases. The Biltmore Hotel downtown had custom-built long multi-door passenger/luggage vehicles that would function like today’s limos.”
Bob H. says: “Those taxis w/rooftop luggage racks, may be special railroad limos, dedicated limos, to take hotel guests to Union Station, or, Pasadena, or, Glendale, or other suburban Los Angeles railroad stations. The concept of hotel to railroad stations dedicated limos goes way back. Hotels at one time hired special horse drawn carriages to take their guest to/from railroad stations. The classier the hotel, the classier, the carriage. These horse drawn carriages eventually were replaced by, motor driven ” Station Wagons ” . When air travel stated to dominate long distance travel in the USA, a vehicle called the, ” Airporter Limo ” appeared. These vehicles were not limos, nor, taxis, nor buses, but rather, extra long, extended wheelbase station wagons, often manufactured by the Checker Motor Company of Kalamazoo Michigan, to take airport passengers to/from their hotels.”
Outside the Roosevelt Hotel in January 2021:
Crowds gather outside the Brown Derby, 3377 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angele, circa early 1940s
I’ve seen plenty of photos of the original Brown Derby restaurant at 3377 Wilshire Blvd on the Alexandria Ave corner, but I’ve never seen one with so many people gathered out front. The car on the right is a 1940 Buick, so this is circa early 1940s and I have to wonder what was going on that day. Everyone appears to be very nicely dressed—taking even more care than they normally did back then—so I’m wondering if it was Easter Sunday and Angelenos were doing their own version of the Easter parade. I have a photo taken farther along on Wilshire on Easter, 1941 – so maybe this photo was taken the same day. I’ll bet the Brown Derby did a roaring trade that day!
Looking north up Broadway from 7th St, downtown Los Angeles, circa 1925
Something must have been happening the day this photo was taken looking north up Broadway from 7th St in downtown Los Angeles, circa 1925 – you don’t often see gridlock like this in the 1920s. Those poor people on the streetcar weren’t going anywhere any time soon. I’ve seen a similar photo to this taken around the same time showing a Shriner convention so maybe this was part of that. But it’s striking to see how similar all the cars were back then. Or maybe Shriners tended to favor the same model of automobile. Also, looked how packed the sidewalk is. It was a busy day in downtown L.A. that day!
Roughly the same view in February 2021
The Tamale restaurant, 6421 Whittier Blvd, East Los Angeles, circa late 1920s
If you’re in the mood for a tamale, why would you go anywhere but a restaurant shaped like a tamale? The Tamale opened at 6421 Whittier Blvd in East Los Angeles in 1928, where they offered not just tamales and tamale pie, but hamburgers, chili, and something called Spanish Delight (which I had to look up and found it’s a type of casserole.) You could wash it all down with malted milk (“As you like ’em”) and for dessert a 5-cent ice cream cone. All in all, it sounds pretty good to me.
Miraculously, that building is still there. This image is from March 2021:
Sailing a gondola on the Venice Lagoon, Venice Beach, California, circa early 1900s
When real estate developer Abbot Kinney conceived and built his “Venice of America” project in the opening years of the 20th century, he had a high-minded plan complete with canals. This photo is one of the better ones I’ve come across showing one of the gondolas and gondoliers that Kinney imported from the original Venice in Italy. It looks like that flag is the original American flag with 13 strips and circle of stars. I do hope those proper Victorian ladies didn’t have too much trouble getting in and out of that gondola in their corsets, big hats, and floor-length skirts.
Looking south down Vine St over the construction of the 101 Hollywood Freeway, circa early 1950s
Most views I’ve come across which take in the high-rise buildings around Hollywood and Vine—Taft building, Broadway department store, Hotel Knickerbocker—are usually seen from the south looking up Vine Street. In this shot, we’re treated to an unusual view looking down from the top of the Vine St hill from the construction site of the 101 Hollywood Freeway that plowed through the area in the early 1950s.
Remarkably that building closest to the camera is still there. Back in the day it was known as the Hollywood Plantation Hotel at 1831 N. Vine. It’s now the closest building to the freeway off-ramp. This image is from January 2018.
The last of the Bunker Hill Victorian homes being driven past the Music Center, downtown Los Angeles, circa early 1960s
Here we have a classic case of “Out with the old, in with the new.” In the late 1950s, Los Angeles city planners decided it was time to clear out the old and rundown Victorian houses on the Bunker Hill section of downtown, lower the height of the hill, and redevelop the whole area. It was a huge project that took a number of years, but this image pretty much sums it up: the last of the Victorian mansions is hauled past the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the first of the three large theaters that make up the Music Center. It opened in September 27, 1964, so I’m guessing this photo dates to around then.
Here is another, wider shot taken the same day.
Female inspectors check the center wings of C-47 transport planes at the Douglas Aircraft Co, Long Beach, California, October 1942
While recently researching women entering the workforce during World War II, I found this marvelous photo of female inspectors checking the center wings of C-47 transport planes. It was taken at the Douglas Aircraft Co, at 3855 Lakewood Boulevard in Long Beach. (Mercedes Benz now have a big operation there) in October 1942, ten months after Pearl Harbor by which time the war effort was fully under way. I wonder if these two women enjoyed their job. I’d imagine it was more interesting than sitting in the typing pool all day.
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Tagged Airports Aircraft Airlines, California, Color photo, Long Beach, WWII
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Well-wishers crowd the dock at the Port of Los Angeles to wave goodbye to the Hawaii-bound SS City of Los Angeles, circa mid-1920s
I’ve only ever seen people crowding the dock throwing streamers across the bow, and waving to people they have little chance of spotting at the start of movies set aboard a cruise ship. (And on “The Love Boat” of course.) But this shot taken some time in the mid-1920s proves otherwise. This is the Port of Los Angeles filled with well-wishers seeing the SS City of Los Angeles as it heads toward Hawaii. The ship was part of the Los Angeles Steamship Company line that sailed the highly competitive California-Hawaii market. That crowd is packed shoulder to shoulder, so I have to wonder if something special was going on that day, or was every departure farewelled so enthusiastically?
Andie P says: “The streamers, little tightly coiled paper strips that were given to any passengers that wanted them, were something fun for those at the rail to do even if they had no one sending them off. They still had them in the ’50s on the Matsonia and the Lurline, and the other Matson ships, which is how we went to Hawaii and back in 1953, although not as many were thrown as on the bigger liners, especially the ones that sailed out of New York.”
Here’s a postcard of the SS City of Los Angeles. It looks to be a fairly impressive ship!
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