In this aerial shot from 1918, we’re looking at the six-way intersection of Beverly, Canon and Lomitas Drives in Beverly Hills. Even today, no traffic lights control this intersection, so negotiating your way through it requires a combination of courtesy, eye contact, and grit. Back then, you might be the only vehicle in sight. There is only a handful of houses in Beverly Hills, the famous palm trees are still babies, and huge swaths of land are untouched. That triangular park at the lower left is now called Will Rogers Memorial Park and stands across Sunset Blvd from the Beverly Hills Hotel, which was only 6 years old when this photo was taken.
In this satellite image from 2021, we can see that every square inch of land surrounding that six-way intersection is now accounted for.
It must have been odd to look north up Broadway from 7th Street in downtown Los Angeles this particular night in 1946 and see no streetcars. Evidently there was a transit strike so no streetcars were running around Los Angeles, and that must have been awfully inconvenient. During the post-war boom, many Angelenos got around town (especially when traveling into downtown) via the extensive streetcar network. Note the “Open All Night” sign at the Loew’s State Theatre on the left. They started showing movies 24 hours a day during the war to accommodate people who were working all kinds of crazy shifts.
In this delightfully atmospheric shot, we’re looking north up Vine St from Selma Ave toward the famed corner of Hollywood and Vine. It appears to be dusk and the neon signs for the Plaza Hotel, Broadway department store, Miller High Life Beer atop of the Taft building, and the Brown Derby restaurant are flickering to life. It looks like the Mobilgas station is selling at 20 cents a gallon, and I especially like that twin-globe street light on the corner. The Huntington Hartford Theatre is still under construction, so this photo was probably taken in 1953.
The Disneyland Hotel opened on October 5, 1955, nearly three months after Disneyland opened, and this aerial photo was taken on July 16, 1956. These days, of course, the hotel is completely encircled by the gargantuan Disney resort, and beyond that the city of Anaheim. But back then it was pretty much all open farmland as far as the eye can see.
It’s not often we get precise information on when a photo was taken, but we do with this photo taken from the balcony of the Wiltern Theatre at the corner of Wilshire Blvd and Western Ave at 8.30am on Thursday May 2, 1946. That line of cars along Wilshire is, I suppose, 1946’s version of peak hour traffic. Those cars are heading east into, I’m assuming, downtown Los Angeles. That circular building on the far right was Carpenter’s drive-in, which stood on the northwest corner.
One of the most striking theaters during Hollywood’s golden age was the Carthay Circle Theatre, 6316 San Vicente Blvd. It opened in May of 1926 with the premiere of Cecil B. DeMille’s “Volga Boatman.” The noticeboard out and marquee are advertising Fox’s “What Price Glory” which came out in November of that year, which explains why everything looks so fresh and clean and pristine. I’d love to have seen just one movie there – but especially during that first year when it was still brand new. The Carthay Circle was demolished in 1969 and was replaced by a pair of low-rise office buildings.
This 1955 photo gives us a rather wonderful panoramic view looking north across Hollywood toward the Hollywood sign. At the very bottom we can see the sign for the Filmarte Theatre, which stood 1228 Vine Street on the corner of La Mirada Ave. From at that height, we can see the signs for the Hotel Knickerbocker, the Broadway department store, and the Plaza Hotel, as well as the Miller beer sign atop of the Taft Building at Hollywood and Vine. All four of those buildings are still with us, which for L.A., is a minor miracle.
In this aerial photo, we’re looking east across the Goldwyn movie studios in Culver City. That’s Washington Blvd on the left and Culver Blvd on the right. Sam Goldwyn bought the Triangle Studios (named for reasons that are obvious is this photo) in 1918 and this photo was taken in 1919. In the foreground we can see the back of an enormous set standing at what looks to be the western edge of the lot. And below that stretches completely empty land, which gave Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer room to grow when they took over the lot in 1924.
This must have been an exciting night to witness: After months of fundraising, cajoling, recruiting, organizing, and building, Bette Davis and John Garfield’s pet project, the Hollywood Canteen opened at 1451 Cahuenga (on the corner of Sunset Blvd) on the night of October 3, 1942. As we can see, bleachers were set up in the forecourt so that people could witness the parade of stars (Eddie Cantor was the MC that night.) And word had obviously gotten out already because that long lone of servicemen is already four men deep. From that night until November 2, 1945, the Hollywood Canteen hosted, entertained, and fed nearly 4 million grateful servicemen. 
I’m glad that someone was on hand to capture this moment—and in color. This may not have been the very final run, but it’s certainly one of the final Red Car runs on Pacific Electric’s North Hollywood line from the Lankershim depot in the San Fernando Valley. This photo was taken in 1952, which saw the beginning of the end of L.A.’s vast streetcar network and the rise of its freeway system crisscrossing the city. One spot of good news is that that depot is still around. It’s currently a coffeeshop and you can learn more about it here: