Some bright spark in MGM’s publicity department decided that a great way to garner attention for the movie “Hollywood Revue of 1929” (the studio’s second feature-length musical, and one of their earliest sound films) was to create a huge billboard and get 16 chorines to climb up and pose on it. What could go wrong? So they built the billboard pictured here in a parking lot on the northeast corner of Wilshire Blvd and Shatto Place. As a feat of engineering, it’s actually quite impressive, but I wouldn’t want to be one of those girls risking life and limb to promote a movie. (A version of this event takes place in the first book in my Hollywood’s Garden of Allah series, “The Garden on Sunset,” when one of my characters, Gwendolyn, gets a job standing on this human billboard.)
This was the New York version at the Astor Theatre at 1537 Broadway:
That corner is still a parking lot. That tower in the background is the old Bullocks Wilshire department store (now a law library.) This image is from November 2020:
When was the last time you saw a fire station with a turret—or two? This one is a first for me. It was the Engine Company 7 fire station at the corner of Maple and 24th Street, South Central Los Angeles, circa 1900. I wonder if those turrets were used for fire spotting. Or maybe just a nice place to have a cigarette on a slow day.
For 50 years (1937 to 1987) Don the Beachcomber was a great place to go in Los Angeles for a Polynesian-South seas experience. When it opened in the 1930s (first in 1933 in a Hollywood hotel then in 1937 to the larger location at 1727 North McCadden Place just north of Hollywood Blvd) it was one of the few places you could go if you were hankering for one of those fancy (and strong!) rum drinks. When the place first opened, there wasn’t much greenery out front. But as the years went on, the front garden grew to be a jungle, as we can see in this photo from 1955. Don’s listing in the 1941 Los Angeles Guide read: “Beachcomber Cafe, 1727 N. McCadden Pl. Prices are slightly stiff. Specializes in Oriental food and drinks. Frequented by the many lesser Hollywood actors.”
In this rather dramatic photo, we’re looking down the tracks of the Angels Flight funicular when it was still in its original location at Hill and Third Streets in downtown Los Angeles. It had been there since opening in 1901 and closed in 1969, when it was moved half a block south. The cars driving along Hill St are from the late 60s and as Angels Flight closed in 1969, this might have been one of the last photos taken from the original location.
One of the things from L.A.’s yesteryear that I wish I’d experienced is Wil Wright’s ice cream. From what I’ve been told, it was the richest, creamiest, yummiest ice cream in town. They had locations all over Los Angeles. This was stood at the southeast corner of S. Beverly Drive and Charleville Blvd in Beverly Hills. This shot is from 1954 and what strikes me is how clean and fresh this block looks. Maybe it had just been built, but looks so crisp and tidy. And those two mail boxes on the curb reminds me how rarely I see any of those these days. (My thanks to David Ginsburg for sending me this photographic gem.)
It’s kind of funny that someone should caption this photo “World Famous Hollywood and Vine Hollywood California” when the photographer had his back to the intersection so you can’t even see it! Still, it does give us a closer view of the line of stores on the east side of Vine St, opposite The Broadway department store. I can’t make out all the signs, but I can see: Sidney’s (who were going out of business when this photo was taken in 1951), Firefly (great name for a bar) The Ham’n’Egger (competition to Glorifried Ham n Eggs farther down the street), the Gidlow & Sellers barber shop, and then of course after the parking driveway, the Brown Derby. And check out those airfares: $9.95 to San Francisco and $99 to New York.
In this 1948 photo we’re looking south-ish on the western side of Vine Street in Hollywood at Tom Breneman’s Hollywood Restaurant which stood at 1525 N. Vine. It was where he broadcast his popular morning radio show between from 1941 and 1948. I do love the sign for the neighboring restaurant called Glorifried Ham and Eggs. I want to eat there for the name alone! Also visible is a bar called Radio Room, which has long intrigued me. Did they have a big radio in there like sports bars today have lots of TVs?
This photo treats us to an early view of Broadway in downtown Los Angeles. The photographer was facing south from 9th Street as an Oldsmobile came chugging toward him along the streetcar lines. I’ve been told it’s a circa 1904 model so let’s date this shot at around that time. We can see that back then, this part of Broadway was still residential. It wasn’t long before those houses and apartment blocks we can see in the background gave way to commercial buildings.
The Angelenos seen here riding Pacific Electric’s streetcar #149 look as though they’re out for Sunday excursion. The year was 1916 and they’re about to leave Santa Monica for a trip to the Long Wharf which, when it opened in 1894 at approximately 4,700 feet, was the longest wharf in the world. We can see two signs in the background. One of them we’re familiar with – Budweiser – the other one is a sign of the times we no longer see: horse stables.
For some reason, I never get tire of finding new photos of RKO studios at the corner of Melrose Ave and Gower St in Hollywood where their iconic globe sits with a radio tower atop it, and above that, ball with metallic shooting sparks. I also love that Art Deco typeface on both sides of the building announcing RKO RADIO PICTURES. We can date this photo from one of the billboards. It’s the one to the immediate left of the corner: “Irene” starring Anna Neagle and Ray Milland. It came out in May 1940 so I’m guessing this photo was taken in the early summer of that year.