This vibrant color shot shows us one of the more famous corners in Los Angeles: Sunset and Crescent Heights, where two well-known coffee shops stood side by side: Googie’s and Schwab’s. Googie’s opened in 1949, giving a name to the aesthetic that would rise in popularity in the 1950s, and Schwab’s went through a renovation and expansion in 1956, adding that large red neon sign. The Ford entering the picture at the left is from 1957, so I’m pegging this photo as circa late 1950s. I’m curious about that boxy green truck parked out front. Any theories?
Everything you can see in the vintage photo is long gone. This is how that corner looks now. This image is from February 2018:
This 1955 photo taken on the southeast corner of Wilshire Blvd and Bedford Dr in Beverly Hills shows us the variety of commercial architecture L.A. used to have. Four different stores – Ciro (jewelry), Chandlers (shoes), Maison des Mouchoirs (“House of Handkerchiefs”? surely they sold more than hankies???), and Nobby Knit Shop – and each of them had their own style. Oh, and let’s not forget the Saks Fifth Avenue department store next door.
The Hollywood Bowl opened on July 11, 1922, but three months before that, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra played for worshipers at the Easter sunrise service in what looks to be empty land. The event attracted around 50,000 Angelenos who, if this photo is anything to go by, either just stood around, or sat on the ground in what seems to be organized groups with aisles between them.
If you had stood on the 4th-floor balcony of Beverly Hills City Hall on May 1, 1934 and looked west, this would have been your view. Mostly, it would have been of the Beverly Hills post office, which is that building with the curved—honestly, I don’t know what it is. Public seating? Fountain? Does anybody reading this remember? We can also see the railway lines running along Santa Monica Blvd on the left.
Taken in 1895, we see a couple of horse-drawn carriages parked outside what looks to be a trio of hotels on the 500 block of Pearl Street (later renamed Figueroa Street) in downtown Los Angeles. The hotels are, of course, long gone. The beautiful 1924 building that houses the Jonathan Club now stands on that site at 545 S. Figueroa, but this photo gives us a glimpse into how swelegant Los Angeles used to be.
The mansion that once stood at 641 S. Irving Blvd, Los Angeles was originally known as the William O. Jenkins House. It was also home to one J. Paul Getty’s ex-wives. But you and I know it as Norma Desmond’s mansion in the Billy Wilder film “Sunset Boulevard.” (1950) In the movie, Norma’s address was 10086 Sunset, but the exteriors were filmed here. This photo was taken in 1957 when, sadly, a wrecking crew was in the middle of demolishing it to make way for a boring office tower. It looks like the sign on the far left says “SALVAGE.” I wouldn’t have minded the chance to sneak in and souvenir something. After all, Norma Desmond was “the greatest star of all.”
In this photo, we’re looking north up Cahuenga Blvd, Hollywood. That Los Angeles Pacific Railroad streetcar is on Hollywood Blvd, which at the time (this shot is dated 1900) was known as Prospect Ave. It’s en route to faraway Santa Monica Beach. We can see how leafy Hollywood was back then, and how sparsely populated it was. I do like that wooden gazebo next to the white house in the background. It must have been very pleasant to sit out there on warm summer evenings—one might even have taken off one’s corset!
The soaring, iconic tower of the Bullocks Wilshire department store has long been such an indelible landmark on the Los Angeles cityscape that I’ve never really wondered what had once been on the southwest corner of Wilshire Blvd and Wilshire Place. This photo shows us: a large, tree-filled garden with a densely leafy archway. This stretch of Wilshire used to be an elegant boulevard of beautiful mansions, so I’m guessing what we can see in this photo was someone’s front yard. Bullocks Wilshire was built in 1929; this photo was taken in 1928, so this is what the site would have looked like just before the construction crew arrived.
People who are unfamiliar with Los Angeles architecture might be excused for thinking this shot of the Pan Pacific Auditorium on Beverly Blvd was a still from a movie using a matte painting background. But for over 35 years (1935 to the early 1970s) this streamline moderne gem was the premier location for indoor public events in L.A. This particular shot was taken in October 1937 and those people are going to see the silver jubilee auto show.
With those umbrellas and white raincoats, it looks like Paramount Pictures’ premiere for “Teacher’s Pet” took place on a rainy night of 1958. At the time, the theater was known as the Paramount, but after Disney bought it and restored it in the late 1980s, they returned it to its original name: El Capitan. The movie officially opened on April 1st, so I assume this photo was taken in late March. Assuming both Clark Gable and Doris Day were both there, a rainy night wouldn’t have kept me away.