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.
Female inspectors check the center wings of C-47 transport planes at the Douglas Aircraft Co, Long Beach, California, October 1942
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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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Aerial shot looking southeast over the intersection of Beverly, Canon and Lomitas Drives, Beverly Hills, 1918
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.
Looking north up Broadway from 7th Street, downtown Los Angeles during a transit strike, 1946
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.
Roughly the same view in February 2021. The Loew’s State Theatre is still there. Well, the building is, at any rate. Last time I was in downtown LA it was a church, but that was before the Covid pandemic so who knows what is is now.
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Tagged Downtown Los Angeles, Night photo, Streetcars, Theaters
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Vine Street, looking north from Selma Avenue at dusk, Hollywood, circa 1952
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.
Roughly the same view in February 2021:
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Tagged Brown Derby restaurant, Hollywood, Hollywood and Vine, Hotels, Night photo, Restaurants, Stores and Shopping
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Aerial photo of the Disneyland Hotel, Anaheim, July 16, 1956
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.
And here’s a satellite shot from 2021. It’s quite a change, isn’t it?
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Tagged Aerial photographs, Anaheim, Disney, Disneyland, Hotels
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Looking west along Wilshire Blvd from the balcony of the Wiltern Theatre at Western Ave, 8.30am on Thursday May 2, 1946
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.
This is the NW corner of Wilshire and Western in March 2021. Yet another skyscraper has replaced a charming drive-in restaurant.
Carthay Circle Theatre, 6316 San Vicente Blvd, Los Angeles, circa late 1926
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 is what occupies that site now. (This image is from May 2019.) Knowing what used to stand there, this is painful to look at.
Panorama photo looking north across Hollywood toward the Hollywood sign, 1955
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.
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Tagged Aerial photographs, Hollywood, Hollywood and Vine, Hollywood Sign, Stores and Shopping, Theaters
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Aerial photo looking east across the Goldwyn movie studios, Culver City, Los Angeles, 1919
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.