My thanks to Spenser G., who sent me these photos.
Looking northeast across Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and Hollywood Blvd from the Roosevelt Hotel, Hollywood, at sunrise, 1951
Most photos of Hollywood Blvd are filled with cars and people, hustle and bustle. So this one taken from the roof of the Roosevelt Hotel at sunrise on some quiet morning in 1951 makes for a refreshing change. The parking lot next to Grauman’s was still there, as was the Hollywood Hotel on the other side of Orchid. And the Hollywood First National Bank building looks like it’s nicely it up, too. The theater and the bank building are still with us, so two out of three ain’t bad.
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Tagged Grauman's Chinese Theater, Hollywood, Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood Hotel, Hotels, Night photo, Theaters
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Looking east along Hollywood Blvd from around Highland Ave, at night, circa 1950
This night photo looking east along Hollywood Blvd from around Highland Ave is a buffet of neon lights. We can see: a travel ticket office, the Vogue Theatre, Warner Bros. Theatre and radio towers, Equitable building, Pantages Theatre, Taft building, The Broadway department store, Kress department store, Grauman’s Egyptian Theater, Pig’N Whistle restaurant, and the Hollywood Theatre, which was playing a Margaret Sullavan movie from Columbia called “No Sad Songs for Me” which came out in April 1950.
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Tagged Hollywood, Hollywood Blvd, Night photo, Pantages Theatre, Restaurants, Theaters
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Holiday crowds at Venice Beach, California, July 4th, 1926
It looks like it was a roast-toasty July 4th holiday in 1926, when this photo was taken at Venice Beach. If you didn’t get there early, you had little chance of finding a free patch of sand to park your umbrella. What amazes me most about this shot is the number of men in suits, collars, and neckties. Those were more formal times back then, even for a summer day at the beach on a public holiday.
Intersection of San Vicente Blvd, Olympic Blvd, and Fairfax Ave, Los Angeles, September 1936
In this photo taken in September 1936, we see a Pacific Electric Red Car traverse the everything-coming-in-all-directions intersection of San Vicente Blvd, Olympic Blvd, and Fairfax Ave. I’m not seeing any traffic lights controlling this mayhem, but I assume they’re there. Otherwise negotiating that junction would turn into an every-driver-for-themselves ordeal.
Waterfront Street on the MGM backlot during the filming of “An American in Paris” (1951)
Spoiler alert: “An American in Paris” wasn’t actually filmed in Paris. It was filmed, of course, on the MGM backlot in Culver City. This production shot shows us what it actually looked like. Known as Waterfront Street, we can see it was in impressively detailed set designed and constructed to resemble a slightly run-down Parisian street. In the final movie, those girders at the back were blocked out by clever matte paintings because, let’s face it, “An American in Culver City” doesn’t have quite the same ring to it, does it?
Here’s how the street looked in the movie:
The Hollywood Bowl under construction, Hollywood, California, 1925
The Hollywood Bowl has been such a central and prominent part of Los Angeles social and creative scene for so long, it almost feels like it’s been there forever. But of course somebody had to build those seats and stage. For the first couple of years, the Bowl was a natural amphitheater with neither of those things. But in 1925, the decision was made to put in actual seats and an actual stage. This photo was taken when work had just begun and we can see the outline of what would soon become an enduring institution.
Hollywood Blvd at night looking east from Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, Christmas 1952
One of my time travel machine destinations would be to visit Hollywood Blvd during the holiday season when the street was decorated with Christmas trees that lit up at night. In this photo, we’re looking east from Grauman’s Chinese Theatre just as dusk was settling over Hollywood some time during Christmas 1952. The advantage Los Angeles had over cities back East is that you could stroll Santa Claus Lane (as the boulevard was temporarily renamed) this time of year without trudging through waist-high piles of slush and snow.
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Tagged Christmas, Color photo, Grauman's Chinese Theater, Hollywood, Hollywood Blvd, Night photo
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Looking west along Hollywood Boulevard from Whitley Ave, Hollywood, 1954
This photo gives us an idea of what it was like to drive along Hollywood Blvd in 1954. It seems busy, but not sit-in-traffic busy, so finding a place to park wouldn’t be impossible. On the left, we can see the two five-and-dime stores that operated side by side. The tall white building with the red sign was Kress’s, and next to it is JJ Newberry. Both buildings are still there, as it the white one on the corner of Whitley Ave on the right. Farther west is a sign I haven’t seen before. It’s for a gym. Given that this is the mid-50s, I’m guessing it was a boxing type gym?
Susan says: “We had Vic Tanny gyms all over the southland in the 50s. It was a big franchise. They started with a few in pre-war years. But their big boom came in the 50s. They were not just for bodybuilders or boxing, but for families. Some had dance classes. They all had special exercise for women. I don ‘t remember one on this part of Hollywood Blvd. There was a one on Wilshire, one on Ventura Blvd., one in Sawtell, Santa Monica, I remember a big one in Inglewood and Hawthorne. I think Redondo or maybe it was Torrance, had one. Before Jack LaLane and Bailey’s, Vic Tanny had a huge corner of the franchise gym market. They went belly up by the early 60s I think it was.”
Johnny says: “Probably the Bert Goodrich Gym, 6624 Hollywood Blvd. https://i.imgur.com/A4HzFkN.png Mr. Goodrich was an athlete, film star, and businessman. https://www.oldtimestrongman.com/…/bert-goodrich-first…/
Roughly the same view in March 2020:
The Kress and Newberry buildings in November 2017:
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Tagged Color photo, Hollywood, Hollywood Blvd, Stores and Shopping
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Women at work on the assembly line at Douglas Aircraft plant, Long Beach, California, 1942
This photo was taken at the Douglas Aircraft plant on 3855 Lakewood Blvd in Long Beach in 1942 after it had been converted to a war factory. What we’re seeing here is women checking long rows of Plexiglas noses destined for Douglas A-20 attack bombers. The overhead lights reflected in the Plexiglas make for striking photo, don’t they?