Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills runs parallel to – and one block over from – its more upscale sister, Rodeo Drive. It’s where you shop if you can’t afford Rodeo Drive prices. This shot is from 1929, not long after Beverly Drive converted from being a residential street to a commercial one. And as we can see, right there in the middle of the action is a Piggly Wiggly market.Pellissier Building at Wilshire Blvd and Oxford Ave, Los Angeles, 1931
The Pellissier Building on Wilshire Blvd is usually photographed from the Western Ave end, because that’s where the spectacular Wiltern Theatre stands. But it’s easy to forget that the building extends along Wilshire to Oxford Ave. It’s a block-long monument of Art Deco gorgeousness decked out in eye-catching glazed blue-green terracotta tiles. This photo was taken in 1931, the year that it opened, so it would have been a striking jewel in LA’s architectural crown as, indeed, as it still is.
Roughly the same view in April 2019:
The Oxford Ave end is now a Denny’s – but at least it’s still there.
Warner Bros / First National movie studios, Olive Ave, Burbank, California after a snowfall in 1932
Recently, I was researching how many times it has snowed in Los Angeles, and came across this photo showing a sprinkling of snow across of Olive Ave in Burbank in front of the Warner Bros. studios in 1932. Whenever you see snow at a Hollywood movie studio, it’s fake. Movie snow has been made from different materials over the years, but this is the first time I’ve seen the real thing—at least at a movie studio. And for the record, it has snowed in LA ten times: 1882, 1913, 1921, 1922, 1926, 1932, 1944, 1949, 1957, and 1962.
Roughly the same view in April 2019 (without snow)
Early Columbia Pictures logo – “Gems of the Screen” (1932)
When Columbia Pictures segued into television production, their company was called “Screen Gems.” But I just discovered that the 1932 incarnation of the logo included “Gems of the Screen.” This image is on Columbia Pictures’ Wikipedia page.
Looking north up Vine Street from the NBC Studios on Sunset Blvd, Hollywood, circa mid 1940s
The photographer who took this shot was standing on the steps of the NBC radio studios that stood on the northeast corner of Sunset Blvd and Vine Street in Hollywood. On the far left, the “CORDS” sign is part of Capitol Records, which started out on the floor above Wallichs Music City. Two doors up from it is Alexander Stationers—we don’t see much anymore, do we? Next to them is Tom Breneman’s restaurant, which became famous when Breneman started hosting his “Breakfast in Hollywood” radio show there on the Blue Network from 1941 to 1948.
Roughly the same view in April 2019:
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Hollywood, NBC Radio / Television, Stores and Shopping, Sunset Blvd
3 Comments
Streetcars line Broadway at 7th St, downtown Los Angeles, 1943
There seems to be quite a log jam of streetcars along Broadway in downtown L.A. at 7th Street. Maybe it’s because this photo was taken in 1943, when America was in the depth of WWII. Gasoline was strictly rationed and so people were more reliant on public transport. With LA being flooded with war workers and servicemen, there was a lot of bodies to be moved around. Or maybe a really terrific picture was playing at the Loew’s State Theatre, whose marquee we can see at the extreme left.
Union Station, downtown Los Angeles, circa 1939
Los Angeles’s Union Station opened in 1939, gathering together under one roof the three main railway services: Union Pacific, Santa Fe, and Southern Pacific Railroads. There was no date on this photo but all the cars in the traffic out front are circa mid 1930s, so I’m guessing this photo was taken in the first year after the opening. These days, there are more trees and greenery, but other than that, the place looks pretty much the same.
This is how Union Station looks now:
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Downtown Los Angeles, Trains and Railways, Union Station
Leave a comment
Wilshire Blvd looking east from the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, Beverly Hills, circa 1940s
In what looks to be a circa 1940s photo taken from the dashboard of a car heading east along Wilshire Blvd in Beverly Hills, we can see the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on the right. It isn’t much different these days, except for the line of trees in the center divider along Wilshire. In the distance, we can see the tower the Warner Theater, which used to stand at Wilshire and Canon. On the left is Victor Hugo’s, a very popular French restaurant, where, if patrons were lucky, they might have found themselves dancing to the music of Ozzie Nelson and his orchestra.
More or less the same view in April 2019:
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Beverly Hills, Hotels, Restaurants, Theaters, Warner Bros., Wilshire Blvd
2 Comments
Aimee Semple McPherson’s Angelus Temple, Echo Park, Los Angeles, circa mid 1920s
By the mid 1920s, one of the biggest names in Los Angeles wasn’t a movie star but an evangelical Pentecostal preacher named Aimee Semple McPherson. In 1923, she started her Foursquare Church (drawing its name from Jesus Christ the Savior, Baptizer, Healer, Coming King) and quickly gathered a huge following by harnessing the a new technology called radio, which she used to broadcast her weekly sermons. This is a circa mid 1920s photo of her Angelus Temple, which could seat up to 5,300 eager followers. The building is still there and is currently the home of the Angelus Temple Hispanic Church.
This is how that building looked in April 2019:
Crowds gather to witness the debut of the KFWB flashcast on the Taft building at Hollywood and Vine on August 6, 1946
For a while, the Taft building on the southeast corner of Hollywood and Vine had an electric news scroll that broadcast headlines. It was installed by local radio station KFWB and you can see it in late 40s and early 50s photos. This photo shows what a big deal it was to Angelenos. It was taken on the night of August 6, 1946, which marked debut of what was called a “flashcast.” One report I read said that a temporary stage and bleachers were built for the occasion, and up to 25,000 people crowded the intersection. Too bad if you wanted to get into the Rexall drug store that night!
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Hollywood, Hollywood and Vine, Night photo, Stores and Shopping
2 Comments