McDonnell’s was a mini chain of around half a dozen drive-in restaurants around Los Angeles in the first half of the 20th century, when many places like this had very tall towers to help them stand out. This one was at the corner of La Brea Ave and Beverly Blvd and when I looked at the signage, I thought “I love the retro font they used.” But then I realized this photo was taken in 1930, so the font wasn’t retro at all — it was current!
Looking north from the corner of Rossmore and Rosewood Avenues toward Hollywood, 1925.
In this photo, we’re looking north along Rossmore Avenue as it makes that curve to the right before hitting Melrose Ave and becomes Vine Street. At first I thought the shot was taken from the roof of the El Royale Apartments but this is from 1925 and the apartments didn’t go up until 1929. That large block of empty land will soon become home to the Ravenswood Apartments (opened 1930.) The building with the round turret is the Christ the King Catholic church, which is still there. And in the far distance, we can see the Hollywoodland sign and the Mulholland Dam, both of which were fairly new in 1925.
Christ the King Catholic church in May 2019:
Airplane Café, Ventura Blvd, San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, 1927
I guess if you stuck a pair of (too short) wings on either side and a propeller at the front, you get to call your joint the Airplane Café. Apparently this place was somewhere on Ventura Blvd, which is the longest road through the San Fernando Valley so it could have been in any of a dozen different areas. But it was around in the 1920s, so I’m guessing it was around the eastern end. I love that sign: REAL CHILI (as against fake?), GOOD COFFEE (as against bad?) and SPECIAL PREPARED HAMBURGER, which makes me wonder how many different ways is there to make hamburger?
A later photo:
A 15-foot portrait of Harold Lloyd hangs outside Sid Grauman’s Million Dollar Theater, 307 S. Broadway in downtown Los Angeles, July 1920
In this photo from July 1920, we can see a 15-foot portrait of Harold Lloyd hanging outside Sid Grauman’s Million Dollar Theater, 307 S. Broadway in downtown Los Angeles. What’s interesting is that Lloyd’s movie, “High and Dizzy” was the supporting short (26 minutes) for the main feature, which was “The Fighting Chance.” But it’s Lloyd’s picture they figured would bring in the customers. I don’t know what the “Cinema Temple” sign refers to, other than perhaps Grauman’s advertising that his Million Dollar Theater was so lavish that it resembled a temple.
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Tagged Broadway, Downtown Los Angeles, Million Dollar Theater, Movie Stars, Theaters
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Los Angeles Times building, corner of First and Spring Streets, downtown Los Angeles, circa 1960s
I don’t know exactly when this photo of the Los Angeles Times building, corner of 1st and Spring in downtown L.A. was taken. That tower in the background to the right is the microwave tower atop the AT&T Madison Complex Tandem Office on Grand Ave. It opened in 1961 so I’m guessing this photo is circa 1960s. But in a way, I think a photo like this is almost timeless, the way the city bathed in a black-and-white dusk.
David G says: “I think it’s indeed the late 1960s, because by the early 1970s the sign at the lower left read “Security-Pacific Bank” due to a merger-acquisition.”
Robert K says: “I have always loved the Pacific Bell tower (as I remember it) It looked amazing at night when cruising around Bunker Hill in my stroller in the early 60s. You could see the lights all over the downtown area then, not that many, but they really stood out. Richfield building tower, edison building, a giant red Pegusas, KKRD towers with blue globes. The area had magical views then for a toddler coming home from the library at dusk, I always tried to get Mom to stop at the Pershing Square fountain so I could see the colored lights in it. Didn’t know it was opened in 61, I was born at Queen of Angels in 1960, but lived on the hill until they forced us out circa 1962. Oh, and the Christmas shopping on Broadway and the daily trips on Angels Flight to Grand Central.”
Depression-era line of men in front of a billboard for MGM’s “The Champ”, Los Angeles, circa late 1931
This photo encapsulates an interesting dichotomy in L.A. during the Great Depression. Here we see a line of men (no women, so maybe they’re lining up for possible work) in Los Angeles in front of a billboard for “The Champ.” It was a huge hit, earning MGM more than a million dollars in profits, and was one of 7 movies that MGM had in the top 10 money earners for 1931. The early depression years were great for MGM – they had 7 movies in the top 10 for 1932, too. Meanwhile, life wasn’t so great for the guys in this line. This was 2 years after the stock market crashed and they’re still showing up in jackets and hats.
**UPDATE**
Turns out it was a line at one of Aimee Semple McPherson’s soup kitchens. I find it a bit odd that only men are in this line. Where were the women? Weren’t they hungry too?
With regard to the men all wearing hats, Linda S. said: “It was very important to present a decent appearance; proper dress symbolized the acceptance of social rules (i.e. “I’m not a communist, anarchist, etc.”) Not wearing a hat or tie signaled social dissent. This didn’t change until the 60.”
This auto-colorized version probably didn’t get the poster right but I think it does a decent job of bringing everything else in this photograph to life.
The Cahuenga Pass section of the Hollywood Freeway leading into the San Fernando Valley part of Los Angeles, 1949
The Cahuenga Pass section of the Hollywood Freeway connects Los Angeles with the San Fernando Valley. With so little traffic, I thought perhaps this was a shot of the day it opened on June 15, 1940. But turns out this was taken 9 years later in 1949. You could almost count the number of vehicles on the road and not a streetcar in sight. Right now (April 17, 2020) Los Angeles is on lockdown because of the Covid-19 pandemic so if a photographer stood in the same place this morning, it wouldn’t look all that different.
Hollywood Hotel as seen from Highland Ave, Hollywood, 1937
How nice it must have been to go to the Hollywood Hotel at the corner of Hollywood Blvd and Highland Ave and just park your car at the curb right outside the hotel and pop inside to meet with your visiting friend who’s staying there (after you’ve bought them some flowers at the Hollywood Hotel Florist, of course.) I suspect its decline didn’t start happening until after the war (it was razed in August 1956) but this photo was taken in 1937, when the hotel probably still a popular place, so my reverie of having lunch in the restaurant can remain daydreamily alluring.
Vicki M says: “I remember having one or two ballet recitals in the ballroom there when I was a kid (somewhere around 7, 8, 9), around 1953 or so. I remember it being dark in the hallways with potted palms which were almost dead. The place smelled really dusty. And it was eerily quiet.”
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Tagged Hollywood, Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood Hotel, Hotels, Stores and Shopping
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If the caption to this photo is accurate, what we’re looking at here is a stretch of Sunset Boulevard in 1903. It’s hard to say which stretch it is, exactly, or which road is Sunset, but I’m guessing it’s that straight one on the far left with streetlights. The dearth of houses seems about right for the early 1900s and it would have made for a nice drive in the country in your spanking new Ford Model A, which began production that year.
Until I came across this photo, I didn’t know that Pershing Square had had such a long history of name changes. Originally, it was known locally as St. Vincent’s Park. In 1870, it was officially named Los Angeles Park. In 1886 it was renamed 6th Street Park. And then in the early 1890s it was renamed Central Park, which is what Angelenos called it when this photo was taken in 1909. It went through a final name change to Pershing Square in November 1918 after the end of WWI. The street on the right is Hill Street, which is the only recognizable point of reference. I don’t think that any of the buildings we can see here are still with us—and certainly none of those shady trees. They’re all long gone.
