What do you do when life hands you lemons (which, in Los Angeles in 1925, when this photo was taken, wasn’t hard to imagine)? You get some chicken wire and plaster of Paris and you make yourself an ginormous lemon and you open yourself a lemonade stand. Then you make sign (in the shape of a lemon, of course) that says “Drink with us – The Jumbo Lemon – Lemonade – Orangeade.” And then hey presto! You’re in business!Hollywood Boulevard looking west from Vine Street, Hollywood, 1937
In this photo, we’re looking west along Hollywood Boulevard just east of the Vine Street corner. On the left we can see a sign for Dodge cars. On the right is the Pantages Theatre. It’s still around and today is a major live theater venue, especially for the big musicals that come to L.A. But back then it was a movie palace. What I find interesting is the huge vertical sign: “MAJOR STUDIO PREVIEW TONIGHT.” I thought those previews were always sneak previews but I guess not. This photo was taken in 1937 so now I’m wondering which movie it was. Heidi, starring Shirley Temple? A Day at the Races starring the Marx Brothers? Broadway Melody of 1938 starring Half of MGM’s stars?
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Tagged Hollywood, Hollywood and Vine, Hollywood Blvd, Movie Studios, Pantages Theatre, Theaters
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Chapman Park Market, 3451 W. 6th St, Los Angeles, circa 1930
Let’s file this one at the top of the “They Sure Don’t Make ‘em Like That Anymore” pile. This is the Chapman Park Market built in the highly detailed Spanish Colonial Revival style popular at the time it opened, which was 1929. This drive-in market on 6th Street at Alexandria Ave was one of the first in the western U.S. designed for the automobile, which, in a way, makes it a sister to the Bullocks Wilshire department store, built the same year and the first of its kind designed for what was then referred to as “the carriage trade.” And even better it’s still around!
Announcement about the opening of the Chapman Park Drive-in market in the Evening Express, March 16, 1929
The same view in Mary 2019:
The Club Car restaurant, at Wilshire and San Vicente Boulevards, Los Angeles, 1938
Restaurants in a railway carriages aren’t unusual in Los Angeles—the Pacific Dining Car on the edge of downtown, and the Formosa in Hollywood come to mind—but this is one I’d never heard of before. The Club Car stood at that diabolical intersection where Wilshire and San Vicente Boulevards meet at the eastern edge of Beverly Hills. It was around in the late 1930s (this photo is from 1938) and owned by—of all people—Alice Faye. Her partner in this venture was Harry Sugarman (aka “Sugie”) who opened The Tropics at 427 North Rodeo Dr in 1936 and was one of the earliest of the pre-Polynesian places and later became The Luau, which was managed by Lana Turner’s ex-husband, Steve Crane.
By the 1940s, this place had become “Sardi’s Wilshire”:
And at some point, it became a BBQ place called Jerry’s Joynt. This advertisement is from 1947:
30-foot leg out front of Sanderson Hosiery, 11711 Olympic Boulevard, West Los Angeles, 1949
When Sanderson Hosiery built their factory at 11711 Olympic Blvd, they installed something more eye catching than a regular sign: a 30-foot leg covered in one of their fine products—or at least painted to look like that. I assume the lettering around the base spelled out “NYLON.” It’s a shame that The Big Leg is no longer around—these days it would be considered highly selfie-instagram-worthy.
One report I read said, “When they opened in 1948, they raised actress Marie Wilson up to it via crane.” Here are some photos:
The same corner in May 2019 – it now houses a supermarket but if they’d kept the leg, it might attract more business!
Van de Kamp’s Holland-Dutch Bakery, Los Angeles, circa 1928
I’ve posted shots of Van de Kamps bakeries before but I wanted to post this shot from around 1928 for two reasons. It’s a very clean shot with no pedestrians or vehicles in the way. We get to see the details that went into each store front. Not just the actual windmill, but also the crisscross railing at the base. The top of the window has an awning and around the bottom is a strip of tiles. I wish I knew what color they were. But this photo shows a detail I’ve not noticed before. The signage gives the full name: Van de Kamps Holland-Dutch Bakery. I guess the windmill wasn’t enough of a hint so they added both “Holland” and Dutch” to the name just to be sure everyone understood.
Robert K says: “The first Van de Kamp’s Bakery Shop on Western and Beverly Blvd in 1921.”
Aerial view of Hollywoodland in the Hollywood hills, circa 1930
In this aerial view from around 1930, we’re treated to a rare glimpse of what the Hollywoodland development looked like during its first decade. The famous sign (which we can see in the background) went up in 1923 to help promote what had been a project with only lackluster sales. Apparently Angelenos didn’t want to live in the Hollywood Hills! That wide road curving off to the left is Beachwood Canyon Drive, which is the main thoroughfare into Hollywoodland. As we can see, quite a few homes had started to fill the lower hillsides and the others higher up were still to be sold.
A satellite image of the area in 2020:
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Tagged Aerial photographs, Hollywood Hills, Hollywood Sign, Hollywoodland
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Looking east along Hollywood Blvd from the Bonnie Brier Hotel at the Highland Ave corner, 1936
This photo was presumably taken by hanging out of the window of the Bonnie Brier hotel, which stood on the southwest corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Ave. I’ve never noticed the Bonnie Brier in any other photos—probably because most photographers were focusing on the more famous and photogenic Hollywood Hotel directly across the street. A half a block in the distance we can see that Frank Capra’s “Mr. Deeds Goes to Town” is playing at the Hollywood Theatre (now a venue for the Guinness Book of World Records.) That movie came out in April 1936 so I’m placing this photo in the early summer of that year. I especially love that sporty two-seater automobile with the boxy trunk that’s approaching Highland—as well, of course, as that semaphore traffic signal.
Ariel shot of Grauman’s Chinese Theater, Hollywood Blvd, 1927
Most shots of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre are taken at street level, which is understandable because that’s where the eye candy is. This one gives us a bird’s-eye perspective, which shows us what the area looked like beyond the world-famous forecourt. This photo was taken in 1927, the year that it opened, and we can see how the area was still filled with lots and lots of trees. 90% of them are gone now, replaced by stores and apartment buildings and parking lots. But the theater itself is still there and still thriving, which is an L.A. miracle, if you ask me.
A satellite shot of Grauman’s from 2020:
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Tagged Aerial photographs, Grauman's Chinese Theater, Hollywood, Hollywood Blvd, Theaters
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King’s Tropical Inn, 5741 West Washington Blvd, Culver City, CA, circa 1926
Winner, winner, chicken dinner! I have an extensive list of restaurants and bars from L.A. in the 1920s through 1950s) on my website – https://martinturnbull.com/hollywood-places/ – but the one that gets the most reaction is this place: King’s Tropical Inn which stood at 5741 West Washington Blvd in Culver City. The food was along the lines of southern fried chicken, fries, biscuits with honey, which isn’t very tropical but was evidently deeeeelish. (Someone said to me once: “Yes, Mildred Pierce might have owned it.”) The tropical part was the décor. The tables had little bamboo huts on them and overhead, a painted night sky featured moving stars and clouds. This photo is from 1928. I have collected a bunch of photos on the place, which you can see here: King’s Tropical Inn.
And now that site is home to a paint store, which seems a crying shame, doesn’t it? (May 2018)
