Hilgard Ave in Westwood is the main thoroughfare that makes up the eastern border of the sprawling campus of UCLA. But back when this photo was taken, it was an unpaved country road that, going by this photo, was watered down by a mule-drawn carriage. UCLA moved to what was then called the Wolfskill Rancho in 1929. So I assume those buildings in the background are the first UCLA buildings (i.e. Royce Hall), which puts this photo at very late 20s/very early 30s. I’m not sure why Hilgard was in need of watering down but I’m guessing that with UCLA in the ‘hood, the city was anticipating that the streets would only get busier and busier. And they were right.
Drive-in restaurant selling burgers, steaks, and Spanish (Mexican) food, Los Angeles, circa late 1930s
Going by the 1936 Dodge peeking out from behind the sign, this photo from Life magazine probably dates from the mid-to-late 1930s. This was a time when restaurants selling Mexican food called it “Spanish” because of anti-Mexican racism. You could still call them enchiladas and tamales but just don’t refer to them as Mexican food. This place sold a bit of everything, including sizzling stakes on metal plates and burgers with fries for 15 cents. And it gave you the option to “eat in your car” which would have still been quite a novelty back then.
Farmers Market, corner of Fairfax Ave and 3rd Street, Los Angeles, circa late 1950s
This glorious color photo offers us a glimpse into Los Angeles life at the Farmer’s Market at the corner of Fairfax Ave and 3rd Street. That white tower is still there but behind now stands the ever-popular outdoor shopping mall called The Grove. I especially love that two-toned, red-and-cream car parked in the foreground. If anything screams “1950s!” it’s that.
Looking north up Vine Street from Sunset Blvd, Hollywood, circa 1955
The sharp photos taken by professionals with slick cameras are all very well, but sometimes a tourist taking a quick snap can reveal a bit of on-the-streets realness. This is a mid-50s shot of NBC television studios at the corner of Sunset and Vine in Hollywood. I’ve seen tons of photos of this intersection (see http://bit.ly/nbc-sunset-vine) but I’ve never noticed that wide strip of dark patching on the asphalt. And with most photographers focusing their lenses on NBC’s iconic corner tower, I’ve also never noticed the wing stretching north up Vine Street.
Gail says:
- The “KRCA” call sign places the date between October 19, 1954, and November 10, 1962.
- From Jan 16, 1949, to October 18, 1954, the station’s call sign was KNBH.
- After November 11, 1962, its call sign was KNBC.
This call sign change coincided with the station’s move from NBC Radio City (shown) to the network’s color broadcast studio facility in suburban Burbank–NBC Color City, as it was then known.”
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Tagged Color photo, Hollywood, NBC Radio / Television, Sunset Blvd
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Looking east from Canon Drive toward the Beverly Hills City Hall, Beverly Hills, 1933
In 1932, the city of Beverly Hills built its city hall. And not just any city hall, but according to the Los Angeles Times the largest and most expensive city hall of any municipality its size in the country. It was – and, of course, still is – a gorgeous monument in an architectural style known as “California Churrigueresque” which is a variation on Spanish Revival. And the city needed something because until then city administration services took place at the Beverly Hills Hotel! In this 1933 photo taken from Canon Drive, we can see that Beverly Hills still had pockets of undeveloped land and a railway track running through it along what is now called South Santa Monica Blvd.
Looking south down Vine Street from the corner of Yucca, Hollywood, circa mid 1950s
It’s not often that a mid-1950s Hollywood view doesn’t look a whole lot different to an early 2020s view, but this one does. We’re looking south down Vine Street from the corner of Yucca. The Capital Records building opened in 1954 so it was a still an unusual and photo-worthy sight (and still is.) The Vine Manor Hotel on the left is gone, but the Equitable Building on the northeast corner of Hollywood and Vine is still with us, as is the Broadway Hollywood building on the southwest corner. South of Hollywood Boulevard, the cityscape really begins to change but at around Yucca street, you can still what Hollywood used to look like.
Roughly the same view in May 2019:
The Largest Mailbox in the World, South Los Angeles, 1917
I’d love to know the reason behind someone building the largest mailbox in the world. Especially in 1917 Los Angeles, when there really weren’t very many people around, as we can see by the vast stretches of open land in the background. The most likely explanation is that it really wasn’t a mail box at all but a publicity gimmick for a new development South Los Angeles, which is directly south of downtown L.A. I have to wonder, though, if any numbskull actually bothered to climb those stairs to post his letter…and if it actually got delivered.
Advertisement from the Los Angeles Evening Herald, August 24, 1916:
The Piggly Wiggly at 7912 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, 1934
I was quite surprised when I saw this 1934 photo of a Piggly Wiggly market in West Hollywood. I’ve always associated Piggly Wigglys with the South and had no idea that they were in Southern California. So imagine my surprise when I looked in the Los Angeles City Directory of 1933 to find there were nearly fifty of them! Perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised – the sign does say “All Over The World.” This one stood at 7912 Santa Monica Boulevard. Not only that, but the building is still there and pretty much intact. I call that an L.A. miracle.
From the Los Angeles City Directory of 1933:
Andie says: “There was a Piggly Wiggly on Vanowen St. in Canoga Park in the late ’60s and I shopped there because they carried some canned goods from southern producers that I couldn’t find anywhere else in the area. In about 1971 the SoCal stores were bought by AlphaBeta and the stock changed so I no longer shopped there. Sad. Our house was on Owensmouth Ave and a block and a half from the Ralph’s market on the corner of Sherman Way and Winnetka so I had to go out of my way to shop at Piggly Wiggly and I think it was just over the border in Reseda, instead of Canoga Park.”
The same building in 2019:
Birdseye view of Pershing Square looking southeast from the corner of 5th Street and Olive Street, Los Angeles, circa 1926
This photo gives us a bird’s-eye view of Pershing Square in 1926, back when it was a leafy green space giving Angelenos respite from the relentless Californian summer sun and the unremitting hustle and bustle of downtown Los Angeles. Back then, downtown was the epicenter of L.A. and the sidewalks and roads thrummed with activity all day long. Downtown L.A. needed more parking spaces and to put it under Pershing Square made a certain amount of sense, but what a shame that in the process we lost an oasis of calm and tranquility.
Out of curiosity, I tried one of those automatic coloring sites to see what this view might have looked for the person who took this photo. These sites don’t always do a good job (in fact, they rarely do) but I was quite impressed with this one:
The Cream Can dairy café, Los Angeles, California, 1928
I couldn’t find out where the Cream Can was located other than it was somewhere in Los Angeles. This photo was taken in 1928, when L.A. was still fairly sparsely populated, so it’s fairly likely that this miraculous building really stood out. From what I can see, it served all things dairy: ice cream, buttermilk, cottage cheese, milkshakes. I have another photo (see below) that shows a sign that it also sold orange juice and root beer. I don’t know that a dish of cottage cheese goes well with root beer, but it case that was your thing, the Cream Can was the joint for you.
