Leimert Park is a section of Los Angeles southwest of downtown L.A. These days, of course, it’s fully developed with every square inch built on or planted with lawns and trees. But back in 1928, when this photo was taken, they needed a big—and I mean BIG!—arrow to draw attention to itself when it opened for business. We can see from the glimpses of largely empty background that this arrow was so big, people could probably see it from downtown Los Angeles, which was probably the whole point, wasn’t it?Postcard night view of Hollywood Boulevard looking southeast from the Hollywood Hills, circa 1940
This postcard view shows us the lights along Hollywood Boulevard around the famous Hollywood and Vine intersection. The view was taken from the Hollywood Hills looking southeast, and we can just make out the sign of the Hollywood Broadway store to the right of the center of the picture. Evidently, some movie was getting its big premiere that night—unless those searchlights were added in using the 1940s version of Photoshop, which is, of course, quite possible in the city that refined the art of hoopla and ballyhoo.
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Tagged Hollywood, Hollywood and Vine, Hollywood Blvd, Night photo, Stores and Shopping
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Coffee Pot now a seafood restaurant, 7275 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, 1930
I’m guessing the conversation went something like this: “Hey, I’ve got a great idea. Let’s take that drive-in place at 7275 Beverly Blvd shaped like a coffee pot, cover it in oyster shells and turn it into a seafood restaurant. That’ll really pack ‘em in, won’t it?” This shot is from 1930 so maybe the Coffee Pot went out of business because of the depression and oyster shells would have been a cheap décor option for the new owner. I doubt that this place lasted too long so I’m glad someone thought to take a photo of it.
That location is now home to Kanner Hall, a Jewish community center:
A man looks south east from from the top of Los Angeles City Hall, September 23, 1949
I tend to think of L.A.’s smog problem as being more of an 1950s thing but this photo shows that it was pervasive in the 1940s. This shot was taken on September 23, 1949 and shows a man standing on the observation platform the Los Angeles City Hall and seeing . . . not much. The smog had already grown so bad that the view is largely obscured. We can juuuuuuust see the L.A. Times building in the bottom right hand corner.
By contrast, this is a photo I took from much the same angle on May 15, 2018:
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Tagged Downtown Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Los Angeles City Hall
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Calpet gas station, 3237 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, circa 1928
When was the last time you saw a gas station with a roof tiled in a gorgeous geometric pattern, 15-foot gates with fancy grillwork, and attendants wearing some sort of harem-in-the-Arabian-desert uniform? I’m guess it’s been a LONG time. But if you had been driving along Wilshire Blvd in the late 1920s around Vermont Avenue, you would have seen this Calpet gas station at 3237 Wilshire. And if you had, surely you would have pulled in and filled your tank, right?
Van-Shire Florist, 4016 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, circa 1928
This photo gives us a glimpse of what florist shops looked like in the late 1920s. And guess what – they weren’t a whole lot different from how they look nearly 100 years later. A sign advertising flowers for weddings, parties, and funerals, and an offer of free delivery. Van-Shire Florist stood at 4016 Wilshire Boulevard and that street light out front was called a “Wilshire Special.” But what really caught my eye was the billboard on the side of the building. The Southern Pacific Railroad were offering $6 fares to San Francisco and $17 to Portland. Sounds like a bargain to me.
Van-Shire Florist stood on what is now the parking lot of the Wilshire Park Elementary school:
Crossroads of the World shopping mall when it opened, 6671 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, 1936
Los Angeles architecture is an eclectic mix of pretty much every imaginable style: Art Deco, Fairytale, Frank Lloyd Wright, Spanish Revival, and many others. But this little pocket of L.A. is a whole mini world unto itself. There was no specific date attached to this photo of the Crossroads of the World mini shopping mall at 6671 Sunset Boulevard, but it all looks so pristine and deserted that I’m willing to bet it was taken at around the time the mall opened on October 29, 1936. The 57 shops and cafes, and 36 offices were housed in uniquely styled buildings, sort of a very early prototype of The Grove outdoor mall at Fairfax Ave and Beverly Blvd.
The world globe being hoisted into place at Crossroads of the World, Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, 1936:
The front of Crossroads of the World in May 2019:
The Jumbo Lemon lemonade and orangeade stand, Los Angeles, 1925
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:
