The front of George Schwab Shoes store at 1055 Westwood Blvd in Westwood shows us that to make effective signage all you need is well-placed lighting and a slick font. Oh, and the layer of glass bricks adds a nice touch, too. (This is photo is from 1938.)Beverly Wilshire Hotel, Wilshire Boulevard, as seen from Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, circa 1936
In this photo we’re looking south down Rodeo Drive to the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard. Aside from the addition of domed awnings over those curved windows, the hotel is remarkably unchanged from how it looked in this circa mid 1930s photograph. The only major difference I can see is that Rodeo Drive had nose-in parking. Back then, it was a regular shopping street and would be years before it became the enclave of high-end brand names.
The same view in March 2019:
Original owner of the Beverly Hills Hotel, Margaret S. Anderson in front of her hotel, circa 1920s
With all the articles and blog posts I’ve read about the Beverly Hills Hotel, somehow it escaped my notice that the original owner was a woman. Her name was Margaret S. Anderson and this circa 1920s shows her parked out front of her hotel in what looks to be a 1925 Premier. It looks like quite a zippy little car and I can image the go-get-’em Margaret dashing around the still relatively deserted streets of Beverly Hills.
Mark C Bloom 24-hour gas station and tire store, 6210 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, April 1942
This very film-noir-esque night shot of the Mark C Bloom gas station at the corner of Sunset Blvd and El Centro Ave was taken in April 1942. It looks like he was a one-stop shop: gas, motor oil, car wash (69 cents), tires, and parking. It’s pretty impressive that he was open 24 hours a day back then, although this was during the early days after Pearl Harbor, so I’m surprised he was allowed to keep the lights on. I guess this was before or after the authorities introduced black-outs and dim-outs.
Amazingly, that corner is still home to a tire store (May 2019):
Looking southeast toward Griffith Observatory in Griffith Park, with Los Angeles in the background, 1937
The Griffith Observatory atop Griffith Park is one of the best outlooks in Los Angeles—on days when the natural haze of the area hasn’t settled in. This shot was taken in 1937, just two years after the Observatory opened. It’s a fairly busy site these days with busloads of school kids, tourists, and day-hikers, but back then, it would have been easy to find a park and go wandering around the building and surrounding walking trails.
The Observatory in 2017:
For those of you unfamiliar with where the Observatory, here is a satellite photo showing it perched on the folds and canyons of Griffith Park. To the right, was can see the famous outdoor Greek Theater.
Pasadena’s first telephone exchange, 1898, with Claude Braden, night operator
Spare a thought for poor Claude Braden, who got stuck with the job of night operator of Pasadena’s first telephone exchange in 1898. I don’t know how many telephones Pasadena had at the end of the 19th century, but judging by the size of the switchboard, I’m guessing not too many. And the few there were, were probably not used much. So poor Claude would have had to devise ways of keeping himself awake. I wonder what the late 19th century version of Benzedrine was because it looks like he took a handful of ‘em.
The Gentleman’s Grill at the Hotel Alexandria, 501 S Spring St, Los Angeles
This color postcard gives us a glimpse of the Gentleman’s Grill at the Hotel Alexandria on Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles. In its early-20th-century heyday, the Alexandria was THE hotel in Los Angeles. It brings to my mind two questions: were ladies allowed inside the Gentleman’s Grill or was this a sacred men-only space? Also, what happened to those glorious green light fixtures sitting on those platforms? The Alexandria is still around. After a long decline into decrepitude, it is now a condo building but I bet someone made off with those fixtures years ago. Let’s hope they still exist somewhere.
Walt Disney Productions studios, Burbank, California, circa mid 1950s
These days, it can seem like Disney owns half the world but back in the mid 1950s, when this photo was taken (judging by that fire-engine-red 1955 Mercury Monterey Station Wagon on the right) they were a minor film studio still establishing themselves as live-action producers. (Their first live-action movie, “Treasure Island” came out in 1950.) And so their front gate was fittingly low key.
There’s no mistaking which studio it is now. (April 2019)
Eddie Cantor’s Antique Shop, 8743 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, circa 1930s
Not only did Eddie Cantor have a store in the Brown Derby building on Vine Street, but in the 1930s, he also had an antique and gift store at 8743 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, in the middle of the Sunset Strip. I’d say that Cantor was aware that showbiz was a fickle biz and having alternative sources of income to fall back on was a smart move. This lovely building is still there and largely intact, which is a sentence that I don’t get to write nearly as often as I’d like to.
The same building in May 2019:
Fred Harvey Restaurant at the opening of Union Station, Los Angeles, May 1939
The May 3rd, 1939 opening of Union Station at the edge of downtown Los Angeles was a very big deal as it brought the country’s three main railway lines under on roof. It was also a big day for the Fred Harvey Restaurant, which was attached to the main building. This shot was taken on opening day. As we can see, it was a very busy day for the staff and, by the look of the crowd outside the tall glass windows, a long wait for eager patrons.
And here is the only photo I’ve ever seen of Mr. Fred Harvey. I do hope that in person he was a tad more lighthearted than how he looks in this portrait:
He looks a bit more friendly in this image:
Menu of Fred Harvey restaurant, Union Station, Los Angeles:
Advertisement for the Fred Harvey run dining car on the California Limited railway route:
