The Metropolitan Building on the northwest corner of Fifth Street and Broadway, downtown Los Angeles, circa late 1950s
Being on the northwest corner of Fifth Street and Broadway, the Metropolitan Building had a primo position two blocks from the Biltmore Hotel and Pershing Square. So I’m guessing that Owl Drug Co store was a busy place all day, every day. Upstairs, the Dodge Clothing store offered men’s suits, jackets, and tuxedos from $12.75 to $17.75, so they probably did a brisk trade, too. Judging from the bus fueled by the overhead power lines on the right, this photo probably dates to the mid-to-late 1950s.
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Tagged Broadway, Downtown Los Angeles, Stores and Shopping, Streetcars
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Oil derricks crowd Huntington Beach, California, circa 1960s
I don’t know about you, but when I think of sunny days spent lazing on golden California beaches, I’m not picturing a forest of oil derricks chugga-chugga-chugging as far as the eye can see. In this circa 1960s shot, it looks like there are quite a few people dotted along Huntington Beach (which is a strip of sand or two south of Long Beach) but all I can think is: Didn’t the whole area smell of crude oil?
James says: “Odors came from the refineries, not the oil wells/derricks unless there was a leak, which would have meant $$$ lost. From north San Diego county to Santa Barbara county’s Gaviota area coastal Southern California was dotted with oil wells from the thirties until the early eighties, particularly around Long Beach/San Pedro.”
Union Oil gas station, Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, circa early 1940s
Judging from the 1940 Chevrolet getting gas in this Union Oil service station, it’s likely that this oh-so-film-noir-ish night shot was taken some time in the early 1940s. If you look at the street lighting in this picture, you’ll see that the lamps are all the “Wilshire Special” which became prevalent along Wilshire Blvd starting in the late 1920s. And get a load of that cute mascot lit up in neon—can anyone tell me if he had an official name?
Looking toward the Hollywoodland gate, Beachwood Drive, Hollywood, circa mid 1920s
We’re looking north into the Hollywood hills from Beachwood Drive, which is the main road into Hollywoodland. These two decorative stone structures marked the gateway into the development, which began in the early 1920s. The famous Hollywoodland sign went up in 1923 to advertise it because sales were slow at first. It seems nobody wanted to live in them thar hills! I’m guessing that this photo was taken in the mid 1920s by which time the first few houses had started to appear. But as we can see by the empty land behind the tower on the right, Hollywoodland still had a lot of vacant land to fill.
The same view in November 2017:
Automobile entrance to Bullocks Wilshire department store, Wilshire Place, Los Angeles, 1935
The iconic Bullocks Wilshire department store on Wilshire Blvd didn’t have bad angle – it was and still is striking from every side. In this view, we’re seeing its all-important automobile entrance (Bullocks Wilshire was the first store to orientate its focus on the “carriage trade” – i.e. customers who drove to the store rather than walked or took public transit.) This photo is from 1935, by which time the store had weathered the worst of the Great Depression (it opened the month before the stock market crashed) and was well on its way to becoming one of the great stores of Los Angeles.
Roughly the same view in May 2019:
Looking west on Hollywood Boulevard from Vine St., Hollywood, circa 1923
In this shot, we’re facing west along Hollywood Boulevard in 1923. On the lower left side is the southwest corner of Hollywood and Vine. This is before the landmark Broadway Hollywood building went up in 1928, so it’s a little disorienting at first glance. The largest building in this photo is the Guaranty Building. It’s on the corner of Ivar Ave and it’s still there and looks pretty much as it does in this image, including that huge sign on the roof. These days, it reads “SCIENTOLOGY” because that’s who owns the building now—which is why it’s still in such good condition, as is every building they own on Hollywood Boulevard.
The Guaranty Building in April 2019:
CBS Columbia Square radio studios, 6121 Sunset Blvd, Hollywood, circa 1955
The NBC radio (and later television) studios got the lion’s share of attention from photographers, but two blocks east along Sunset Blvd were CBS’s facilities. Known as ‘Columbia Square’ it opened in 1938. Judging by those nifty cars parked out front, I’d say this shot was taken circa 1955, by which time radio was on the way out and TV was now king. This building is now home to NeueHouse, which is a shared office space facility and a restaurant called Paley.
Photo album cover for KNX, Columbia Broadcasting System, 6121 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood:
The building doesn’t look that much different today:
Homebound peak hour traffic on L.A.’s Arroyo Seco Parkway amid a smog-induced premature darkness at 4.55pm on November 27, 1954
This photo is quite remarkable when you know the context. This is the evening peak hour on L.A.’s Arroyo Seco Parkway on November 27, 1954. You’d think that it was taken at 7pm but in fact it was taken just before 5pm. Why does it look two hours later than it should? Because the smog was so thick that it induced an early dusk. Thank goodness someone decided that Los Angeles needed to clean up its air!
Tony says: “I respectfully question how much of the darkness in this photo is directly attributable to smog. Keep in mind that in November, in Southern California when California is on Pacific Standard Time, sunset is around 5:00 pm. Several sources from an almanac to the National Weather Service confirm this.“
Bob says: “Yes. And visibility was 10 miles in LA. Additionally that date was a Saturday, 2 days after Thanksgiving, so the amount of traffic seems odd. Not that the smog wasn’t bad in those days.”
Blossom Room, Roosevelt Hotel, Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, California, circa 1929
On May 16, 1929, members of the newly convened Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gathered in the Blossom Room at the Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Blvd for the first Academy awards ceremony. Douglas Fairbanks presented each of the awards to the winners, which had already been announced in the press. This photo of the Blossom Room wasn’t taken that night, but it was circa 1929, so this is how that historic space looked at the time. That night, the room was lit by Chinese lanterns and each table was decorated with candles and candy replicas of the gold statuette. I’ll leave the rest to your imagination.
Advertisement for dancing to Henry Halstead’s Orchestra in the Blossom Room at the Roosevelt Hotel, Hollywood:
This is how the Blossom Room currently looks:
In this colorized (probably hand-tinted) postcard, we’re afforded a glimpse of how Abbot Kinney originally envisaged his “Venice of America” development. We’re looking northwest across the lagoon and that canal in the background was known as Coral Canal, which was later filled and renamed Main Street. I know there were a number of practical reasons why Venice, California couldn’t hold onto its charming network of canals, but if this image is anything to go by, I sure wish we could have found a way to keep them.