In this circa early to mid-1960s photo, we’re looking eastward along the main drag of Pasadena, Colorado Blvd from Oakland Ave. This section of the boulevard is part of this historic Route 66 before it turns south on the Arroyo Parkway. The building with the turret is still there, and the Pasadena Star-News is still around even if that radio tower and signage has gone. Jan and Dean’s song “The Little Old Lady from Pasadena” came out in 1964 so it could well have been selling by the truckload in that records store on the left.
Crowds gather to celebrate the end of World War II on VJ Day at Broadway and 7th Street, downtown Los Angeles, August 15, 1945
What a crazy, loopy, wondrous day it must have been when this photo was taken. News that Japan had surrendered, putting a celebratory end to the second world war. Angelenos took to the streets and it looks like a ton of them ended up at the corner of Broadway and 7th in downtown L.A. The noise must have been deafening! I imagine that those two cars in the foreground were stuck there for quite some time, and the streetcars in the background weren’t going any place either. And I bet nobody bothered going to see Peggy Ann Garner in “Junior Miss” in a double feature with Jinx Falkenburg in “The Gay Senorita” at the Loew’s State Theatre.
A streetcar stops out front of the L.A. Times building at 1st and Broadway, downtown Los Angeles, circa early 1940s
I love it when someone stops to take an ordinary, every-day photo of something that nobody in the shot would think twice about. In this one, a streetcar has stopped out front of the L.A. Times building at the corner of 1st and Broadway in downtown Los Angeles in the early 1940s. We can see how packed the streetcar is, which shows how popular and essential the streetcar network still was. I also want to know what’s going on with the old-timer in the natty suit and the sailor with the hand on his hip. The guy in the hat looks like he wants to wallop the sailor with his tote bag.
The LA Times building in February 2017:
Electric sign for “The Mission Play” atop the Eldon Hotel, 550 South Broadway, Downtown Los Angeles, 1915
“The Mission Play” was a was a three-hour pageant portraying the history of the California missions and was performed at the San Gabriel Mission, starting in 1912. This photo shows a bright electric sign atop the modest Eldon Hotel at 550 S. Broadway. This photo was taken in 1915 and I love how all that nighttime lighting from the clothing store and jeweler silhouettes the mid-1910s convertibles parked out front. At the time, The Mission Play was a famous tourist attraction. People would travel by rail to San Gabriel (roughly 10 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles) to experience the outdoor spectacle.
Miraculously, the building is still there and looks to be in pretty good shape. This image is from January 2017:
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Tagged Broadway, Downtown Los Angeles, Night photo, Stores and Shopping
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Nat King Cole plays Ciro’s nightclub, Sunset Strip, Los Angeles, 1945
The Hollywood Reporter’s Billy Wilkerson opening Ciro’s nightclub in January 1940 heralded the era of the great Hollywood nightclubs (Mocambo opened a year later.) At one point Ciro’s had a Pompeii Room featuring a Vesuvius cocktail. Almost immediately, the place became a pre-Las-Vegas draw card for the best entertainers in the biz. This photo was taken in 1945, when Nat King Cole was the headliner, was starting to really break out and make a name for himself.
The bar inside Ciro’s nightclub. You gotta love that padding!
The building now houses the Comedy Club, which has kept the structure largely intact. This image is from May 2019:
A nighttime photograph of Broadway, Los Angeles in 1946 during a transit strike
This photo looking north along Broadway was taken in 1946, when Los Angeles was paralyzed by a transit strike. These days, a strike like that would inconvenience quite a few people, but it wouldn’t cripple a city like it would have in the 1940s. Back then, downtown Los Angeles was a non-stop hive of activity, especially Broadway, but as we can see from this photo, the street was deserted. Loew’s State Theater at the 7th Street corner advertises that it was “open all night” but that particular night, I can’t imagine they had many patrons.
The State Theater is now a church. (Photo from May 2019)
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Tagged Broadway, Downtown Los Angeles, Night photo, Streetcars, Theaters
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Mule-drawn watering carriage wets down Hilgard Ave in Westwood near UCLA campus; circa late 1920s
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.
Hilgard Ave in May 2019:
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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