Here we have a Pacific Electric street car coming from the San Fernando Valley through the Cahuenga Pass and stopping at the entrance to the Hollywood Bowl, where Cahuenga Blvd becomes Highland Ave. I wouldn’t have known the location had it not been for the “BOWL PARKING” arrow-shaped sign on the right. It’s interesting that even back as far as 1930, when this photo was taken, that the Bowl had a parking lot. But look at the sign to the left of the streetcar: L.A. Pet Cemetery. Opposite the Hollywood Bowl? Or was it, as the other sign says, up in “Zoo Acres” in the Hollywood Hills?Aerial shot of the NBC Studios at Sunset and Vine, Hollywood, circa mid 1950s
Nearly all shots of Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood focus on the NBC radio (and later television) studios on the northeast corner. But this aerial shot shows us how big those studios were. They covered the whole block and had a huge parking lot directly to the north. From such a height it’s hard to date this photo but we can see the “MUSIC CITY” sign on the northwest corner. Wallichs Music City opened in 1940 so this photo was taken some time after that.
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Tagged Aerial photographs, Hollywood, NBC Radio / Television, Radio, Sunset Blvd
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Looking east along Santa Monica Blvd toward Western Ave, Los Angeles, 1930
We’re looking east along Santa Monica Blvd toward Western Ave. In the foreground is the Marsh Music Company at 5522 Santa Monica Blvd advertising pianos and radio for rent. Next to them was an optometrist/jeweler who also sold clocks and watches, which makes me wonder if that was common back then? It’s also interesting that even in 1930, when this photo was taken, that parking was restricted to one hour until 6PM (as per the sign on the street light.) On the other side of the street we can see the Security Pacific Bank on the northwest corner. The building is still there and looks gorgeous today.
The bank building at Santa Monica and Western in June 2017:
Aerial view of the “Thief of Bagdad” set at the Pickford-Fairbanks Studios, Santa Monica Boulevard, Hollywood, 1923
Back in 1923, when Douglas Fairbanks was making “The Thief of Bagdad” (1924) at the Pickford-Fairbanks Studios at Santa Monica Blvd and Formosa Ave, the locals were treated to the splendid sight of the movie’s enormous Arabian set. Given the empty land around it to the south, it must have really stood out. I wonder if back then they allowed the general public on the lot. Ten-year-old me would have had a field day!
Studio portraitist George Hurrell in his photographic studio, 333 Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, 1942
This photo gives us some insight into how high-glamor portraits were taken during those golden days of the Hollywood studio system. George Hurrell came to MGM in the late 1920s after Ramon Novarro showed Norma Shearer some portraits he’d had done independently. Norma was so struck by them she sought out the photographer. Hurrell became MGM’s leading portraitist until 1932. After a stint at Warner Bros., he opened his photographic studio on 333 Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills in 1942. Those photos all looked so glamorous but it’s really just a chair, a screen, and a couple of (I assume very carefully placed) lights. One could almost say it was a metaphor for Hollywood in general.
Carlin’s Cinema Sports Center, 6624 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, circa 1950
Going by this eye-catching display from around 1950, it looks like the Carlin’s Cinema Sports Center at 6624 Hollywood Boulevard (near Cherokee Ave) offered something for everybody: cinema, bowling, pool, fountain café and juice bar, gift store (“Send a gift from Hollywood”), a public rumpus room (a games room with ping pong tables, dart boards, table top shuffle board, etc), and a barber shop. All that and free parking. Talk about your one-stop family entertainment destination.
This 1957 video screengrab showing building on the right with the “BOWLING” blade sign:
In a different incarnation, it was the News-View theater that exclusively ran newsreels:
I didn’t know that public rumpus rooms were a thing until I found this photo. Even Mike Lyman had one when he ran his place on Hill Street in downtown L.A. This is taken from the May 1956 Los Angeles Street Address Directory:
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Tagged Color photo, Hollywood, Hollywood Blvd, Night photo, Restaurants, Stores and Shopping, Theaters
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Muscle Beach, Santa Monica , California, 1949
From the looks of it, this 1949 photo of Muscle Beach along the Venice boardwalk was taken on a busy summer weekend. Those cafés selling 25-cent jumbo malts, 10-cent snow cones and candied apples and cotton candy now sell $5 tee-shirts and $10 sunglasses. But the sign that I really like is on the right: “Physical Services.” I wasn’t sure what they were selling until I read the fine print: classes in tumbling, balancing, gymnastics, and adagio. So now I’m wondering: does anybody teach adagio anymore?
Patrice says: “Back in 1949 Muscle Beach was actually in Santa Monica, just south of SM Pier. It moved to Venice I believe in late 50s or early 60s. And it was on the correct name of the “boardwalk” which is Ocean Front Walk.”
A much quieter early morning shot of the Muscle Beach outdoor gym in June 2018:
Legendary baseball player, Babe Ruth, is welcomed to Hollywood by a bevy of seven beauties in 1928
In 1928, Yankees star baseball player, Babe Ruth, appeared in a picture called “Speedy” in which Harold Lloyd played a Babe Ruth fan who saves New York’s last horse-drawn trolley. So I’m guessing that this is a publicity photo dreamed up by the wiseguys in the Paramount Pictures publicity department. Is it just me or there a rather blatantly phallic quality to this photo? Given how libidinous Babe was, I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to assume that he didn’t return to the hotel alone that day.
Graf Zeppelin airship at Mines Field, Los Angeles, late August 1929
In late August of 1929, the Graf Zeppelin landed at Mines Field (later LA International Airport) on the final leg of a Hearst-sponsored 20-day round-world voyage. Every other photo I’ve seen is taken far back so as to capture the enormity of the German airship. But this shows its size in a different way: put it up against actual people. It really must have been a sight to see up close and I guess, until the Hindenburg disaster 8 years later, people weren’t too concerned about being so close to so much hydrogen.
Looking north around an oil derrick in the middle of La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles, 1938
I guess motorists of the 1920s and 30s got used to driving around Los Angeles and seeing oil derricks scattered across the landscape. But I wonder if any of these motorists driving on La Cienega Blvd (at around where the Beverly Center shopping mall now stands) thought twice about driving around the oil derrick that stood in the middle of the street, northbound to the right, southbound to the left. I love the billboard of a brand of gin I’ve never heard of, Old Man London. If that advertisement can be believed, it was “The Finest Gin at Any Price!”
Bill says: “I remember it “well” (not the sign, but the derrick) – the derrick was removed while I lived in the neighborhood but the pump remained. It was right next to “Kiddieland”, fenced off for safety. Then came Rexall HQ across the street – I was there often. Rexall had a huge store on the bottom floor with a grand toy department and Santa at Christmas time. A See’s candy shop. Newest vinyls of the current recording stars. The “New” ballpoint pens (they either leaked all over or did not write at all) – Lindy was the better one. Ah, the memories.“
Is it gin o’clock yet?
