What a difference a couple of thousand little lights can make. These Christmas trees were set up in front of the Los Angeles Memorial Colosseum for the holiday season of 1949. This photo was taken at dusk on December 19, just as the last of the sunlight was fading over L.A. It makes me want to break out into a chorus or two of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” which is, of course, my wish to all of you who follow my vintage discoveries, potted histories, and rhetorical questions. Thank you for your interest and participation, and happiest of holidays to you all.Giant Santa Clauses adorn Hollywood Boulevard during the holiday season, circa 1943
I’ve seen plenty of photos showing the metal Christmas trees that used to decorate Hollywood Boulevard for the holidays, but this is the first one I’ve seen using giant Santa Clauses instead. This photo was taken circa 1943 so perhaps the trees were melted down for the war effort? Whatever the reason for the change, they sure look festive—I only wish this shot had been taken in glorious Kodachrome.
Daniel N says: “The trees were impounded ‘for the duration’ because of street light restrictions on the West Coast—this was outside of actual blackouts. The santas were not lit.”
Christmastime on Hollywood Blvd. near Vine Street facing west, circa 1950s
Once upon a time in Hollywood, the city used to decorate Hollywood Boulevard with large metallic trees high on top of poles. They would light up at night and transform the street into what was known as “Santa Claus Lane.” Those trees changed from time to time. This shot looking west from around Vine Street was taken some time in the 1950s, when the trees were painted white to look like they had snow on them because, as Irving Berlin and Bing Crosby taught us, we’re all dreaming of a white Christmas.
Premiere for “Giant” at Grauman’s Chinese Theater, Hollywood Blvd, October 18, 1956
The premiere for Warner Bros’ “Giant” starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and James Dean at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on October 18,1956 was a very big deal. We can see from this photo that a long line of limos were outside Grauman’s Chinese Theatre along Hollywood Boulevard and any number of searchlights strafed the night sky. The number of stars who attended is mindboggling. http://www.graumanschinese.org/1956.html lists over 100 of them, everyone from Nick Adams to Shelley Winters, along with Art Linkletter as the Master of Ceremonies. The movie’s 10-week run was the longest run of any movie at Grauman’s that year.
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Tagged Grauman's Chinese Theater, Hollywood, Hollywood Blvd, Movie Premiere, Night photo, Theaters, Warner Bros.
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Looking north up Broadway toward 6th Street, downtown Los Angeles, 1956
In this 1956 photo (Ektachrome, I’m presuming), we’re looking north up Broadway toward 6th Street. On the left, we can see the sign for Zukor’s (no relation to Adolph Zukor, the founder of Paramount Pictures, as far as I know), which was a clothing store next door to the greatest movie palace in town: the Los Angeles Theater. We can also see a sign for Richman Brothers, which was a subsidiary Woolworth’s, and was an upscale men’s clothing store. The L.A. Theater is still around, so one out of three ain’t bad.
Zukor’s in January 2017 looking a little worse for wear:
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Tagged Color photo, Downtown Los Angeles, Stores and Shopping, Streetcars
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George Schwab Shoes store, 1055 Westwood Blvd, Westwood, Los Angeles, 1938
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.
