George Burrows, Garden of Allah, Hollywood, Cal – Hollywood Reporter, September 1939
Evidently simply “Garden of Allah, Hollywood, Cal” was enough of an address to ensure that George Burrows got his copy of The Hollywood Reporter. Of course it was enough! Everybody knew of it!
Broadway decorated for a Shriner Convention, downtown Los Angeles, 1925
From the look of this photo from 1925, I’m guessing it was a big deal when the Shriners held a convention in town. Or at least they wanted Angelenos to know they were there and parked two stands with camels and palm trees outside the Broadway department store at Broadway and 4th St in downtown Los Angeles. All those flags are probably part of it, too. Even without all that going on, we can see how jam-packed Broadway was back then. Not just the street itself but those sidewalks are almost shoulder-to-shoulder.
I especially love that bus on the left hand side:
When I googled “Shriners 1925” I found them doing this. It’s a dance called the “Yama Yama.” Also, check out their shoes!
And this is the old Broadway department store at Broadway and 4th in 2019:
Castillo del Lago with part of the Hollywoodland Sign visible behind it, 1926
The 20,000-square-foot, 32-room Castillo del Lago was built by oil baron Patrick Longden in Beachwood Canyon, in 1926. This photo was taken that same year with the then 3-year-old Hollywoodland sign in the background. As we can see from the empty land around it, it really must have stuck out and been visible for miles around. In the 1930s, good-looking gangster-about-town, Bugsy Siegel ran a gambling operation out of the place, which seems an odd choice considering how distinctly visible it was. Then again, Bugsy didn’t scare easily.
The official address of the Castillo del Lago is: 6342 Mulholland Highway, Los Angeles, CA 90068. Here is how it looked in 2019:
Churrigueresque entrance to the Villa Carlotta apartment building, 5959 Franklin Ave, Los Angeles, circa 1928
Technically speaking this highly ornate entrance to the Villa Carlotta apartment building, 5959 Franklin Ave is called Churrigueresque, which means “relating to the lavishly ornamented late Spanish baroque style.” But I prefer to think of it as “over-the-top in the best possible way.” And it’s still there and in beautiful shape.
The same entrance in May 2019:
Billboard for Warner Brothers Studios, Burbank, circa 1940s during WWII
Never wanting to miss an opportunity at promoting a great job they were doing with the war effort, this circa early 1940s billboard outside the Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank is telling the world that not only was this “The home of Warner Bros. pictures,” but that they were “combining good citizenship with good picture making.”
Box office of Sid Grauman’s Egyptian Theater, Hollywood Boulevard, 1951
Here’s the sort of slice-of-life-in-Hollywood photo that I love coming across. Taken in 1951, it’s at the box office of the Egyptian Theater on Hollywood Boulevard. I think one of two scenarios were captured here: either the woman on the right can’t decide whether or not to buy a ticket and the one on the left is thinking, “Jeez, lady, make up your mind already.” Or the one on the left told her friend to come visit her after the 8 o’clock session goes in because after that she’s bored to death.
Northwest corner of Sunset Blvd and Vine Street where Wallichs Music City stands with Capitol Records is on the 2nd floor, Hollywood, 1946
In this shot from 1946, we’re looking at Wallichs Music City, the music store that stood on the NW corner of Sunset and Vine from 1940 to 1978. It was one of the first music stores to put record albums in display racks for customers to browse. It was also the first to have listening booths. Cool, man! We can also see the sign for Capitol Records. It was on the second floor and was started by Wallichs in 1942, along with songwriter Johnny Mercer and movie producer Buddy De Sylva.
The same view in May 2019:
Haverfield Drugstore, northeast corner of Sunset and Laurel Canyon Blvds, West Hollywood, 1928
This 1928 shot of the Haverfield Drugstore at the northeast corner of Sunset Blvd and Laurel Canyon Blvd reminds us how gorgeous some of the buildings scattered throughout Los Angeles were. Look at all that sumptuous detailing. I especially love that ornate decoration above the corner doorway. Amazingly, the building is still there and apart from garish signage is largely intact. Directly across the street was the Crescent Heights Market building which, in 1932, would provide a home for the soon-to-be-famous Schwab’s Pharmacy.
That same building in May 2019. See what I mean about the garish signs but at least the building is fairly intact so it’s a win.
The Hollywood Bowl marquee advertising the Beatles’ sold-out concert, August 1964
All you have to do is look at this photo and you can hear the screams of all 18,700 people. The Beatles played the Hollywood Bowl in August 1964 to a sold-out audience who had each paid between $3 and $7 for the privilege of losing their minds. I wonder if anybody actually heard the music?
The Beatles took to the stage at 9.30pm and performed 12 songs:
- Twist And Shout
- You Can’t Do That
- All My Loving
- She Loves You
- Things We Said Today
- Roll Over Beethoven
- Can’t Buy Me Love
- If I Fell
- I Want To Hold Your Hand
- Boys
- A Hard Day’s Night
- Long Tall Sally