Very little information came with this photo so I had to dig a little deeper on this one. Those two buildings in the background are the Guaranty building on the left and the Knickerbocker Hotel on the right. They stand on Ivar Ave, which means the main street with traffic and streetcar is Hollywood Blvd. The billboard on the left is announcing a new Mullen & Bluett menswear store, which was at 6316 Hollywood Blvd, just west of Hollywood and Vine. Until I saw this photo, I didn’t know Cadillac had a location on Hollywood Blvd. The Guaranty opened in 1923 and the Knickerbocker broke ground in 1925 but opened in 1929, so I’m calling this photo circa late 1920s.
This is roughly the same view in June 2024. The Guaranty building is now owned by the Church of Scientology, and the Knickerbocker is now a retirement home.
With the Paris Olympic Games currently running, I thought this was an appropriate time to post this shot of the intersection of 7th and S. Hill Sts, in downtown LA. This shot of the northeast corner was taken in 1932, when the Olympics had come to Los Angeles and the city was caught up in Olympic fever with the rings and flags of many different countries. In the background on the left we can see the top of the Eastern Columbia building, which was home to the Eastern Outfitting department store and only two years old at the time.
Am I the only one who looks at this photo and the “Happy Days” TV show theme song starts playing in my head? Here we have a glorious color nighttime photo of Hody’s coffee shop—and it looks like it took up the whole block. It stood at 6006 Lankershim Blvd in North Hollywood, so there was probably lots of land. One of the cars parked out front is a1961 Pontiac Catalina, so I’m calling this circa early 1960s.
These days, Paramount Pictures faces Melrose Ave, but back when this photo was taken, it the front of the studio was a block north on Marathon St. I doubt anyone could park their car directly out front of the famous studio gate, so I suspect this shot is staged — if only because I don’t see any studio guard telling the driver to “Move along, please.” My pal at the Petersen identified this car is a 1946-48 Chrysler, probably an Imperial, so let’s call this photo circa late 1940s.
This view looking north up Vine St from Sunset Blvd, Hollywood on July 27, 1948 makes me want to go for an after-dinner stroll just so that I could take in all those lights in real life: NBC radio, the Brown Derby, the Hollywood-Broadway department store, Tom Breneman’s Hollywood restaurant. We can even see the sign for Benson Fong’s first restaurant – Ah Fong’s – which opened in 1946 ahead of a second location in Beverly Hills. On my stroll, I’d also spend a moment to enjoy that atmospheric street light and semaphore traffic signal. Anyone care to join me?
We’re looking north up Westwood Blvd to the Holmby Building on the northwest corner of Weyburn Ave in the Westwood section of Los Angeles. On the southwest corner is Desmond’s, which someone described to me as an upper middle class menswear store. Look at all those buildings, freshly painted gleaming white, so pristine and bathed in all the endless Californian sunshine. Goodness gracious, what a utopia must have felt like, especially to people who had moved to the crowded, cold cities back east.
There is no shortage of photos of the famous Hollywood and Vine intersection. Color photos are less plentiful, but you can still find them. But how many of them feature a gleaming white Jaguar XK-120 parked out front of the Broadway-Hollywood department store? My friend at the Petersen Automotive museum said the car falls somewhere between 1948 and 1954. The Capitol Records building opened in 1956, so I’m guesstimating this photo at circa mid-to-late 1950s. Whatever the actual year, I’m just jealous of the Jaguar owner because he found a parking spot so close to Hollywood and Vine.
I always enjoy seeing a photo of a Hollywood movie premiere, especially if it’s in color. This one was taken looking west along Hollywood Blvd from around Cahuenga Blvd. On October 21, 1961, Universal Studios held the premiere for their new movie, “Back Street” starring Susan Hayward and John Gavin at the Warner Bros. Theater. Those searchlights were powerful enough reach deep into the night sky – you wouldn’t want to accidentally stare into one!
Yesterday’s post featured an 
In the 1930s, even LA’s dogs and cats got a lovely Art Deco hospital to go to. Moxley’s dog and cat hospital at 940 N. Highland Ave, Hollywood, just south of Santa Monica Blvd. Dr. Moxley built this hospital in 1930 and he and his family lived in the apartment on the 2nd story. I do love the little touches on the exterior, such as the groups of three dots, the chevroning across the balcony, and if you look closely, you can see the bas-relief animals along the front of the building.
