If you were gagging for coffee in L.A. in 1925, all you had to do was look out for the HUGE coffee pot of Ben-Hur brand coffee on the roof of the Wilshire Coffee Pot café at 8601 Wilshire Boulevard. It looks like it was a drive-in place too. That sign says “Stop & Sip – Ben Hur Drip – Eat in Car” which I guess is what the driver of that two-door runabout is doing.
This Owl Drug Company drug store was in the Hollywood Professional Building at 7046 Hollywood Blvd, on the corner of Sycamore. (This building is still there.) I don’t know which I like more: the pattern in the pressed metal grill above the sign, the two-toned car parked out front (is it a taxi?), or the sign on the far left saying “Kodaks Developing and Printing.” (Remember those days?) This photo was taken on July 2, 1941. Six months later, the people shopping inside would be dealing with the aftermath following Pearl Harbor.
Daniel N says: “The car is a ’39 Ford Standard V8 police pursuit car (note red spotlight on the front door pillar) with the seal of Los Angeles on the door.”
The Hollywood Professional Building in April 2019:
We’re not often treated to a color photo of the original Brown Derby restaurant, the one actually shaped like a derby that stood at 3377 Wilshire Blvd opposite what was then the Ambassador Hotel. I wouldn’t have expected the neon sign to be pink but this photo was taken in 1969, so maybe that’s a touch of the 60s we’re seeing. The sign out front reads: “Continental cuisine. Open 11am to 2am. Steaks, prime rib, seafood. Complete dinners. Open Sundays 4 – 12” Does anybody want to join me there for a complete continental dinner? Shall we say next Sunday at 7?
The same view in April 2019:
At least they call it the Brown Derby Plaza, so that’s something:
Although modern architecture can and does have its merits, seeing something like this makes one wonder if we took a wrong turn in choosing form over style. This is the original façade of the Hollywood Playhouse entrance, 1735 Vine St., Hollywood, that opened on January 24, 1927. It’s looks pretty new here so I’m guessing this photo was taken around then. Look at all the unbelievably rich Spanish Baroque detailing. (The style is known as Churrigueresque.) We don’t see much of that anymore. The theater has had a varied history of presenting live shows (including the Ken Murray’s Blackouts), and radio shows (including Fanny Brice’s “Baby Snooks” and Lucille Ball’s “My Favorite Husband.”) Fortunately, it’s still around, with the facade largely intact. Last time I drove by, it was a nightclub.
It looks like this was the nightly battle of the drive-in restaurants. I don’t know the one on the right, but on the left is Roberts drive-in, which was on the corner of Pico and Sepulveda Boulevards, Los Angeles. All that neon lighting on these places must have made that corner shine like a beacon. This photo was taken in 1945 so I can just imagine how busy it got on Saturday nights once gas rationing ended.
Roberts Brothers was a mini chain of restaurants around Los Angeles. I love their motto:
These days, of course, Vine Street is built up with office blocks and apartment buildings. But back in the (circa) 1930s, when this photo was taken, it was really more of just a local street with a used car lot and a place to get a car loan. Further in the distance, we can see the sign for the Plaza Hotel (still there, no longer a hotel) and the department store on the Hollywood Boulevard corner. Back then it was Dyas but which later became the Broadway department store (and is now condos.) Back then, I bet you could even find parking on the street.
If you were looking for a good time in Los Angeles in the mid 1910s, you’d do well by driving to the Ocean Park section of Santa Monica. At the end of Hollister Ave you’d find Bristol Pier, which was renamed Crystal Pier where successful actor, vaudevillian, and bon-vivant-around-town, Nat Goodwin, opened his eponymous Café Nat Goodwin. It was more than just a café, it was also a cabaret, ballroom, and gardens. It was no wonder that he billed it the “Most Beautiful Café Over The Sea In The World.” Goodwin later sold it to the ubiquitous Baron Long, who renamed it the Sunset Inn. Neither the building nor the pier still exist.
If you want to go to the movies in style, this is the way to do it: in a 1932 Packard Eight Deluxe. This lucky driver is parked outside the Art Deco palace otherwise known as the the Fox Wilshire Theater at 8440 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. His gal pal with the fur-collared coat is heading into the foyer where, according to the sign, a concert trio plays. If you look closely, you can spot an usher dressed in a tux. Now, that’s classy.
This photo shows the theater’s glorious proscenium:
The theater is still around and is now known as the Saban. This is how it looked in May 2019:
Ah, the magic of Hollywood. This photo shows the Paris railway station set used for the filming of Casablanca during the summer of 1942. (As in “We’ll always have Paris.”) In the upper left corner, we can see the rafters of the soundstage in the Warner Bros. lot where the railway station stood. Ironically, it had just been used in the Bette Davis tear-jerker, Now, Voyager when it was a New England train station. Add a couple of signs saying “Paris” and another one listing French towns like Lyon and Marseilles, splash some water around, and hey presto, it’s now Paris. Look at the clapboard on the ground and how it spells the title of the picture in two words: “Casa Blanca.” I wonder at what point did someone realizes the city is spelled as one word.
I can’t imagine that the standard greeting at this Associated Gas station was to receive a fresh gardenia from a pretty girl but it sure makes for a nice photo. It was taken on the northeast corner of Rexford Drive and Burton Way, Beverly Hills in 1941. By the pristine look of it, I’m guessing the place was fairly new. I can’t spot any oil spills blemishing that concrete. I wish we could see the price board – I’d love to know how much that guy at the pump in the background was paying.
If you were gagging for coffee in L.A. in 1925, all you had to do was look out for the HUGE coffee pot of Ben-Hur brand coffee on the roof of the Wilshire Coffee Pot café at 8601 Wilshire Boulevard. It looks like it was a drive-in place too. That sign says “Stop & Sip – Ben Hur Drip – Eat in Car” which I guess is what the driver of that two-door runabout is doing.
This Owl Drug Company drug store was in the Hollywood Professional Building at 7046 Hollywood Blvd, on the corner of Sycamore. (This building is still there.) I don’t know which I like more: the pattern in the pressed metal grill above the sign, the two-toned car parked out front (is it a taxi?), or the sign on the far left saying “Kodaks Developing and Printing.” (Remember those days?) This photo was taken on July 2, 1941. Six months later, the people shopping inside would be dealing with the aftermath following Pearl Harbor.
We’re not often treated to a color photo of the original Brown Derby restaurant, the one actually shaped like a derby that stood at 3377 Wilshire Blvd opposite what was then the Ambassador Hotel. I wouldn’t have expected the neon sign to be pink but this photo was taken in 1969, so maybe that’s a touch of the 60s we’re seeing. The sign out front reads: “Continental cuisine. Open 11am to 2am. Steaks, prime rib, seafood. Complete dinners. Open Sundays 4 – 12” Does anybody want to join me there for a complete continental dinner? Shall we say next Sunday at 7?
Although modern architecture can and does have its merits, seeing something like this makes one wonder if we took a wrong turn in choosing form over style. This is the original façade of the Hollywood Playhouse entrance, 1735 Vine St., Hollywood, that opened on January 24, 1927. It’s looks pretty new here so I’m guessing this photo was taken around then. Look at all the unbelievably rich Spanish Baroque detailing. (The style is known as Churrigueresque.) We don’t see much of that anymore. The theater has had a varied history of presenting live shows (including the Ken Murray’s Blackouts), and radio shows (including Fanny Brice’s “Baby Snooks” and Lucille Ball’s “My Favorite Husband.”) Fortunately, it’s still around, with the facade largely intact. Last time I drove by, it was a nightclub.
It looks like this was the nightly battle of the drive-in restaurants. I don’t know the one on the right, but on the left is Roberts drive-in, which was on the corner of Pico and Sepulveda Boulevards, Los Angeles. All that neon lighting on these places must have made that corner shine like a beacon. This photo was taken in 1945 so I can just imagine how busy it got on Saturday nights once gas rationing ended.
These days, of course, Vine Street is built up with office blocks and apartment buildings. But back in the (circa) 1930s, when this photo was taken, it was really more of just a local street with a used car lot and a place to get a car loan. Further in the distance, we can see the sign for the Plaza Hotel (still there, no longer a hotel) and the department store on the Hollywood Boulevard corner. Back then it was Dyas but which later became the Broadway department store (and is now condos.) Back then, I bet you could even find parking on the street.
If you were looking for a good time in Los Angeles in the mid 1910s, you’d do well by driving to the Ocean Park section of Santa Monica. At the end of Hollister Ave you’d find Bristol Pier, which was renamed Crystal Pier where successful actor, vaudevillian, and bon-vivant-around-town, Nat Goodwin, opened his eponymous Café Nat Goodwin. It was more than just a café, it was also a cabaret, ballroom, and gardens. It was no wonder that he billed it the “Most Beautiful Café Over The Sea In The World.” Goodwin later sold it to the ubiquitous Baron Long, who renamed it the Sunset Inn. Neither the building nor the pier still exist.
If you want to go to the movies in style, this is the way to do it: in a 1932 Packard Eight Deluxe. This lucky driver is parked outside the Art Deco palace otherwise known as the the Fox Wilshire Theater at 8440 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. His gal pal with the fur-collared coat is heading into the foyer where, according to the sign, a concert trio plays. If you look closely, you can spot an usher dressed in a tux. Now, that’s classy.
Ah, the magic of Hollywood. This photo shows the Paris railway station set used for the filming of Casablanca during the summer of 1942. (As in “We’ll always have Paris.”) In the upper left corner, we can see the rafters of the soundstage in the Warner Bros. lot where the railway station stood. Ironically, it had just been used in the Bette Davis tear-jerker, Now, Voyager when it was a New England train station. Add a couple of signs saying “Paris” and another one listing French towns like Lyon and Marseilles, splash some water around, and hey presto, it’s now Paris. Look at the clapboard on the ground and how it spells the title of the picture in two words: “Casa Blanca.” I wonder at what point did someone realizes the city is spelled as one word.
I can’t imagine that the standard greeting at this Associated Gas station was to receive a fresh gardenia from a pretty girl but it sure makes for a nice photo. It was taken on the northeast corner of Rexford Drive and Burton Way, Beverly Hills in 1941. By the pristine look of it, I’m guessing the place was fairly new. I can’t spot any oil spills blemishing that concrete. I wish we could see the price board – I’d love to know how much that guy at the pump in the background was paying.