In this photo, we see a couple of things we no longer see around LA: a Los Angeles Railway bus and a Van de Kamp’s Bakery with its iconic windmill. This one stood at 8328 Wilshire Blvd at the corner of Tower Drive (where a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf café now stands.) This photo was taken by Ansel Adams, who was commissioned in 1939 by Fortune magazine to take photos around Los Angeles.
A touch of color in a vintage photograph really does make a place seem that much more real. This photo of the Earl Carroll Theater on Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles was taken in 1945, which means the war was probably still. We can see some servicemen at the doorway, no doubt hoping to catch a glimpse of “the most beautiful girls in the world,” which is how the Carroll billed his showgirls. Those panels on the left made up the famous Celebrity Wall where a grid of stars’ autographs were cast in cement—possibly a variation on the Grauman’s Chinese forecourt.
Before there were movie stars and studio lots, Hollywood Hills mansions with million-dollar views, before automobiles and freeways, rows of iconic palm trees silhouetted along the horizon, urban sprawl, City Hall and the Watts Towers, there was this LA. It was already bustling with people, horses and carriages, streetcars, hotels and tourists. This was taken near the corner of Spring and 2nd Streets in 1895 in what we now think of as downtown, but for the Angelenos frozen in this image this was Los Angeles.
Here we have the Brown Derby on Vine Street just south of Hollywood Boulevard in 1949, which means it would have been celebrating its 20th anniversary that year, having well established itself as an anchor of Hollywood’s social life. The stores around it changed over the years but when this shot was taken, there was a wine and liquor store to the north of the entrance. To the south there was the Bamboo Room, a store called Maurice Inc (according to the 1941 City Directory, Maurice Inc. was run by Maurice Holman, listed as a knitted goods manufacturer), the Brown Derby guest parking driveway, Western Airlines ticket office, public parking for 25 cents or free for customer of the Broadway Hollywood department store across the street.
Not only did Los Angeles have an extensive network of streetcar trolleys, but in the early part of the 20th century, it also had the rubber-tired “trackless trolley.” The first of their kind in the United States, they shuttled sightseers and prospective land buyers up Laurel Canyon Blvd into the Hollywood Hills, where developer Charles Spencer Mann made his sales pitch. These trackless trolleys seated 16 and were actually converted Oldsmobile buses powered by overhead wires. Service began on September 2, 1910, where Laurel Canyon met Sunset Blvd, which is what we’re seeing this photo, circa 1915. For ten cents, passengers could ride the 1.5-mile route up to Lookout Mountain Avenue.
Until just last week, I thought there was only one funicular in downtown Los Angeles: Angel’s Flight. But then I learned there was a second one. Known as Court Flight, it opened on September 24, 1904 mid-block between Temple and First Streets, which would put it where Grand Park now is. Rising 189 feet, it was a steeper ride than Angel’s Flight, which must have been an easier way to get to the top of Bunker Hill than the 140 steps, which you could take for free. Unlike Angel’s Flight, this one was a two-car track, with each car counterbalancing the other and only charged for the ride up. On October 20, 1943, a fire damaged the wooden ties badly enough that Court Flight would never run again.
In this 1937 photo, we’re looking north on Westwood Blvd past Wilshire Blvd toward Westwood Village. These days, of course, it’s Wilshire is crowded with office towers and apartment buildings but back then—as we can see from this photo—there was a big-sky wide-openess to Los Angeles. And if you look closely, you can see a semaphore traffic light at the intersection. But the traffic is so light that it barely seems necessary.
I’ve posted a ton of photos of the original Brown Derby restaurant on Wilshire Blvd but from this angle (the photographer would have been standing at the front driveway into the Ambassador Hotel) and with those people out front, we can see more clearly the size of the place. The actual hat wasn’t all that big so I can see now why they added that extension with the umbrellas to the east.
And let’s not forget that gorgeous lantern-style streetlight out front!
It always slays me to find pictures of Angelenos at Venice Beach all decked out in jackets, ties, hats, and long-sleeved dresses that reach the ground. These days it’s all cut-off jeans and bikini tops. Not that I blame anyone—heaven knows it’s far more comfortable. On the other hand, this photo was taken in 1910 so these lucky locals got to experience Abbot Kinney’s vision for his “Venice of America” resort town, which had opened on five years before.
That same view today. You can still see the original buildings and they still have that “VENICE” banner stretched over the street.
The Vitagraph Company was one of the biggest motion picture studios in the early era of American film. Originally founded in Brooklyn, NY in 1897, they established another studio on 2nd Street in Santa Monica in 1911. This photo was taken the following year, 1912, but they only lasted there until 1915 because the persistent fog made filming so difficult that they moved to 4151 Prospect Avenue in Hollywood. In 1925, they were bought by Warner Bros.
UPDATE: Vitagraph was at 1438 2nd Street in Santa Monica, and the southern part of it (known as the Rapp Saloon) is still there.
In this photo, we see a couple of things we no longer see around LA: a Los Angeles Railway bus and a Van de Kamp’s Bakery with its iconic windmill. This one stood at 8328 Wilshire Blvd at the corner of Tower Drive (where a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf café now stands.) This photo was taken by Ansel Adams, who was commissioned in 1939 by Fortune magazine to take photos around Los Angeles.
A touch of color in a vintage photograph really does make a place seem that much more real. This photo of the Earl Carroll Theater on Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles was taken in 1945, which means the war was probably still. We can see some servicemen at the doorway, no doubt hoping to catch a glimpse of “the most beautiful girls in the world,” which is how the Carroll billed his showgirls. Those panels on the left made up the famous Celebrity Wall where a grid of stars’ autographs were cast in cement—possibly a variation on the Grauman’s Chinese forecourt.
Before there were movie stars and studio lots, Hollywood Hills mansions with million-dollar views, before automobiles and freeways, rows of iconic palm trees silhouetted along the horizon, urban sprawl, City Hall and the Watts Towers, there was this LA. It was already bustling with people, horses and carriages, streetcars, hotels and tourists. This was taken near the corner of Spring and 2nd Streets in 1895 in what we now think of as downtown, but for the Angelenos frozen in this image this was Los Angeles.
Here we have the Brown Derby on Vine Street just south of Hollywood Boulevard in 1949, which means it would have been celebrating its 20th anniversary that year, having well established itself as an anchor of Hollywood’s social life. The stores around it changed over the years but when this shot was taken, there was a wine and liquor store to the north of the entrance. To the south there was the Bamboo Room, a store called Maurice Inc (according to the 1941 City Directory, Maurice Inc. was run by Maurice Holman, listed as a knitted goods manufacturer), the Brown Derby guest parking driveway, Western Airlines ticket office, public parking for 25 cents or free for customer of the Broadway Hollywood department store across the street.
Not only did Los Angeles have an extensive network of streetcar trolleys, but in the early part of the 20th century, it also had the rubber-tired “trackless trolley.” The first of their kind in the United States, they shuttled sightseers and prospective land buyers up Laurel Canyon Blvd into the Hollywood Hills, where developer Charles Spencer Mann made his sales pitch. These trackless trolleys seated 16 and were actually converted Oldsmobile buses powered by overhead wires. Service began on September 2, 1910, where Laurel Canyon met Sunset Blvd, which is what we’re seeing this photo, circa 1915. For ten cents, passengers could ride the 1.5-mile route up to Lookout Mountain Avenue.
Until just last week, I thought there was only one funicular in downtown Los Angeles: 
In this 1937 photo, we’re looking north on Westwood Blvd past Wilshire Blvd toward Westwood Village. These days, of course, it’s Wilshire is crowded with office towers and apartment buildings but back then—as we can see from this photo—there was a big-sky wide-openess to Los Angeles. And if you look closely, you can see a semaphore traffic light at the intersection. But the traffic is so light that it barely seems necessary.
I’ve posted a ton of photos of the original 
It always slays me to find pictures of Angelenos at Venice Beach all decked out in jackets, ties, hats, and long-sleeved dresses that reach the ground. These days it’s all cut-off jeans and bikini tops. Not that I blame anyone—heaven knows it’s far more comfortable. On the other hand, this photo was taken in 1910 so these lucky locals got to experience Abbot Kinney’s vision for his “Venice of America” resort town, which had opened on five years before.
The Vitagraph Company was one of the biggest motion picture studios in the early era of American film. Originally founded in Brooklyn, NY in 1897, they established another studio on 2nd Street in Santa Monica in 1911. This photo was taken the following year, 1912, but they only lasted there until 1915 because the persistent fog made filming so difficult that they moved to 4151 Prospect Avenue in Hollywood. In 1925, they were bought by Warner Bros.