In the vintage photos I come across, I never fail to be amazed at the acres of empty land that is now completely filled in. In this photo from 1933, we’re looking northeast from the corner of La Cienega Blvd and Pico Blvd. That empty land was the Pico Fairway driving range—that sign on the right is advertising a free exhibition from “Babe” Didrikson, who was a famous all-around athlete who excelled at everything. And far off in the distance, that white building is the Carthay Circle Theatre. The fact that you could stand at La Cienega & Pico and be able to see the Carthay Circle blows my mind.
This atmospheric night shot of Ciro’s nightclub on the Sunset Strip is hard to date because the exterior of the place didn’t change much over the years it was open (1940 to 1957.) All we have to go on are the car parked along Sunset. The most recent one we can see is a Packard Clipper, but it is impossible to tell from whether it’s a 1942 model or a virtually identical 1946 or 1947. In the absence of development time, all major companies built warmed-over versions of their prewar cars for the first few years after WWII. So the best we can do is “circa 1940s” and wish the sign out front was clearer so that who was playing Ciro’s that week.
**UPDATE**
This photograph is from 1942 and the sign out front is advertising the coming engagement of bandleader Xavier Cugat, who was often seen in musical films of the era.
Jon Ponder says: “In Sheila Weller’s “Dancing at Ciro’s,” she says that Billy Wilkerson didn’t book musical acts and hated marquees — his vision of Ciro’s was that it was like a private club for Hollywood elites. Drinks, dinner and dancing to a “house” band. So if there’s a marquee, the photo’s from the Herman Hover (Shelia’s uncle) era. He put up the banners, like the ones shown here, at first but later installed a fixed marquee.”
In this photo, we’re looking at the corner of Western Ave and Venice Boulevard just a few blocks north of where the Santa Monica Freeway is now. From the billboard urging Angelenos to “BUY DEFENSE BONDS” we can assume this was taken during WWII. There also appears to be very little traffic on the streets, which isn’t surprising because petrol rationing was in effect. (I recently read that gas rationing was motivated by a desire to conserve rubber as much as by a desire to conserve gas.) And remarkably, that Westbridge Apartments building is still around today.
Andie says: “Gas rationing for civilians was so the military would have fuel for the war. My grandpa had contracts with the government to supply beef, pork, poultry, milk and other products to Ft. Campbell and Ft. Knox so there was more gas and diesel allowed than for regular drivers.”
I don’t have a date for this photo of a uniformed greeter standing out front of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel but judging from that gorgeous lettering used for the florist sign next door, I want to say this is 1930s or 40s. On the plus side, the Roosevelt is still with us (it opened in May of 1927), but the front of the hotel no longer looks as interesting as this. And they certainly no longer have a greeter out front. And if they did, the poor chap would bake in that heavy uniform!
As we can see from this view from January 2018, the front of the Roosevelt Hotel isn’t nearly so interesting these days:
In this photo we’re looking south along the Cahuenga Pass as (not very many) motorists make their way out of the San Fernando Valley. Before the advent of the Hollywood freeway in the 1950s, the road through the Cahuenga Pass was one of the main arteries between the vast citrus orchards of the Valley and the city of Los Angeles. That might explain why it looks nicely paved. This photo is circa 1928, when Sunset Boulevard west of Crescent Heights Boulevard was still a dirt road and wouldn’t be paved for another couple of years.
David says: “Citrus was a commercial crop on the north slope of the Valley, where cold air would drain off in the winter. Central and southern parts of the valley were used for walnuts and stone fruits (such as apricots, as Andie points out) that would benefit from a little winter chill.”
Andie says: “Citrus and Apricots. The area west of Sepulveda to Balboa, north of Roscoe to Nordhoff St., was the site of several apricot orchards. Just after the war, most of the trees were removed and the area was subdivided into lots from one to 5 acres. My dad bought several parcels in late 1946 and built his home on one. There were a dozen apricot trees still on the property. South of Roscoe was a huge dairy farm. It remained until Busch bought the 95 acre property. We bought dairy products there in 1952 and then watched the brewery being built (block and a half from my dad’s place on Orion Ave. in 1953.
My dad had also bought property in the north of the valley that was solid orange groves and had a “county plat” number on the survey. A few years later it was named Dennis Park and rezoned RA and he sold off most of it to horse people. Later it was renamed Mission Hills. He kept the western part of it and later sold that to the people who were developing a golf course. It was quite hilly with gullies and mostly scrub, there had never been any orange trees as the land was not suitable. In ’46 and ’47 most of the property he bought was sold at auctions – some were held at Devonshire Downs. He bought a parcel of land in Canoga Park, wheat fields at the time. As there was little building going on at the time in that area, he leased most of the 40 acres to a company that grew dichondra for sod and for seed. On weekends we used to trailer the horses out there and ride up into Chatsworth. There were a lot of trails in that area that were popular with weekend riders.”
Here we are seeing Hollywood Blvd during Hollywood’s greatest year, 1939. We know the date by the banner strung across the street. United Artists’ “Stagecoach” played Grauman’s Chinese Theatre for just one week, March 8 to 14. Most movies only played one week that year as there were so many coming down the pipeline! Many of the buildings we can see here are still with us – the bank tower in the distance, Grauman’s on the left, Roosevelt Hotel on the right. Even the building on the left with the large arches is there. It’s a Marshall’s and a souvenir store now but hey, at least nobody’s torn it down.
Here’s an interesting billboard combination. Taking up two-thirds of it is Fox’s “Sunrise” – a film not many people remember even though it was the first feature film with an actual sound track. The other third is taken up with a different movie from a different studio: Warner’s “The Jazz Singer” which, of course, we all remember. The movies came out within a month of each other and were each innovative in their own way but each with their own destiny.
This spectacular shot of the Carthay Circle Theatre was taken during a movie premiere in 1931. I don’t know which film was being unveiled that night but the P.R. department went to a lot of trouble creating a tunnel of arches lit up with tiny lights. I bet the effect was magical. On the far left we can see something I’ve never seen before in photos of this theater: a sign saying “Soda – Candy – Sweet Shop – Lunch” so now I’m wondering if an interior photo exists of the concession stand that apparently served more than Goobers, Milk Duds, and Raisinets.
The Hollywoodland sign went up in November and December of 1923 and was illuminated for the first time on Saturday, December 8th. So going by the fact that there appears to be only one house in sight, I think we’re safe in saying that this photo is from 1924. But what really caught my eye was that big white dot. It’s huge and I’ve never noticed it before. Apparently, it was designed to punctuate the sign with an eye-catching pop – although why anyone thought that was necessary for a sign made up of 44-foot letters is beyond me.
“Few know that a giant white dot (35 feet in diameter, with 20-watt lights on the perimeter) was constructed below the Sign to catch the eye … At night the Sign blinked into the Hollywood night: first “Holly” then “wood” and finally “land,” punctuated by a giant period.”
The original Hollywoodland Sign was completed prior to December 8, 1923. In late 1924, the Sign was underscored with a 35-foot-diameter white circle – or more precisely, a dot. It was more than just an eye-catching decoration; it was a political statement. In the early 1920s the Chamber of Commerce produced a map illustrating business conditions in different areas of the country: black indicated “poor conditions,” gray indicated “fair conditions,” and white indicated “good conditions.” In a sea of gray and black, Los Angeles shone through as a large white dot. This inspired Harry Chandler to refer to the city as a “White Spot of America,” free from communism, crime and corruption. A campaign was launched to “Keep the White Spot White,” which was punctuated with the addition of the massive white dot under the Hollywoodland Sign.”
When this venue at 1735 Vine St, Hollywood opened on January 24, 1927 it was a live-theater called the Hollywood Playhouse. During the Great Depression, it was the WPA Federal Theatre and was used for government-sponsored programs. By the 40s it was the El Capitan Theatre from which CBS broadcast their network radio shows, as well as playing host to the Ken Murray’s Blackouts variety stage show. By the 50s, it was a television studio and home to shows like The Colgate Comedy Hour and This Is Your Life. Probably its biggest claim to fame is that on September 23, 1952, Richard Nixon delivered his famous “Checkers Speech” in this studio, which was broadcast on NBC.
In the vintage photos I come across, I never fail to be amazed at the acres of empty land that is now completely filled in. In this photo from 1933, we’re looking northeast from the corner of La Cienega Blvd and Pico Blvd. That empty land was the Pico Fairway driving range—that sign on the right is advertising a free exhibition from “Babe” Didrikson, who was a famous all-around athlete who excelled at everything. And far off in the distance, that white building is the Carthay Circle Theatre. The fact that you could stand at La Cienega & Pico and be able to see the Carthay Circle blows my mind.
This atmospheric night shot of Ciro’s nightclub on the Sunset Strip is hard to date because the exterior of the place didn’t change much over the years it was open (1940 to 1957.) All we have to go on are the car parked along Sunset. The most recent one we can see is a Packard Clipper, but it is impossible to tell from whether it’s a 1942 model or a virtually identical 1946 or 1947. In the absence of development time, all major companies built warmed-over versions of their prewar cars for the first few years after WWII. So the best we can do is “circa 1940s” and wish the sign out front was clearer so that who was playing Ciro’s that week.
In this photo, we’re looking at the corner of Western Ave and Venice Boulevard just a few blocks north of where the Santa Monica Freeway is now. From the billboard urging Angelenos to “BUY DEFENSE BONDS” we can assume this was taken during WWII. There also appears to be very little traffic on the streets, which isn’t surprising because petrol rationing was in effect. (I recently read that gas rationing was motivated by a desire to conserve rubber as much as by a desire to conserve gas.) And remarkably, that Westbridge Apartments building is still around today.
I don’t have a date for this photo of a uniformed greeter standing out front of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel but judging from that gorgeous lettering used for the florist sign next door, I want to say this is 1930s or 40s. On the plus side, the Roosevelt is still with us (it opened in May of 1927), but the front of the hotel no longer looks as interesting as this. And they certainly no longer have a greeter out front. And if they did, the poor chap would bake in that heavy uniform!
In this photo we’re looking south along the Cahuenga Pass as (not very many) motorists make their way out of the San Fernando Valley. Before the advent of the Hollywood freeway in the 1950s, the road through the Cahuenga Pass was one of the main arteries between the vast citrus orchards of the Valley and the city of Los Angeles. That might explain why it looks nicely paved. This photo is circa 1928, when Sunset Boulevard west of Crescent Heights Boulevard was still a dirt road and wouldn’t be paved for another couple of years.
Here we are seeing Hollywood Blvd during Hollywood’s greatest year, 1939. We know the date by the banner strung across the street. United Artists’ “Stagecoach” played Grauman’s Chinese Theatre for just one week, March 8 to 14. Most movies only played one week that year as there were so many coming down the pipeline! Many of the buildings we can see here are still with us – the bank tower in the distance, Grauman’s on the left, Roosevelt Hotel on the right. Even the building on the left with the large arches is there. It’s a Marshall’s and a souvenir store now but hey, at least nobody’s torn it down.
Here’s an interesting billboard combination. Taking up two-thirds of it is Fox’s “Sunrise” – a film not many people remember even though it was the first feature film with an actual sound track. The other third is taken up with a different movie from a different studio: Warner’s “The Jazz Singer” which, of course, we all remember. The movies came out within a month of each other and were each innovative in their own way but each with their own destiny.
This spectacular shot of the Carthay Circle Theatre was taken during a movie premiere in 1931. I don’t know which film was being unveiled that night but the P.R. department went to a lot of trouble creating a tunnel of arches lit up with tiny lights. I bet the effect was magical. On the far left we can see something I’ve never seen before in photos of this theater: a sign saying “Soda – Candy – Sweet Shop – Lunch” so now I’m wondering if an interior photo exists of the concession stand that apparently served more than Goobers, Milk Duds, and Raisinets.
The Hollywoodland sign went up in November and December of 1923 and was illuminated for the first time on Saturday, December 8th. So going by the fact that there appears to be only one house in sight, I think we’re safe in saying that this photo is from 1924. But what really caught my eye was that big white dot. It’s huge and I’ve never noticed it before. Apparently, it was designed to punctuate the sign with an eye-catching pop – although why anyone thought that was necessary for a sign made up of 44-foot letters is beyond me.
When this venue at 1735 Vine St, Hollywood opened on January 24, 1927 it was a live-theater called the Hollywood Playhouse. During the Great Depression, it was the WPA Federal Theatre and was used for government-sponsored programs. By the 40s it was the El Capitan Theatre from which CBS broadcast their network radio shows, as well as playing host to the Ken Murray’s Blackouts variety stage show. By the 50s, it was a television studio and home to shows like The Colgate Comedy Hour and This Is Your Life. Probably its biggest claim to fame is that on September 23, 1952, Richard Nixon delivered his famous “Checkers Speech” in this studio, which was broadcast on NBC.