I have very little information on these two photos of the Brown Derby sign being moved, other than they came from an episode of “Full Custom Garage” called “Funky Junk.” The word “Wilshire” appears at the bottom, so I guess it’s the neon sign that used to sit atop the original Brown Derby restaurant at 3377 Wilshire Blvd, opposite the Ambassador Hotel. That place closed down in September 1980, so maybe it was rescued before demolition and transported by ??? to ???. I’d like to think it still exists somewhere. The Neon Museum has a Brown Derby sign, but I believe it’s the one from Vine St, Hollywood. At any rate, I’m glad someone caught these images.
** UPDATE ** According to in_the_neon_city on Instagram: “It lives in a collectors warehouse in Southern California.”
This is shot from the 1940s (probably from a film) showing the sign in place.
I do so love finding a vibrant color photo of yesteryear Los Angeles. In this one, we’re looking north up Vine St from Sunset Blvd. We can see signs of Coffee Dan’s, Alexander Stationers, American Broadcasting Co, Santa Fe Railway, Plaza Hotel, and the Hollywood-Broadway department store—and that’s just the western side of the street. I don’t know what those two banners strung over the roadway mean, so leave a comment if you know. The red-and-white striped awning on the left belongs to a Wil Wright ice cream parlor. In 1957, Sachson’s Haberdashery took over that space, so I’m placing this photo as circa mid-1950s.
In this circa 1931 photo, we’re looking east along Sunset Blvd from Vista St, which puts it around half a dozen blocks west of Hollywood High. The caption of this photo mentions how Sunset had just been widened. I hadn’t heard that it had ever been made wider, but gauging from the (low) volume of traffic, it almost makes me wonder why they bothered. But as a 21st century LA motorist, I’m awfully glad they did.
1930s Los Angeles was knee-deep in cafeterias. They were everywhere: Ontra, Schaber’s, Clifton’s, Stillwell, None Such, and don’t forget the Vegetarian Cafeteria next to Angels Flight. One of the most well-known was the Boos Bros Cafeteria. There were four brothers in all, and their restaurant, pictured here, was at 530 S. Hill St in downtown LA, opposite Pershing Square. I especially love the vaguely Tudoresque architecture contrasting with the very modern typeface they used for their logo in the windows. And from those banners hanging from the second floor, we can date this to the Los Angeles Olympic games in August 1932.
In this beautifully crisp photo, we’re looking southeast across downtown Los Angeles past St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, which is the one with the pointy tower. Past it, that expanse of trees is what we now know as Pershing Square. This photo is from 1913, so it was then still known Central Park. But the detail that catches my eye is that pale building down in front – the “Young Women’s Boarding Home” which I had never heard of before. It stood at 514 S. Grand Ave, and was run by the Salvation Army, and was torn down to make way for L.A.’s Biltmore Hotel, which opened in 1923. It looks to be quite a large place and has me wondering if it housed any young and independent women who eventually made it into the flickers.
Most photos of the Carthay Circle Theatre at 6316 San Vicente Blvd are (understandably) taken much closer – all the better to appreciate that striking tower. But it makes for a pleasant change to see it more in context from farther back. We’re looking south from McCarthy Vista towards Henry Lion’s “the Miner’s Statue” in the triangular park across San Vicente boulevard. Even though it is an iconic Los Angeles movie palace, it’s nice to be reminded that it was also a neighborhood cinema, where local Angelenos saw movies that we now watch on TCM.
In this gorgeously gritty image, we’re looking west along the south side of Hollywood Blvd from Las Palmas Ave. On the corner is the ticket office for the Union Pacific railway, and past it we can see the blade sign for the Egyptian Theatre. Playing at the time was “Oklahoma!” which had its Los Angeles premiere on November 17, 1955, so I’m guessing this photo was taken later that year. And opposite it on the north side we can see Pickwick Books, an iconic Hollywood Blvd bookstore that was open from 1938 to 1995.
In this view, we’re looking east long Wilshire Blvd from Normandie Ave. It was taken on December 14, 1949 (note the Christmas wreath on the Wilshire Special streetlight on the right.) It reminds us how Wilshire Blvd wasn’t always a long corridor with tall buildings looming on each side. In fact, in this photo we can see one of the large homes that still stood on Wilshire. On the plus side, we can see Bullock’s Wilshire tower, the Immanuel Presbyterian Church, and the pylon at the driveway of the Ambassador Hotel, all of which are still with us. And a special shout-out to the driver of that two-toned Pontiac!
What looks like a bunch of people standing around in overcoats is actually moment of Hollywood history in the making. It was taken at the Selznick studios lot in Culver City, the night of December 10, 1938. Selznick and his crew had used some old movie sets (namely The Last of the Mohicans, King Kong, The Garden of Allah, King of Kings, and Little Lord Fauntleroy) to recreate the burning of Atlanta for “Gone with the Wind.” It was also the night that David Selznick’s brother, Myron, brought his newly-signed client, Vivien Leigh, to meet David for the first time. She’d been on his radar as an outside-chance Scarlett. That’s David Selznick near the center of the photo with a cigar in his mouth and Vivien Leigh standing next to him in a hat. He later said that that he took one look and knew she was perfect. And he was right.