The Life magazine photographer who snapped this image was standing in the forecourt of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, whose Chinese-themed box office that stood at the edge of the sidewalk. Past it is Hollywood Blvd, and on the far left, we can see the columns of the Masonic Temple (these days, Jimmy Kimmel broadcasts from there.) Strung across the boulevard is a banner with Warner Baxter’s name because the movie playing that week was MGM’s “Robin Hood of El Dorado” which means this photo was taken in May of 1936. My favorite detail of this photo is the well-dressed woman who’s just bought a ticket and is heading to see the double feature with MGM’s “Moonlight Murder” and a Disney animated short called “Three Little Wolves.”
Looking across the forecourt of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre past the box office to Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, May 1936
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Grauman's Chinese Theater, Hollywood, Hollywood Blvd, MGM, Theaters
7 Comments
Shriner conventioneers from the Tadmor Temple in Akron, Ohio march down 5th St in downtown Los Angeles, 1925
I love seeing photos of visiting Shriner conventioneers marching through the streets of LA , especially when they go to the trouble of decorating a — I don’t even know what to call that vehicle. A miniature car? A maxed-out go-cart? — with a giant fez. Behind it are the proud members of the Tadmor Shriner Temple in Akron, Ohio marching along Fifth St in downtown LA in 1925. In the far distance we can see the arched windows of Southern Pacific Railway’s Central Station where 5th Street dead-ends at Central Ave.
This is what that woman was driving, a 1930 Gertler-ELTO Midget Racer:
This is roughly how that view (at 5th Street and San Pedro looks these days:
Looking north up Vine St across a flooded Hollywood Blvd, toward the Melody Lane diner, Hollywood, circa early 1940s.png
** UPDATE – this photo appears to be from the late 1940s (see below) **
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a photo of the Hollywood and Vine intersection flooded, so I guess it must have REALLY been raining A LOT just before this photo was taken. That pale car in the foreground is a 1936 Chevrolet, but the Melody Lane diner on the northwest corner took over from the CoCo Tree Café in 1940, so I’m guessing this photo is probably circa early 1940s. I’ve also never noticed that neon sign saying “Pig ‘n’ Whistle” over the doorway on the far left. It make sense though, because it was restaurateur Sidney Hoedemaker from the Pig ‘n’ Whistle *next to the Egyptian Theatre a few blocks west) who opened Melody Lane.
Ward E. on Facebook says: “The picture must have been taken in 1949 or later as the car in the right background looks to be either a ’49 or ’50 Chevy.”
Glen N on Facebook says: “To help date this, the street light on Hollywood Boulevard directly in front of the word “Melody” was installed in the summer of 1948.”
Brad B says: “I remember Madman Muntz from the 1960s-70s. This image had to be post-WWII circa 1947-50. Madman Muntz was under investigation for illegal WWII car sales until 1946 (acquitted) and started selling TV sets in 1947 (billboard). The 1930s cars were common in the late 1940s because of the war effort. This was most likely 1948-49 when he was famous for wearing the red long johns and a Napoleon hat on the Ed Sullivan Show.”
This is how that corner looked in June 2021. Yes, of course it’s a parking lot now.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Hollywood, Hollywood and Vine, Hollywood Blvd, Restaurants
8 Comments
Los Angeles County courthouse at the corner of Temple Street and Broadway, downtown Los Angeles, circa 1899
I’ve posted a number of photos of this magnificent building before, but I don’t think any of them were as remarkably crisp as this one. It’s the Los Angeles County courthouse at the corner of Temple Street and Broadway in downtown Los Angeles. It was taken circa 1899, and the only forms of transportation we can see here are horse-drawn carriages and that streetcar on the left that’s heading south down Broadway. (It’s so early, in fact, that it might even be a cable car.) And look at that pair of matching palm trees on the corner. I’m guessing they were only just planted. But most impressive (to me, at least) are the two water sprinklers on the Temple St lawn. I’d have thought they were a 20th century invention.
This is how that view looked in February 2022:
Ten horse-drawn carriages from the Union Ice Company gather at their depot on Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, 1913
These days we take ice for granted. We just open our freezer and there it is. But way back when, ice was a precious resource that had to be renewed often. And so, since 1882, Angelinos had turned to the Union Ice Company to make and deliver their ice to them. Back in 1913, when this photo was taken, deliveries were made by horse-drawn wagons. Here we have ten wagons, each pulled by a pair of horses, parked outside the Union Ice depot on Santa Monica Blvd. I assume the building behind them is where the ice was manufactured because in the Southern Californian heat, it didn’t last long, and if you’re traveling by horsepower, you’re not going very fast.
1950s menu for C.C. Brown’s Ice Cream Parlor, 7007 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood
C.C. Brown’s was an ice cream parlor that operated in Hollywood, from 1929 to 1996 and claimed to have invented the hot fudge sundae. They were a block west of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, so their location was ideal. Here are some images of their menu.
C.C. Brown’s boxed chocolates:
Color photo of a Red Car running along Ocean Blvd, Long Beach, California, circa early 1960s
This vibrant color photo gives us a glimpse of what it was like to cruise along Ocean Blvd in Long Beach sometime during the early 1960s. This was back when the Red Cars were still running, and they stopped in 1961. I don’t know what model that orange/red car and that blue convertible were, but they sure popped with color, didn’t they? Even that yellow fence on the shoulder does! (I couldn’t determine where on Ocean Blvd this photo was taken, so if anyone can figure it out, I’d love to hear from you.)
Dave M on Twitter says: “The red is a Mercury and the blue is an Oldsmobile. Specifically, they are a 1955 Mercury and 1956 Oldsmobile.”
This is how that intersection looked in February 2023:
Sunset Cashis King Market, 6000 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, circa 1933
You’ve got to love a grocery store with a pun in its name. This place was called the Sunset Cashis King Market – Cash Is King, get it? This place opened in the summer of 1933 at 6000 Sunset Blvd on the southwest corner of Gordon St, which put it right next to Columbia studios. Back then, and for decades later, cash really was king (the first credit card, Diners Club, didn’t start until 1950.) And with those two large signs advertising free parking, Cashis King would have been an early adopter of appealing to what was referred to as “the carriage trade” – i.e. shoppers with their own cars.
1933 ad for Cashis King Market, 6000 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles
Greg H. says: “So much of the music of my life was recorded in that building. As United Western & Ocean Way studios, a good part of the Beach Boys “Pet Sounds” & “Smile” was recorded there, as well as Frank Sinatra’s “Strangers in the Night”, Ray Charles’ “I Can’t Stop Lovin’ You”, the Mamas & the Papas’ “California Dreamin”, and the Grass Roots’ “Let’s Live For Today”. The list goes on and on with Blondie, Elvis Presley, Bobby Vee, the 5th Dimension, the Righteous Brothers, Barbra Streisand, Petula Clark, Ella Fitzgerald, Whitney Houston, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., the Rolling Stones, Elton John, Tom Petty, R.E.M., k.d. lang, Madonna, Rod Stewart, Glen Campbell, Eric Clapton, and Bonnie Raitt all having recorded there. Hard to believe the building started as a grocery store.”
This is what 6000 Sunset Blvd looked like in June 2022. That site is now home to EastWest recording studios.
Color photo looking north up Broadway from the corner of 8th Street, downtown Los Angeles, circa 1943
With its yellow streetcar and blue sky, this (I assume) Kodachrome photo really pops, doesn’t it? We’re looking north up Broadway from the corner of 8th Street in downtown LA. Behind the streetcar, we can see on the marquee of the Newsreel Theater the name “Pantelleria” which is an Italian island east of Tunisia. During WWII, it was a stepping stone for the Allied invasion of neighboring Sicily en route to the Italian mainland. The invasion of Pantelleria took place on June 11, 1943, so I’m guessing the theater was running a newsreel about it, which I’d say places this photo not long afterwards.
This is roughly the same view in February 2023.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Broadway, Color photo, Downtown Los Angeles, Restaurants, Stores and Shopping, Streetcars, Theaters, WWII
8 Comments
Looking west along Ventura Blvd at the Topper Motel at 11733 Ventura, Studio City in the San Fernando Valley, 1950.jpg
If you’re going to call yourself the Topper Motel, of course you’re going to have a big top hat as your welcome sign. This place was at 11733 Ventura, Studio City in the San Fernando Valley. And if that sign at the bottom is anything to go by, 3 bucks gets you a room. Or at least did in 1950, when this photo was taken. But that other sign saying “STEAM HEAT” has me intrigued. Obviously it was important enough to advertise, but what is it for? Would it have been used to heat the room?
The Topper Motel is still around, but is now known as Studio City Inn, which means it unfortunately no longer has that spiffy sign. This image is from February 2023.
