Last month, I posted a photo of the striking office of Municipal Light, Water, and Power at 59th and Vermont. The one in this 1932 photo was Municipal’s Hollywood office at 1613 N. Cahuenga Blvd. Look at that gorgeous clock tower and the zig-zag grillwork below the sign! For a public utility, I love that MLWP (later DWP) took the trouble to create such memorable building that add diversity to the cityscape.
Shockingly, the building still exists. Well, it’s most interesting feature does: the angular clock tower. It’s now a restaurant called Beauty and Essex. This image is from May 2022.
In this shot taken during the early days of Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre at 6708 Hollywood Blvd, there appears to be two locomotives on display in the forecourt. I suspect it was taken during the run of a 1925 John Ford movie, “The Iron Horse.” Back in October 2023, I posted 
In this delightful color photo, we’re looking east along Hollywood Blvd. It looks like it was shot from the front seat of a car about to pass the American Airlines office on the northeast corner of Vine Street. Further down the street we can see the Pantages Theatre back when it was a movie house. On its western wall we can see a poster for “The Great Race,” which had its LA on July 1, 1965. Playing at the Pantages was Rod Steiger in “The Pawnbroker” whose LA premiere was April 20, 1965.
A few days ago, I posted a photo from the mid-1930s of 
Yesterday’s photo of Sunset Blvd
A couple of days ago, I posted a night shot of the 
Simon’s Restaurants were a large chain of LA restaurants in the 30s and 40s. I found this photo on a blog post by Alison Martino in which she said this one was near the Orpheum Theater in downtown LA. I have a Simon’s menu that lists 26 different locations, and one of them is at 830 S. Broadway, which puts it right next door. The fact that this sign says “Restaurants” with an s indicates to me that this might have been their headquarters with a restaurant on the ground floor. My contact at the Petersen said that he’s almost positive that magnificent automobile parked out front is a 1933 Pierce-Arrow, so let’s call this photo “circa mid-1930s.”
How cute is this gas station with a miniature Goodyear blimp over their pumps?! It stood at the corner of S. La Brea Ave and W. 2nd St, which puts it not far from the La Brea Tar Pits. From the words “Vulcanizing” and “Tire Service” in the background, I’m guessing this gas station also did a roaring trade in tires, which explains the mini Goodyear blimp. This photo is from 1931, so those two Angelenos were lucky to have job in the depth of the Depression.
I do love a well-lit nighttime shot, especially when it featured signage of backlit letters. This was the CBS radio studios, known as Columbia Square. The KNX featured on the blade sign refers to the CBS affiliate radio station for Los Angeles. Columbia Square opened on April 30, 1938 and this photo was taken in 1939, so the place was still so brand-spanking new that the linoleum probably still smelled of that fresh-out-of-the factory aroma.
Here we have a photo that hearkens back to the days when we had grocery stores that displayed their fruit and vegetables out on the street. Shopping Bag was a chain of grocery stores that began with a little store on Wilshire Blvd in 1930. This location was at the southwest corner of Honolulu Ave and Market St, Montrose, north of Glendale. The billboard appears to be advertising Honey-Meel Bread, whose slogan was “Tastes Better Toasts Better.” At the bottom, there appears to be a reference to the Lone Ranger, whose radio show started in 1933, so perhaps Honey-Meel was a sponsor? So I’m dating this photo circa mid-1930s.