Yesterday, I posted a photo looking west along Hollywood Blvd from Vine in 1936. One of the comments on that post was from Quentin Hall, who posted this wonderful photo. It was taken maybe fifty feet from yesterday’s photo, also in 1936. The photographer of this night shot was standing at the semaphore traffic signal on the southeast corner of Hollywood and Vine, back when semaphores were a common sight around LA. In the background, near the center of the photo we can see the two-story lighting for Sardi’s restaurant. Opening in 1932, it was destroyed by fire on November 2, 1936, so we know this photo was taken before then.
Night shot looking west down Hollywood Blvd from the southeast corner of Vine St, Hollywood, 1936
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Tagged Hollywood, Hollywood and Vine, Hollywood Blvd, Night photo, Restaurants
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Looking west along Hollywood Blvd from Vine St as a motion picture camera crew shoots outside the CoCo Tree Café, Hollywood, 1936
Filming on the corner of Hollywood and Vine would be a lot more complicated these days, but back in 1936, when this photo was taken, all it seemed to take was a couple of cops. I’m exaggerating, of course, but it does seem low-key. The photographer who took this shot was standing on Vine St, looking west along Hollywood Blvd. On the far right, we can see the sign for the CoCo Tree Café, which stood on the northwest corner of Hollywood and Vine from 1932 to 1940 in what was then called the Laemmle Building. Carl Laemmle owned Universal studios, whose movie posters we can see lining the top of the building. At that time they were promoting “Dracula’s Daughter” which was released on May 11, 1936.
This is how that same view looked in August 2022.
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Tagged Hollywood, Hollywood and Vine, Hollywood Blvd, Restaurants, Universal Studios
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Sphinx Realty office, 537 N. Fairfax Ave, Los Angeles, circa mid-1920s
I willingly admit to being a fan of mimetic architecture, which is a term used to describe a building constructed in an unusual shape as a novelty, often reflecting the business it houses. Over the years, Los Angeles has had more than its fair share of mimetic architecture, but I think this one is my favorite. It was the office of Sphinx Realty, which stood at 537 N. Fairfax Ave. Why they chose to use the Sphinx as their logo, I don’t know. It’s not like permanence has ever been a feature of LA architecture. It was, however, memorable, and I guess that was the point. From the cars parked out front, I’d say this photo is circa mid-1920s.
Kevin M says: “I tried to track down when this business opened and closed. I could only find it in LA newspapers around 1925-27. After that there was no mention of it, so it did not last long.”
According to Poetry Los Angeles – Reading the Essential Poems of the City by Laurence Goldstein, the Sphinx was pink!
537 N. Fairfax Ave put Sphinx Realty across the street from Fairfax High school. It doesn’t look like the Sphinx was built to last, but is what you see when you drive past that address now. This image is from December 2022.
Menu from a Sontag Fountain Grill, circa 1940s
Someone recently sent me photos of a Sontag lunch counter menu in which I spotted an item called a “Chocolate Mondae.” Is it an ice-cream sundae you have to get over the Monday blues?
** UPDATE ** – Gregory H says: “Based on the date on the menu this appears to be either 1941 or 1947, the only two years in the ’40s in which June 30th fell on Monday. Based on the prices here vs those mentioned in their newspaper ads, this appears to be from 1941.”
Carron L. says: “From what I can find Mondae is a sauce involving chocolate and prunes. I suppose that means it should not be eaten in excess.”
Color photo of Hollywood Plaza Hotel, 1633 Vine St, south of Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, circa late 1950s
Here we have a crisp color photo of the Hollywood Plaza Hotel taken from the eastern side of Vine St, south of the famous Hollywood and Vine intersection. The black and white car parked out front is a 1955 Plymouth which gives us a good idea when this photo was taken. The hotel opened in 1924, and was well placed to accommodate tourists and performers who came to LA to perform on the nearby radio studios of NBC, ABC, and CBS. We can see a yellow sign at the left-hand end of the marquee for The Westerner. Its full name was The Westerner Lounge-Grill and occupied a space that was known by many names over the years, starting in 1925, when the first restaurant opened in the Plaza. It was called The It Café and was owned by the It Girl herself, Clara Bow.
Article about the Hollywood Plaza Hotel renovation from the Los Angeles Times May 27, 1952
For more info on the hotel, see: The Hollywood Plaza – Hollywood’s Forgotten Luxury Hotel
This is how the Hollywood Plaza looked in May 2022. It’s still there, and is a retirement home.
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Tagged Color photo, Hollywood, Hollywood and Vine, Hotels, Restaurants
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Grand opening photo for Buckley’s Good Food Drive-In, 5101 S. Figueroa St, Los Angeles, April 10, 1937
I don’t know if Buckley’s at 5101 S. Figueroa St, south of downtown LA actually served the good food as advertised on their neon sign, but from the looks of their opening night on April 10, 1937, they gave it their best shot. Saving one spotlight to shine on the restaurant and staff gathered out front, they also had two other ones dramatically shining into the night sky that I’m sure people for miles around could see.
Here’s a close-up of Buckley’s staff:
Buckley’s stood on the southwest corner of Figueroa and 51st Street. This is how that corner looked in August 2022.
Color photo looking west along the Sunset Strip from Crescent Heights Blvd toward the Chateau Marmont Hotel, West Hollywood, July 1963
This photo give us an idea of what it was like to be driving west along the Sunset Strip from Crescent Heights Blvd in July 1963. On the left we can see the zigzag-roofed Lytton Savings bank branch built on the site that was once the Garden of Allah Hotel, which had been razed (by Bart Lytton) in August 1959. Straight ahead was the billboard for the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas, which had opened in 1952. And on the right, the white building with the triangular towers is the Chateau Marmont Hotel, which is still with us. And just below it is the red sign for Villa Frascati Restaurant, which offered Belgian cuisine to discerning diners.
Where the Garden of Allah and the Lytton branch once stood is now an expanse of dirt. The bank and its surrounding mini mall was razed to make way for a Frank Gehry project that never went forward. This is how that view looked in May 2022.
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Tagged Chateau Marmont, Color photo, Sunset Blvd, The Garden of Allah Hotel
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The Hollywood branch offices of the Municipal Light-Water-Power (later DWP), 1613 N. Cahuenga Blvd, Hollywood, 1932
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.
Two locomotives on display in the forecourt of Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre, 6708 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, circa 1925
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 a photo of the locomotive parked in the forecourt as a promotional stunt. But from this photo taken from across Hollywood Blvd, it looks like the promo included a second one, which is possible because the forecourt is quite large, but how they managed to park two locomotives into it is beyond me. In the background, we can see the Hotel Christie. When it opened a couple of years before this photo was taken, it was considered the height of luxury because it was the first hotel in Hollywood to feature a bathroom with every guest room!
Kevin W. says: “The one on the right looks like a dummy front end that has no boiler behind it.”
Mary M. says: “The trains were brought down the Boulevard on the streetcar track.”
This is how that view looked in August 2022. At the time, the Egyptian was still under restoration. Late in 2023, it reopened and looks marvelous. The building that once housed the Hotel Christie is now owned by the Church of Scientology.
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Tagged Egyptian Theatre, Hollywood, Hollywood Blvd, Hotels, Theaters
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Color photo looking east along Hollywood Blvd past the American Airlines office on the northeast corner of Vine St, Hollywood, circa 1965
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.
This is how that view looked in August 2022. The American Airlines building is still there – and in very good condition – as is the Pantages Theatre, which is now presents live shows and is one of the most gorgeous theaters in California.
