Looking west along Hollywood Blvd from Highland Ave, Hollywood, circa mid 1910s
In this hand-tinted postcard we glimpse what one of Hollywood’s main intersections – Hollywood Blvd and Highland Ave – looked like back in its early days. Following the annexation of Hollywood by the city of LA in around 1910, Prospect Ave was renamed Hollywood Blvd, so we can date this photo to some time after that. We can see the towers of the Hollywood Hotel on the right, and closer to us the building that would later be replaced by the 13-story First National Bank which opened in 1928. Across the street, we can see another hotel sign. It was Bonnie Brier Hotel which occupied the corner that would later be home to Rexall Lee Drugs that I posted a couple of days ago. But in this photo, it’s fun to see early Hollywood where there’s very little hustle and barely any bustle.
This is roughly the same view in May 2022:
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Tagged Color photo, Hollywood, Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood Hotel, Hotels, Streetcars
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Day and night views of Gibson Inc. tailor and shoe store, 6329 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, circa 1930s
Here are two shots I’ve stitched together of the same store. Gibson Inc. was a tailor and shoe store at 6329 Hollywood Blvd, which put it around the corner from the Knickerbocker Hotel. I don’t have a date on either of these pics, but I’m guessing circa 1930s. If you ask me, the real feature of this store is that marvelous Art Deco style sign and how the tower on the roof also lit up at night.
The sign on the grillwork across the front of the store reads “FRENCH SHRINER & URNER SHOES” which I’m guessing was a brand of footwear? This is an advertisement for the opening of Gibson Inc. from the Friday, November 3, 1933 edition of the LA Evening Citizen News.
And of course they had matchbooks!
That sign deserves a close-up!
And here’s an interior shot:
Nick R says: “The L.A. Evening Citizen News tells us that it opened in November 1933 with that logo intact and operated through the end of the decade. It quietly disappears from print advertising after 1940.”
This is how 6329 Hollywood Blvd looked in August 2023, though I can see no trace of Gibson’s store.
Screenshot of film taken at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre during the premiere of MGM’s “Grand Hotel” on Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, April 29, 1932
This isn’t a photograph but a screenshot I took while watching restored footage taken during the premiere of MGM’s “Grand Hotel” at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on the night of April 29, 1932. The 8-minute video is worth watching as you get a terrific feel for the tumult of that night. It was the first time a Hollywood studio had made a movie with an all-star cast (an idea of MGM’s Irving Thalberg) so movie fans turned out in super-excited droves. But it was this image taken, I assume, from across the street, that gives us a terrific glimpse of studio-era Hollywood at its most golden peak.
You can see the video HERE.
For a deeper dive, go to Kurt Wahlner’s site and scroll down to “Grand Hotel” where you can see the incredible program mounted that night: GRAND HOTEL.
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Tagged Grauman's Chinese Theater, Hollywood, Hollywood Blvd, MGM, Movie Premiere, Night photo
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Night shot of Rexall Lee Drugs drugstore on the southwest corner of Hollywood Blvd and Highland Ave, Hollywood (undated)
The southwest corner of Hollywood Blvd and Highland Ave in Hollywood has been home to many things over the years. When this photo was taken (I don’t know the date, but from the style of the photography—this is probably from a postcard—my guess is 1960s) it was the Rexall Lee Drugs drugstore, which had been there from at least the mid-1950s. It does give us an idea of what Hollywood looked like at night and how brightly those neon signs must have shined. I’ve also never noticed that sign for the Park Hotel next door.
Glen N says: “The street lights on Hollywood Boulevard date this image no later than mid-1960. The “5-Star” street lights (and the Walk of Fame) were constructed later that year.”
Charlie B says: “Lee’s Drugs even had food counter service in mid-70s when I worked a few blocks away at The Hollywood Reporter at 6715 Sunset. Lee’s had terrific tuna melt sandwiches for $1.50, and a breakfast special for 99 cents with eggs, bacon, toast, and coffee.”
Lori S says: “Looks like this was built in 1924 or 1935, which explains the amazing architecture. https://npgallery.nps.gov/…/236d3254-47ee-4b31-9045…/ has this building and several surrounding it in a historic places inventory with a date of 1935, but property management sites list it at the earlier date of 1924.
Searching for that address in early newspapers reveals that these companies were there:
1929: The Crescent News Co
1928: The Ever Ready Drug Co
Looks like this was built in 1924 or 1935, which explains the amazing architecture. https://npgallery.nps.gov/…/236d3254-47ee-4b31-9045…/ has this building and several surrounding it in a historic places inventory with a date of 1935, but property management sites list it at the earlier date of 1924.
In 1933 The Ever Ready Drug Co went through bankruptcy, but I did find an advertisement with pictures of their locations from 1927. It is definitely not the same building as today so the later date of 1935 must be accurate for the current construction. Interesting that I cannot really find anything on it until much later. Other than a couple mentions of the Hollywood Hotel the next business I can find is Apple Lee Drugs in 1956.
That corner is now home to a souvenir store and the Park Hotel is now a hostel. All things considered, the building is in pretty good shape. This is how it looked in August 2022.
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Tagged Hollywood, Hollywood Blvd, Night photo, Stores and Shopping
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Rear view of Hobart Whitley’s home under construction in Whitley Heights, Los Angeles (undated)
Starting in the late 1890s, Hobart Whitley was one of Hollywood’s earliest developers. He built the Hollywood Hotel at Hollywood and Highland, as well as conceiving Whitley Heights on the hillside overlooking Hollywood, which became the first movie-star neighborhood. It was inevitable that he would live there too, and here we have a photo of his home under construction. I couldn’t find a date on this shot, but it must have been pretty early as they’re still using mules to grade the land. And note the Whitley Heights sign in the background. That was Hobart’s idea too, and it was he who gave the Hollywoodland developers the idea to construct one of the world’s most famous signs.
(By the way, I caught a glimpse of this image in Justin Root’s very interesting multi-part series of videos on Whitley Heights. You can watch episode #1 here.)
Here is a front view of the sign, which was electric and could be seen for miles around, probably because it was the only one around. I read somewhere that it was Whitley who brought electricity to Hollywood.
Here is another view of the Whitley Heights sign as seen from the rear. From the looks of those cars, I’d say it was taken early 1920s (can anybody reading this be more specific?)
Advertisement for Whitley Heights in the Hollywood Citizen, May 20, 1921
Hobart Whitley’s house still stands at 2073 Grace Ave. This image is from August 2022.
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Aerial photograph of Studio Drive In Theater, 5250 Sepulveda Blvd, Culver City, 1961
By the time this aerial photograph of Studio Drive-in Theater (open from 1948 to 1993) at 5250 Sepulveda Blvd in Culver City was taken in 1961, a lot of the land had been developed so the triangular site carved out by the drive-in really stands out. I’m also mystified/intrigued by that other block of land to the left, with the two fan-shaped areas. Are they baseball diamonds? Does anybody have an idea?
The triangle formed by Sepulveda, Jefferson, and Machado is where the drive-in used to be. This satellite image is from May 2022.
Color photo of Schwab’s restaurant, 9201 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, circa mid 1960s
Because the Schwab’s Pharmacy at 8024 Sunset Blvd near Crescent Heights received all the attention and notoriety, it can be easy to forget that there were at least five other Schwab’s locations that I’ve been able to identify. And now we can add this one, although to be fair, it was just a restaurant without the pharmacy section. It was at 9201 Sunset Blvd in West Hollywood, right near where the western end of the Strip as it curves into Beverly Hills. The vehicles in this photo suggest it was taken circa mid-1960s, which seems about right because it was around then that Schwab’s underwent a makeover / renovation / updating with that new (Googie-esque) logo we can see in this picture.
Hamburger Hamlet took over this location in the late 1960s and was there for several decades. This image is from August 2022.
One of the first Safeway markets in Los Angeles at 5509 Sunset Blvd, near Western, 1936
Safeway supermarkets is a name I haven’t seen in Los Angeles for a very long time, but back when this photo was taken in 1936, it was brand new to the LA market. It was a 5509 Sunset Blvd, which put it just west of Western Ave. A far cry from the slick corporate uniformity of later decades, I love the charm of Spanish tiled roof which lends more of a local market feel, along with that sign standing over what looks like a wishing well.
These days, that site is home to a WSS shoe store. This image is from August 2022.
P.K. Sandwich stand at W. Vernon Ave and Crenshaw Blvd, Los Angeles, 1930
We don’t have many of these sorts of drive-in sandwich stands anymore, so I do love finding photos of them—especially if I’ve never seen or heard of them before, like this one. P.K. Sandwich stand stood at W. Vernon Ave and Crenshaw Blvd, and this photo was taken in 1930. It looks to me like they only had around a dozen items on their menu, but if you do them all really well, a dozen is all you need. Oh, and a shout out to those tiles. I wonder what color they were.
I don’t know which corner of Vernon and Crenshaw that P.K. stood, but I’m wondering if it was this corner where a rather unusual Chase bank branch now stands. This image is from February 2021.
** UPDATE ** – SF Historian on Twitter said: “That is the correct corner. P.K. Sandwiches stood at 4405 Crenshaw Blvd.”
