This photo is a reminder that not everything to come out of the Great Depression was drab and dreary. Beverly Hills City Hall at 451 N. Crescent Dr. at Santa Monica Blvd, seen here circa 1936, was constructed in 1931 and 1932 as the rest of the country was hitting rock bottom. Officially, it was built in a style known as “California Churrigueresque” (and if you can pronounce that second word, I tip my hat to you) which is a type of Spanish Revival architecture. According to one report I read, when it opened in 1932, the L.A. Times called it the “largest and most expensive city hall of any municipality its size in the country.” Seeing this photo of it, it’s not hard to see why.
This is roughly how that view looked in May 2024.
Before it became one of Los Angeles’s vital east-west arteries, Sunset Blvd was nothing more than a dirt track. This circa 1900 photograph, reportedly taken near what would become the intersection of Sunset and Fairfax, captures that simpler time. At its center, a team of horses stands against a sparse landscape—just telegraph wires stretching toward the Hollywood Hills in the distance.
The bucolic building we’re seeing here is Hollywood’s second hotel. The first one, the Sackett Hotel, was on the southwest corner of Hollywood and Cahuenga Blvds. This one was called the Glen-Holly Hotel, and it opened 7 years after the Sackett in 1895 on the southeast corner of Ivar and Yucca Sts, a block north of Hollywood Blvd. Among the group of people standing out from is C.M. Pierce and his wife. More than anything it shows how rustic Hollywood was back then. If it took Hollywood 7 years to get a second hotel, it makes me wonder how many people needing accommodation were coming to Hollywood back then.
This rather forlorn Christmas tree is actually quite historical. It was set up on the stage of the Hollywood Bowl before the Bowl even had a shell. Although the Bowl officially opened on July 11, 1922, a number of performances took place on the stage (it was little more than just a wooden platform) in late 1921, when this photograph was taken. It’s quite a stark contrast to how the Bowl looks these days.
I don’t remember going to The Mod Hatter hat shop at Disneyland, but I sure do remember always enjoying my ride on the Skyway attraction. You rode in a gondola up to 60 feet above Disneyland, where you got to see the Magic Kingdom from a whole different perspective. And, most thrilling of all (at least for me) you got sail through the Matterhorn Bobsleds ride. The Skyway closed on November 9, 1994 due to metal fatigue and stress cracks—and I still miss it whenever I go to Disneyland.
There’s nothing like a vivid Kodachrome photo to bring yesteryear Hollywood to life. In this circa 1960s shot, we’re looking east along Hollywood Blvd. Around the center of the photo, we can see the blade sign for the Vogue Theatre at 6629 Hollywood Blvd, which means the photographer would have been standing near the Cherokee Ave corner. The most ‘60s thing in this photo is the “HI-FI RECORDS” neon sign. The Hollywood Walk of Fame first started in February 1960 and so if the stars in the sidewalk have made it to the block between Cherokee and Whitley, I’m guessing this photo was probably taken circa mid 1960s.
In this 1903 photo, we’re looking west along 3rd St. in downtown Los Angeles. On the left, we can see a sign for Desmond’s. They later evolved into a one of the nicer men’s clothing stores, but they started out selling men’s hats. Down the end of 3rd St, we can see the tunnel that was a boon to drivers wanting to get around town. It’s hard to see from this distance, but it’s also where the original Angels Flight funicular was located. When this photo was taken, it was barely two years old.
Have you ever wondered what Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley were looking at when they were shooting “I Love Lucy”? I have very little information to share about this, and I’m not even sure it’s a genuine color photo. But it does present us with a whole different view point with those three early television camera staring straight at us. The guy in the white, short-sleeved shirt facing the audience is Desi Arnaz. He usually warmed up the audience before each filming, so I assume that’s what he was doing when this shot was taken.
The Bryson Block was, at least to my mind, the most beautifully ornate Victorian-era (opened circa 1888) commercial building in turn-of-the century downtown Los Angeles. It is featured here in this circa 1900 photo in its location on the northwest corner of Spring and 2nd Streets. A lot of effort went into all that elaborate detailing on the exterior – all the more extraordinary to think that none of the passers-by would look up and see it. This photo also gives us an idea of the network of overhead power lines needed for the streetcars, but what I especially like is the horse-drawn carriage in the foreground. Is that a surrey? And if so, shouldn’t it have a fringe on top?
Here’s a parade I’d love to have seen just once: the annual Santa Claus Lane Parade down Hollywood Blvd. Beginning in 1928, Hollywood Blvd was dubbed “Santa Claus Lane” each December (primarily to boost shopping) and decorated with electric lights and culminated in a nighttime parade. The one we’re seeing in this photo was dated “circa 1945.” If it actually was December 1945, the Angelenos in this photo would have been celebrating their first peace-time holiday season in four long years.