Car salesman, Walter Wellman, billed himself as The Smiling Irishman on his car lot at the northeast corner of W. Pico Blvd & Vermont Ave, Los Angeles. I don’t know if his gimmick drew in the customers, but it made him stand out from his fellow car salesmen. Interestingly, though, his logo is a three-leafed clover – did he not know about the whole lucky four-leafed clover thing? Also, we can see a semaphore traffic signal. This photo is from 1952 and the last one in LA was taken out in 1956, so this particular one wasn’t long for this world.
This is how that corner looked in February 2023.
The photographer who took this photo was facing east on the southeast corner of Sunset Blvd and Crescent Heights Blvd in 1954, looking at two places that took on legendary status in Los Angeles. At the rear is Schwab’s Pharmacy at 8024 Sunset, which had opened in 1932 and quickly became the place where Hollywood wannabes and madeits (I made that word up) gathered to see, be seen, swap gossip and information, grab coffee, read “The Hollywood Reporter,” and fill a prescription. Then, in 1949, Googie’s Coffee Shop opened next door at 8100 Sunset with such a weirdly angled style that it gave rise to a whole new trend in architecture to which it lent its name. When someone finally invites me to ride their time travel machine, I’m heading straight here.
In this glorious color photo we’re looking north up Vine St from the southeast corner of Sunset Blvd, circa late 1950s (as indicated by the brown 1957 Oldsmobile.) We can see signs for the USO, Sachson’s haberdashery, ABC TV, Santa Fe Railway, Plaza Hotel, The Broadway-Hollywood store, Miller beer, and NBC TV. But what *really* intrigues me that black stand behind the bus stop bench, and that other one on the other side of the bench with the red post and black box on top. What were they and what did they do? All suggestions, guesses, and information gladly accepted because I have no idea.
The Liberty Theatre at 266 S. Main Street in downtown Los Angeles opened in 1910, which means it was around from pretty much the birth of the flickers. When this photo was taken on September 24, 1929, a Clara Bow 1925 picture called “The Primrose Path” (1925) was on a double bill with “Adventures in the Far North.” (1923) That same year the theater was torn down, so maybe this one was of the last photos of the place? According to the Los Angeles Theatre blog, that statue on the roof was 10 feet high, was gold-leafed and held an electric torch, which sounds pretty impressive to me.
Until Union Station opened on the edge of downtown LA in May 1939, Los Angeles had three major railway lines coming into the city: Union Pacific, Santa Fe, and Southern Pacific, and each line had their own station. The one pictured here was Santa Fe Railway’s La Grande Station which stood where Santa Fe Ave terminated at 2nd St, several blocks south and east of where Union Station now stands. Parked out front is Los Angeles Railway streetcar #5, which would have taken rail passengers to and from the heart of downtown. The La Grande opened in 1893, and this photo is circa 1897. It looks like the streets weren’t yet sealed as the road seems to be dented with tracks made by horse-drawn carriages.
This color photo was taken in 1958, when Western Federal Savings were moving into the office building of the southeast corner of 6th and Hill Streets in downtown Los Angeles. The workers with window offices would have looked out on Pershing Square, which was behind the photographer. That sign for the Cunard Line makes me wonder if their offices were in the same building. (Aside from that mint-green Plymouth on the far right) what really sticks out in this photo is that woman in pink. She sure knew how to stand out in a crowd.
I wouldn’t say no to living in a Los Angeles that still has Currie’s Ice Cream parlors dotting the landscape. From what I hear, their ice cream was very good. Especially their famous 10-cent “Mile High Cones” which they advertised by placing a huge sign on top of their stores. This one (the photo was taken in 1942) looks like it’s taller than the building! This particular one stood at 12101 Ventura Blvd, Studio City, which places it on the northwest corner of Ventura Blvd and Laurel Canyon Blvd.
Back on January 27, I posted a 
This is a mid-60s shot of Los Angeles if ever there was one. We’re looking east along Sunset Blvd from Cahuenga Blvd, past a Texaco gas station toward the Cinerama Dome. The Dome opened November 1963 (with the premiere of with “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.”) and this shot was taken in some time in 1965, so Angelenos were probably still getting used to the novel sight of a dome-shaped movie house in the midst.
This is the sort of photo I want to jump into as we look up Westwood Blvd from Bullock’s department store in Westwood Village, which is near UCLA. That tower is the 110-foot Holmby Hall tower and stands on the corner of Weyburn Ave. This photo was taken on July 9, 1941, so six months later, the people we can see in this image were living in a country at war. But on that day, they were at peace, and what a genteel tranquility it looked to be.