Here we have a shot of the first block of Hollywood Blvd east of Highland Ave. From the 1941 Packard parked on the left, I’m guessing this is circa early 1940s. The building was home to two major tenants: the First Federal Savings Bank of Hollywood and Horton & Converse, which looks like a proper prescription pharmacist drugstore (as compared to a more generalist Schwab’s or Owl Drug.) But the sign that catches my eye is above the door on the left: C.E. Toberman. He’s largely forgotten now, but in this time he was a very big deal because he was a real estate developer involved in building many enduring Hollywood landmarks, including the Hollywood Bowl, El Capitan Theatre, Hollywood Masonic Temple, Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, and both Grauman’s Chinese and Egyptian Theatres. Talk about leaving your mark in the world!
** UPDATE ** – Henrick H sent me this ad which shows that Toberman was the president of the bank, so it makes sense that his offices where there, too.
Advertisement for Hollywood developer, C. E. Toberman, 6780 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood
That building is still there are largely intact. It does have, of course, different tenants. The pharmacist space seems to change every couple of years. This image is from February 2021 when it was the Museum of Dream Space (whatever that means.)
Here we have Harry Belafonte playing the Cocoanut Grove nightclub at the Ambassador Hotel on Wilshire Blvd. To headline at “the Grove” you had to be a pretty big deal, so I’m guessing this photo (and the two below) was probably taken in the late 1950s, after Belafonte had released his breakthrough album, “Calypso. It was released in May of 1956 and ended up spending 31 weeks at number 1 on the Billboard charts. What surprises me is how close he is to his audience. Not up on a stage, not far removed from everyone, but right there, maybe ten to twelve feet away. So close he can see can see right into their eyes.
It wouldn’t have been a great idea to drive west along Hollywood Blvd the night of March 26, 1958. That’s when the stars were pulling up outside the Pantages Theatre for the 30th Academy Awards. That was the year “The Bridge on the River Kwai” triumphed with 7 awards and “Peyton Place” won in none of its 9 nominated categories. The front of the theater is ablaze with spotlights shining from the south side of the boulevard, where hundreds of fans are gathered to catch a glimpse of A-list crowd.
On November 14, 1894, Adam Vroman opened his bookstore at 60 E Colorado St (now Blvd) in Pasadena. And now, 128 years later, it is still running and can claim lay claim to being Southern California’s oldest and largest independent bookstore. This photograph is from 1905 and shows us a very Victorian-looking store, painted dark with a nice window display. What I find interesting is that it sold more than books and stationery. It also stocked photo supplies and leather goods. Mr. Vroman (who left the store to his employees when he died in 1916) was smart to diversify!
Just because you’re an oil company research facility, doesn’t mean you can’t be pleasing to the eye. This 1952 photo was taken at the Union Oil Research Center, which had opened the year before at 376 S. Valencia Ave, Brea, roughly 25 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. You’ve got to love the typeface they chose to let people know what happened inside this glass-fronted building.
Yesterday, many of us Angelenos saw hail for the first time in who-knows-how-long, so I thought this circa 1950s photo might be appropriate today. Until I came across it, I didn’t know that in the 1950s, giant snowman were put up along the Miracle Mile stretch of Wilshire Blvd during the holiday season. And this LA city bus was painted to advertise them, which, I assume, was intended to attract customers to all the stores on Wilshire. Does anybody remember seeing those giant snowmen?
I was recently watching an old movie on TCM, and after the closing credits ran, a Technicolor short from MGM started playing. It was from the popular travelogue series, called “Fitzpatrick’s Traveltalks.” The series goes all over the world, but this particular on was called “Los Angeles: Wonder City of the West” which came out in 1935, so naturally I stopped to watch it. And naturally I took some photos. This came out the clearest: It’s of the Mother Goose Pantry restaurant, which used to stand at 1959 E. Colorado Blvd in Pasadena. That Mother Goose on top of the building actually flew around and around. I’ve seen 
I’m not 100% sure what’s going on in this photo. My friend from the Petersen Automotive Museum tells me this is a 1949 Ford, which supports the photo’s caption that said it was taken 1954 at an “automatic car wash.” It looks to me like the car is still in a tunnel of heating lamps to dry off. If you disagree, I’d love to hear from you, but whatever is going on, it makes for a strikingly unique photo the likes of which I’ve never seen before.
This shot gives us a glimpse into what it was like to film one of those new-fangled talkie pictures. Back then, cameras were so noisy that the microphones needed to record dialogue would pick up the racket they made (which was a non-issue when movies were silent) so they were housed in those booths. This photo was taken during the production of “Showgirl in Hollywood” which was a First National movie shot between early Nov and late Dec 1929 and released April 1930. So it’s safe to place this photograph late 1929 on the Burbank studio lot, by which time the purchase of First National by Warner Bros had gone through.