Starting in the late 1930s and continuing during the WWII years, the two main unions operating in Hollywood—the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IASTE) and the Confederation of Studio Unions (CSU)—slowly headed toward heated conflict. One of the most violent confrontations took place out front of Warner Bros. in Burbank in October 1945, as captured here in this dramatic photo taken at the studio’s main gate on Olive Ave. Between the water cannons, the tear-gas bombs, and the overturned cars, that day turned into one of the studio’s darkest and most divisive.
This is a photo I took myself while we were still locked down due to the Covid pandemic, on November 1, 2020.
Here’s a ticket to the Los Angeles premiere of Douglas Fairbanks’ “The Thief of Bagdad” at Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre on Thursday, July 10th, 1924. $5 in 1924 is roughly the equivalent of $85 today. That’s a lot for a movie!
During WWII, the US became very efficient at building aircraft for the war effort. All those Rosie the Riveters rose to the occasion and did a damn fine job. But more were produced than needed, as we can see from this May 22, 1946 aerial shot of the warplane dismantling operation set up near what is now known as Chino Airport but what was back then known as the Chino Army Airfield. I tried to count how many aircraft we can see in this photo, but gave up after 100.
I had a bit of a laugh when I came across this description I found in an old online telephone directory – instructions on how to use a dial telephone. It had never occurred to me that anyone would need instructions because its operation seemed so obvious. But only to those of us who grew up with them, and not to the first generation of people for him such things were brand new. And neither, I subsequently realized, would today’s cell phone generation know how to use a dial telephone. What goes around, comes around. (Pun intended.)
This impressive building on Broadway Ave in Glendale opened in the late 1880s as the 75-room Glendale Hotel. I would imagine it was one of those places that catered to East Coast people wealthy enough to escape the winters for the kinder Los Angeles climate. This photo was taken circa 1905, when it was still a hotel, but in 1922 it became the Glendale Sanitarium. I couldn’t much information on the sanitarium, but it seems that in 1966 it became the Glendale Adventist Hospital. It seems a pretty nice place to recuperate, if you ask me.
Imagine working on the crew assigned to straighten Sunset Blvd (west of Silver Lake Blvd) in 1907 and as you dig into the hillside, you come across these boulders. What do you do? You stick them in a pile and figure out a plan later. I do hope someone did something creative with those huge balls, like arrange them into a rock garden, maybe? I’d guess they were quite heavy, so I expect that team of horses were involved somehow.
It’s amazing to me that Angelenos could drive through their neighborhood and pass forest of oil wells, and yet for years the sight I this image was routine for many people. This particular photo was taken on Curtis Street, only a small portion of which exists because of the 110 Freeway at one end and Dodger Stadium at the other. Those oil wells are long gone, which probably isn’t a bad thing seeing as how the smell and noise probably wasn’t great. (Then again, neither is the110.) But here’s what I want to know: Who left that square bag sitting on the curb?
You’ve gotta that 1950s Googie architecture! This is a photo of a Coffee Dan’s coffee shop (part of a chain) at 6576 Van Nuys Blvd, Van Nuys, in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles. The place was built in 1957 and this photo is from 1958. At the left hand end we can see a sign for the Outrigger Room, so I’m guessing the indoor décor swung toward the Tiki aesthetic, so popular at the time. I’m also wondering of the Outrigger Room was a separate section? A bar, maybe? Does anyone reading this remember it?
I took this image (i.e. photographed my TV screen) from a documentary I recently watched – “Dean Martin: King of Cool.” It’s from video footage taken from a vehicle driving east along Hollywood Blvd from around Hudson Ave. From the 1957 Cadillac in the shot, we can peg this is a color glimpse of Hollywood to the late 1950s. On the left hand side we can see a bright red blade neon sign of the Warner’s Hollywood Theatre, and opposite it the marquee of the Iris Theater at 6508 Hollywood Blvd, which is now known as the Fox.
This is one of those photos where it’s hard for me to believe it’s the same city. In this circa early 1900s shot, we’re looking south down Spring Street from First Street in downtown LA. There are only two forms of transport in this photo, and neither of them are around anymore: streetcars and horses. And can we talk about that gorgeous cupola on top of that building on the left?!?!