It’s images like this that make me thankful someone thought to take a photo of what for them would have been a regular street scene, but for us is a snapshot into a place that no longer exists. We’re looking west along Colorado Blvd from Raymond Ave in Pasadena. The year was 1887, so horses and carriages filled the street. I can’t tell if the it was paved yet, but either way, it looks like it would have been a bumpy ride. The ornate building on the right is the Hotel Carlton, which seems like it was quite the fancy establishment.
Advertisement for Hotel Carlton, Pasadena, circa 1888.
This is how that same view looked in June 2022.
I never experienced the era of gas station attendants wearing bow ties and caps, who would pump your gas and clean your windshield for you, but it sure must have been nice. This Standard Oil gas station stood at the corner of Beverly Blvd and La Brea Ave circa late 1920s, and those two peppy fellows look like they’re ready to serve. Their sandwich board reads “The New Winter Red Crown” – does anyone know what that refers to?
Until I came across this photo, I didn’t know Los Angeles had a Fisherman’s Wharf. Apparently it’s on the Redondo Beach pier, and was filled with the requisite seafood restaurants, a gift shop for souvenirs, and a place to buy tackle. But my favorite is a place called Moon Mullen’s, which is a pretty great name for a hamburger stand. This photo was taken in August 1953, but it looks like the morning haze hasn’t burned off yet. The Redondo beachfront has been so completely redeveloped that nothing looks like this anymore.
A couple of days ago, I posted a 1913 photo of the Colorado Street Bridge in Pasadena. Meanwhile, 15 miles west lay this bucolic vista of winding country roads, open fields, and groves of trees. In fact, we’d be hard-pressed to recognize this area by its world-famous name: Beverly Hills. I’m not even sure what direction we’re facing. I assume those hills in the distance is Franklin Canyon or the Hollywood Hills, but if anyone out there can help orient us, I’d love to hear from you.
In 1934, the Los Angeles-based Gilmore Oil company decided to outfit one of the fuel delivery trucks with neon as a promotional gimmick. For some reason, they were able to enlist the head of Twentieth Century-Fox’s special effects department who installed yellow for the front, and blue and red for the body. Four on-board generators were needed to keep it all lit, but that was only allowed when the tank was empty! Because, yeah, your promo truck blowing up doesn’t make for good PR.
It’s always nice to see a new piece of Garden of Allah ephemera. This one popped up on 
The Colorado Street Bridge is a rather spectacular bridge that stretches across the Arroyo Seco (which is a season river near Pasadena.) In the 26 years I’ve lived in LA I’ve never crossed it because I’m always on the neighboring Ventura Freeway. But now that I’ve seen this photo, I think I’ll put it on my To Do list. It opened in 1913 and the automobile pictured here is a 1913 Overland, so I’m guessing that’s when this photo was taken. Maybe it’s even one of the first vehicles on the bridge. Oh, and a special shout-out to those streetlamps!
I do love coming across a pristine photograph from yesteryear and this one is a great example. A Ford Model T automobile is parked in front a home in the Glen Oaks housing tract of Glendale in 1928. I wish I knew the address so that I could look it up to see if the house still exists. I sure hope so because it’s too pretty to tear down, and would, I’d imagine, have lovely views across Glendale.
In 1907, Omaha banker, Gordon Wattles decided he needed a winter home where he could escape from the Nebraskan winters, and we can’t blame him for that, can we? So he bought a parcel of land north of Hollywood Blvd and engaged Myron Hunt and Elmer Gray (who had designed the Mt Wilson Observatory) to build the estate Wattles called Jualita. I don’t have a date on this aerial photo, but I’m guessing it was taken not long after the project was completed, so circa 1910 or thereabouts.
In July 1934, Earl Gilmore (head of the Gilmore Oil Co) opened Farmers Market at Fairfax Ave and 3rd St to help Depression-era farmers sell their products. The original market had 18 little booths the farmers could sell from. I don’t have a date for this aerial photo, but there’s obviously more than 18 stalls there, so I’m guessing this photo is late 1930s? (The neighboring Gilmore Stadium opened in May 1934.) But we can see that to the east of the market, beyond that grove of tall trees lay empty fields where the Pan Pacific Auditorium would open in 1935.