On the one hand, I wish this circa 1930s shot was sharper so that we could see the details more clearly. But on the other hand, the blurry murkiness adds to the atmosphere, doesn’t it? This photo was taken at dusk looking west along Wilshire Blvd from Detroit St toward the McDonnell’s Wilshire Café on the north side of Wilshire and the Dominguez-Wilshire building on the south. That building housed Myer Seigel, which was a women’s clothing store and if this photo is anything to go by, Angelenos could see their sign for miles around.
Roughly the same view in February 2021:
Colorado Blvd in Pasadena (looking east from around Oakland Ave) must have been a very festive place around the holidays. This shot was taken in the early 1950s (I’m guessing that’s the westbound morning peak hour we’re seeing) back when Sears were still Sears Roebuck & Co and (I’m guessing) people still bought from their ubiquitous catalog.
Actress Elizabeth Taylor had only been married to film and theater producer, Mike Todd, for a year when his private plane, The Liz, crashed in New Mexico on March 22, 1958. This photo was taken that day outside their home at 1330 Schuyler Drive in Beverly Hills. A couple of things strike me about this photo. These days, movie star homes have a 15-foot fence to maintain privacy, but at Liz Taylor’s house you could walk up those steps and knock on the door! Also, there’s only a dozen people standing in front of the house, whereas today there’d be a massive crowd of paparazzi crowding the street, hoping to snap a photo of the distraught widow. Maybe this shot was taken early and those vultures showed up later.
In this 1951 photo, we’re looking north up Gower St into the heart of Hollywood from Sunset Blvd. At the time, the main draw for that corner was Naples Restaurant at 1508 N. Gower. (It’s the place with the big STEAKS blade sign.) It must have been a fairly clear day because way in the background we can easily make out the Hollywood sign. And in the foreground on the left, a two-light semaphore traffic signal. The city of LA removed the last of the semaphores in 1956, so this one wouldn’t be around for much longer.
In this photo we’re looking along Brand Ave toward Wilson Ave in Glendale. The pale green de Soto is from 1959, so this shot is from the very late 1950s. Maybe it’s the colors of the cars or the style of the stores’ facades (JJ Newberry’s five-and-dime is one of them) but I love the whole leave-it-to-beaver-ness vibe of this photo. In truth, life in the 1950s probably wasn’t the life-as-a-bowl-of-cherries as depicted in TV shows of the era, but you’d never know it from images like this.
Now that it’s December, I think it’s time for a Christmas photo. This one was taken during the holiday season of 1954 by a photographer looking west along Hollywood Blvd just west of Vine Street. Those huge metallic Christmas trees street would go up in late November. Their design changed occasionally, but they always lit up at night, which made strolling down the boulevard during Christmastime a lovely sight to see. Across the street at the Admiral Theatre, Marlon Brando was starring in “The Wild One” on a double bill with Robert Mitchum in “My Forbidden Past.”
Yesterday I posted a 
For the photographer who took this shot in 1922, this would have been an ordinary street scene, with a streetcar he would have seen a dozen times a day, and cars that pretty much all looked the same. But for us, it’s a glimpse into what the streets of LA—in this case the intersection of Franklin and Bronson Avenues in Hollywood—looked like 100 years ago.
As a San Fernando Valley dweller myself, I’m used to the suburban sprawl that now blankets most of the valley north of the Hollywood Hills. So this photo from 1927 comes as a bit of a shock to be reminded that once upon a pre-WWII time, the area was largely an open land of agriculture and orchards. And you can bet the air was clearer, too.
From the look of the cars, I’m guessing this photo of the corner of Broadway and 5th St was taken circa early 1920s. And from the decorations suspended above the intersection and those two white decorative ice castles (is that what they are?), it looks like it was taken during the holiday season. And from the strip advertisements two stories high, it seems Tilton’s and Boyd’s were going head to head in the suit trade. Tilton’s were cheaper at $22.50 but Boyd’s suits came with a second pair of pants, so gentlemen, the choice is yours.