I’ll take any opportunity to post a photo of the first Brown Derby restaurant, especially if it’s in color. Technically, the original first Brown Derby stood at 3427 Wilshire. But that land was acquired by someone else, and the big hat was recreated a block at a half east to the northeast corner of Alexandria Ave, opposite the Ambassador Hotel. This photo is from 1973, which means it still had about a dozen years before it fell victim to redevelopment.
This is roughly the same view in November 2021. The Gaylord hotel is still around, and we can glimpse what’s left of the Derby—it’s that dome on the far left.
I recently watched an RKO movie from 1946 called “Nocturne” in which George Raft plays a homicide detective. I didn’t think Raft was very good in the role, but the movie had a number of interesting location shots, including this one. I stopped the movie and took a photo of it because it gives us an idea of what the Vine Street Brown Derby looked like in real life. The filmmakers didn’t even bother to hide the roadworks going on in May/June 1946, which is when the film was shot. I don’t know what sort of car is parked out front, but it looks like it had plenty of leg room!
Apart from the fact that this photo was taken for Life magazine at Universal Studios in 1963, I have been able to find no other information to share with you. But it’s such a striking photo that I couldn’t not post it. That wall of lights must be at least 20 feet tall and who knows how wide. It looks like that guy inserted each and every bulb, but for what reason, we can only guess. Whatever its purpose, the overall effect must have really been a sight to behold.
A Southern Pacific train chugs up Alameda St at 2nd St, which puts it a few blocks south of where Union Station will later be built on the edge of downtown LA. There is a flagman on the left helping to control traffic. I’m guessing those workmen on the left are laying down a third track along Alameda. Between the trains, the regular traffic, and the construction, this shot was probably taken amid a deafening din.
These days, the Los Angeles cityscape is filled with Rite Aid and CVS pharmacies who all look the same and feel interchangeable. It seems a shame that we no longer have individual pharmacies with their own personalities. This lovely shot is of the Lakeside Pharmacy at 10100 Riverside Drive, Toluca Lake, on the southwest corner at Mariota Ave. This shot is circa 1975, but the style of architecture suggests the building dates from much earlier.
If this circa late 1950s photo is anything to go by, Los Angeles freeways that resemble a parking lot aren’t a recent development. I’m not 100% certain, but I think we’re looking at the Pasadena Freeway near Elysian Park heading into downtown LA. If other photos I’ve seen of 1950s LA freeways are anything to go by, this urban nightmare scenario was relatively rare, but it does presage what will become a daily reality for many LA commuters.
Every now and then I come across a vintage photo of Los Angeles and find it hard to get my mind around the fact that it’s the same city. In this one, we’re looking north on Spring St from First St, downtown Los Angeles, circa late 1890s. Everybody’s dressed so formally, with only streetcars, bicycles, and horse-drawn carriages in sight. I’d love a chance to peek inside Hamburger’s department store on the left so see what goods they had for sale. I’m picturing lots of parasols, corsets, stiff collars, and riding boots.
Opening in 1923, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum was also the home of the Summer Games of the 10th Olympiad, which took place between July 30 and August 14, 1932. This soaring bird’s-eye view was taken on August 7, when the Coliseum was at full capacity for the last day of track and field.
I do enjoy coming across a vivid Kodachrome photo, especially when it was taken at an iconic LA location. In this one, we’re looking north up Vine St across Hollywood Blvd toward the Capitol Records building, back when the American Airlines ticket office filled the northeast corner, and DuPars restaurant was just up the street. I have it on good authority that the newest car in this image is the salmon-colored 1957 Lincoln Premiere, so I’m pegging this photo at circa late 1950s.
There were so many cars in the parking lot of the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena for the annual Tournament of Roses parade on January 1st, 1926 that it took very wide panoramic shot to fit them all in. And this was a time when there wasn’t a great variety in automobiles, so they pretty much all looked the same, which I imagine made finding your car after the parade a bit of a challenge.