Here we have a scene that any Angeleno wouldn’t have thought twice about back in around the mid to late 1950s, when this photo was taken. But now we live in a streetcarless Los Angeles, where some of us miss a form of public transit that we never got to experience. This is the LA transit lines No. 1419 streetcar on the S line. We’re looking west along 8th St, where the line terminates at Western Ave. If you look past the streetcar, you can see the first Ben Frank’s restaurant. Next to that is the American Cancer Society building which later became Wonderland Studios owned by Stevie Wonder.
This is roughly the same view from July 2022. Not a lot remains except for the two brick buildings on the right.
My thanks to Lisa Gilmour for bringing to photo to my attention.
As the strippers in “Gypsy” told us, you gotta have a gimmick. And the gimmick chosen by the Tumbleweed Theatre at 11918 Garvey Ave, El Monte (due east of downtown Los Angeles) was to build its marquee into a wooden tower topped by a windmill. This photo was taken in 1939, the year it opened. The theater itself was made to look like a barn, so they were going for a rustic look, which would have suited the relatively undeveloped area back then. The Tumbleweed lasted until the late 1960s.
It looks like moviegoers attending the “gala reopening” of the Fox West Coast Theater at 308 N. Main S in Santa Ana were treated to a full night. Along with the new MGM hit, “Mutiny on the Bounty” they also saw one of Disney’s “Silly Symphony” cartoons, as well as a Pete Smith short. MGM’s Oscar-nominated “Mutiny” came out in November 1935, so I’m guessing the Pete Smith short was MGM’s Oscar-nominated “La Fiesta de Santa Barbara” which featured a 13-year-old Judy Garland singing “La Cucaracha” with her two sisters. All in all, it sounds like a full night out, if you ask me.
This cleanly streamlined Art Deco building on the southwest corner of Sunset Blvd and Fairfax Ave in Hollywood reminds me of 
Sometimes all you need are some nice, clean lines and bold, clear lettering to make your mark. Case in point: the Beverly Buick showroom at the northwest corner of Olympic Blvd and Maple Dr, Beverly Hills. It does what it needs to do without being too flashy. Judging by the Buicks parked out front, this photo is circa 1956.
I don’t know if it was common in 1937 for girls to be offered archery classes, or if it was specifically a Beverly Hills High School thing, but these young women look like they’re taking it seriously. I also have to wonder if any of them got bored and tried to hit either of those two oil wells in the background.
In this photo, we’re looking west along Sunset Blvd toward Vine Street, Hollywood. For years that photo was dominated by 
Some buildings are simply meant to be photographed in color—and this is one of them. The May Co. department store opened its flagship store on the northeast corner of Wilshire Blvd and Fairfax Ave in 1940. To make sure everybody noticed, they covered t
Some people take the “A man’s home is his castle” literally. In this case, it was Dr. Schloesser, a physician who made a fortune in real estate and investments. When he moved from Chicago to LA, he bought land around what is now Franklin, Argyle, and Vine Streets. That was in 1904, when Hollywood hadn’t yet been invaded by those pesky motion picture people. Schloesser built what he called Castle San Souci at 1901 Argyle St. And as if that wasn’t grand enough, he also added that elaborate gate. Built in 1912, Sans Souci didn’t have a long life. It came down in 1928 to make way for the Castle Argyle Apartments that overlook the Hollywood Freeway.
