Tag Archives: Beaches
Gables Beach Club, Santa Monica beach, circa late 1920s
In the 1920s and 30s, a number of fancy beach club were built along Santa Monica beach: the aptly named Santa Monica Beach Club, and the French-inspired Deauville Beach Club. There was also the Gables Beach Club, a grand Tudor-style … Continue reading
The original canals of Venice Beach, California, circa early 1900s
This shot must have been taken fairly early on in the history of Venice Beach. The original canals are there in all their glory, just as developer Abbott Kinney intended them to be.
El Miro theater, 1441 Third St., Santa Monica, circa 1930s
Ah, they don’t make theater facades like this anymore, do they? This is the El Miro theater which stood at 1441 Third Street (now the Third Street Promenade) in Santa Monica. I love those clean deco lines and the light … Continue reading
Interior of Thelma Todd’s Sidewalk Cafe, Pacific Palicades, circa mid-1930s
Thelma Todd was a popular actress in the 1930s – known as “the Ice Cream Blonde.” In 1934, she opened a place in Pacific Palisades called Thelma Todd’s Sidewalk Café, a year before she died under mysterious circumstances. It’s not … Continue reading
Venice Beach canal, circa 1920s
I love finding old photos of Venice Beach from back in the (too-brief) days when it really did resemble Venice, Italy. I don’t know when this was taken, but most of the canals were paved over by 1929.
Windward Ave, Venice Beach, 1912
Windward Ave, Venice Beach, 1912
Rainbow pier, Long Beach, California
Rainbow Pier was actually a rainbow-shaped breakwater with a roadway constructed along its crest, connecting Pine St. and the Long Beach Pier. I don’t know when this photo was taken, but the pier was finished in 1931. How lovely it … Continue reading
Dance marathon, Venice Pier, 1934
I’ve often wondered where they held dance marathons in L.A. during the Depression. Apparently one of them was on the Venice Pier as shown in this 1934 photograph. At least the ocean breezes would have kept you cool and the … Continue reading
Irving Thalberg and Norma Shearer’s beach house on Santa Monica beach
MGM’s Irving Thalberg and Norma Shearer had a beach house on Santa Monica beach. As with his neighbors Louis B. Mayer and William Randolph Hearst, it sat right on the edge of the sand. But unlike his neighbors, Thalberg was … Continue reading
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Tagged Aerial photographs, Beaches, MGM, Movie Stars, Santa Monica
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Topanga Beach Auto Court at the corner of Topanga Canyon Blvd and Pacific Coast Highway, 1939
This is what the corner of Topanga Canyon Blvd and Pacific Coast Highway (or the Roosevelt Highway as it was still called back then) looked like in 1939. It probably took you most of the day to get there from … Continue reading