Tag Archives: Los Angeles
Corner of Sunset Boulevard and Figueroa Street, 1924.
It’s been a very long time since downtown L.A. has looked like this. This is the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Figueroa Street at the top end of downtown in 1924. The intersection doesn’t even have any traffic lights although … Continue reading
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Tagged Downtown Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Streetcars, Sunset Blvd
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Aerial photograph of Los Angeles taken from a hot air balloon in 1887
The notation on this amazing aerial photograph of Los Angeles is as follows: This photograph of the fledgling town of Los Angeles was taken from a hot-air balloon on June 26, 1887. Floating 9,000 feet above the city in a … Continue reading
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Tagged Aerial photographs, Downtown Los Angeles, Los Angeles
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Hollywood glamour map, 1941
CLICK FOR LARGER VERSION, AND CLICK AGAIN FOR AN EVEN LARGER VERSION. Anyone who’s been following me for a while will know that I do enjoy a good Hollywood map. But a Hollywood GLAMOUR map from 1941? How could I … Continue reading
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Tagged Hollywood, Hollywood Blvd, Hotels, Los Angeles, Maps, Movie Studios, Nightclubs, Restaurants, Sunset Blvd, Wilshire Blvd
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Interior shot of the Cocoanut Grove nightclub at the Ambassador Hotel, Wilshire Blvd
Of all the interior shots I’ve seen of the Cocoanut Grove nightclub at the Ambassador Hotel, I’ve never seen (or at least noticed) this section seated under a striped canopy. Notice the exotic light fixtures hanging from above – I’m … Continue reading
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Tagged Ambassador Hotel, Cocoanut Grove nightclub, Hotels, Los Angeles, Nightclubs, Restaurants, Wilshire Blvd
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Map of the City of Los Angeles, 1900
115 years ago, the city of Los Angeles spread as far as the area shaded in red. The rest of it was largely undeveloped wide open spaces. Oh my, how things have changed. Nowadays, it’s all shoulder-to-shoulder urban sprawl. This … Continue reading
Los Angeles City Hall on New Year’s Day, 1954
A fun shot of the Los Angeles City Hall on New Year’s Day, 1954. They arranged for the lights in the offices to spell out “54” to herald in the new year.
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Tagged Downtown Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Los Angeles City Hall, Night photo
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Clifton’s Pacific Seas Cafeteria, 618 South Olive Street, downtown Los Angeles, 1939
Clifton’s was a chain of cafeterias that started in downtown Los Angeles in the early 1930s. The country was at the height of the depression and, unwilling to turn away a guest just because they couldn’t pay, Clifton’s instituted a … Continue reading
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Tagged Color photo, Downtown Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Restaurants
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Corner of Broadway and Jefferson Blvd, Los Angeles, February 4th, 1953.
I don’t know what was going on at the corner of Broadway and Jefferson Blvd when a photographer from the L.A. Examiner took this photo on February 4th, 1953, but the result is pretty stunning, don’t you think?
Aerial view of MGM’s Circus Maximus set from “Ben Hur” (1925)
This aerial shot of MGM’s 1925 version of “Ben Hur” intersection makes me shake my head in wonder. In the movie it all looks to grand, but when you look at it like this, it doesn’t look all that impressive. … Continue reading
The first drive-in theater in California at 10850 W. Pico Blvd, 1934
The novelty of sitting in your car to watch movies arrived not too long after the novelty of hearing movies talk. The first drive-in theater in California was imaginatively called “The Drive-In Theater” and it opened September 9th, 1934 at … Continue reading