Tag Archives: Los Angeles
Looking east along Santa Monica Blvd toward Western Ave, Los Angeles, 1930
We’re looking east along Santa Monica Blvd toward Western Ave. In the foreground is the Marsh Music Company at 5522 Santa Monica Blvd advertising pianos and radio for rent. Next to them was an optometrist/jeweler who also sold clocks and … Continue reading
Looking north around an oil derrick in the middle of La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles, 1938
I guess motorists of the 1920s and 30s got used to driving around Los Angeles and seeing oil derricks scattered across the landscape. But I wonder if any of these motorists driving on La Cienega Blvd (at around where the … Continue reading
Rear view of the set for D.W. Griffith’s “Intolerance” at Sunset Boulevard and Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, circa mid 1910s
I’m glad that someone thought to take a shot of the back of the 300-foot set that D.W. Griffith built at the intersection of Sunset Blvd and Hollywood Blvd in Los Feliz for his colossus of a movie, “Intolerance.” (1916) … Continue reading
Hattem’s supermarket (the first in LA) at 8039 South Vermont Ave, Los Angeles, circa 1932
It’s hard to believe that this Art Deco gloriousness was a supermarket, let alone the first one in Los Angeles. Hattem’s opened in 1927 at 8039 South Vermont Ave. Not only that, but it was open 24 hours a day … Continue reading
Churrigueresque entrance to the Villa Carlotta apartment building, 5959 Franklin Ave, Los Angeles, circa 1928
Technically speaking this highly ornate entrance to the Villa Carlotta apartment building, 5959 Franklin Ave is called Churrigueresque, which means “relating to the lavishly ornamented late Spanish baroque style.” But I prefer to think of it as “over-the-top in the … Continue reading
Atomic blast as seen in Downtown Los Angeles, 5.15am on May 7, 1952
Is it any wonder that the 1950s saw a rise in science-gone-wrong movies when this sort of stuff was going on? The Nevada Test Site, where the government tested atomic bombs was around 300 miles from Los Angeles. The bomb … Continue reading
Aerial shot of new development between Wilshire Blvd and Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, 1924
It’s hard to think Los Angeles land ever being this empty, even as recently as 1924, when this aerial was taken. We’re looking a swath of land to the immediate west of what we now think of as Century City. … Continue reading
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Tagged 20th Century-Fox, Aerial photographs, Los Angeles, Wilshire Blvd
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Court Flight funicular, between Temple and First Streets, downtown Los Angeles, 1940
Angels Flight is the most famous funicular in downtown Los Angeles but it wasn’t the only one. There was also Court Flight, which ferried passengers up the steep incline of Bunker Hill between Temple and First Streets. Also unlike Angel’s … Continue reading
An almost completely dry Los Angeles River in Studio City circa 1937 and 2015
The sight of a concreted Los Angeles River is so common these days that we don’t really give any thought to perhaps once upon a time it was an actual river with a natural river bed. In fact, it was … Continue reading
Corner of Wilshire Boulevard and La Cienega Boulevard, Los Angeles, 1934
This this photo, we’re looking at the southeast corner of Wilshire Boulevard and La Cienega Boulevard in 1934. These days that corner is filled with an oval-shaped, brown glass skyscraper. But back in the 1930s, it was the location of … Continue reading