Tag Archives: Stores and Shopping
Sacketts General Store (and Hollywood’s first post office) on the southwest corner of Hollywood and Cahuenga Blvds, Hollywood, 1898
Back—way back—when nobody had even heard of the movies, Hollywood was just a sleepy little town with a bunch of churches and no booze allowed. Central to the lives of the locals was this place: Sacketts General Store on the … Continue reading
Ralph’s supermarket on the corner of 3rd Street and Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica, 1940
I’m sure that the big white slab holding Ralph’s vertical blade sign has a technical, architectural name—but I don’t know it. Whatever it’s called, I like the way adds a little dramatic oomph to an everyday business like a supermarket. … Continue reading
Looking least along Wilshire Blvd from La Cienega Blvd toward the Fox Wilshire Theatre, Los Angles, 1933
In this photo from 1933, we’re looking east along Wilshire Blvd from La Cienega Blvd. That theater was the Fox Wilshire, which opened in 1930 with the premiere of Marx Brothers’ “Animal Crackers” and over the next few decades was … Continue reading
Southeast corner of Sunset Blvd and Crescent Heights Blvd showing Schwab’s Pharmacy and Googie’s coffee shop, Los Angeles, circa late 1950s
This vibrant color shot shows us one of the more famous corners in Los Angeles: Sunset and Crescent Heights, where two well-known coffee shops stood side by side: Googie’s and Schwab’s. Googie’s opened in 1949, giving a name to the … Continue reading
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Tagged Color photo, Googie's coffee shop, Restaurants, Stores and Shopping, Sunset Blvd
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Shops line the southeast corner of Wilshire Blvd and Bedford Dr, Beverly Hills, circa mid 1950s
This 1955 photo taken on the southeast corner of Wilshire Blvd and Bedford Dr in Beverly Hills shows us the variety of commercial architecture L.A. used to have. Four different stores – Ciro (jewelry), Chandlers (shoes), Maison des Mouchoirs (“House … Continue reading
Looking across Wilshire Blvd to the southwest corner of Wilshire Place to the future site of Bullocks Wilshire department store, Los Angeles, 1928
The soaring, iconic tower of the Bullocks Wilshire department store has long been such an indelible landmark on the Los Angeles cityscape that I’ve never really wondered what had once been on the southwest corner of Wilshire Blvd and Wilshire … Continue reading
Looking north up Vine Street at night past the Hollywood Ranch Market, Hollywood, 1954
If Angelenos ever needed to buy cigarettes or washing detergent or cash a check or fend off an attack of the munchies at 2 a.m., they knew where to go: the ramshackle, sprawling Hollywood Ranch Market on the southeast corner … Continue reading
Tobey’s Drug Store, 9101 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, circa 1949
Tobey’s Drug Store, at the northwest corner of Doheny Drive and the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, photographed here in around 1949, had all the trappings of its era: prescriptions filled, a soda fountain, liquor for sale, and of course … Continue reading
Wilcox Drug Store, 6500 Selma Ave, corner of Wilcox Ave, Hollywood, circa 1942
This photo of the Wilcox Drug Store on the southwest corner of Selma and Wilcox Avenues in Hollywood was taken around 1942. It looks to me like it was a quintessential mid-century corner American drug store: Coca-Cola sign, sells liquor, … Continue reading
Looking north up Vine Street from just south of Sunset Blvd, Hollywood, circa 1950s
Dusk settles over Hollywood in time for the neon lights along Vine Street to flicker on: Wallichs Music City, Capitol Records, Coffee Dan’s, ABC Studios, Santa Fe Railway, Plaza Hotel, The Broadway department store, Brown Derby restaurant, and NBC Studios. … Continue reading
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Tagged Brown Derby, Color photo, Hotels, NBC Radio / Television, Stores and Shopping, Sunset Blvd, Trains and Railways
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