Tag Archives: Sunset Blvd
Crossroads of the World shopping mall when it opened, 6671 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, 1936
Los Angeles architecture is an eclectic mix of pretty much every imaginable style: Art Deco, Fairytale, Frank Lloyd Wright, Spanish Revival, and many others. But this little pocket of L.A. is a whole mini world unto itself. There was no … Continue reading
Recreation of Holdup at Garden of Allah Hotel, 8152 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, November 1951
My thanks to J. Yuma for bringing this photo to my attention. On November 30, 1951, two armed gunmen held up the Garden of Allah Hotel and got away with $500 cash. Obviously, they didn’t bring along a photographer to … Continue reading
Garden of Allah bar at the Garden of Allah Hotel, 8152 Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood, circa 1950s
By the 1950s, A-list guests of the Garden of Allah Hotel (Flynn, Bogie, Bacall, Rogers, Stokowski, Marx, and half the Algonquin Round Table) were no longer around so the hotel did what many hotels do—it reinvented itself. All reports I’ve … Continue reading
CBS Columbia Square radio studios, 6121 Sunset Blvd, Hollywood, circa 1955
The NBC radio (and later television) studios got the lion’s share of attention from photographers, but two blocks east along Sunset Blvd were CBS’s facilities. Known as ‘Columbia Square’ it opened in 1938. Judging by those nifty cars parked out … Continue reading
Nat King Cole plays Ciro’s nightclub, Sunset Strip, Los Angeles, 1945
The Hollywood Reporter’s Billy Wilkerson opening Ciro’s nightclub in January 1940 heralded the era of the great Hollywood nightclubs (Mocambo opened a year later.) At one point Ciro’s had a Pompeii Room featuring a Vesuvius cocktail. Almost immediately, the place … Continue reading
Looking north up Vine Street from Sunset Blvd, Hollywood, circa 1955
The sharp photos taken by professionals with slick cameras are all very well, but sometimes a tourist taking a quick snap can reveal a bit of on-the-streets realness. This is a mid-50s shot of NBC television studios at the corner … Continue reading
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Tagged Color photo, Hollywood, NBC Radio / Television, Sunset Blvd
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Mark C Bloom 24-hour gas station and tire store, 6210 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, April 1942
This very film-noir-esque night shot of the Mark C Bloom gas station at the corner of Sunset Blvd and El Centro Ave was taken in April 1942. It looks like he was a one-stop shop: gas, motor oil, car wash … Continue reading
Eddie Cantor’s Antique Shop, 8743 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, circa 1930s
Not only did Eddie Cantor have a store in the Brown Derby building on Vine Street, but in the 1930s, he also had an antique and gift store at 8743 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, in the middle of the Sunset … Continue reading
A stop/go semaphore traffic signal at the corner of Sunset and Vine, Hollywood, 1942
I’ll take any excuse to post a photo of a semaphore traffic signal. But especially if it’s at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street right in the heart of Hollywood. But if you take a closer look, you’ll … Continue reading
Lytton Plaza on the former Garden of Allah site on Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, 1966
This collage of photos gives us an idea of what the corner of Sunset Blvd and Crescent Heights Blvd looked like in 1966. It had been the site of the Garden of Allah Hotel, but in the summer 1959, the … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Advertisement, Hotels, Sunset Blvd, The Garden of Allah Hotel
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