noirish Los Angeles

[MichaelRyerson]

but it's an especially beautiful shot of a familiar interchange


Looking southwest across the Macy Street viaduct crossing the San Bernardino Freeway and the PE connector, ca.1956

etsy.com

[tovangar2]

e_r posted it three years ago here in a much smaller format. It is beautiful and "bleak", as e_r said. There were excellent follow-up posts by HenryHuntington here and HossC here.

Thank you for the extra-large version. It's gorgeous.

[Flyingwedge]

Originally Posted by Diamond-X

Katharine Putnam Hooker was notable among women of her time. She was the niece of Josiah Dwight Whitney of the California Geological survey, there is a famous mountain named for him. Katharine came to California in 1853 via the Panama crossing when her father sent back for her mother and her. They were aboard the SS Tennessee as it approached San Fransisco, struck a rock and sank. Katharine and her mother had shared a stateroom with a Mrs. Chenery. In 1862 Katharine was aboard the Paul Pry when it struck a rock near Alcatraz Island. She was 14 and under the watchful eye of William H. Brewer. Brewer made sure she was placed aboard a lifeboat before finding safety himself. Once aboard the lifeboat Katharine found herself seated next to Mrs. Chenery. At the age of 20 she married John Daggett Hooker and moved to Los Angeles. Around 1886 they built a house at 325 West Adams Street, later renamed to Adams Boulevard, at the northwest corner of Grand Avenue and Adams, later the site of the Orthopedic Hospital. The house was later donated to a family friend, Maude Thomas, who turned it into her St. Catherine's School. I believe it's near the house used for the Munsters exterior shot, if I'm not mistaken.
She was friend to many notable people of the time: John Muir, Elizabeth Stoddard, David Starr Jordan, George Ellery Halel to name a few. She was in San Fransisco in April of 1906 when the earthquake took place. She died in July 1935 at the age of eighty-six.

Far from noir-ish, Katharine was an intellectual and mixed with that type. Her home on West Adams had a large backyard garden and was where John Muir wrote some of his works there.

Here is a photo of Katharine and her dog Lado on the porch of their West Adams Street home.



This information and photo were gathered from the WAHA website located http://www.westadamsheritage.org

Thanks for the info and the interesting photo Diamond-X.


Here's a c. 1900-05 shot looking at the front of the Hooker home:



CHS-1640 @ USCDL


I think behind the railing with the potted plants is the porch where she is playing her guitar in your photo:



CHS-1640 close-up


This is a nice look at 325 W. Adams, apparently from the SW corner of Adams and Hope:



SCWHR-P-002.2-1523R at Seaver Center


There is a building permit dated August 22, 1925 (probably inspired by the June 29, 1925, earthquake in Santa Barbara)
that states, "to anticipate any earthquake damage, removing big brick chimneys from 12 inches above roof line up &
substituting double walled steel and plaster tops."


In this snip from the 1907 Sanborn Map, 325 W. Adams is in the lower left corner, just east of the famous Palm Drive.
The Hooker home's back yard is surrounded by six- and seven-foot-high brick walls:



ProQuest via LAPL

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I thought that was your work Hoss!

Did 'Water & Power' give you credit?

Originally Posted by tovangar2

Yes, LOC. Jack probably just made an error. Write to him.
webmaster@waterandpower.org

The caption for the photo at Water and Power contains links to both the original LOC image and a post of mine containing the labeled version, so I have no problem with their crediting. It was actually their link that helped me find my original post. I've since been back and added some keywords for search purposes!

Thanks for posting the webmaster's email address, t2 - if I ever spot any problems, I'll let Jack know .


----------------------

Originally Posted by tovangar2

I's gorgeous.

And you's modest too .

[MichaelRyerson]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

e_r posted it three years ago here in a much smaller format. It is beautiful and "bleak", as e_r said. There were excellent follow-up posts by HenryHuntington here and HossC here.

Thank you for the extra-large version. I's gorgeous.

Ah well, at least mine's bigger.

[BifRayRock]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

To see an AMAZING high-definition Dino's Lodge menu, go to 3940dxer's post from back in 2012. (link below)

Here:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=6047
__

"The Rise and Fall of Dino's Lodge" >>>> http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2011/0...nos-lodge.html



http://blog.wfmu.org/.a/6a00d83451c2...3b5d6ad970c-pi

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by Flyingwedge

This is a nice look at 325 W. Adams, apparently from the SW corner of Adams and Hope:



SCWHR-P-002.2-1523R at Seaver Center

I was disappointed to find one of Geoffrey Palmer's "Italian" efforts on that corner now :-(


................................................................

Originally Posted by HossC

The caption for the photo at Water and Power contains links to both the original LOC image and a post of mine containing the labeled version

Thank you Hoss. I got mixed up between "#*A" and "*#A". W&P's coding system always confuses me. I wish they'd just use the sources' initials!


...............................................................

Originally Posted by MichaelRyerson

Ah well, at least mine's bigger.

That's what made it so excellent. I looked at that for a long time. Thx again.





.

[HossC]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

In 1958, Robinson's opened its third branch store in Pasadena (its 2nd branch store being a "winter only" store in Palm Springs). This was the last free-standing Robinson's, subsequent ones being built attached to shopping malls.

Robinson's Pasadena under construction.

LAPL

Sadly, this is the only image from sopas ej's post which is still showing. The text in the post indicates that USC has other images of the store, but no links were included, and I haven't had time to search for them.

Here's Julius Shulman's view of the finished building. It's "Job 2599: Pereira & Luckman, Robinson's (Pasadena, Calif.), 1958".



Getty Research Institute

These single-image photosets often leave me wanting more. Luckily, a note in the description told me there was another photoset to check out. This is "Job 2663: Pereira & Luckman, Robinson's (Pasadena, Calif.), 1958". I'll start with the only color shot.



Here's the other front corner. I've left out a few images that just show the front from different angles.



Between the store and the parking garage is this little garden area.



This higher view gives us a better look.



I'll finish with this long shot of the parking garage and rear of the store.



All from Getty Research Institute

The caption for the LAPL image at the top of this post contains the following information:

Designed by William L. Pereira and Charles Luckman, the department store opened in 1958. After closing in January, 1993, Target Stores acquired the property and reopened it in May, 1994.

Target Stores still owns the old Robinson's building at 777 E Colorado Boulevard.


GSV

Much to my surprise, the garden with the diamond-shaped flower beds has also survived.


GSV

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

Did you click on the "Playboy Bar" link?
_________________________________________________________________

I did indeed!

Originally Posted by tovangar2

Because here's the "back door" just before the wreckers got it in '98:

playboybar

There's an image of the lit neon too.
_________________________________________________________________

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by BifRayRock

http://www.gstatic.com/hostedimg/9464b932290b1072_large
_________________________________________________________________

I love the specially painted Red Car...and I want to see "Kopper's Kapers!"

Originally Posted by BifRayRock

Willys Overland Jeepster
http://i2.wp.com/www.arts-stew.com/w...Jeepster-2.jpg

Re the "Hi, Jinx" on her automobile, perhaps:

Jinx Falkenburg married in 1945 and she and her husband moved to New York where they had a very successful radio program titled "Hi, Jinx."

[tovangar2]

Ah, Jeepsters. I'll take one in each color please.


....................................................................

Originally Posted by HossC

Much to my surprise, the garden with the diamond-shaped flower beds has also survived.


GSV

Target is known for treating good buildings it takes over with respect. Their City Target in Chicago being the most famous example. Rather than junking up Louis Sullivan's
greatly-loved Schlesinger and Meyer building with signage, they put an iconic red target on a stand, which shows through the corner window to excellent effect. That made
loyal customers out of many of us:

gsv

[Blaster]

Originally Posted by BifRayRock

"The Rise and Fall of Dino's Lodge" >>>> http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2011/0...nos-lodge.html



http://blog.wfmu.org/.a/6a00d83451c2...3b5d6ad970c-pi

Walter Winchell claims: "Joan Dixon (the thrush at Dino's) belongs on the major night club spot circuit back East. Blue Angel, Bon Soir, Velvet Room and the other intimate places can get her booked through this column..."

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by Beaudry

Thank you for this one Beaudry. I have a particular interest in the ARCO Plaza site & environs. I used to spend a bit of time in the planted area between the North Tower and the granite retaining wall, which prevented Figueroa from sliding onto the plaza. I was always most aware of the lay of the land around there in our little bit of the Crown Hills, and also that my favored spot had once been within the basement of the Architects Building.


Back in 1909, the Bur-Mar and the Dunstan were known as the Leoti and the St Dunstan, but sainthood must have been too great a burden:

Originally Posted by Beaudry

Figueroa rhapsody, 1951, Michael Ryerson, on Flickr

bigmapsblog
.

[BifRayRock]

I don't think these more-glam-than-noir images have been posted before, mostly because they seem to be second or third stringers. If they are reposts, they are at least good sized reposts. The images are undated and unaccompanied with descriptive text other than: "Prominent Citizens." No kidding. http://images.google.com/hosted/life...e1d08f2f5.html.




http://http://www.gstatic.com/hosted...a2359828_large






http://www.gstatic.com/hostedimg/c6fd89223117260d_large







Fascinating view from Music Center of Hall of Records and City Hall, framed by County Administration Bldg on left and Superior Court on right.
http://www.gstatic.com/hostedimg/4b91c0f21afacb48_large






Didn't Steve Martin muse about LA's Blue Period.
http://www.gstatic.com/hostedimg/1c22e201c0229f3e_large








Three glamorous shots of LA County Museum of Art on Wilshire.
http://www.gstatic.com/hostedimg/528d45c9bfb2fa26_large






LACMA as a young ingenue
http://www.gstatic.com/hostedimg/232dcf9ae1104c1a_large






More LACMA
http://www.gstatic.com/hostedimg/18706387bc2e7441_large

[ethereal_reality]

I happen upon this nifty 1952 Kodachrome slide last night on ebay.

"Vtg 1952 35mm Slide Los Angeles Calif Alvarado Street 1940s Cars Redwood Lodge"


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vtg-1952-35m...4AAOSwpP9Y8Dqe




Here's a closer look down the street.


detail

Redwood Lodge Motel






update:

and a matchbook for the place.



ebay

906 S. Alvarado St.

[ethereal_reality]

I just found another slide. (this seller says this is 1952 as well)




http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vtg-1952-35m...3D142348427595

Obviously the Hollywood Freeway is going in. That's Hollywood & Vine in the distance.

That darn watermark.

[ethereal_reality]

Sorry, but I'm doing this a bit ass-backwards.

I just realized there's a 2nd slide of Alvarado Street [1952]


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vtg-1952-35m.../142348431284?
hash=item2124a0afb4:g:GngAAOSwc49Y8DwL

Cafes (and Bars) always catch my eye first: Anyone know the name of the cafe behind the Liberty Car Co. sign?




I'm also curious about this building. (or is it two building?)


detail

Since I'm asking so many question: What about the large building behind the 'Hollingsworth' billboard (is it a storage building?)

_

[tovangar2]

There's a version without the watermark in the listing (still got arrows). That's a beautiful side:

ebay


The motel building is still there. It was built in 1920 as four 5-room flats:

gsv

It's now run by Behavioral Systems Southwest Inc and ground-floor windows are not allowed:

BSS

[ethereal_reality]

Oh YES, that's much better!


Here's the other one without the watermark. (Thanks for pointing that out t2)



The others one is coming it up...


Here it is!


https://www.auctiva.com/hostedimages...s=0,0&format=0

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by BifRayRock

I don't think these more-glam-than-noir images have been posted before, mostly because they seem to be second or third stringers. http://images.google.com/hosted/life...e1d08f2f5.html.

Did y'all notice something going on in the northernmost, 8th-floor window of the Law Building in two of those slides (next to my asterisk)?


That was the entry door from the footbridge , if anyone remembers that story:

Originally Posted by gsjansen

Source: LAPL