noirish Los Angeles

[BifRayRock]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Here's another photo of the elevated path from Pasadena to Los Angeles.
The building on the right looks interesting with it's exotic turrets. I'm guessing the sign reads Pasadena Grand Opera?





usc digital archive

Can't recall if this is a NLA repost.

The PGO signage probably adorned a different structure.


HuntingtonDL


http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3H1V7FOEgP...f9e16583_z.jpg


http://www.thaddeuslowe.name/PYOperaHouse.htm




By 1923, performances of "Iolanthe" were replaced with the strains of "scrub scrub here and a scrub scrub there . . ." with construction of the "Royal" Laundry.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-k376yyHaNh...--MH--Full.jpg


See:
http://annerdman.blogspot.com/2014/0...ry-solved.html
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/gene...pasadenas-past and
https://sites.google.com/site/losang...epalaces/opera

[Tommygun]

Re: Hallabaloo post:
That's right where Jan and Deans race started with the Corvette vs Jag!?!(Deadman's Curve)

[Tommygun]

please delete

[BifRayRock]

Originally Posted by Chuckaluck

Pasadena's Hotels no stranger to fire





1887 - The Painter Hotel, located on Washington Boulevard between Fair Oaks and Raymond Avenues. Later became known as La Pintoresca Hotel. http://books.google.com/books?id=z08...0hotel&f=false
http://cdm15123.contentdm.oclc.org/c.../id/3773/rec/4

Same image, maybe easier to view.
http://waterandpower.org/Historical_...esca_Hotel.jpg

Fire and [Pasadena] Hotels is obviously a serious subject. More on the Pintoresca/Painter, including its sad demise.


Most images VVVV - from the blog of Pasadena Information Officer, Ann Erdman.>>http://annerdman.blogspot.com/2012/0...ry-solved.html This image reveals even more detail, most notably, the foreground utility pole. Street lighting? Electric? Telephone? birds nest?






This half of a stereograph from a different angle presumably depicts a later addition.
Huntington DL

[BifRayRock]

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

Speaking of Motor Avenue... I noticed this great doctored shot:

http://mstecker.com/pages/irgallery_fp.htm

From the Huntington's digital collection, an "infrared" photo of Pasadena towards Mt. Wilson, circa 1940. http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/single...2/id/710/rec/5




Infrared from Mt. Lowe toward Pasadena, circa 1954. http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/single.../id/1750/rec/7

[RudyJK]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

The wall decoration isn't on the wall in the second photo. (?) Everything else appears to be the same. I guess in the first photo that door on the left is open.

The 'wall decoration' is on the glass door. A bronze push perhaps.

I hope this is what you were referring to!

[Tetsu]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

'mystery' location.

The First Adventist Church, somewhere in Pasadena circa 1910.


https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/F...(CHS-5212).jpg

I'm not sure how a 1st Adventist Church differs from the Seventh-Day Adventist Church.

notice the Alpha and Omega on the two smaller windows on the front.



below: I've enlarged the windows so they're easier to see. The large window is extremely beautiful.


detail

I would have placed the Alpha on the left, and the Omega on the right.



And the old cabin in the back is especially intriguing. It looks like it might have been one of the first residences in Pasadena!


detail


I'm off to Illinois to visit my Mom . Have fun everyone!
_

Incredibly, a survivor! NE corner of Marengo Avenue & Maple Street. Had they decided to build on the SE corner, it would've ended up falling to the 210 freeway. Even looks the old "cabin" still exists in the back as a private residence, with some alterations (though I'm not sure about that).

GSV

Also, directly to the north on Marengo there stands what looks to be a rather special Victorian house almost completely shrouded behind bushes. I'm not usually a part of the 'chainsaw bunch' here on NLA but I think I can make an exception here...


my photos

[Tourmaline]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

The First Adventist Church, somewhere in Pasadena circa 1910.

below: I've enlarged the windows so they're easier to see. The large window is extremely beautiful.


detail

I would have placed the Alpha on the left, and the Omega on the right.
_

Alpha precedes Omega when viewed from the interior.

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by RudyJK

The 'wall decoration' is on the glass door. A bronze push perhaps.

I hope this is what you were referring to!

That simply never occurred to me, duh! LOL!
Thanks, now it all makes sense!

[HossC]

Like yesterday, today's Julius Shulman post shows a building designed by Rudolph M Schindler. This is "Job 547: Bethlehem Baptist Church (Los Angeles, Calif.), 1949".
NB. I've only omitted one image from this set - it was very similar to the one below.



Here's a covered walkway around the back.



And a wider view of the side.



They were obviously fans of British TV - there's a screen with BBC on the far left .



The interior is bigger than I expected.



I'll finish with this picture showing a mural.



All from Getty Research Institute

We've seen the Bethlehem Baptist Church at 4901 Compton Avenue a few times before on NLA - see post #21552 by Sonny☼LA and post #29436 by tovangar2 as examples. The previous posts document how the church fell into disrepair and got covered in graffiti. They also mention that it was saved. Here's the most recent GSV image. I've gone for a portrait view to show the palm tree.


GSV

[odinthor]

Originally Posted by HossC

[...]
We've seen the Bethlehem Baptist Church at 4901 Compton Avenue a few times before on NLA - see post #21552 by Sonny☼LA and post #29436 by tovangar2 as examples. The previous posts document how the church fell into disrepair and got covered in graffiti. They also mention that it was saved. Here's the most recent GSV image. I've gone for a portrait view to show the palm tree.


GSV

As one who has long observed specimens of the Canary Island Palm Phoenix canariensis with close interest, I can say that the one next to the church is an unusually old one. This made me want to see if it had any similarly-aged brethren nearby; and, sure enough, close by, down E. 49th St., there are two more...


GEV/GSV

(The left pic has Compton Ave. at the bottom; the right pic is looking towards Compton Ave.) And as we might conjecture from their spacing, via the aerial view, originally there was probably a fourth one halfway between the church one and the next one down the street. Pulling back and looking around the area, I didn't see any further such palms (there are some Washingtonia palms a block or so down; but they are quick growers and don't count!), implying perhaps that this E. 49th St. stretch was one of the earliest roads in the area. Maybe the row of big palms was originally along the road in front of an early farm house or even old rancho adobe (though the palms wouldn't go back to Mexico-era L.A.). Just pondering the matter!

Edit: Just to add a note that the introduction of Phoenix canariensis to California took place in or about 1874; or at least “The first nursery to offer P. canariensis for sale in California was the nursery of Miller and Sievers in San Francisco in their 1874 catalogue. The same year it was also offered by the San José nursery of Bernard S. Fox.” (from “The Horticultural History of the Canary Island Date Palm,” by Scott Zona, in Garden History, Vol. 36, No. 2 (Winter 2008), p. 305)

[ethereal_reality]

Hey, you found the 1910 church Tetsu! Thanks so much.

Did you notice the google-mobile drove behind the church back in 2007? In my initial post, I thought the 'cabin' in the back was being torn down,
when it was probably just being built in 1910. The extremely short 'street' that runs behind the church is called 'Pearl Place'.

Here it is with it's neighbor.

gsv


-oh....and as I was turning the google-mobile around, I noticed a third house back there too. -also on 'Pearl Place'.


gsv

the street appears to be turn right but it doesn't. It dead ends.

____________







'mystery' school.

I happened across this rare 1928 silent film starring Lloyd Hamilton.

"Lloyd Hamilton is seldom given a mention today even among silent comedy fans. One significant reason to this is his sad lack of surviving output;
most of his negatives were destroyed in a laboratory fire at Universal shortly after his death. He died an unemployable alcoholic in 1935, aged 43."

In this comedy short, "Blazing Away", there's a madcap football game at 7:38, and I've been trying to figure out which school they used in the filming.



First you get a hint of the school...just a corner.


http://psychotronicpaul.blogspot.com...new-years.html




Then the camera pulls back.......and there's an addition that has been attached to the back of the school.


http://psychotronicpaul.blogspot.com...new-years.html




Further back still, there are additional out buildings (for athletics I surmise).


http://psychotronicpaul.blogspot.com...new-years.html





The last one being the largest. This might be an indoor gym/basketball court.


http://psychotronicpaul.blogspot.com...new-years.html

I'd love to find these interesting building shapes on an old baist map.


We also get a glimpse of some neighborhood houses. -these two appear to be identical.


http://psychotronicpaul.blogspot.com...new-years.html



At the far end of the football field there appear to be multiple antennas rising above the trees.


http://psychotronicpaul.blogspot.com...new-years.html




Here's a closer look, and Yes, he's riding a pig.


http://psychotronicpaul.blogspot.com...new-years.html


BUT......in the middle of these scenes, twice they cut away to what appears to be a totally different location (perhaps they added these scenes later).

Here's the 1st image: The windows aren't grouped in pairs (like they are in the addition to the 'white' school).


http://psychotronicpaul.blogspot.com...new-years.html

I believe in the upper right edge there might be a bell tower (just a sliver of it)......................................................

The game proceeds again at the 'white' school......but a few minutes later you see this brief view....which appears to be the same location as the above image.


http://psychotronicpaul.blogspot.com...new-years.html


Anyone feel like trying to solve this little riddle just for the fun of it? (to watch the video click on any of the links below the screengrabs)
_______________


Earlier there is a scene at a train station; I'm going to post about that next.
_

[ethereal_reality]

I happened across these two snapshots last night on ebay.


"Gene's first Christmas and his tree, 1907." -Los Angeles




eBay

I wonder if this was a single Mom?

If it were a couple, I would think one of them would be holding Gene so we could see the little guy.



Here's a second snapshot, with the wicker bassinet facing a different way, but still no sight of baby Gene.


eBay

Here's my next question. What kind of tree are they using for their Christmas tree? (it looks different at the top than at the bottom) -Palm at the bottom.

-also note the various presents hanging on the tree.



Finally, here's the back of the two photographs with the information.




*It just dawned on me, maybe Gene isn't even in the bassinet.

-sometimes my imagination gets the best of me. lol
__

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by HossC

Mackey (Pearl) Apartments (Los Angeles, Calif.), 1939"[/I].


Getty Research Institute

You're right Hoss, it's hard to believe this photograph was taken in 1939!

I just noticed the drive way is already cracked



Young guy trimming the bushes, 1939.


detail


Still maintaining those bushes 77 years later.


gsv

....wouldn't it be something if this was the same guy.



-I'm kidding.

__

[HossC]

I noticed the cracked driveway too. It's also a high job number for such an early image. The dates are normally right with the Shulman images, but maybe this one isn't.


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


Here's one of the larger Julius Shulman photosets that I skipped at the start of the week. The full set has 22 images - I've picked eight. Enjoy the 1950's teenagers in "Job 1087: Spaulding and Rex, Westchester High School (Los Angeles, Calif.), 1951, 1953, 1958". The first two shots show the main entrance.





More teenagers. I wonder how many are still around. They'd be roughly 70 to 80 years old by now.



I assume that the next three images show an indoor and outdoor dining area, although none of the images in the set show a kitchen or serving area.







It looks like this central area was set out for some sort of performance or presentation.



The last picture that I've picked shows a home economics room.



All from Getty Research Institute

Searches for "Westchester High School" lead to Westchester Enriched Sciences Magnets at 7400 W Manchester Avenue, but that's not what we're looking at here. I was just congratulating myself on finding the actual site when I saw a note in the description which says "School is now called Orville Wright Junior High School." I should have looked there first, but the location is so rarely mentioned. The address is 6550 W 80th Street. Here's the entrance now.


GSV

I'll finish with an overhead view looking roughly south.


Google Maps

[HossC]

Before I found Orville Wright Junior High School, I checked out Westchester Enriched Sciences Magnets at 7400 W Manchester Avenue.


Google Maps

Can anyone explain the small airplane near the center?


Google Maps

[ethereal_reality]

Good eye Hoss! Don't you love finding anomalies like that.


Well, I found out it's a Cessna.


Photo by Jorge M. Vargas Jr. http://argonautnews.com/still-in-the-fight/

Principal Debra Bryant and students gather around a Cessna aircraft that doubles as a hands-on teaching tool during Aviation & Aerospace shop classes

__

[ethereal_reality]

Here is the 'mystery' train station I mentioned last night.

It appears at the 5:46 mark in the 1928 short 'Blazing Away".

This 'sepia' version from youtube is a tad bit better quality than the one from last night.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=966bG-LlqJo

At right you can see an 'arched' sign on the roof.......................................................





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=966bG-LlqJo

Stepping down from 'half a car'.




below: I didn't notice the distinctive 'Indian-like' geometric design until I watched this sepia version.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=966bG-LlqJo

Do any of you rail-fans recognize this train station?

__

Also........

earlier in the video, there is a clever car chase that ends in a park. Visible in the background is what looks like a high tressle bridge (with a truck on top).



That's half of a car crossing the pathway and eventually ending up in the pond. The bridge in the background has nothing to do with the narrative.

You can watch the 'sepia' video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=966bG-LlqJo

__

[Flyingwedge]

Originally Posted by HossC

Here's one of the larger Julius Shulman photosets that I skipped at the start of the week. The full set has 22 images - I've picked eight. Enjoy the 1950's teenagers in "Job 1087: Spaulding and Rex, Westchester High School (Los Angeles, Calif.), 1951, 1953, 1958".

More teenagers. I wonder how many are still around. They'd be roughly 70 to 80 years old by now.



It looks like this central area was set out for some sort of performance or presentation.



All from Getty Research Institute

I'll finish with an overhead view looking roughly south.


Google Maps

Hoss, you might have entitled your two posts today, "This is Your Life, Flyingwedge," since you've shown
the Jr. High and High School from which I graduated (not that I actually learned anything at either one).

What is now the Orville Wright campus -- seen in your Westchester High Schulman set -- served both Jr. High
and High School students from 1948-56, until the current Westchester High School on Manchester Avenue
opened. When I attended, the Jr. High was grades 7-9, and the High School was 10-12.

The first photo I copied above shows the south wall of the gymnasium. Unsuspecting 7th graders were told
there was a swimming pool on top of the roof that was accessed by the ladder in the middle of the windows.

In the second photo, the round building is the cafeteria. Just south of the cafeteria is the north wall of the gym.
The area in front of the cafeteria with all the benches was called the Quad. The tiered steps with the umbrellas
are where graduates assemble for graduation ceremonies.

With parents and family in the auditorium (the building with the rounded front in the center of the GoogleEarth
view), the back wall of the auditorium slides open to reveal the assembled graduates on the steps, who then
march into the auditorium and onto the stage. My mom said it was very impressive.

Here are the doors that slide open on the back wall of the auditorium. I wonder how many school auditoriums
have walls that open like these still do?

Flyingwedge photo

[Mstimc]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

You're right Hoss, it's hard to believe this photograph was taken in 1939!

I just noticed the drive way is already cracked



Young guy trimming the bushes, 1939.


detail


-I'm kidding.

__

I'm skeptical of the date as well. That's an awfully advanced-looking TV antenna up there for 1939.