NoirCityDame, you had mentioned that your father signed up for the Navy in WWII out of Fairfax High School
(at 17!) and I wondered if you have any Los Angeles related photos of him you could share with us? Did he ever
visit the Hollywood Canteen or any U.S.O.'s in L.A.? I hope you don't mind the query.
Also, you have found alot of good newspaper items to add to many posts and I wondered if you
have, or can find anything about this (below) that I inquired about once? Thanks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Martin Pal
Speaking of Union Station, a couple months ago when I was looking up information about the First Interstate Bank
building fire in 1988, I found this LINK which had this intriguing item:
"A Yuletide Disaster at Union Station" -- The fire that took place at Union Station on December 12, 1942, may not
have caused the same sort of damage the First Interstate blaze did, but it must have put a damper on Downtown's
Christmas spirits. 7000 bags of mail -- more than 35 tons -- went up in smoke that day when a carelessly tossed
cigarette set fire to a canvas tent under which they were being stored. Both incoming and outgoing mail was included.
Sleds, dolls, baby buggies, boxes of candy, clothing and jewelry were found when fire crews sorted through the packages
looking for any lingering embers.
I haven't had any luck finding anything else about this occurrence (especially photos) which must have been covered
in the newspapers. I had never heard about a fire at Union Station before, has anyone else?
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Again, thanks
NoirCityDame for the post with info about the newspaper headlines and
clarification about dates for The Pilgrimage Play.
As an aside, I noticed in the ad you posted that "The Hollywood Pilgrimage Bowl" has it's address as
2580 N. Highland Ave. and, I'm assuming, when the freeway was built, the address changed to
2580 Cahuenga Blvd E. as the Ford Amphitheatre's now addressed.
(Hollywood Bowl is still 2301 N. Highland Ave.)
Some Pilgrimage Theatre photos and related info:
Here's a 1931 photo showing the beginnings of construction for the Pilgrimage Play Theatre
after the previous structure built in 1920 had been burned in a brush fire in October, 1929.
LAPL Image Archive
Front entrance to the Pilgrimage Theatre in Hollywood, ca. 1931.
CSL Image Archive
Postcard view of the Pilgrimage Play Theatre seating and stage, ca. 1931.
LAPL Image Archive
Here's a daytime photo of the way the Pilgrimage Play Theatre and the Hollywood Bowl looked during 1944.
CSL Image Archive
Additional information says:
--During WWII the Pilgrimage Play Theatre was deeded to Los Angeles County and converted into dormitories for servicemen. (It was?)
--In 1942, Hollywood Bowl audiences were limited to 5,000 due to war-related safety concerns.
Table Magazine: L.A. Observatory
One or both of these may have been posted before.
Spotlights abound at a War Bonds event at the Hollywood Bowl.
On June 14th, 1944, radio actors and actresses performed at the
Hollywood Bowl during a war bond program. CBS broadcast the
event live.
LAPL Image Archive
By the way, the Pilgrimage Play Theatre, now called the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre since 1976, is
closed this summer.
From an L.A. Times article:
The rumble of construction machinery and the thwack of carpentry will be the summer sounds for
2015 at the 1,196-seat county-owned outdoor John Anson Ford Amphitheatre, which is closing for
at least a year and a half for a [near] $20-million renovation project. While the makeover is underway,
the dancers and musicians who usually hold sway at the theater will fan out to other, as yet undetermined
venues around Los Angeles County.