noirish Los Angeles

[ethereal_reality]

I just found the following two slides on ebay.


"Kodachrome Original Slide Photo 400 W 7th St Los Angeles California 1950s"

#1

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kodachrome-O...IAAOSwmgJY6Iox

Why was downtown Los Angeles so much busier then? Take for example the Brack Shops (shown above on the left)

The Brack Shops consisted of.

11.....beauty shops. (only 5 do permanent waves)
2......tea rooms
2......architect offices
4......artists and art shops
3......chiropractors
2......chiropodists
1......corsetier (sp?)
3......dressmakers
2......embroidery shops
3......fur shops
1......golf shop
2......jewelers
1......millinery
1......notary
3......optometrists
1......patterns shop
1......photographer
4......physicians
3......ready to wear shops
1......shoes and hose shop

All that in just ONE building shown in the slide.

When I lived in L.A. probably 80% of the upper stories in the older buildings downtown were vacant.
It was quite depressing . I seldom went down there.
--

update:
*The Brack Shops might have been in two bldgs.














"Kodachrome Original Slide Photo 500 W 7th St Los Angeles California 1950s"

OK, I have to admit. This slide doesn't look all that busy.

#2

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kodachrome-O...3D272623120984

I can't place the hotel on the left.....anyone remember it's name?

(did you notice the car with the luggage rack appears in both slides)
_________



I realize we talked about this before, but....

Joan Crawford walks down this stretch of 7th Street and past the Brack Shops in the opening credits of 'Possessed' [1947]


http://dearoldhollywood.blogspot.com...locations.html

Brack Shop listings
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=6122

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

"The Playboy" is what you're looking for:

playboybar

It closed in '98.

This memory is from the "Comments" section at CBD's Nickodell's link:

oldlarestaurants
_________________________________________________________________

Thanks, tovangar2, I see it in the photo below clearly, now that I know what it is and, also, the gas station mentioned in the comment is in this photo. I still wasn't sure it said PLAYBOY in the color photo, but it does have that little "The" area right before "playboy" that you can see in the b&w photo, too, so I guess it is!

The earliest I can find it in the CD's is 1962 (it's not in the 1960 or 1961 listings) and it's in the latest CD available, too, 1987!
The address listed is 5347 Melrose Ave. Phone HO-92887.

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

I found this photo that was in a New York Times article at some point:

NYT

[BifRayRock]

Originally Posted by Wig-Wag

Chucaluck's recent inquiry about the "S" line loop at 8th and Western reminded me of a piece I wrote for a rail enthusiasts site a awhile back. Set during WWII, It briefly outlines the contribution of women street car motorman, conductors, and bus drivers to the war effort on the home front. The operator in the piece was a regular motorman during my late teenage years.

The lady in the picture is Cora M. Dravis. She joined the Los Angeles Railway in the dark days of World War II, when women replaced men called up to serve in the military.

In September of 1942 the privately owned and operated Los Angeles Railway earned the distinction of being the first transit agency in the U.S. to hire women to operating positions. San Diego Electric Railway followed shortly thereafter, and the practice soon spread across the country.

Cora became one of more than 300 women employed by LARY as Motormanettes, Conductorettes, Coachettes and Driverettes. The requirements at the time were modest - age 21-40, weight 120-140, and height 5’3”-5’10.” Initially all of the women operated out of one division owing to a lack of restroom facilities.

Cora is shown here at the Whittier and Brannick loop. The year is 1963, and on March 31, her career as a streetcar operator will end with the abandonment of LA's last five streetcar lines. Cora will become a bus driver for a short while, before retiring from the Los Angeles Metroplolitan Transit Authorty with an accident free record. She has since passed on, but her contribution, and that of her wartime sisters to the battle on the home front lives on in Los Angeles rail transportation history.


While not in the Noir genre, hopefully viewers will find it interesting.





Cheers,
Jack

Originally Posted by BifRayRock

Model Jinx Falkenburg. (523 N.Cahuenga, per '42CD)


http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/compou...d/18118/rec/22

Can't get Wings for a P40 Warhawk?
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...8632eda492.jpg








Be a Home Front Ace. Become a Trolley Pilot. May 1944

Pedestrians, out of the way!




Jinx appears to have been one of the two girls having their way with the Street Car Operator. Be careful WigWag!



http://www.gstatic.com/hostedimg/91317a00a74a82be_large




http://www.gstatic.com/hostedimg/26c5bf54afa173c5_large






http://www.gstatic.com/hostedimg/d7c4f664a36554d2_large







http://http://www.gstatic.com/hosted...ad732b91_large






http://www.gstatic.com/hostedimg/5d7bf0564482c02e_large







http://www.gstatic.com/hostedimg/3ae6ea4298b1199b_large









http://www.gstatic.com/hostedimg/746e72b39e73d7f4_large








http://www.gstatic.com/hostedimg/64dca6b7226fb1a3_large







http://www.gstatic.com/hostedimg/b64d1487b6170c42_large







http://www.gstatic.com/hostedimg/5865ccf5165f4032_large





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






"But will she float?"
http://www.gstatic.com/hostedimg/2a79821c9a639001_large





A gasometer . . . is like a mel-o-dy.
http://www.gstatic.com/hostedimg/784bcf959aa69175_large



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

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I can't place the hotel on the left. Does anyone know it's name?

_

1909:

bigmapblog

The five-story hotel was a John Parkinson effort from 1905.

In 1909 the Orena was advertised as "the best $1 a day hotel in Los Angeles"


HossC annotations on a LOC photo.

Most early photos of the 1927 Roosevelt Building try to ignore the little hotel, here in ca 1938:

lapl/herman schultheis

ETA search term: Victoria Hotel

[ethereal_reality]

That was fast t2

So it was originally the Hotel Orena. -Good to know.

[HossC]

The 1956 CD lists the Victoria Hotel at 703 W 7th Street. Here's a view of the Hope Street side in 1960.


USC Digital Library

[ethereal_reality]

That's an excellent find Hoss.

Is that magic-marker on the print (beneath 'Victorian Hotel')....I wonder why it's there?

It looks like it's outlining where an advertisement is going to go. (or where one has been)

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by HossC

The 1956 CD lists the Victoria Hotel at 703 W 7th Street. Here's a view of the Hope Street side in 1960.

Any John Parkinson detailing had been striped away by 1960. It looks totally anonymous :-(


It's amazing we know where we are anymore:

Originally Posted by HossC

The 1956 CD lists the Victoria Hotel at 703 W 7th Street. Here's a view of the Hope Street side in 1960.


USC Digital Library

gsv

[HossC]

I've just found this 1912 picture of the Hotel Victoria. Initially I thought it was a different building (no location is given), but the windows on the side line up perfectly. The 1912 CD lists the address as "7th nw cor Hope", with J L Duvall as proprietor.


Huntington Digital Library

[ethereal_reality]

detail

Originally Posted by tovangar2

Any John Parkinson detailing had been striped away by 1960. It looks totally anonymous :-(

I guess they were trying to make it look modern t2. They failed miserably.
-----


I see someone is selling Carp.

[tovangar2]

That one's amazing Hoss! Talk about a change of scale. Sorry to keep then-and-nowing everyone, but I cannot resist when the "then" is this good (I guess it didn't register w/ me when BRR took us here before):

Originally Posted by HossC

Huntington Digital Library

gvs

The hotel was still the "Orena" in 1910. I bet the 1912 photo was to celebrate the name change and new sign.

baist, 1910, plate 8 (detail)

The replacement building went up in 1964.

One more, 1933:

usc/dickwittington (detail)

Hoss, you showed us the Victoria before too

[HossC]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

In 1909 the Orena was advertised as "the best $1 a day hotel in Los Angeles"


waterandpower

Did you check where waterandpower.org found that image?

Originally Posted by HossC

Library of Congress

[ethereal_reality]

I thought that was your work Hoss!

Did 'Water & Power' give you credit?
_

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by HossC

Did you check where waterandpower.org found that image?

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

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by BifRayRock

[SIZE="3"][FONT="Tahoma"]
Jinx appears to have been one of the two girls having their way with the Street Car Operator. Be careful WigWag!



http://www.gstatic.com/hostedimg/91317a00a74a82be_large

Women should be very cautious with streetcar operators. Remember that's what got the famous Ding Dong Daddy into a lot of trouble. Here he is inside the Los Angeles jail in 1955.
Outside was one of his many wives that he hadn't bothered to divorce. We've seen him before on NLA. I think he was married to at least 3 or 4 women...simultaneously.



LATIMES

[ethereal_reality]

I don't remember the earlier posts about this guy CBD.

Why did they call him DING DONG DADDY? (or should I be afraid to ask? )

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

The earliest I can find it in the CD's is 1962 (it's not in the 1960 or 1961 listings) and it's in the latest CD available, too, 1987!
The address listed is 5347 Melrose Ave. Phone HO-92887.

Did you click on the "Playboy Bar" link?

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

playboybar

There's an image of the lit neon too.

[ethereal_reality]

Earlier this afternoon I came across this intriguing cabinet card on ebay.

"LARGE GROUP of MEN w HATS CANES RIBBONS, LOS ANGELES CA c1880"


http://www.ebay.com/itm/c1880-BIG-GR...0AAOSwAoRXFYaB

The two homes appear to be buffeted by commercial buildings. The building on the left is quite tall...it even reaches the top left corner of the photograph.

The photography studio was located in the Temple Block, but the name of the photographer was partially covered when they attached the photo to the card.




Here's a larger look.


detail

Don't look now, but there appears to be a poster on the side of the brick bldg on the right--->





Frustratingly, there isn't much on the back.


reverse

As you can see, there are bits of newspaper taped or glued to three of the four edges.






Okay, I can't resist.

Here's an even LARGER close-up. (because I can )


Bruce's zoom machine

Are those street numbers above the front door?

Surprisingly, the small boy in the center appears to be wearing a plaid skirt/kilt.
__

Good luck sleuths!

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

& surprisingly, the small boy in the center appears to be wearing a plaid skirt.

It's a kilt. I like the kid's top hat. He'd fit right in at the Playboy Bar.

Wasn't 1880 the year of the visit of President & Mrs Hays? Maybe this is part of the welcoming party?



ETA, Oh, forget that last. This description says "1890s":

bizarrla

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I don't remember the earlier posts about this guy CBD.

Why did they call him DING DONG DADDY? (or should I be afraid to ask? )

For two reasons. First, there was a popular song by that name at the time and the second is a reminder of the streetcar bell.....Ding Dong.....

His name was Francis "Ding Dong Daddy" Van Wie.