Vintage Los Angeles Postcards, Part 2
Here is PART 2 of a series of blog posts featuring some vintage Los Angeles postcards that belong to Steve DeGaetano - cards that he purchased in New Orleans Square at the "One of a Kind Shop". He graciously offered to scan them and provide some accompanying text, which is pretty awesome. Let's get to the cards!
LA-06: This card has no caption other than “A beautiful southern California garden.”
LA-07: “Pershing Square is located in the heart of the downtown shopping district, close to theatres, café and leading hotels. It affords a delightful resting place for countless visitors and Southern Californians. Beneath the park is located the world’s largest underground garage – three floor levels accommodating over 2,000 cars.” (See a few photos from Pershing Square HERE).
LA-08: “Olvera Street is located near the Plaza, and the new Union Station. The street is typical of Old Mexico – an interesting quarter of colorful Bazaars, where vendors display their quaint pottery, candle and basket novelties. The oldest house in Los Angeles is located on this historical street.” (See some vintage Olvera Street photos HERE).
LA-09: This card has no caption other than “Fountain, Pershing Square, Los Angeles, California.” Probably can be paired with LA-07. (There are a few more views of Pershing Square HERE)
LA-10: This card has no caption other than “Broadway looking north, Los Angeles, Calif.”
MANY THANKS to Steve DeGaetano, I know that scanning and writing can be more time-consuming than it looks. We have two more Vintage LA Postcard posts to come!
9 comments:
@ Steve DeGaetano-
"A beautiful southern California garden". I can help you ID this view... Well, of course that was my garden when I was living high on the hog-! I gave it all up for the 'simpler life'. Potted plants are so much easier to maintain.
Thanks for sharing more images, Steve. You too, Major.
LA-06: Beautiful! I wonder if the card had those warm colors when it was new? Or maybe it has faded over the years?
LA-07: Hmm. When I hear "resting place" I don't think of hotels. Someplace more.... dead. If you get my drift.
LA-08: I like the colorful, busy scene. I can't tell if this is a painting or a photo that has been painted on.
LA-09: This looks like it would be a very pleasant place to walk around in, with the fountain and all the palm trees.
LA-10: Interesting... This card doesn't have the warm colors that the other cards have. Is it newer? Or did it somehow escape fading?
Thank you, Steve. These are great postcards. Thanks, Major.
In the picture of Broadway (last postcard), we can see the signage for Lowe's State Theater (built in 1921, and still standing!), although most of the "Lowe's" name is blocked by the flag. In the distance, we can also see the tall radio antenna for KRKD, on top of the historic Broadway Arcade Building (a three-level glass-roofed shopping arcade, built in 1924, and still standing!).
Could that first postcard be showing the original Busch Gardens, in Pasadena?
I'm enjoying this series of vintage postcard posts! Thank you, Steve and Major!
Thanks everyone. I don't think any of them are "painted." I think they're all photographs that have had color tinting applied. That last one is probably the earliest of this batch, maybe 1930s/1940s, judging by the car styles. Nanook?
Fun stuff Steve, thanks. LA09 makes Pershing square look nice, so we know it’s an oldie (I hope the restaurant is still operating on top of the terra cotta tower, as it is very nice indeed.) LA101 shows how that park is devoid of life since it is isolated by big streets on all sides…as it still is.
MS
These are fun!
I agree, photo 1 might be in Pasadena. No idea why I think that.
Photo 2, the Biltmore Hotel is prominent on the left. I recently learned this lobby was the model for the Tower of Terror lobby.
Olvera Street appears as I remember it.
The fountain view is wonderful, I doubt it looks like this now.
The Broadway view looks familiar, I think Dad drove us along this street years ago.
Thanks Steve and Major! Looking forward to more!
JG
I'm not sure that first garden is the original Busch Gardens...I did some digging and although it was spectacular (now TRE'd) it didn't have this particular view...and formal "mission" feel. The mountains behind could very well be behind Pasadena, but there were a few estates like these...and still are. Especially when you get to around South Pasadena or San Marino. The Huntington Museum is an epic garden...but this one is not that either...it could very well be further down going into the LA Arboretum area. I'm jealous of all that dry sun and wonderful soil in Pasadena. The boxwood hedges in the postcard looks newly planted. I lived in Pasadena when I went back to school, what a lovely place...and not just for the Rose Parade. I've always been a fan of Pershing Square/Biltmore area. So very "early Hollywood"....but miles away. It was always kind of sketchy back then...no one "wandered through the park" at that time in the late 70's early 80's. Some postcard collectors don't like postmarks on their postcards...but I actually enjoy the "time stamp", and if there is a few words it is a plus. Olvera St was the stop off after French dip sandwiches at Phillipe's. I just read that "Coles" closed. Hopefully someone opens it back up again. Dupars was always a favorite too..or the bohemian "Atomic Cafe"....I haven't been downtown in years, so not even sure what's still there or not. My regular visits were to 4th and Wall at 4-5am to the flower market. A super sketchy part of town, with flowers and plants for the wholesale trade. There was a diner there too...which I forget the name of...but it was "tank up on coffee, and get to work". I wasn't a 4am guy back then. The trees around the Pershing fountain look like giant birds of paradise. Really giant trees with really giant flowers. They must be full of nectar because the ones around my house were always surrounded by bees and such. Stupid me: I cut them down because they blocked the view....but they grow back with a vengeance. On a street view today it looks like they current owners chopped them down too. Views add up to $$$ at the beach. Strangely, the mailbox I put in 45 years ago is still there- guess that increases the property value too! I remember it was VERY expensive...oddly...$100 in the early '80's. I digress....I'm sorry I missed the previous installment. I went back and my old apartment in Hollywood was depicted on one of them. Great memories from both posts! Thanks Steve and Major!
On the building to the right in the Broadway view, the rooftop sign appears to spell out “Adohr”. Adohr Dairy sold milk and dairy products, the unusual name is the founder’s wife’s name “Rhoda” reversed.
Still in business: https://www.adohrmilk.com/
JG
Nanook, I do think it’s funny that they present that garden, almost as if it was a “typical” garden in SoCal, and not that of a grand estate!
JB, those old “linen” style cards always have that cream color, even if you find them in “new mint” condition. I suppose “resting place” does have other connotations! None of these cards are paintings, they are “colored photographs”, though the color sees to have been added by being painted, as far as I am aware. Pershing Square has changed a lot over the last 100 years, it is nowhere near so lush and green now. Sadly. That last card is old, and predates the popular linen style by several decades!
TokyoMagic!, I’ve done two crossword puzzles in the last week that had Marcus Loew as an answer! Yes, I am a crossword puzzle person. AND PROUD OF IT! Interesting idea about Busch Gardens, I’ve seen photos of the original version and that picture does resemble it (as far as I can remember), you might be right.
Steve DeGaetano, I am no car expert (to put it mildly!), but I always thought that those older cards were at least from the 1920s, if not older. I could see those cars being from the mid-to-late 1920s. Thanks Steve!
MS, I used to go downtown for work regularly, I sort of miss having an excuse to go there several times a month. Even then, Pershing Square wasn’t exactly hopping with people.
JG, Pasadena was (and still is) a nice place to live! Earlier this year, I met Sue B. in downtown and we ate at the Biltmore, wow what a place. Old-world elegance. I went to Olvera Street years ago with a girlfriend (after visiting Chinatown), it brought back lots of memories of childhood visits. And yes, I do not believe that the fountain is still in Pershing Square.
Bu, I’m not sure where the old Busch Gardens was (besides “in Pasadena”), the landscape could be closer to the mountains, or quite far away depending on how “south” it was. It’s astonishing to visit the beautiful Huntington Gardens and learn that it is a mere fraction of the size it once was. It’s always worth a trip. The photo does not look like the Arboretum to me, but then again, things could have changed drastically over 100 years. Downtown can definitely be sketchy in areas, but I used to go to concert venues (such as the famous Al’s Bar), and then we’d head over to Gorky’s for a 2 AM beer. They never closed! Once in a rare while we felt unsafe, but mostly it was OK. I know that many postcard collectors like the hand-written messages, and I do like reading them, but as a collector of Disneyland cards, I want them to be as minty as possible. I used to love to go to Little Tokyo, or the toy district (don’t even know if that is there anymore).
JG, ha, I never knew that “Adohr” was the founder’s wife’s name in reverse!!
Post a Comment