I'm always excited when I find old slides showing Los Angeles the way it used to be - when I was a kid, my grandmother would tell me stories of when she first came out to L.A. in 1929, the year she married my grandpa. She was from Illinois, and loved all that L.A. had to offer. For those of you who have no interest in photos from this area, well... there's always tomorrow.
First up is this unusual photo from February, 1969, taken looking eastward on Wilshire Boulevard. The street sign tells us that this is at the corner of Westmoreland Avenue, and we can see some distinctive landmarks such as "Maggi's" (I can only assume that store sold women's clothing), the Sheraton West, and that interesting shopping center across the street. Way in the distance we can see a group of several white buildings, including the Royal Apartments, the Bryson Apartments, and the Fifield Wilshire.
Using Google's "Street View", this is about as close as I could get to approximating the view from the previous picture. Things have changed over the last 59 years, including that curvy glass building, which I believe is an apartment complex.
Next is this view of Wilshire (circa March, 1962), over in the Westwood area; we're looking east near the Gayley Avenue intersection. I sometimes wonder why a person would take a photo like this - but I'm glad that they did! There's the Linde Medical Plaza (with the blue face toward us). Two large buildings are under construction, this was a boom time for Wilshire!
Here's a vintage postcard showing the same intersection, from a few years later.
And here's a Google street view. Glass boxes aplenty!
#1- I wonder what the "Atlanta '88" billboard is about? It must be referring to something other than 1988; 19 years in the future.
ReplyDeleteAnd there's a billboard (or two) advertising the Freemont Hotel and casino in Las Vegas; featuring Kay Starr.
#3- Major, it looks like there is a third building under construction; there's a crane off in the distance.
This was back in the day when Hertz was known as Ertz.
Thanks for the Saturday travelogue, Major.
Major, I love "then and now" photo comparisons! Thanks for taking the time to search for the "now" views.
ReplyDeleteIn the third image, we can see the sign for "Ships," which was a coffee shop, done in the "Googie" architecture style. There were three Ships Coffee Shops in the Los Angeles area. Here's the one from Wilshire Blvd:
https://www.laconservancy.org/locations/ships-coffee-shop-demolished
Thanks again, Major!
Major-
ReplyDeleteThanks for the images. I lost a huge comment thru my own stupidity-! A total re-generation ain't gonna happen - other than this...
Although the Linde Medical Plaza opened first, it always played second fiddle to the Kirkeby Center, to its east. It had a swanky restaurant (Kirkeby Center Restaurant) located on the top floor - featuring fabulous views. LOOK HERE Hubba, hubba-!
The Kirkeby Center shared some exterior design features with the Superior Oil Company Building (1955), at 550 S. Flower Street, LA., as they were both designed by architect Claud Beelman. HERE'S A VIEW. A shot of this building was often used in the Perry Mason series, as his office.
Thanks again.
Major, I’m with Tokyo, these are a lot of fun, then and now. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteJB, Atlanta 88 is an airfare, note the dollar sign, $, and the Delta Airlines slogan, “Delta is ready when you are”. Pretty good deal if you want to go to Atlanta.
Tokyo, I saw that sign but never heard of Ships before now, cool sign. Thank you!
That blue end wall of the Linde Center looks to me like mosaic tile, which was a popular exterior cladding in that era. That’s a big wall covered with premium material. I think it’s still there but covered up in the Today photo.
Nanook, thanks for the Kirkeby Center info, now I know why it looks so familiar. We always laugh at Perry Mason, whose office, and apparently others on his floor, have an outdoor terrace, yet none are visible on the building exterior. The Junior Gorillas should get a big table at that restaurant.
JG
I've always been a big Wilshire Blvd. fan...from downtown all the way to the sea. It was part of my commute for a bit of time, and was always in transition- as you can see from these photos. It's nice to see a few Hollywood Regency style buildings left...for now. Glass blob buildings are not my favorite, but I get it. I'm not ready for LA becoming a bad version of "The Jetsons". A real Jetsons would be most appreciated. Wilshire Blvd. is home to many many many historic locales...and if you are taking a leisure trip, it's good to look them up. I always loved the La Brea Tar Pits since I was a wee lad. If you look in the pavement on Wilshire the tar still come up in the middle of the street. The May Co. building...now part of the museum is an awesome deco/streamline building. In the movie "The Star" out of work actress (played by Bette Davis) gets a job at this May Company and exterior and interior shots are shown. The best scene in the movie is where Bette is driving drunk through LA with her Oscar on the dashboard of her car: "brilliant." Another old Hollywood legend also worked on Wilshire: Judy Garland had a flower shop- her mother wanted her to "have something to fall back on" if her stardom didn't work out. Although the building succumbed to TRE, another cool streamline building was built and is now a Staples. They saved the building and it is super cool. The Westwood part of Wilshire is very different than the other "city" parts...there are large apartment buildings and many of the people that I worked with/around from New York liked these buildings as they had doormen akin to the upper East and West and all over Manhattan. When I drove Chuck Williams (of Williams Sonoma...) down Wilshire (for another time) he told me that when he first came to LA, that part of Wilshire and Westwood was a wasteland of sand dunes and a bunch of nothing. Most of the time I'll take a bunch of nothing rather than a bunch of TRE. The thing with LA, is that even the TRE will be gone, replaced by more TRE in a few years...to be replaced again and again.
ReplyDeleteJB, I wondered about “Atlanta ’88” as well, it mentions “Delta”, so it must be for the airline, but why “88”? No idea. And yes, you often see ads for Las Vegas in old photos of any major Los Angeles street, it must have been quite the getaway. I noticed that other building under construction, but did not bother to look it up!
ReplyDeleteTokyoMagic!, the “then and now” comparisons are my favorite thing, especially when I’m not quite sure of the location of the old photo, and manage to find landmarks that are still there today. Thanks for pointing out Ships, I feel like I should go to all of the surviving classic coffee shops in L.A., since they seem to be closing and getting razed (more luxury condos!).
Nanook, I’m sorry you lost your big comment, that is always an annoyance. I don’t know what Kirkeby Center is (was?), but did it compete with Linde Medical Plaza somehow? Did Linde have its own restaurant with stellar views of Wilshire? You sure know your Perry Mason trivia. My brother and my mom have been watching old episodes on TV lately, they seem to be having fun with them.
JG, oh, good eye on the dollar sign, I did not notice. I’ll bet 88 bucks seemed expensive back then. I had no idea what was up with that massive blue wall, I wonder if it really was some sort of tile? And why didn’t they have windows on that wall? Did they plan on charging so that it could be used as a giant billboard?
Bu, it’s still kind of fun (well, maybe “fun” is not the word) to drive along Wilshire and see the beautiful old-style apartment buildings that must date back to the 1940s and before. I always wonder what they cost (they are probably condos). Those dumb glass boxes are efficient and relatively cheap to build, but my gosh are they boring to look at. I have certainly seen asphaltum bubbling up in random places near the tar pits, and one time found a dead squirrel stuck in a puddle of the stuff. Someday he’ll be a fossil. I love the May Co. building, but wish it was still a part of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. I’ve never been to the new Academy Museum, but have read reviews that were less than stellar. Why would you be driving Mr. Williams around? Did you have your own gypsy cab?
A 76 ball sign, legacy of the 1962 World’s Fair. Just basking in the nostalgia today…and I didn’t even know this Los Angeles personally. Thanks, Major & all!
ReplyDeleteJG, thanks for the Atlanta 88 explanation. My problem is that I mistook the dollar sign for an apostrophe.
ReplyDeleteProbably the only thing I could afford at the Kirkeby Center Restaurant is tap water and soda crackers.
@ JG-
ReplyDeleteOriginally, the wall was finished in mosaic tile, as you surmised. My dad was part of the general contracting firm that built the building - so I visited the site many times during construction - and after. The original signage was added a year or so after the building was completed; and the owners being a bit on the 'cheap side', opted for non back-lit letters, necessitating a 'light array' placed in the rooftop parking area, way down near ground level.
That 'terrace' as seen in the Perry Mason series, originally had fixed windows that wouldn't see 'sliders' added until [I believe] the second season - which could naturally be integrated into the storyline, or add another shooting location to their arsenal.
Major-
The buildings really weren't "competing" with one another, but the Kirkeby Center clearly was more than a simple office or medical building, having a nicer 'fit and finish'. The Linde Medical Plaza DID have a restaurant - a coffee shop, called the Golden Cup. It was at ground floor level, located in the SE corner of the building, at the intersection of Wilshire and Westwood Boulevards - which [at one time] had the dubious distinction of being the busiest intersection in the world. (I wonder if that's still true-?)
And as for Perry Mason, I know a ton about the original show.
Thanks Major, nostalgia plus! Some film trivia: that Ship's restaurant is seen in the 1967 Tomorrowland Circlevision "America the Beautiful" movie; the camera was mounted on a fire engine which made a sharp turn onto Wilshire and barreled down the hilly road, causing every audience to sway along with the images. This edition was still playing when I visited Disneyland in August 1982; a man near me said "Wow--this is an old film".
ReplyDeleteShip's and these buildings are also on view in the 1962 movie "Smog", about the Italian expatriate community living in Los Angeles-- yes, this flick is a rarity. And the white building in center now is home to the Hammer Museum and the Billy Wilder Theatre, which hosts UCLA's film program and is where I incidentally saw "Smog" just a few months age.
From the “just out of frame files”…
ReplyDeleteMid-Wilshire. If we could see just behind the new wavy glass tower, stands the cutest creative cluster called ‘The Granada buildings’ that any Disneyland fan will adore (with a whole in-depth Walt Disney connection thru photographer George Hurrell who lived and worked there):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granada_Shoppes_and_Studios
https://www.laconservancy.org/locations/granada-buildings
Westwood.
If we could see behind the tall towers of the right side of Wilshire Blvd., lies one of the greatest cemeteries on earth. Tiny, tree lined, tucked into town, it holds the remains of some of the most famous people ever, as in Marilyn Monroe, and Many more.
https://www.laconservancy.org/locations/westwood-memorial-park
LA is LAyered.
I do love the 76 signs, there’s something so cheerful about them. Just like Big Oil!
ReplyDeleteJB, oh come on, you could have purchased a small soda at the Kirkeby Center too!
Nanook, how expensive could that back-lit signage been? I mean, in the scheme of the cost of the whole building, it had to have been minimal, and foks would have been able to see if for many blocks! I actually had no idea that Perry Mason was supposed to take place in Los Angeles. Haven’t seen it since I was a kid, and it’s all a black and white blur now. “The Golden Cup”, not a great name. I prefer “Coffee-geddon”! And now I would also like to know if that intersection is still considered the “busiest in the world”.
Stefano, funny, my friend Mr. X emailed me about Ships being in the “America the Beautiful” film. It’s been way too long since I’ve seen that - I think there used to be part of it on YouTube, maybe it’s still there. I do vaguely remember the fire engine bit. Good ID on the Hammer Museum, which I’ve been to, but I didn’t even consider it.
Anon, thank you for that interesting information. I am unaware of a Walt Disney connection to George Hurrell, though I assume that Hurrell took a formal portrait of Walt. Was there anything beyond that? Did Hurrell do any work for the studio? And I knew about Westwood Memorial Park, but looking on Google Maps, I am surprised to learn that Frank Zappa was laid to rest not far from Don Knotts. Two of the greats!
Major-
ReplyDeleteYou didn't know Perry Mason took place in LA-??!! For shame.
There is plenty of location shooting in and around LA, including shots of the County Courts Building and the original County Hall of Justice Building - that was [partially] described in that great Standard Oil of California promotional film - Los Angeles, City of Destiny, as "... behind the colonnades at the top is the County Jail - affording spectacular views for prisoners-!" YES - Los Angeles County really rolls out the red carpet for its legally-challenged inmates.
Stefano and Major, I forgot all about the "Ships" sign showing up in "America The Beautiful." I shot video of the entire film, when they brought it back in 1996. For anyone interested, here is the entire film. The part where the Ships neon sign shows up is at the 17:27 mark:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=224cljfiFmE
Love today’s interesting post — with all the added links, and especially TokyoMagic’s video footage...I enjoyed the trip back into DL.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Major, and everyone.
—Sue