FLASHBACK – The Exuberant Zest of WW2 SoCal
I’m not sure how many of the Japanese Americans who were relocated into local internment camps (or their descendants) would’ve considered it a “minor incident” of World War 2… but hey, those people could write their own dagnabbed newsreels! Um, or not.
“This video (part two, which focuses on local character, is after the jump) looks at what the future might be for California after World War II ends. Would there be enough jobs given the rapid population growth that was occurring? What industries might take up the slack when military spending ended? The post-WW2 Cold War was not foreseen. References are made to opportunities for trade with Russia and China. Nuclear energy – surprisingly – is seen as an alternative to hydro (and this is before Hiroshima.) The movie industry is recognized as important for the future. References are made to prewar social movements such as EPIC and the Ham & Eggs pension scheme and religious movements.”
(more…)
AWESOME – Frasier the Sensuous Lion
People often ask me how I choose the subjects of my posts. It’s a tough question to answer… often I’ll start working on a post, only to find that by following random links I’m led completely off topic to discover something that’s much more interesting than the original article I had in mind. This is one of those times. So, for the curious, here’s how this post happened: while doing research for a future article on the old Marineland, childhood memories of long-gone Lion Country Safari (1970-1984) distracted me. The quick google search that followed led me to the story of Frasier the Sensuous Lion, shown in all of his sexy glory below.
It was this paragraph on the Yesterland website that jumped out at me: 
“Lion Country Safari was given a big boost by an unlikely star attraction. An elderly, nearly toothless lion named Frasier came from a Mexican circus in February 1971. The old cat’s tongue dangled from one side of his mouth, and he had trouble walking. He may not have been much to look at as far as we humans were concerned, but the lionesses saw him differently. There was population boom of lion cubs at the park. Frasier’s sorry visage adorned tee-shirts and other park souvenirs. Frasier sired 35 cubs until his death in June 1972 at 17-20 years of age, equivalent to a human age of 85-100 years. Frasier even inspired a 1973 feature movie, Frasier the Sensuous Lion, rated PG.” (See creepy poster at right)
Vaguely remembering this funny looking lion from my childhood, I had an instant urge to find out more about Frasier. Imagine my surprise when I found out his active sex life had actually gained enough notoriety for the late jazz greats Jimmy Rowles, Johnny Mercer, and Sarah Vaughan to create a song documenting it (video and full lyrics after the jump).
Go Frasier! (more…)
FLASHBACK – Forced Integration in L.A.
September 1970 “This news clip from 1970 focuses on the start of desegregation-via-busing in the Pasadena school district and the signing of an anti-busing bill by California Gov. Ronald Reagan. A much larger controversy later surrounded busing in the Los Angeles Unified School District, since that district covered many more students. Busing in L.A. and elsewhere in California was largely halted by litigation and the passage of a ballot initiative in the early 1980s. ”
October 1980 “Litigation to order a busing plan for the Los Angeles Unified School District began in the 1960s and a plan was ultimately ordered by Judge Paul Egly in the late 1970s. This news report focuses on “white flight” from the District. Proposition 1 of 1979 was a reaction to the busing plan and limited the scope of busing. After several years of litigation, Prop 1 was upheld and the plan ended. The video shows a sign denouncing Judge Egly.”
FLASHBACK – 1950s Babies On Parade
Gee, your hair smells terrific…
July 28, 1951: Three year-old Bobby Ashe – Everest (”Master Ladera Park”) puts his smooth moves on 22 month-old Sharon Hawkins (”Miss Ladera Park”) at The Ladera Park Baby Show.
CLICK ON IMAGES FOR LARGER VIEWS.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8863776421109511056
MATINEE – Raymond Chandler’s Los Angeles
After the jump, a really great 30 minute long documentary (shown in 3 parts) about iconic author Raymond Chandler’s take on the corruption of Los Angeles in the 1930s… a paradise infiltrated by dope fiends, smut peddlers, schemers in low places and high, crooked cops and crooked politicians…
And here’s something you might not have known… I’ll bet you’ve passed The Cahuenga Building in Hollywood a million times and not thought twice about it… but the six-story structure erected by John and Donald Parkinson (they also built Bullock’s Wilshire and the Santa Monica City Hall) was once the tallest building on the Boulevard and the high-profile home for L.A.’s best-known fictional private detective. Cynical gumshoe Philip Marlowe’s office was located on the top floor in Suite #615 and it’s for this very reason that the building’s intersection was officially named after his creator, author Raymond Chandler. Interested in checking the building out? Well you’ll soon be able to spend the night… it’s currently being turned into a boutique hotel.
FLASHBACK – Racing Thru The Clouds in Venice
Once upon a time, the first roller coaster ever built on the West Coast reached towards the Venice, California sky. The ride was called Race Thru The Clouds and when it opened on July 4, 1911, even with only half of its cars on line over 25,000 people rode it. Yes, in one day. Roller coasters soon became such a popular attraction in Venice that fourteen were built in between 1904 and 1925. In the early 1920’s, visitors to Venice had a choice of six different rides: three on the Venice Pier, one on the inland lagoon and two on the Ocean Park/Lick Piers.
Although the first coaster is long gone, you can still find evidence of Race Thru The Clouds nearby if you look… architect Steve Ehrlich themed a nearby commercial building after its curves. I think my favorite tribute is this, though: a Folsom Prison inmate named William Jennings-Bryan Burke once spent over a decade erecting a replica of the ride made entirely out of toothpicks! AWESOME! (He actually built entire carnivals from toothpicks. I’m not kidding.)
(CLICK ON THE IMAGES BELOW FOR LARGER VIEWS)
(more…)
HISTORY – Sister Aimee & Her Castle
As some of you may know, as a teenager during the early 20th century my grandmother preached in tent revivals alongside (and also babysat for) local evangelist Sister Aimee Semple McPherson, who was once – without question – the most powerful, influential, and controversial woman in all of America. Founder of the Foursquare Church, Sister Aimee opened her Angelus Temple on New Year’s Day in 1923… a giant round building facing Echo Park which no doubt many of you pass daily without thinking twice about. The building’s cost was an unheard-of 1.2 million dollars at the time (paid for through average donations of TWO CENTS!!)… leading one critic to declare that Aimee “put the cost in Pentecost.”
At the very bottom of this post is a rare video tour of Aimee’s castle home in Lake Elsinore. Directly below are a few short samples of the show-womanship of Sister Aimee in all of her sin-battling glory… so REPENT, SINNERS!
(more…)
EXPLORE – LA’s Abandoned Zoo
In the heart of Griffith Park lies a ghost zoo, built in 1912 and abandoned in 1965. You can still visit it, but you’ll have to bring your own animals. A breakdown of the old zoo’s story can be found here.
WARNING: For those of you viewing this from other countries… if you don’t speak English as a first language you might struggle at first to understand the narration in the above video, mainly because it’s true that many of us speak very fast and slur our words together here in Los Angeles and this narrator is no different. (Take a breath, man!) Honestly I’m known to turn five words into one on a regular basis myself, though, which can lose people who aren’t used to hearing it. It’s a great video, though. :)
FLASHBACK – The Sewing Nun, circa 1950
When poor little orphans were unable to pick up the dolls she made for them, Sister Josephine donned her giant habit and gallantly took to the air, flying from house to house like a true holiday superhero. Santa shmanta.
(CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VIEW)
“Hopeful — Sister Josephine of the Los Angeles Orphanage sews doll clothes while Staff Sergeant Leo T. Batt asks Clara Jean, 8 (left), Johnnie, 9, Dede, 9, and Mary, 7, what they want for Christmas through Corps Reserve’s Toys For Tots campaign. Girls want dolls.”
FLASHBACK – Mark and Brian’s Mullets, circa 1991
For a playlist of the full parade, click here.
KLOS morning show DJs Mark Thompson and Brian Phelps came West from Birmingham, Alabama in September 1987. Initially it was their endearing “fish out of water” shtick that really won over viewers… I actually remember laughing out loud while listening to their live Halloween morning broadcast from Bel Air, as they yelled “trick or treat” into the estate intercoms while dressed as ax murderers. (Yes, police were called.) At the time, they were definitely a refreshing and welcomed change from their competition.
As L.A. became their home, the pair become progressively more “Hollywood” and upon receiving a 1991 National Association of Broadcasters Marconi Award as “Air Personalities of the Year,” Mark & Brian were clearly a hot commodity. So much so that ABC Television, hoping to find a West Coast Howard Stern Show on their hands, offered to broadcast “Mark and Brian’s Day Before Thanksgiving Parade” for their fans.
The video above was taped eighteen years ago on November 27, 1991. In what is perhaps not a surprise move in retrospect, ABC chose not to make the parade an annual television event. Personally, I blame that electric blue jacket combo. Just… wow.
PART 3 – Robert Kennedy
SERIES: Visions of the Ambassador
On June 4th, 1968, Robert Kennedy was confident he had just clinched the Democratic primary. He was set to be the next President of the United States, and with his leadership would come change. Kennedy was one of the first leaders of his stature and background to forcefully inspire and include people of all ages and colors, his goal being to create a better nation that would stand together and end racial and economic injustice. Having together witnessed the losses of Kennedy’s brother and Martin Luther King, Jr., many Americans recognized and embraced his urgent passion as genuine, and saw his dreams of change as their own.
Although Bobby Kennedy was staying on the fifth floor of the (now renovated) Sportsman’s Lodge, his political base in Los Angeles was the Royal Suite in the Ambassador Hotel. Kennedy’s last speech was held in the Ambassador’s Embassy Room, and he was fatally shot as he exited through the kitchen.
The first video above was taken from the funeral train which carried Kennedy’s body. Along the entire path of the train’s journey, Americans from every imaginable walk of life gathered together along the tracks to say goodbye to the man who had embodied their hopes and dreams… and was taken from them.
After the jump, photos of the man convicted for the murder of Bobby Kennedy, Sirhan Sirhan, then and in 2008. (Click on thumbnails for larger views.) (more…)
IMAGERY – Ye Olde Beverly Hills Hotel
Click on images for larger views.
As it’s a gorgeous day outside, my friend Geraldine and I will be observing interesting people and sights during a lazy Sunday wander through the indisputably historic Beverly Hills Hotel. Hell, we’ll probably even enjoy a cocktail/nosh at the Polo Lounge and hang out until we just can’t take the color combinations of pink and green any longer. Because that’s how we roll. We’re rogues.
Anyhoooo, the image below is what Hotel California looked like in 1920. If you look, you’ll see that this view is from Will Rogers’ Park (land which singer George Michaels is now banned from stepping foot on) overlooking Sunset Boulevard.
After the jump is another little treat… something we probably won’t ever see in front of the Beverly Hills Hotel ever again. Take a look at where the streetcar is located on the left side of the landscape photo below… that’s the exact location where the next image was captured some years later.
Photograph of an exterior view of the Beverly Hills Hotel, 1920. A lavish courtyard is pictured in the foreground, with steps leading up to its paved walkway, which is lined to either side by palm trees. Several auxiliary walkways that branch from it demarcate circular areas of grass, beyond which a streetcar is visible parked in the driveway that stands in front of the large, three-story, L-shaped hotel. Three spires extend from the roof at the crook of the “L” from which flags wave. A second, equally large building can be seen in the far distance to the right, along with mountains.
SERIES – Knott’s: From Boysenberries to Ride Warriors
I’m really enjoying exploring things for more than one post. So today we’re going to head a bit South to introduce yet another series. This time we’ll be exploring a local landmark that *even your kids* are very familiar with (but probably don’t know the history of)… the former fruit stand of Walter Knott.
Basically, we’ll learn more about how this…
Turned into this… (more…)
PART 2 – The Ambassador Hotel All-Stars
SERIES: Visions of the Ambassador
During the roaring 20s and 30s, the Ambassador Hotel’s nightclub “house bands” quickly became the most popular orchestras in the world. An issue of (the then-popular and catchy-named) Talking Machine World magazine identified Abe Lyman’s California Ambassador Orchestra (see video clip above) as “Los Angeles’ most famous popular musical organization” in 1923.
“Abe Lyman (August 4, 1897 – October 23, 1957) was a popular bandleader from the 1920s to the 1940s. He made recordings, appeared in films and provided the music for numerous radio shows, including Your Hit Parade… For an engagement at the Cocoanut Grove in The Ambassador Hotel on April 1, 1922, Abe added a violinist and saxophonist. Opening night drew a large crowd of 1500 guests in the Cocoanut Grove, plus another 500 more outside.”
For a five year run in the 30s, a dapper group of musicians known as Gus Arnheim’s Orchestra (see video below) was then stationed at the Cocoanut Grove and widely considered to be the most popular band on the West coast. In 1930, the band began to feature male singing trio The Rhythm Boys, featuring a young singer named Bing Crosby. Arnheim Orchestra alumni also included Stan Kenton, Russ Columbo (seen playing violin and singing in the middle of the trio in the clip below), Charlie Spivak, Woody Herman, and actor Fred McMurray (on saxophone).
http://www.dailymotion.com/videox1u2m8
IMAGERY – Traffic on the Cahuenga Pass, 1897
Welcome to the original 101 Freeway.
Photograph of two cyclists on the Cahuenga Pass, Los Angeles, circa 1897. The man to the right walks his bicycle on the unpaved road, looking at his companion riding to the left, on whose back is strapped a briefcase of some kind. The terrain surrounding them is comprised entirely of grassy hills. Caption on photoprint reads: “Cahuenga Pass — connecting Hollywood and San Fernando Valley — as it was in 1897.”
Click on image for larger view.
SERIES – Visions of the Ambassador: Introduction
Today I was remembering a fancy corporate event I witnessed in the mid-90s. It was the kind of an all-out, over-the-top shindig people simply don’t *have* in economic times like these. The theme of this party was the famous Cocoanut Grove nightclub… so for one night, Disney paid to have the Ambassador Hotel returned to its former glory. A friend had been invited by a client, and I won the lottery as his plus one.
Until I physically got out of the car that night, it really didn’t register what I was about to experience. I knew about the Cocoanut Grove and I knew Robert Kennedy had been shot in the kitchen… but walking up to the front, surrounded by klieg lights, the night ended up being more profound and emotional for me than I’d expected. There was plentiful food and drink, and fortune tellers and games scattered around… but it was the building that entertained me. At one point I remember walking through the nightclub just mesmerised by the palm tree columns that still existed. After a few drinks, while everyone else was busy shmoozing, I then became obsessed with seeing where Kennedy died. A small group of us convinced a waiter to let us sneak back into the kitchen and I remember tipsily wandering around muttering “Where is it?” until a busboy pointed down at the ground. I sobered up instantly as a very haunting image flashed into my brain and wouldn’t leave. The past became so vivid for a moment that I felt a bit of an Overlook Hotel vibe. I was a bit quieter for the rest of the night.
When the party was over, I knew in my heart that I’d been touched by a place that wasn’t going to exist much longer. The importance wasn’t lost on me… as I walked outside I felt like someone hesitating to leave their sickly grandparent’s house, knowing they probably weren’t going to see them alive again. And sure enough, I didn’t… as the Ambassador faced the wrecking ball, I avoided driving by it. I found its destruction too depressing to think about.
On the 24 acres where the Ambassador once stood, a $571-million kindergarten-to-12th-grade school campus is gradually opening its doors now. I’m not complaining about this… what’s happened has happened and as I see it the hard facts here are simple ones. Both of these statements are true and indisputable: 1) Schools are good. 2) We have lost something very special. So this month I’m going to do a little series focusing on the incredible glory of Los Angeles’ former jewel The Ambassador Hotel. It was too fantabulous and important of a place for one single post to do it justice.
FLASHBACK – It’s a Big Job
In this training film, our new friend Bill explains the daily struggles of Los Angeles Transit Lines‘ transit operators circa 1947. Him? He likes his job. If he didn’t, he never would’ve taken it. 
Part two and part three (which includes “motor coach” operator training and electric trolley buses) are after the jump for your matinee-viewing pleasure if you are so inclined.
FOCUS – The Dunbar Hotel
Since a lot of people don’t know much about the history of the Central Avenue jazz scene that happened in Los Angeles, to accompany my last post noting Mama’s passing I decided to expand on it. The neighborhood played such a crucial and historic part not just in jazz history, but in African American history as well, it’s a worthy point to add.
The top jazz club on Central Avenue during its heyday was Club Alabam and *the* place to stay was the Dunbar Hotel, with a guest list that regularly included the likes of Count Basie, Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday and Lena Horne. Originally known as the Somerville Hotel, the structure was erected in 1928 entirely by black contractors, laborers and craftsmen and black community members helped John Somerville and his wife Vada to finance the entire project.
In 1907 Jamaican-born John Alexander Somerville became the first African American to graduate from the USC School of Dentistry. He earned the highest grade-point average in the class of 1907, and had passed the State Dental Board examination six months before graduation. His wife, Vada Watson Somerville, became the school’s first African-American woman graduate in 1918, going on to achieve distinction as the first black woman licensed to practice dentistry in California. Besides managing a successful practice, the Somervilles were instrumental in opening the Los Angeles chapter of the NAACP. John Somerville also contributed to the local landscape by developing upscale properties. He was the second African-American member of the Chamber of Commerce and served on the Los Angeles Police Commission from 1949 to 1953.” SOURCE
After the jump is a video discussing the important role the Dunbar played in American history and a vintage postcard of the hotel circa 1938 (according to the card, the room rates at the time were $1 per day and $5 a week).
The Dunbar Hotel still stands, however its current future is sadly uncertain. (more…)
IMAGERY – LA’s Whistling Birds of the 1920s
Prior to television, people found such fascinating ways to entertain themselves. I have never even *heard* of a Bird Whistling Chorus before, but I imagine it probably sounded something like like this. I so wish I could’ve watched these women perform… although probably not for more than ten minutes or so. (More photos after the jump. Click for larger views.)
Apparently someone didn’t get the telegram about wearing all white…
1923 – Photographic group portrait of America’s Bird Whistling Chorus in Los Angeles. Four rows of women in light-colored dresses sit facing the camera, with one woman in a dark-colored dress to the right of center. A woman in the front row holds a conductor’s baton. The group is posed in front of an indistinguishable background, possibly a stage. (more…)
IMAGERY – Fishing in Azusa, October 1930
I really love these photos. Click on the images for a larger view.
Photograph of Jewell Teegardin fishing on a rock above the falls and Beatrice Williams fishing in the foreground, Rainbow Angling Club, Azusa, October 1930. Both women can be seen wearing knee-high laced-up boots, breeches, and sleeveless collared shirts. They hold fishing poles and have baskets slung over their shoulders.
ODDITY – The Late, Great, Tower of Pallets Monument
Even the National Enquirer was taken aback after the city of Los Angeles designated Daniel Van Meter’s Tower of Wooden Pallets a historical landmark. A photo spread of the Sherman Oaks structure was accompanied by a headline that said, “No kidding! This pile of junk is a historic monument!”
Robert Winter, a former member of the Cultural Heritage Commission, joked later that the 1978 vote might have been influenced by fumes emanating from the pallets, which were discards from a brewery.
“Maybe we were drunk,” said Winter, a prominent architectural historian. (SOURCE)
Daniel Van Meter began construction of the 22-foot-tall structure in 1951 using 2,000 wooden pallets tossed out by a local brewery. The slatted wood was stacked like bricks and placed in a circle with a radius of about 22 feet wide. According to Van Meter, the tower, his own personal sanctuary, was built around the grave of a child buried in 1869.
“I have a place where it is quiet, despite the apartments, the noise of the boulevard and the hum and screeches of the rat race on the freeway 200 feet away,” he said.
At night, Van Meter said, he climbs to the top of the tower and looks at the moon and the stars. “To me, this is a spiritual place.” (SOURCE)
The tower was bulldozed in 2006 and in January 2009 the 2.5 acre property was sold by Dan’s heirs for $4.5 million. Construction began almost immediately on a new apartment building in its place, just as Van Meter predicted almost forty years ago while lobbying for his tower’s landmark status:
“… in a few years this piece of the good earth may be covered by apartments for the storing of surplus people. In the meantime, pray, let this strange structure be, let it continue to be a haven of rest for an individual – that endangered species – who once knew how sweet was our Valley.” (SOURCE)
IMAGERY – Looking Forward to Halloween, 1961
Attention is called to the forthcoming Halloween carnivals by youthful Denker Playground patrons, left to right, first row, Ladonna Rice, 10 years old, and Yolanda Rice, 9; second row, Robert Cathcart, 11, left, and Walter Hobbs, 10, right; and back row, Denise Thomas, 11, left, and Sheila Dabney, 10, right.
The USC Digital Archive contains tens of thousands of great images of historic Los Angeles, but some of my personal favorites are featured in the LA Examiner archive, where this image resides.
REVISIT – Bono Pisses Off the LAPD
As I was at the U2 show last night, I kept thinking I should revisit this article… just because. So, here it is! :)
This article was first posted on July 14, 2009 
*CLICK ON THE SQUARE IMAGE BELOW TO LAUNCH PHOTO GALLERY*
Where: The roof top of the Republic Liquor Store, corner of 7th and Main, Downtown
When: 3pm Friday, March 27, 1987
What: A rumor spread throughout the city that the band U2 was about to shoot a live music video on a rooftop Downtown. Coincidentally, many 20-somethings suffered flu-like symptoms and left work early that day.
Details: U2’s Joshua Tree album was released on March 9th, 1987 to an immediate buzz. Irish director Meiert Avis was hired to rush a video for the third single and the chosen song, “Where The Streets Have No Name,” was to set be performed live to playback. For dramatic effect they chose to film on location – a Skid Row liquor store in the middle of a workday. (more…)
FLASHBACK – Streetcar Conducting 101, circa 1914
Most of the footage in this Pacific Electric instructional video was shot in then-barren Culver City, El Monte and Glendale. It’s so amazing to realize just how many things have changed in one hundred years. It also cracks me up when the “discourteous conductor” yells that he’s not a mind reader. 
