Posts tagged as:

Nostalgia

Memory Lane: 1950s Los Angeles

Odds and Ends

Automobiles with fins cruising broad boulevards and open freeways; street cars and paper boys; well-dressed people lining up to dine at the Pantry; industry and commerce — these are just a few of the sights recorded in this nostalgic view of 1950s Los Angeles. If you grew up Angeleno during that era, enjoy the trip [...]

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An Out-of-This-World Moonsuit

Odds and Ends

The year was 1960 when NASA development engineer Allyn B. “Hap” Hazard donned his stellar design creation to take a runway strut around Pasadena’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
According to the Kevitivity blog, where I stumbled across this vintage photo, the goofy suit was the inspiration for Mattel’s Major Matt Mason, the action figure for Space [...]

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The Rise and Decline of Historic Route 99

Angeleno Sights

We’ve all heard you can “get your kicks on Route 66,” but would you feel just as fine on Route 99?
While less iconic than its cross-country cousin, Route 99 also has a storied past. It began as a dusty stagecoach trail running from Baja California to British Columbia, via California, Oregon and Washington. With [...]

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RIP: John J. Ward, Bishop

Names and Faces

Sadly, this morning’s Los Angeles Times carried the obituary of John J. Ward, an archdiocesan auxiliary bishop and veteran of Vatican II.
Bishop Ward confirmed me. During my several years at St. John’s Seminary, I had the privilege of meeting and interacting with him on numerous occasions. “Modern Catholics” often took issue with his conservative ways, [...]

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L.A. Auto Show a Trip Down Memory Lane

Life in Angel City

Unless you’re totally pedestrian, you probably know the L.A. Auto Show has made its yearly return to the Los Angeles Convention Center, running Nov. 19-28. I’m headed that way tomorrow, filled with anticipation. It’s always hard to say which I enjoy most — seeing the exciting new automotive technologies and concept cars or bumping into [...]

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Time Warp: William Desmond Taylor’s Sensational Death Scene

Cryptic L.A.

Today it’s a Ross parking lot, but on the evening of Feb. 1, 1922, the tract at 404. S. Alvarado was a Mediterranean bungalow court — and the setting for Movieland’s first real-life murder mystery.
Sometime before midnight, two shots rang out, killing famed actor-turned-Paramount-director William Desmond Taylor from behind. Neighbors shrugged off the noise as [...]

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Time Warp: Hollywoodland’s Immortal Gates

Angeleno Sights

Brand spanking new 87 years ago, the Hollywoodland real estate development welcomes a handful of vintage automobiles through its Beachwood Canyon gates in this 1923 Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) digital archives photo. Likely carrying property buyers, the cars are parked outside the new neighborhood’s sales headquarters.
Although not visible, the world-famous “Hollywoodland” Sign loomed over [...]

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Hollywood’s Legendary Bronson Caves Are Just a Stone’s Throw Away

Angeleno Sights

Recognize this gaping oriface in the Hollywood Hills? If you don’t, you obviously weren’t a fan of the 1960s Batman television series or numerous other Hollywood productions hearkening back to the Silent Era.
This is one of a handful of man-made excavations at the southwestern corner of Griffith Park known as the Bronson Caves. Featured prominently [...]

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Friday Forum: Name Your Lost Landmark

Angeleno Sights

From the Temple Theater, to the Brown Derby, to the Garden of Allah, Southern California seems to boast more bulldozed landmarks than living historical structures. (Joni Mitchell’s 1970 pop lyrics, “They paved paradise to put up a parking lot” make a really apropos Angeleno theme song.)
Starting today, I’d like to introduce a new Friday Forum [...]

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Then and Now: Temple City’s Lost Theater

Angeleno Sights

Opened circa 1940 and named for land developer and Temple City founder Walter P. Temple, this proud single-screen theater once stood on the corner of Rosemead and Las Tunas Blvds. Seating 750, it was designed by S. Charles Lee, a prolific Southern California architect with more than 70 movie houses to his credit, almost all [...]

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L.A. in Quotes: An Ironic Reflection on the River

Angeleno Sights

“The Los Angeles River was a beautiful, limpid little stream with willows on its banks….it was so attractive to me that it at once became something about which my whole scheme of life was woven. I loved it so much.” — William Mulholland, 1855-1935.
You have to admit there’s a certain irony to this quote. Thanks [...]

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Old News: L.A.’s Dangerous Streets Revisited

Odds and Ends

A week ago this blog brought you the news that L.A.’s streets have been ranked the nation’s third most deadly to pedestrians. But have our streets always been so mean?
Obviously, such statistics weren’t kept 117 years ago, but this April 21, 1892, Los Angeles Times “City Brief” may offer a clue:
“People should be careful about [...]

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Weekend Matinee: Remember Marineland?

Angeleno Sights

The aquatic park entertained millions of visitors to the Palos Verdes Peninsula from 1954 to 1987. Opening a year prior to Disneyland, it was then the world’s largest oceanarium and arguably California’s first major theme park.
But the whales, dolphins and performing seals are all history now, along with the ruins shown in this video [...]

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Shared Nostalgia: Rachisio Oliva’s Downtown Store, 1948

Life in Angel City

The above photo was sent by reader Patrick Oliva. Depicting a downtown market run by his father, circa 1948, the image was part of a recent El Pueblo exhibit celebrating L.A.’s Italian community. (Many Angelenos don’t realize it, but Italian immigrants and their descendants formed a significant presence in the Plaza area from the 1820s [...]

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