History The History Of Los Angeles

[Mazooma1]

this is an old menu from Eatons on Route 66, Colorado Blvd. as it leaves Pasadena...aerial photo on post #267

[Mazooma1]

The Pan Pacific Auditorium was home to many car shows, conventions, etc.





it was lost to this huge fire several years ago







imagine a motel swimming pool without a security fence?



of course you all recognize Harveys, now rebuilt as a Bob's Big Boy, thanks to our own Cyclone Kevin

[Mazooma1]

one of our family favorite coffee shops on the Sunset Strip was Ben Franks...today, it's Mels Diner
it wasn't far from "77 Sunset Strip", Dinos that served as the location for many of the shot from the TV show of that same name, It's the show that introduced to us kids Norm Grabowski's "Kookie T" that was the car driven by one of the stars of the show, Edd "Kookie" Byrnes
The "Strip" was home to the Playboy Club and all that "adult stuff"

[Mazooma1]

Here are the "Yellow Cars" that ran throughout the downtown part of Los Angeles. The more famous "Red Cars" traveled some 1200 miles in the greater L.A. area going as far as Newport Beach and Lake Arrowhead.





most all of them were sunk into the Pacific Ocean to be used as fisheries...most likely that was a nice and tidy way of just dumping them in the ocean...it sounded so "responsible"...





I rescued the trolley sign from my town from a scrap heap in 1979

[BrerHair]

What a great part of the world.

Speaking of trains, reminds me of being a kid, when most homes were not air conditioned, hearing the long freight trains at night, and the far-off singing of the truck tires.

Thanks Mazooma!

[Spoggie]

Thanks Ryan- cool steer.
This is a big thread I see. I don't wanna wade thru it all right now, and tell please if it's already been discussed, but can any'a you gearheads explain the engine work processes happening in those first few shots ?

BTW - Was joy had by anyone (aside from GM) by having the trams of L.A. replaced by diesel buses ?
My city ( Adelaide) has the same layout as L.A. and here all the trams were ripped out with the post war car boom. Now they've starting to put em back in. Sooner the better, the buses stink and have their work cut out servicing the SPRAWL.
A nuclear tram- yeh!

[Mazooma1]

I miss the Santa Fe that ran through Pasadena and down the middle of the 210 Freeway...last train through there was January of 1994. Now it's right-of-way is the "Gold Line" that runs back and forth into L.A.

I scream, you scream, we all scream when we get kicked in the nuts!

[Mazooma1]

undoubtedly the most famous hot rod photo of all time.
Normie-Poo "Woo Woo" Grabowski at Bob's Big Boy in Burbank (Toluca Lake, home to Bob Hope)



Grabowski and Mamie Van Doren



the "Qualifiers" gasser at Lions, a crowd favorite



I've always loved this photo. It could be Anywhere, USA. The whole family heading out on vacation, leaving behind their tidy 1000 square foot house in the suburbs. It even looks like it's about 95 degrees, but that's nothing that Mom's Kool-Aid wouldn't conquer. I absolutely loved growing up in the 50's. No key to the house, of course, as the door was never locked. Dad would back the police car into the driveway every night and leave the windows down and the key in the ignition...really.

[Mazooma1]

one more for tonight...an ad for Ed Roth's pickup

[BrerHair]

Originally Posted by Mazooma1

I scream, you scream, we all scream when we get kicked in the nuts!

Looks like an army surplus jeep. Momma's got a pie in the oven, she's hot, needs a popcicle. Dinner-cooking shoes!

[HAMBsterLady]

Here is the history of the Citadel Shops. As you read you will see it was Uniroyal Tires before it became the outlet.

Only in Los Angeles can you drive to an Assyrian palace to buy blue jeans and leather goods. The Citadel Outlets, Los Angeles' only outlet center, has the distinct honor to be located behind an Assryian Castle wall. The Citadel opened in November 1990 as a mixed-use project which includes a retail outlet center, a food court, five office buildings, and a 201-room Double Tree Hotel.

HISTORY OUTLINE

1918
Adolph Schleicher started his Samson Tire and Rubber Company in a tiny wood-frame factory in Compton, choosing "Samson" because it symbolized strength and endurance.

January 1928
Adolph Schleicher, owner of Samson Tire and Rubber Company, embarked on development of a new factory in East Los Angeles -- one that would become the largest manufacturing facility under one roof west of the Mississippi.

Schleicher wanted to include a Samson and Delilah motif. Thus the plant was modeled after a 7th Century B.C. ancient Assyrian palace including a 1,350-foot-long (later expanded to 1,750) crenulated concrete wall decorated with heraldic griffins and bas-reliefs of Babylonian princes carved into the stone between impressive pillars and towers. The design, dedicated to the civilizations of Sumeria, Akkadia and Babylonia, conveys strength and style.

January 23, 1929
Ground broke for the $8 million Samson Tire and Rubber Company plant, the largest tire manufacturing facility on the West Coast (attended by 12,000 people).

At the behest of Schleicher, the original architects (Morgan, Walls and Clements) designed the wall in the style of King Sargon II's palace. Sargon was a Babylonian King with a 23-acre palace and Schleicher's plant, coincidentally or by design, covered the same amount of land.

The portion of the wall that fronts the office building features genii, winged guardian figures protecting individuals from evil. The plant entrance featured another form of genii -- winged bulls with human heads -- also intended to guard the interior as those on Sargon's palace.

October 29, 1929
Stock market crashed

May, 1930
Samson Tire and Rubber Company plant opens with no public ceremony and with capacity to produce 6,000 tires and 10,000 tubes a day.

January, 1931
US Tire and Rubber Company purchases and takes over the newly completed Samson Tire Company.

September, 1960
Adolph Schleicher, owner of Samson Tire and Rubber Company dies.

1962
US Tire and Rubber Company becomes Uniroyal Tire.

[DocWatson]

Originally Posted by Mazooma1

The Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal opened in 1939. Thankfully, it has been restored and still serves as a terminal for Amtrak and the L.A. light-rail transit trains.
Back in the heyday of railroads, it was home to Santa Fe, Southern Pacific, and Union Pacific.










The station rarely sees steam locomotives anymore, but occassionaly one will stop during a special rail club event. The Union Pacific Challenger spent a few day here in 2000. I caught this shot as it was following the stretch of Route 66 through Oro Grande as I had departed Los Angeles that morning.




this restored Santa Fe locomotive was heading into LAUPT in December of 1991. It is now housed at the Redondo Yards in East L.A.


The Santa Fe Super Chief was a celebrity in L.A. as it was a favotite mode of travel for many Hollywood stars. It made it's daily run to Chicago which took 39 hours. A train to Chicago left the station everyday at 7:30 PM.
We would ride our bikes during the summer months to watch it pass through Arcadia, which happened each night at 8:10PM
Even into the late 1970's, on a sunday evening there would be about 100 people at the First Ave. crossing to wave as it went by. Its a nice kind of "interesting" that something like a speeding train would be so engaging to so many people for so brief a period of time. Station wagons would back into the dirt lot and the kids would sit on the open tailgate enjoying an ice cream and waiting for the "8:10" to glide by. The last of the pretty trains was in 1970 and were replaced with Amtrak units, but the sunday crowds didn't dwindle. It was nice to see so many people enjoying something that was just to be enjoyed for a brief moment in all it's simplicity.



The railroads played a big part in the development of the Los Angeles area
and were quick to lure people from all over to travel to Southern California for a week or forever.

There is something about those Diesel Electric trains, they look customised already. Love the look, we still use them here in Oz. Thats a childhood memory, dropping my grandparents off at Spencer Street Station so they could catch the 'Southern Aurora' to Canberra to visit friends. It was always houled by 2 of those trains.
Good memories.
Doc.

[rokcrln]

Well all I have to add for history on LA is my great grandfather started the worlds first parking lots and many of them are still owned today. My grandfather has several pics on his wall of the first lot as well as the first under ground parking garage and I will try and get some copies of them for this post. Here is a link for a few pics and info. http://www.savoycorp.com/history.htm

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[vein]

Wow! found this thread and took me most of night to look through it and what a ride! thanks mazooma!!!!

[hellonwheels]

Thanks to both of you for posting all of those pics and especially for the insite and history. I lived in L.A. for a few years, what a place it is! Best thread in a while!

[Krash]

My laptop computer is now sitting at about a 45 degree angle because I have such a huge boner!!! (well, huge for an Irishman.....better make make it like a 25 degree angle).....Great pics. Thanks!

[BrerHair]

Originally Posted by rokcrln

Well all I have to add for history on LA is my great grandfather started the worlds first parking lots and many of them are still owned today. My grandfather has several pics on his wall of the first lot as well as the first under ground parking garage and I will try and get some copies of them for this post. Here is a link for a few pics and info. http://www.savoycorp.com/history.htm

Kevin
LFD Inc.

Wow!!

That's some fantastic LA history!!

Would be great to add those photos, thanks rokcrln.

[apound]

Another great thread. Thanks for posting guys!

[BrerHair]

[QUOTE=Spoggie;4926567]Thanks Ryan- cool steer.
This is a big thread I see. I don't wanna wade thru it all right now, and tell please if it's already been discussed, but can any'a you gearheads explain the engine work processes happening in those first few shots ?

QUOTE]

Photo captions in the library archives simply say generic stuff like "mechanic working on an automotive part" or such nonsense.

Will take a bona fide gearhead to explain beyond the obvious cylinder-boring machine, etc.

[model.A.keith]

Originally Posted by rokcrln

Well all I have to add for history on LA is my great grandfather .........................



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Quite an understatement when you read the story,

Thanks for posting the link


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