Motion Pictures Los Angeles in the 1950's

[Ryan]

I often wonder how different I'd be as a person if I grew up in the 1950's rather than the 1980's. It's impossible to say, of course, but given the same set of parents I don't know that there would be much change. While I imagine the public culture i...

To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.

[James Curl]

Ah, all of those old cars that we lust for were just old cars in 54 like 80s to 90s cars are now, its a wonder that many have survived with the war scrap drives in the early 40s. I remember as a child on the farm when they brought flat bed trucks and a bunch of men out to the farms and hauled all of the old scrap metal they could find off. That included any old car or truck that was not being used.

[NONAME]

you would be different! I was there in the 40's thru 70's and loved my youth and miss the simplicity. but times change and so do people.

[Scotch Buzzard King]

A perfect blend of deco and mid-century design. Its damn near like a Cuban cigar. I love that Thrifty store sign with the three legs. I'm a sucker for atomic.

[53CustomlineFlathead]

That cash register looks old even for back then!

[3rd Gen Hot Rodder]

As I was watching, I could not help but think how much different that clip would have been if it was shot just one or two years later, specifically related to body syles. I am thinking of 1955 Chevys, but many of the other models were about to go under drastic changes as well. Thanks for posting!

[49ratfink]

man...look at all those white people.

[CurbFeeler]

LA in 54'?
That video is showing us the future.
Multi-laned Freeways without stoplights and traffic cops, mega-shopping centers with car parking instead of crowed city streets full of pedestrians (and litter) ... supermarkets with conveyor belts instead of shelves behind the counter ... mega-drug stores instead of the corner pharmacy ... broad avenues on city streets, buses instead of trolleys, shiny-sleek new cars rolling on haulers while turtle shaped rides pull from the employees lot ...
99.9% of America in 54' did not look like that.

It's a video of them looking forwards towards us.

[Mazooma1]

Yes, pretty much my childhood right there.
Born in 1950 in Pasadena and grew up about 14 miles east of Los Angeles and 61 years later, I'm still just three miles from the house I grew up in.
I rode my bike to San Gabriel Drag Strip and was within 45 minutes of Lions, Fontana, San Fernando and Pomona drag strips. When Irwindale opened in 1965 I was one of the first into the gates....just six miles east of home.
Downtown Los Angeles was THE place to window shop in the 1950's at Christmastime. All the windows had terrific displays, electric trains and animated figures. Really spectacular.
The sidewalks had that glittery flecks in the concrete that sparkled under the neon signs.
Pure magic for a kid.
Los Angeles started to get pretty run down in the late 1960's when suburbs started to expand and they got their own shopping centers called "malls".
That was a new term for us in high school.
The malls pretty well killed off downtown L.A. Smog was horrible and the wonderful old movie theaters and posh department stores started to close down.
All the suburbs now had their own theaters, etc. and none of us had any reason to go "downtown".
When I was a senior in high school in 1968, a bunch of us drank a rather large amount of beer in the Santa Anita Race Track parking lot on night and drove into Los Angeles. But...the only reason was to see "Sesame" at the burlesque house. THAT was a BIG deal to us 17 year old...beer and boobs. Ol' "Sesame" could make her tassels go in opposite directions while on stage. That was something that we needed to verify for ourselves.
Well....that's a story for another day, kids.
Yup, "downtown" was really run down as the suburbs stole the show.
It wasn't until the mid-1990's that El Lay started to make a comeback.
With the Music Center, the Disney Concert Hall, lots of restoration work and jobs returning to "downtown", it's actually getting pretty nice again.
Old building are being converted to condos, apartments and "lofts".
There's a busy, fun "arts district" along the Los Angeles River. I go down there every few months to take photos and there are hundreds of artists, film makers, photographers, pottery artists, etc. working in the rehabilitated old factories and warehouses.
The large grocery chains are starting to come back to downtown along with many other specialty shops.
Downtown is getting pretty cool again.
Kind of like New York's "Time Square"....it has to hit bottom before it gets turned around.
The smog alerts are gone, the traffic hasn't changed, the light rail trolleys are back and Los Angeles is getting cleaned up again and looking like it should.
There was no better place to grow up for a kid born in 1950.
If you weren't into cars, you would be soon enough. There was no escaping the car culture of the Los Angeles area in the 1950's and 60's....

[squirrel]

neat stuff

[ardyboy]

very neat stuff. Thanks for sharing your trip down memory lane Doug. I grew up in a small Canadian town but just one year behind you.

[Scotch Buzzard King]

Originally Posted by squirrel

neat stuff

I've never scene the City of Angels look so angelic. This is some pretty cool shit man.

[waldo53]

Originally Posted by squirrel

neat stuff

That is neat. Check out that HAMB friendly suede Ford ragtop in the opening page. Did you notice that baby-blue Buick conv. that we're behind in the beginning of the video and then later on it pulls in front of us again? I know, I know, it's how the video was edited but pretty cool. I noticed in one shot there was a Pontiac dealer on one side of the street and a Studebaker dealer on the other - sad to see those names no longer with us today. And then that guy in the '55 'Bird that tries to jump the light (there were no left turn arrows back then, you were supposed to observe right-of-way rules and wait your turn) the camera truck almost creams him! Funny. Oh, and did you notice that AD Chev telephone truck? Very neat.

I didn't see Grauman's Chinese Theatre in this video. I spent about 2 weeks of my part-time job pumping gas money and took my girl to see the Windjammer there in '57, or maybe '58. Pretty impressive for high school kids. Thanks for posting, this brings back a lot of good memories.

[MATACONCEPTS]

Yes, pretty much my childhood right there.
Born in 1973 in Monterey Park and grew up about 8 miles east of Los Angeles and 39* years later, I'm still just 13 miles from the house I grew up in.
I rode my bike all over San Gabriel Valley and was within 45 minutes of Lions, Fontana, San Fernando and Pomona drag strips. When Irwindale re-opened in 1999 I was one of the first of 20,000 into the gates....just six miles north of home.
East Los Angeles was THE place to eat in the 1950's at Christmastime. All the windows had security bars, piniatas and animated figures. Really spectacular.
The sidewalks had that glittery flecks in the concrete that sparkled under the neon signs.
Pure magic for a kid.
Los Angeles pretty run down in the late 1970's when suburbs started to expand and they got their own shopping centers called "malls".
That was a new term for us in high school.
The malls pretty well killed off downtown L.A. Smog was horrible and the wonderful old movie theaters and posh department stores started to close down.
All the suburbs now had their own theaters, etc. and none of us had any reason to go "downtown".
When I was a senior in high school in 1991, a bunch of us drank a rather large amount of beer in the Santa Anita Race Track parking lot on night and drove into Los Angeles. But...the only reason was to see some hookers. THAT was a BIG deal to us 17 year old...beer and boobs. On Sunset could make her make her boobs go in opposite directions while on the street. That was something that we needed to get off.
Well....that's a story for another day, kids.
Yup, "downtown" was really run down as the suburbs stole the show.
It wasn't until the mid-1990's that El Lay started to make a comeback.
With the Music Center, the Disney Concert Hall, lots of restoration work and jobs returning to "downtown", it's actually getting pretty nice again.
Old building are being converted to condos, apartments and "lofts".
There's a busy, fun "arts district" along the Los Angeles River. I go down there every few months to party and there are hundreds of artists, film makers, photographers, pottery artists, etc. working in the rehabilitated old factories and warehouses.
The large grocery chains are starting to come back to downtown along with many other specialty shops.
Downtown is getting pretty cool again.
Kind of like New York's "Time Square"....it has to hit bottom before it gets turned around.
The smog alerts are gone, the traffic hasn't changed, the light rail trolleys are back and Los Angeles is getting cleaned up again and looking like it should.
There was no better place to grow up for a kid born in 1973.
If you weren't into cars, you would be soon enough. There was no escaping the car culture of the Los Angeles area EVEN in the 1970's and 80's....

[Mazooma1]

uh....wow, that's very similar to what I posted earlier...
If you were born in 1973, you wouldn't have a clue what I was talking about.
Lions was shut down in 1972 one year before you were born.
Irwindale closed in 1977 and never re-opened.
I really question why you would mock my original post.
Really....pretty disrespectful.
In fact, really disrespectful.

Originally Posted by MATACONCEPTS

Yes, pretty much my childhood right there.
Born in 1973 in Monterey Park and grew up about 8 miles east of Los Angeles and 39* years later, I'm still just 13 miles from the house I grew up in.
I rode my bike all over San Gabriel Valley and was within 45 minutes of Lions, Fontana, San Fernando and Pomona drag strips. When Irwindale re-opened in 1999 I was one of the first of 20,000 into the gates....just six miles north of home.
East Los Angeles was THE place to eat in the 1950's at Christmastime. All the windows had security bars, piniatas and animated figures. Really spectacular.
The sidewalks had that glittery flecks in the concrete that sparkled under the neon signs.
Pure magic for a kid.
Los Angeles pretty run down in the late 1970's when suburbs started to expand and they got their own shopping centers called "malls".
That was a new term for us in high school.
The malls pretty well killed off downtown L.A. Smog was horrible and the wonderful old movie theaters and posh department stores started to close down.
All the suburbs now had their own theaters, etc. and none of us had any reason to go "downtown".
When I was a senior in high school in 1991, a bunch of us drank a rather large amount of beer in the Santa Anita Race Track parking lot on night and drove into Los Angeles. But...the only reason was to see some hookers. THAT was a BIG deal to us 17 year old...beer and boobs. On Sunset could make her make her boobs go in opposite directions while on the street. That was something that we needed to get off.
Well....that's a story for another day, kids.
Yup, "downtown" was really run down as the suburbs stole the show.
It wasn't until the mid-1990's that El Lay started to make a comeback.
With the Music Center, the Disney Concert Hall, lots of restoration work and jobs returning to "downtown", it's actually getting pretty nice again.
Old building are being converted to condos, apartments and "lofts".
There's a busy, fun "arts district" along the Los Angeles River. I go down there every few months to party and there are hundreds of artists, film makers, photographers, pottery artists, etc. working in the rehabilitated old factories and warehouses.
The large grocery chains are starting to come back to downtown along with many other specialty shops.
Downtown is getting pretty cool again.
Kind of like New York's "Time Square"....it has to hit bottom before it gets turned around.
The smog alerts are gone, the traffic hasn't changed, the light rail trolleys are back and Los Angeles is getting cleaned up again and looking like it should.
There was no better place to grow up for a kid born in 1973.
If you weren't into cars, you would be soon enough. There was no escaping the car culture of the Los Angeles area EVEN in the 1970's and 80's....

[MATACONCEPTS]

Originally Posted by Mazooma1

uh....wow, that's very similar to what I posted earlier...
If you were born in 1973, you wouldn't have a clue what I was talking about.
Lions was shut down in 1972 one year before you were born.
Irwindale closed in 1977 and never re-opened.
I really question why you would mock my original post.
Really....pretty disrespectful.
In fact, really disrespectful.

No mock, no disrepect what so ever, just trip'n on the paralle worlds with different time frames & a couple of offsets.

[1964countrysedan]

WOW!

So drum brakes do work in traffic...

[MATACONCEPTS]

Originally Posted by Mazooma1

uh....wow, that's very similar to what I posted earlier...
If you were born in 1973, you wouldn't have a clue what I was talking about.
Lions was shut down in 1972 one year before you were born.
Irwindale closed in 1977 and never re-opened.
I really question why you would mock my original post.
Really....pretty disrespectful.
In fact, really disrespectful.

Yeah, I heard of those track but had no idea where or when except for Pomona, matter-a-fact, I learned here on the HAMB & it was your bitchen pictures on "Histiry of Los Angeles" thread, Fucker!

Peace. Be Cool.

[SiXty4CheVy]

Originally Posted by Mazooma1

uh....wow, that's very similar to what I posted earlier...
If you were born in 1973, you wouldn't have a clue what I was talking about.
Lions was shut down in 1972 one year before you were born.
Irwindale closed in 1977 and never re-opened.
I really question why you would mock my original post.
Really....pretty disrespectful.
In fact, really disrespectful.

Made me laugh. Kinda crazy how times changed. I was born and raised in Orange county 1984 so I didnt see the Golden days. I am from Garden Grove and still live in same neighborhood. Here is our town in the 50's.

[39cent]

Yea Mazooma, that' about the same story for me, altho I recall some of the 40's. LA was pretty good bak then, I wen east to Riverside in the 50,s, lotta rodders there and lotta good deals on dueces then. I had a roadster, pheaton, 2dr, and 2 model A pheatons.

Originally Posted by Mazooma1

Yes, pretty much my childhood right there.
Born in 1950 in Pasadena and grew up about 14 miles east of Los Angeles and 61 years later, I'm still just three miles from the house I grew up in.
I rode my bike to San Gabriel Drag Strip and was within 45 minutes of Lions, Fontana, San Fernando and Pomona drag strips. When Irwindale opened in 1965 I was one of the first into the gates....just six miles east of home.
Downtown Los Angeles was THE place to window shop in the 1950's at Christmastime. All the windows had terrific displays, electric trains and animated figures. Really spectacular.
The sidewalks had that glittery flecks in the concrete that sparkled under the neon signs.
Pure magic for a kid.
Los Angeles started to get pretty run down in the late 1960's when suburbs started to expand and they got their own shopping centers called "malls".
That was a new term for us in high school.
The malls pretty well killed off downtown L.A. Smog was horrible and the wonderful old movie theaters and posh department stores started to close down.
All the suburbs now had their own theaters, etc. and none of us had any reason to go "downtown".
When I was a senior in high school in 1968, a bunch of us drank a rather large amount of beer in the Santa Anita Race Track parking lot on night and drove into Los Angeles. But...the only reason was to see "Sesame" at the burlesque house. THAT was a BIG deal to us 17 year old...beer and boobs. Ol' "Sesame" could make her tassels go in opposite directions while on stage. That was something that we needed to verify for ourselves.
Well....that's a story for another day, kids.
Yup, "downtown" was really run down as the suburbs stole the show.
It wasn't until the mid-1990's that El Lay started to make a comeback.
With the Music Center, the Disney Concert Hall, lots of restoration work and jobs returning to "downtown", it's actually getting pretty nice again.
Old building are being converted to condos, apartments and "lofts".
There's a busy, fun "arts district" along the Los Angeles River. I go down there every few months to take photos and there are hundreds of artists, film makers, photographers, pottery artists, etc. working in the rehabilitated old factories and warehouses.
The large grocery chains are starting to come back to downtown along with many other specialty shops.
Downtown is getting pretty cool again.
Kind of like New York's "Time Square"....it has to hit bottom before it gets turned around.
The smog alerts are gone, the traffic hasn't changed, the light rail trolleys are back and Los Angeles is getting cleaned up again and looking like it should.
There was no better place to grow up for a kid born in 1950.
If you weren't into cars, you would be soon enough. There was no escaping the car culture of the Los Angeles area in the 1950's and 60's....