That is Van De Kamps Drive In at Fletcher and San Fernando Rd., L.A.. Great cruise nights and staging area for drags on Riverside Dr., 2 Freeway and other locations. Sad day when they closed it.
Ironic that precious few of these photos were taken with the cars in mind. They are photos of buildings, intersections, landmarks, etc. Thankfully LA has always had a ton of cars on the streets. Amazing, isn't it, to see so many pristine cars that we all drool over today.
so i go to work and comeback to more???? you guys rock! thanks for the pictures! love them, but love the girls more!
View inside the Pacific Drive-in Theater, 10860 Pico Boulevard, November 28, 1938. Day view of the San Val Drive-In Theatre in Burbank. It was the second drive-in theater built in California<WBR>, in 1938, and was located at 2720 Winona Street, at San Fernando Road. It was designed by Clifford Balch and managed by the Pacific Theatres chain until it closed in the mid l970s. Intermissi<WBR>on at the Century Drive-In Theatre. 1949 Vermont Drive-In Theatre as you see it driving up. The front has a large painted picture of Snow White and the 7 dwarfs in the foreground and a river, forest, hills, mist and castle in the background<WBR>. Orange Drive-In Theater. 1942 Edwards San Gabriel Drive-in Theater in San Gabriel, Calif. South Gate Drive-in Theatre, which has a marquee written in Spanish. Address: 5131 E Firestone Blvd. Sundown Theatre in Whittier in 1958, a drive-in theater built ca. 1941. refreshmen<WBR>t stand inside the Pacific Drive-In Theater. Photograph dated: October 18, 1950
Geezus...that drive-in theater in Burbank used big ass speakers in front of each car? Man, that must have been one noisy joint...
Regarding the Fitts Shooting. Buron Fitts was the D.A. of L.A. County at a time of mass corrution of Politicians, Police, Criminals and Powerfull Behind The Scene People. They tried to rub him out.
Apologies to those of you who are a part of this history. Anything wrong, please correct. Got this from Hemmings. This has probably all been posted before, but since this is about LA, here we go: Karl and Veda Orrs speed shop formed a large part of their role in hot rodding history, as I recently found out while researchin<WBR>g the couple for an upcoming Hot Rod Hero article in Hemmings Muscle Machines. They opened the shop in 1940 at 11140 Washington Place in Culver City, California<WBR>, and the shop quickly became a hangout for area hot rodders. It seems they closed the shop sometime in the 1950s, but later on in the 1960s, reopened it on Sierra Highway between Soledad Canyon Road and Sand Canyon Road in Mint Canyon, California<WBR>. Predating Orr was Lee Chapel. Ive not yet run across an exact year for when he opened his shop sharing space with a junkyard at 3263 San Fernando Road in Los Angeles, but from a circa-1950 Lees Speed Shop catalog that Jimmy B posted on the H.A.M.B. that claims 21 years in business, we can do the math and come up with 1929 as Lees first year. According to Batchelor<WBR>s book, from whence the above picture came, Chapel moved the shop in 1933 to 4557 Alhambra Avenue, closed shop in 1937 to tour the country with a midget race car, then reopened shop in 1939 at 1143 East 14th Street in Oakland, California<WBR>. The original locations long been replaced with a shopping center, the second address doesnt appear to exist anymore, and the third location now appears to be some sort of office building. Mazooma gave us this pic earlier: Predating Chapel was George Wights Bell Auto Parts, establishe<WBR>d in 1923 when Wight started a junkyard and noticed that a lot of the Model Ts coming in came with speed equipment. Wight removed the speed equipment, cleaned it up, and resold it alongside the typical junkyard parts. The building came along later, in 1928, at 3633 Gage Ave. in Bell, California<WBR>. Wight died in 1943, but his widow kept the business going until she sold it in 1945 to Roy Richter, who built the business up after the war and eventually sold it to Chuck Strader in 1978, who apparently moved the business to Huntington Beach and ran it there until 1987. The Bell Auto Parts building still stands, though appears empty in the Google Street View. We see a hardware store and a bail bonds place listed at that address, though, so perhaps the Street View is out of date. We have no address for the Huntington Beach location.
I remember that Cadillac from my "yooot". Was written up in several mags such as Mechanix Illustrated and Popular Mechanics. Here's the rest of the story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yT8azxnVAC4 http://www.flickr.com/photos/potenzh/1054883334/ Louie Mattar's 1947 Cadillac, San Diego Automotive Museum, USA. a 2 008 Louie Mattar's Fabulous Car: A man, a car and a dream. Soon after purchasing his 1947 Cadillac, Louie Mattar began the process that resulted in the creation of this dream car. In 1952, he and two other men established a cross-country endurance record by driving the Cadillac from San Diego to New York and back without stopping. Their trip totaled 6,320 miles and required refueling from a moving gas truck three times! During the trips, Louie and his co-drivers had all the comforts of home, although space was limited. The equipment in the back seat includes an electric stove, a refrigerator, a washing machine, a chemical toilet, an ironing board, a medicine cabinet, and a kitchen sink. All of these appliances can be stored under the back seat cushions. Up front, in addition to the many switches and dials surrounding the dashboard, are a nationwide mobile telephone, a tape recorder, a bar, a public address system (which has speakers in both the trailer and on the hood of the car), and a Turkish water pipe. On the right running board is a shower and at the rear taillight is a drinking fountain! The car holds 50 gallons of water, with a reserve of 30 gallon in the trailer. The trailer also holds 230 gallon of gas and 15 gallons of oil in addition to the dining area at the end. The car automatically refills the radiator and changes the oil, and the axles are drilled, which allow the tires to be inflated while turning. Hydraulic jacks allow the wheels to be raised for changing while moving. This could be accomplished from a movable platform that attaches to the car. Clear panels in the hood allow the car to be driven while the hood is open for repairs or adjustments. Under all the modifications is a stock 1947 Cadillac engine. It took Louie Mattar 5 years and $75,000 to make his dream a reality. But this car was worth far more to Louie. He said "If I sold that car and had all the money in the bank, I wouldn’t meet the important people I do. That's worth all the money in the world". sdautomuseum.org Tom <NOSCRIPT></NOSCRIPT><!-- ############## COMMENTS -->
More old history, but think it's appropriate. The first annual Hot Rod Exposition was held in 1948 at the National Guard Armory in Los Angeles, California<WBR>. The show was organized by Wally Parks and the SCTA, and promoted by Robert E. Petersen.[<WBR>1] The very first Hot Rod Magazine was created as the program for the show, selling ads to whoever wanted to display as a vendor and hawking copies on the steps outside the Armory by its cofounder Robert E. Petersen. The show featured the best designed and engineered cars belonging to members of SCTA. The show was originally called the SCTA Automotive Equipment Display and Hot Rod Exposition<WBR>. The whole show was the idea of Robert E. Petersen, he wanted to arrange the show in order to raise money to build a dragstrip. The actual dragstrip was never built.The first Hot Rod Exposition was held January 23, 24 and 25 in 1948. 55 000 people visited the show during the three days it was held. During the three-day event a 1932 Ford was built and given away. Celebrity Colleen Townsend poses with the giveaway 1932 Ford at the 1948 Hot Rod Exposition<WBR>.The second annual Hot Rod Exposition was held January 21-30, 1949.[3] The second show was also held at the National Guard Armory in Los Angeles, California<WBR>.
The Vermont Drive In was right behind Gardena H.S. the home grandstands faced the big screen, when the football games got boring we would watch the movies and make up our own dialog, saw the Graduate for the first time that way... all long gone now except the memories, thanks for the pics...
Who says tattoos arent traditional ..... Man!! Thanks A LOT for this thread!! And great before and after shots Mazooma! Im 27 and these pics are great to look at but depressing at the same time..
That's about all I've got folks. A few high school shots and I'm done. If you have any more LA hotrod scene stuff from back in the day then bring it on. The old HS buildings were magnificent. Of course, there's a ton more LA history stuff, but for the most part, if there are no cars in the photo, I'm not interested. Bellarmine-Jefferson High School at Olive Avenue and Fifth Street, in Burbank. Exterior view of Loyola High School in 1957, located at 1901 Venice Blvd. It was dedicated on March 25, 1917 as St. Vincent's College. It changed in 1918 to Loyola College, and then in 1929 to Loyola High School. Aerial view of the new $5,000,000 Reseda High School, the first complete high school plant constructed since before WWII. Citrus Union High School, Glendora, in 1954. Alexander Hamilton High School 1949 Three old schools, now in the path where a section of the Hollywood Freeway will be constructe<WBR>d, are being razed on Fort Moore Hill to make way for the new thoroughfa<WBR>re. (1) is the Fort Hill School; (2) is the first high school built in Los Angeles, and (3) is Central School. Everything between the broken lines will be cleared away for the super-road<WBR>way, Photo dated: February 1, 1949. Banning High School 1939 the new $423,000 Alexander Hamilton School at Robertson Boulevard and Cattaragus Street. 1931
BrerHair, Some very cool pictures, thanks for Posting It was my first visit to LA last year .....mmmmmm how things have changed. . .
Pvt. Daniel R. Jones, 16611 Gilmore St., Van Nuys, left, whose father, Richard Jones, right, is rated one of top 10 welders in U.S., leaves Friday for Maryland's Aberdeen Proving Grounds to attend Army's welding school. He's not exactly welding, is he? : Student learning welding at Manual Arts High School, as part of war production training during World War II. Boys operating equipment in a class at Manual Arts High School. They are foundry students lowering a thousand-p<WBR>ound "cope" by a chain hoist. 1945 Manual Arts High School campus on January 3, 1930
I'll leave you with some more "signs of the times". These guys are probably Silicon Valley millionaires (retired): Detective W. D. Knapp holds an axe handle and a 2x4 spiked with rusty nail as he questions four youths seized as police said they prevented a flareup of youth gang war near Polytechni<WBR>c High School. 1951 Hamilton High School field was site of the first Civilian Defense field tests in which the radioactiv<WBR>ity detection technique was demonstrat<WBR>ed. 1950 After picketing the offices of the Retail Clerks Union, 200 landlords carried their posters to the grounds of Virgil High School a block away, gathering under the flagpole to sing "America." They were protesting the union's efforts to block decontrol of rents. Photograph taken ca. October 20, 1950. Some of the 41 teen-aged youths assertedly involved in a proposed "race riot" between a West Los Angeles "Tomato Gang" and high school students are shown after they were taken into custody. They'll appear for plea today. Photo dated: May 10, 1946. War effort scrap pile at Manual Arts High School. Ten tons were collected. older car parked on the street, across from Belmont High. 1938 View of oil wells in a residentia<WBR>l district near Glendale Boulevard. Tower and buildings of Belmont High School can be seen in the far background<WBR>. Photo dated: June 1937.
Oh, and one final thought. The Big One is coming, might be 2,000 years, might be 2 years, but it's coming. Lincoln High School, with buildings and an earthquake fault marked. The school was closed to students on November 2, 1934, after engineers reported many of the buildings were in danger of sliding down the hill toward North Broadway because of shifting ground of the hill. Tents being placed below the hill on which Lincoln High School stands, due to earth slippage, on October 30, 1934. Classes are to be moved into these tents until demolition can be done.
Ah hell, can't go out on such a down note. I leave you with this : Carpenter'<WBR>s drive-in restaurant<WBR>, with the carhops posing for the photo, in 1933. The drive-in was located on Sunset and Vine.
Cannot stop there! I know it takes a while but this is one of the better posts in a while. Any other pics from Pasadena/SGV back in the day?
corn stand at Live Oak and Santa Anita, South Arcadia toy store (I remember it well) Huntington Drive (Route 66), just east of First Ave. Arcadia Drive-in Theater, South Arcadia Corner of Live Oak and Peck the fountain at Huntington (Route 66) and Santa Anita, Arcadia getting it's weekly soap suds prank Hastings Drive-In Theater on the left is Rosemead Blvd. It's now a Trader Joes, Carl's Jr., Shogun restaurant Eaton's restaurant Thats Colorado Blvd (Route 66) and Michillinda Northwest Arcadia about 1950 It's a Coco's restaurant today. the large open field at the lower right is a Sears today. the road going left-right along the bottom is Foothill Blvd, At the far left is the Hastings Drive-In theater Pasadena Johns Bike Shop on Rosemead in Pasadena (heaven on Earth for any kid who wanted a new bike) at the National Guard Armory on Huntington in Arcadia, across from the Santa Anita Race Track my older sister and my dad and the car I came home from the hospital in, 1950 144 Naomi Ave., Arcadia this one is O/T, but worth a view the 210 freeway, while it was under construction in about 1966, was a late night "test road" for local drag racers. It was long and wide, straight, and empty where it went through Arcadia. It would not be open to the public until 1968. A couple of racers were up there doing some "testing" one night and the cops took off after them. Well, as you can see, the cop car got the short end of that chase. Nobody was hurt. Here's the racers getting a quick photo of the damage before being given a "courtesy ride" to the police station. Notice the guy on the left wearing a "Schiefer Clutch" t-shirt. my dad took this photo in 1937 when this plane landed on Baldwin Ave. after having mechanical problems. They got it fixed, fired it up, the cops closed off Baldwin to car traffic, and off he went. This was at Baldwin Ave. and Duarte Road that's me on the right...about three years later Dad took me to my first drag race. Here's proof that you can't look cool dressed up like a dork. my first "ride", made by my grandfather for my Christmas present in about 1957 this lady was learning how to drive in the Santa Anita Race Track parking lot. Almost every kid in Arcadia learned how to drive there. Dad would take me up there on sundays and let me drive the 1959 Galaxie when I was 10. This lady needs more practice. My Uncle Bob with his Corsair. He was killed one month after I was born when an airman in another Corsair, who my uncle was training over Riverside, clipped my uncle's wing. The other pilot bailed out and parachuted to safety. Uncle Bob stayed with his plane because it was headed into a school playground. He managed to guide what was left of his plane into a dirt lot killing him instantly. I still have the letters from eye-witnesses that were mailed to my grandparents saying how they could see him struggling to get the plane away from the crowded playground. Many people from the neighborhood where the crash took place made the drive to Monrovia where his funeral was held. All came to pay their respects for a man they would never meet.
Great stuff Mazooma, especially the story of your Uncle Bob!! Genuine hero, unbelievable. Love the 210 freeway story also. Growing up in Atlanta, when I-285 (loop @ Atl) first opened in the mid-60's up until early 70's you could go WOT in the wee hours even though it was only 2 lanes each way. Those were the days, very few cars on the road. Same story everywhere.
The Jalopy Journal
