...would have been something to see them race. Hard to believe that some of the racers were going over a hundred...the south end of the circle still has many original houses from the turn of the century..
George Cherne's first shop I believe was near the back of George Sutton Ford and Mercury in Inglewood, Ca.
Very, very cool place...magicians would work out new tricks in front of audiences in there before going on Tonight show appearances, many many famous magicians frequented there...
RustyJim.......... Dam'n man, you brought a laugh to me, and put a smile on my face. I forgot long ago that Bell Gardens was called "Billy Goat Acres" We moved to Downey when i was 6, and mom worked in B.G. @ Ball Drug, for years. She told me a few years back that she remembered the "Foce" kids and their Mother. Good times ! Jesse
Not sure - it is a nights and weekend project (and my nights & weekends are already busy)... but I've already shot a bunch of great interviews and am more than 1/2 way done with shooting. Funding is always an issue as I try to not spend too much out of my own pocket. IF all goes as well as it can it could be on the air in the fall and DVDs for sale for X-mass. But I could see this slipping into 2012 Newest info / trailers / list of completed and scheduled interviews HERE. Or there is a HAMB thread on the film right HERE. I'd love to post the newest Lions trailer here - but do not know if its OK to cross post? It is L.A. history related.
OK - here you go! Go HD and full screen if you can. <iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="560" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XqwUcQO-9cY" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen></iframe>
LA was so beautiful back in the day, so pristine and classy....Now every street sign or ad is in Spanish, every open wall is covered in graffiti, and there is trash everywhere you look on the gound.......what the hell happened???
We went to Phillipe's when in LA for the GNRS and stumbled across the Art Deco palace that functions as Union Station.
I first saw Union Station in the summer of '55. My mom and I got aboard the Coast Daylight in San Jose. Had breakfast in the dining car with linen, silver, and plates with the Coast Daylight logo on it. The meal was as good as you could get. Sadly the Art Deco steam engine had been replaced with the diesel electric a few months prior. The ride down the coast was then and still is a breathtaking adventure. We arrived at Union Station in the afternoon and were met by relatives that took us to my Grandfathers house. The station was very busy. I did not see the station until the mid '70's and it was very run down at that time, very depressing. Since that time a lot of money has been spent on it and it is today more attractive than it was even in the '50's. I f you get a chance, stop by and get some small sense of what Los Angeles was like in the '30's. Also try the Wiltern theatre in Hollywood.
you should have got to olvera street! right across the street from union station, now thats history! great food there too! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olvera_Street
Ahh yes Union Station, my family moved to LA in '44 I was 6yrs old. When friends and family from back in Chicago came to visit us we would go there to meet them, the war was still goin on and I recall the place was packed with hustle and bustle, with all the military all over the place, it was a place of wonder to me, especially when we got to go up to the trains and them big ol steam engines were hissing an steaming. You have probly seen that in movies, and that was just how it looked. Olvera St. we used to get to go there from school for field trips LA was a big city even then. Course thier werent as big skyscrapers as in Chicago.
Great 1937 film on Olvera St. - some of the places are still there! hmmm... can't seem to embed it so here is the LINK.
Someone said one of the opening scenes of Blade Runner was filmed at Union Station. Hard to believe. I'll have to see it again.
I spent a lot of money in Encells auto in the 70's.. It was way cool.. A drive in 24 hour auto parts place. I do believe thay had anything you could need and a great machine shop. The night counter guy was one big pissed off at life dude.. Perfect for the nightshift..
Very cool. Thanks for sharing that. Show you what a dumbass I am, I didn't know this story! That's history, man. Awesome! I believe I've met him before.
The Encell's Garage that my family knew must have been the predecessor of this business. My Dad (who would be 105 years old if he were still alive) and my older brother (81 y.o. - 30 years my senior) only referred to it as Encell's Garage with never a mention of an Auto Parts business. They would have known Encell's Garage in the 1920's, 30's, and 40's. I believe that my dad worked there some time in the late 20's and he spoke of it often. I also believe that the garage was on Central ave so if I were to guess, I would say that it's possible that it is the same location as the later Encell's Auto Parts. I'll ask my brother about it when I talk to him. A little research online shows me that there was a Chester "Chet" Encell in the 1920 census in Los Angeles. His occupation is listed as a machinist and garage owner. He died in 1947 in a car accident in Orange County. This must have been the Encell that my dad and brother knew. I suspect that the Encell's Auto Parts is a later incarnation of the same business. Maybe a son of Chet? I would love to see a pic of Encell's Garage on the 20's or 30's if anyone ever runs across one.
another thing that I had the fortune to do in relation to the Union Station was when I worked for the Santa Fe RR as a locomotive fireman. I got bumped to LA from my home base in San Bernardino working swingshifts making up the passenger trains and delivering them to the station. I never had such a wild ride in a switch engine going from yard to the station. That engineer would pull the throttle back on the mainline along the LA river and that engine was bouncing back and forth I thought we were gonna go off the tracks. I had a real interesting time working in the environs of LA to places I,d never been before and some I was familiar with. I actually got to run a train down the tracks that went right by where I lived when we first moved to Ca. We used to play by those tracks and put pennies on them when I was a kid.
another of the Mayan, opened in 1927 and some history: "The Mayan Theatre, which opened with 1,491 seats, was at first a legitimate theatre, then it showed second run movies. In the 1940's, the theatre was a burlesque house and it is rumored that in 1948 a young Marilyn Monroe appeared here. By the end of the decade it tried arthouse films. From March 3rd 1950, the Mayan was the crown jewel of Francisco Fouce's chain of Mexican film venues and the first presentation was - 'Direct from Buenos Aires' one of Latin America's biggest stars Libertad Lamarque, 'live on stage and on the screen'. The theatre became an adult porn theatre in the early 1970's (some of the films were shot in the basement of the theatre) and around 1977 it was converted into a triple-screen theatre, still screening adult movies. The auditorium has now been de-tripled and the current nightclub use, replete with the theatre's original exotic Mayan interior, opened February 1990 and renamed The Mayan." here with hamb legend BADBOB.
Good old Ptomaine Tommys! That was a great Sunday treat.. Over the "Pasadena Speedway" in Dads "40 Packard for a "size"Decorated with chopped onions. Had a model of tommys original burger stand in the window.
GREAT flickr collection of photos of Transoprtation history of Los Angeles..... from Redcars, to buses and everything in between....http://www.flickr.com/photos/metrolibraryarchive/collections/
The Jalopy Journal
