Jive-Bomber submitted a new blog post: Take a Drive: Los Angeles in 1953 Continue reading the Original Blog Post
To think I was about 4-5 months old then is humbling. I did notice more Chrysler and GM cars in these neighborhoods.
NOTE: The video has been restored and colorized using state-of-the-art machine learning methods (i.e., Artificial Intelligence). The restoration steps included: motion stabilization noise reduction colorization frame interpolation for increased FPS upscaling to 4K adding ambient sound
I’ll always remember my son going through some old pictures 35 yrs ago. his remark was “Dad was this during the time when everything was black and white?”
“There are lots of great vehicles to enjoy, both parked and driving around. I didn’t see a true hot rod in this movie, but there are a few mildly-customized coupes and convertibles to be spotted on the road and parked; also dug all the interesting delivery vehicles going about their day in L.A… Let me know stuff what you find interesting!” The Pacific Ocean is to the right and it is two blocks to the Santa Monica Pier, the Western end of Route 66. Hello, These old films are great as color back in those days was not the best if any were available. But with the magic of digital editing and photo programs, color can be interjected into the old films. Yes, the sky was always blue until we started getting the 1960s smog alerts and ozone notices. In 2023, the South Bay/Los Angeles Metropolitan basin is noted as the most polluted of any area measured. There are even “no fireplace burning of wood” notices to prevent more smoke pollutants going up into the air. For the first 1:23, the film shows Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica. It is above the oceanfront Coast Highway and the bluff top park is one of the coolest parks in the area. The views from this almost mile long park are outstanding. It is one place not to be missed and has been in many TV shows and movies where people go to contemplate, have a nice bluff top ocean view lunch, and/or, get the mile long walking exercise for the day. My wife and found this road/bluff/park in 1967. It is above the normal Coast Highway drive that we always took when going up the coast to the next place on our itinerary. After a nice bluff top park lunch, we would take a nice nap on the empty grassy area, prior to the long drive home. It was a common thing to do back then. Today, there are patrols that keep folks from hanging out in parks for a long length of time. In the earlier surfing days, we stopped on the bluff to look South towards the Venice Beach shoreline and North to Malibu, which is an unobstructive view point. “Check out the surf” was the point in those surf road trips. The photo on the top shows an old historic hotel called the Windmere. It has gone through several remodels and is currently a similar 4 story building on Ocean Avenue. Hotel Windemere demolished in 1962. Hotel Windemere (4 story building ) on Ocean Ave. in Santa Monica. The residential portion of the film goes through Idaho Avenue. That was in the neighborhood where my wife’s grandfather/grandmother lived for several years in Santa Monica. In 2015, we drove all over the streets from the bluff top avenue, inland several blocks to see if we could find their old house. The telling point was that she remembered the divided street that no other streets where they lived, elsewhere had. We found several. Her grandfather worked at the university farther inland from the ocean. Then, the scene changes from the coastal homes to inland valley homes and more wide open spaces. Walnut Haven Homes is a historic area located far away from Santa Monica. It is located near the Los Angeles Valley College in the San Fernando Valley area of the vast metropolitan cities. "The Walnut Haven Residential Historic District is a district of single-family and multi-family residences in the Van Nuys area of the San Fernando Valley. The vast majority of the residences were built between 1951 and 1954 as part of a single development." Jnaki Starting with the last 8:15 spot, the neighborhood turns into a different tract. Now, the homes look like the late 40s tract homes from our Westside of Long Beach neighborhood. The advent of tract homes were similar in almost every community, after the rush of home buyers everywhere. Small two bedrooms, small kitchen with room for a table for two, living room with central floor/wall gas heating and only a tub in the bathroom. (Less than a 1000 square feet.) In the films, most had a one car garage and if one lived on a corner lot, usually larger, then more garage space was available. Several service panel trucks were evident in the films, but back then, probably too tall to fit in the small one car garage. Our Long Beach neighbor had a one car garage unit (every third house) and it was difficult to get in/out of their 64 El Camino. But it was the same for our other neighbor with a 52 4 door Chevy sedan. They left it outside in the concrete pad, so access for daily drives was there. No hassle getting in/out of any door(s)..YRMV
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