History The History Of Los Angeles

Griffith Park, LA 1956!

 

Yea, it was on Santa Fe Ave. close to Anaheim St.


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Thanks for the link! Looks like I've got a lot of good reading ahead of me.

 

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My mom and I would take the red P.E. car to L.A from Long Beach for the month end sales at the big department stores before there were shopping malls.


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I remember that fish. It was caught in Long Beach harbor and that picture was taken at Pier Point Landing.


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It wasn't only GM, the tire Co.'s were involved too.


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Went to Clifton's cafeteria back in the 50s. It was quite a place. Palm trees and waterfalls inside.


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I remember Dick Lane slapping car fenders sell used cars on KTLA TV back in the 50s.


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I got 29 too low tickets in 9 months. I would sign the ticket off with another cops name and badge number. Work every time.


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That place was unbelievable. The inside looked just like the outside.


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The Ford plant in Wilmington was right next to the Terminal Island draw bridge that was working when i was a kid. The Ford plant was already closed. Late 50s, early 60s.


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That's the only time I ever ditched school was to go see the Dominator.


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Postcard of the Arroyo Parkway...notice the Crosley "Hotshot" on the left.

 

That's great. Welcome aboard Hal!

 

Hunting with Hunter would sign off his show with "Blue skies and green lights for you and yours".


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On the Art Lebeau show you could call in and dedicate songs to your girl friend or friends. That was real cool!


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Your post to this old thread reminded me about this plaque I saw on eBay. Take a look at what it sold for .....

 

Our beach spot was Linden beach which was on the east side of Rainbow pier by the main lifeguard station that was a big wooden building next to the pier. Body surfing was good there because the opening in the breakwater was straight out from there. We were at the beach the day they were filming "it's a mad mad world. We sat on the pier railing when hoping to get in the movie as they came by but they cut us out of the movie.


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I forgot all about that tunnel going under Ocean Blvd. till you mention it.


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Waves at the mouth of the Los Angeles River...in the early years...

Hello,

Last week, we were cruising along the ocean in front of the beaches of Long Beach from the San Pedro. (all part of the huge LA Basin) We have seen those oil islands for a long time, the breakwater for longer, and that got me thinking. The most unusual place to surf in So Cal was at the mouth of the Los Angeles River. The river empties into the Long Beach Harbor near where the Queen Mary is currently parked. (under the bridge from Terminal Island and San Pedro)

But, before the Queen Mary and the long breakwaters were built, there were huge waves at the mouth of the LA River. My dad used to bodysurf in huge waves near the west side of the Rainbow Pier when he was a teenager. He said he drove his old Chevy across the bridge and park near the Pier and rock jetties to go bodysurfing. “…drove his Chevy to the levy…”

No, we did not get huge waves on our only attempt at riding in the mouth of the river in the early 60’s. At the time, we got a 4-5 foot south swell, bouncing off of the Terminal Island rocks, creating a shifting peak that gave us a quick short ride in that yucky water. We knew the LA River had terrible run-off water, so, once was enough… The people driving over the Ocean Avenue Bridge thought we were crazy, dumb surfers…a general consensus at the time… But, the waves were so enticing.

Parking our hot rods and surf wagons was done on the eastside of the river. (Long Beach side) Then, we climbed down the bank/Jetty rocks of the LA River to paddle out. The waves came from the east, but surged on the western side rocks (Terminal Island side) creating a bouncing swell that came back toward the east. Thus, that surge created a peak in the middle of the LA River, when it hit the shallow sandy bottom. The rides were short, fast and hollow. The bottom was black sand that flowed from far inland LA to the ocean.

Jnaki

In the photo above, the swell direction came from the west or north as there was no breakwater or jetty or huge docks, blocking any swell coming from those directions. When we were growing up in Long Beach, the long breakwater jetties were already in place, blocking any wave action. The only time waves broke in Long Beach was when the south swells were angled perfectly and came in through the opening between the breakwater jetties.

Currently, there is a proposition to take out the southern breakwater jetties or at least modify them to create more surf action. That way, there would be more water movement along the Long Beach shoreline. Less pollution in the harbor marinas and along the static waters of Long Beach.

http://www.lbsurfrider.org/sink-the-breakwater/

1960's map of Long Beach Harbor- LA River exit to the ocean.
(So Cal surf spots at the mouth of creeks and rivers usually have great waves:
Rincon Point, Ventura River, Malibu Creek, San Gabriel River, Santa Ana River, Salt Creek, San Mateo Creek,etc. So, the L.A. Rivermouth before the harbor and breakwater jetties broke quite well in all swells. Then the breakwaters and the LA-LB Harbors came into place.)

 

I dated a girl in 1959-60 who lived on West Topanga Beach Road. It was a little more finished-looking by then.

 

My Grandparents lived in Topanga Canyon in 57, somewhere there's a shot of my Gramps with his Les Paul & amp playing it below the front porch. Looked like he was in the woods, but really just up the road from the beach...
My brother Bob has that pic. He also lived there in about 68-71? Right churning the hippie era.
That place is great to drive thru in a Hot Rod, from the 101 to PCH. It's the only place that I ever saw pigs fly .

 

Haha! Nod nod, wink wink. Oh those were the days (when pigs would fly). That's L.A. history too

 

“Griffith Observatory's unique architecture and setting, compelling programmatic offerings, and cinematic exposure have made it one of the most famous and visited landmarks in southern California. Tens of millions have come to walk the inside of the building, view the live planetarium shows, or simply gaze out towards the coast and the heavens. This cultural and scientific icon owes its existence to the dream of one man, Griffith Jenkins Griffith, and to the dedicated scientists and public servants who worked to fulfill his vision of making astronomy and observation accessible to all.”


Hello,

Thoughts of living in another planet or in the skies fit right into the Griffith Park Observatory’s location immediately upon arrival by hot rod, cruisers or just in the family car. Date nights in the early 60s were impressive because of the location. Later on during the Summer of Love and the turbulent years, it was a place to go for solitude away from the happenings just down the hill. The 58 Impala made many trips up there, the 65 El Camino practically lived there and then real life took over.

Music played a big part of everyone’s life from surf music from the west coast to the rock music of the 60s-70s. Even as a young family, music and cars were the mainstays. But, one event stood out in all of those “young family days” in So Cal.

We took our son on day trips to the Griffith Park Zoo, train, and horse rides. But the topper was going at night to the Griffith Observatory high up on the hill, on the south side of the huge park. It was remarkable and brought back memories from the past. The event we all went to was a casual show inside of the observatory’s planetarium.

The main show had the “Dark Side of The Moon” as its core. The pre-show was also pretty cool, too. But the main show was the topper. The surround sound, the chairs with the neck braces for the total leaning back and viewing the dome images coming from all over…it was a show that stands out forever.

What my son probably remembers from back then was how loud the music became in this surround sound projection show. We had to cover his ears during parts of the show. But, today, he still remembers his introduction to Pink Floyd and the “loud” music at the observatory. Our old Pink Floyd LP album resides in his library shelves and he has a digital copy for his computer.

Jnaki

This show has sprung many versions and is being played all over the USA, today, getting its start back in Los Angeles.
(One can look on You Tube for all of the different versions of the laser light shows.)

Samuel Oschin Planetarium
Dark side of the Moon shows all over the USA, now.…started in 1970 in Los Angeles and closed in 2002.

Vine theater opened Laserium in 2009 and closed in December.

From 2009:

Marla Maples has what appears to be an extremely bright green mole on her cheek. Actually it's just a benign laser beam, straying onto her features as she stands inside the lobby of Hollywood's venerable Vine Theatre. Technicians are hurriedly turning the 1937 movie house into the new permanent home of Laserium, which is returning to Los Angeles beginning Friday after seven years of being officially unplugged.

Maples was never among the hundreds of thousands of people who took the laser light show in during its 1973 to 2002 run at the Griffith Observatory's planetarium. She's stopped by the Vine to discuss a program she's spearheading that will kick one-fourth of group-ticket sales back to charities. But she's well aware of Laserium's former reputation as L.A.'s most infamous stoner rite of passage. "I promise there'll be no smoking going on," she laughs.

Laserium founder Ivan Dryer admits there was a tacit understanding in the old days that some patrons might arrive already lit up. "I mean, I used to tag our ads 'Be Prepared,' " he says, quoting a vintage 1970s catchphrase that didn't necessarily refer to Boy Scout-approved prep. "But I think that there's less consciousness now that that's a necessity to be prepared for a Laserium show. We've always had G-rated shows, and we've always had a lot of family attendance, so we intend to push that as part of the nature of our brand." It doesn't hurt that Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and the Beatles -- the mainstays of the new venue's initial rotating shows -- are now considered family heirloom hand-down material and no longer the stuff of head shop soundtracks.

If the wink-wink motto of the old Laserium was "Be Prepared," at the new location they'll be counting on impulse business from a lot of patrons who couldn't come less prepared: the thousands of foot tourists who cross Hollywood & Vine every day, whose eyes may be caught by the beckoning outdoor beams that will soon dance across a curved portion of the old structure's facade. "We'll certainly get a lot of walk-ups here that we couldn't get at the Observatory," Dryer says. "You couldn't walk up the hill in Griffith Park as a casual thing."

But are once-reliable locals still guaranteed to remember, or care about, a phenomenon that's been off the market for the better part of the decade? When the Observatory closed for renovations in 2002, the laser equipment went into mothballs, too, leaving wistful nostalgists to re-create the experience by spinning "Dark Side of the Moon" at home and sadly waving laser pointers at their cottage-cheese ceilings.

Some fans assumed Laserium would be back when the Observatory reopened in 2006, but the current administration had no interest. "The grant they received said essentially: education, not entertainment," says Jonathan Todd, Laserium's marketing vice president and chief evangelist. And a plan that year to move into the Spruce Goose's massive dome in Long Beach never materialized. It was around then that the format's backers literally stopped looking up and started looking ahead.

As a "second home" and "spiritual mecca," the Observatory was "hard to let go of," Dryer admits. (In an NPR interview a few years ago, he was more blunt about the separation anxiety, calling it "a stab in my soul.") For close to a decade, starting in the late '50s, Dryer worked nights at the Observatory, picking up pegs in the pendulum pit and other odd jobs, while working as an experimental filmmaker by day. He first fell in love with lasers by accident, at a Caltech demonstration. "The color is so rich, unlike anything else you can find anywhere, film just can't reproduce it," he says. "I told myself, you know what? This is gonna have to be done live with a laser, in some kind of environmental setting."

He set up his first crude laser demo for the Observatory in 1970, but was given a firm "no" for the same reasons Laserium wasn't allowed back in circa 2006: Administrators saw it as pure entertainment, with no educational value. But in 1973, a younger and more receptive planetarium director saw the light, and a 29-year run began, with hundreds turned away by the end of the first week, even though the only publicity or advertising had been Dryer's guest appearance on Ralph Story's old morning TV show.


New show at the Griffith Observatory: similar idea, but tied in with Science Education.

Light of the Valkyries takes us on a voyage of Viking cosmology and explores the true nature of the Aurora Borealis - the Northern Lights. ... Explore the source of the northern lights (the Sun) in a cosmic light show set to one of the most iconic pieces of music of all time, Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries.

 

Hello,

The Los Angeles Metropolitan area was so loaded with drive in theaters that it was very easy to go to one in most neighborhoods from the north county down south to Orange County. We happen to live near an area that had at least 4, just in our own section of this huge So Cal area. There are plenty of stories that are associated with drive in theaters. We had plenty as it was almost a weekly event when we started driving.

When a fast getaway is necessary at the drive in movies, one must remember to unhook the wired speaker or odd results will happen. This remaining 1959 speaker came from the Los Altos Drive-In Theater in Lakewood, CA. a long time ago.

It accidentally got torn away from the speaker pole when leaving the angled, drive in parking spot. The speaker was in the door jam and not in the glass window. Yes, the preferred spot was above the rolled up glass window, but somehow, after intermission, it got stuck in the door jam, but still broadcast well, in the car.

When it made a loud snap as we drove away, our neighbors laughed so loudly that we could hear them inside of our car. My date said that there is a “metal something” in the foot well of the rear seats. I did not have time to stop and look, so I kept driving to the exit. When we got to the youth canteen dance place, I looked into the rear foot well and out popped a clean Pacific Brand Drive-In Speaker. For fear of being charged for destruction, I kept it all of these years. It did not harm the 58 Impala doors or quarter panel.

Jnaki

Being low on cash for real speakers, my brother walked in with another metal speaker housing and a similar story…ha! These two metal speakers made a homemade “early 1960 stereo” effect in our backyard garage workshop on those cold build nights.

Sadly, I only have one left being used as a bookend in our office. It still works. But now, I can afford some better speakers and an amp, for my mp3 music collection in our current garage.

Aside: Later on to prevent accidental damages to the posts, cars, and speakers, the drive in theaters began to get smart with a stereo hi fi sound paired up to your car’s radio. What to do with a car without a radio? Bring you portable hand held radio with an antenna or a boombox. The early versions had wires clipped on to the antenna. Later on, the pairing of the car speakers with the drive in music station worked.


On our recent drive up the coast for the holidays, we encountered a ton of hot rod car stuff. Including driving by the Goleta, CA drive in on the way to UCSB campus. The last time we were actually there was during the 90’s when our son was going to school at the UC campus. We used to drive by this drive in and comment that it is a long standing institution.

Well, here it is almost 20+ years later and it is still standing.

“The drive-in theater experience first came to light on June 6, 1933. That was the day Mr. Richard Hollingshead opened the first drive-in theater in Pennsauken Township, New Jersey. A few others quickly followed, but the trend only truly took off with the advent of in-car speakers in the 1940s. Families still flock to our drive-ins for great entertainment at an incredible value. But, when you come to a Westwind Drive-In, you will experience more than just a great movie, you’ll experience the drive-in, a unique and historic slice of Americana.”

ABOUT WEST WIND:

“West Wind has been family owned and operated from day one. We opened our first drive-in theater in 1952 and today, we own and operate the largest drive-in theater chain in the world with 4 in California, one in Arizona, and two in Nevada. In fact, we have recently reopened two drive-ins that had been shuttered for years: Solano Drive-In in Concord, CA. and the Santa Barbara Drive-In in Goleta, CA. The atmosphere at West Wind is best described as relaxed family fun with a mix of old school drive-in vibe, combined with the latest technology. Toss a frisbee or football around before the show or bring the wee ones to our play structure near the snack bar before you settle back for a one of a kind movie presentation.”

Goleta, Ca on the way to UCSB, Pacific Ocean in the background.
Originally opened in 1966 as the Santa Barbara Twin Drive-in, it was closed in 1991 and sat dark for almost 20 years until it was re-opened by the West Wind Drive-in chain in 2010.

THE SWAP MEET IS STILL ADVERTISED FOR WEEKEND OPENINGS. Now called, The SB (Santa Barbara)Public Market and is held here from 7AM-2PM

 

You still can. He's simulcast all over the Southwest on the Art Lebeau show and takes dedications. In San Diego, he's on 92.5 FM on Sunday nights. I believe Art has been a DJ since the 40's and was the one that coined the phrase "Oldies but goodies".

http://artlaboe.com/Radio.html

 

First ever film made of Los Angeles