It was California’s first, as well as the fourth in the entire USA. The Pico Drive-in theater . . . seen in the photo below . . . opened on September 9, 1934, at 10850 Pico Boulevard and Westwood Blvd. It was demolished in 1943. Today, the Westside Pavilion Mall near UCLA occupies the original…
It was a veritable juggernaut—the number and variety of roadside novelty (“vernacular,” “programmatic,” or “mimetic”) buildings that once dotted the urban landscape in Los Angeles. Like the examples featured in an related earlier post, these “hey-you-can’t miss-me!” buildings were made to pull automobile drivers right off the road—to eat, shop, or stay the night. Quirky,…
I once worked in El Segundo, a small city bordered to the north by Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and to the west by remnants of the demolished Playa Del Rey/Surfridge neighborhood, perched on the cliffs above Vista Del Mar (Pacific Coast Highway, aka PCH). Sometimes on my lunch hour, I would make the short…
I am leaving this fabulous vintage photo large and uncropped . . . I think it’s that good. How many Angelenos know that Glendale, once a rather sleepy L.A. suburb, was actually at the very heart of the burgeoning aviation industry here in Southern California? (Unrelated side note: the edge of the small billboard to…
“Tarzana”—it’s one of L.A.’s true suburbs. Located in the Valley. Drive down Ventura Boulevard (or up the 101 toward Topanga) and you are there. Nearly nine miles square, it is pure San Fernando Valley with a ranch flair! Ever wondered how the town got its name? Perhaps the word derives from So Cal’s Spanish or…
