The future of transportation is the automobile. Streets that no longer need streetcars, no longer need streetcar tracks. Such was the case at Piedmont and North Figueroa.

The year was 1958.

Photo from the Los Angeles Public Library

With news spreading that the owner of The Edison has purchased Clifton’s Cafeteria – a downtown institution at 7th and Broadway – let’s take a moment to remember what once was, and could be again:

Notice that 1) there is no metal grate covering up the building, and 2) the sign reads “Open 6am to Midnight.”

Tear down this wall. The streetcar is coming.

David Horsley arrives in Los Angeles with his motion picture company, Nestor Films. They would become the first studio in Hollywood, at Sunset & Gower.

The year was 1911.

Photo From the Los Angeles Public Library

The Los Angeles Rams would finish the season at 6-6, missing the playoffs. But, they would end on a high note on the muddy gridiron of the famed Coliseum, with a W against their NFL Western rivals, a Johnny Unitas-led Baltimore Colts.

The year was 1957.

Photo from the USC Digital Library

Tom Bradley was being sworn in as the first African American mayor of Los Angeles. His inauguration was not without controversy.

The year was 1973.

Photo from the Los Angeles Public Library

Our good friend e*star recounts her horrific mugging in broad daylight while the rest of Hollywood stood idly by. It sounds like she gave the girl a good ass-kicking:

She careened me towards the white picket fence at June and De Longpre, pulling my hair. I whipped her back around, kicking her in the stomach. We continued as I screamed from within the far reaches of my lungs to the passing cars who probably thought they were witnessing a chick fight, what with my female mugger.

It’s comforting to know that events like these are still taking place while the LAPD is running radar on Coldwater & Burbank to catch soccer moms speeding on their way to work.

We’re glad you’re OK, Esther. Thank you for sharing your story with us, and for standing your ground in your new neighborhood.

Men of stature. Men of soap. John A. Forthmann Sr., Horace Forthmann, and J.J. Bergin, with the Los Angeles Soap Company.

The year was 1874.

Photo from the USC Digital Library

Next week, we’ll talk about purchasing tickets. Mainly, that if you want to ride, you’ll need a ticket. And that you have to purchase a ticket at a ticket machine that sells tickets. Ticket.

Officers in the Van Nuys Division of the LAPD are caught off-guard. Is that what we think it is?

The year was 1951.

Photo from the USC Digital Library

Goods were transported by horse and carriage. Streets had yet to be paved. But, the streetcars were rolling down Broadway.

The year was 1909.

Photo from the USC Digital Library

JAGCHIK was spotted on Van Nuys & Burbank in Sherman Oaks earlier this afternoon. What errand was JAGCHIK running?

Let your creative writing skills go to work in the comments.

The Thirty-Eights used to call it the Old Fire House. Others also called the Los Angeles Plaza building home, as a hotel and saloon.

The year was 1920.

Photo from the USC Digital Library

San Francisco is turning out the lights at the 1939 Transbay Terminal. Then they make go boom.

In a strange turn of events, Los Angeles is being credited with better efforts in historic preservation of its landmarks. Also, a pig just flew by my desk.

Photo of San Francisco Transbay Terminal from Mark Pritchard’s photostream

860 North Gower was home to one of the Big Five – RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. It’s latest film was considered a critical success, but a box office failure. How would history come to remember Citizen Kane?

The year was 1941.

Photo from the USC Digital Library

EaterLA is reporting that Ye Coach & Horses pub on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood is set to close its doors after 73 years. Something about a lease dispute with next door neighbor and building owner Samuel French Bookstore. At least the owners weren’t evicted in the dead of night. Friends of the joint are showing their support of Ye Coach’s Facebook page.

Hopefully, Sam French will understand the significance of something even being around for 73 years in Los Angeles, and reconsider their stance. Not only would the city lose yet another historical icon – thousands of actors and writers will be left to wander the streets of Hollywood is search of a new watering hole. One that is only further away from the bookstore to which they are paying customers.