While looking for images of Los Angeles to use for a different post, I ran across The George A. Eslinger Street Lighting Photo Gallery on the City of LA website. Have you ever looked up to see what kind of art was lighting your evening commute? You might now.

On the site you can see images of some of the first street lights used in LA and combo pics of original poles and lights and their updated, more modern replacements. There other street lighting department images, things like crews replacing poles from the early 1900′s and today, fleets of repair trucks then and now, light poles used on bridges and historic night views of LA.

From the main gallery page:

This gallery is a tribute  to George A. Eslinger, former Director of the Bureau of Street Lighting.  Through his dedication, leadership and vision he was responsible for spearheading the implementation of  information technology solutions to make significant operational improvements in the City of Los Angeles Bureau of Street Lighting.

The George A. Eslinger Street Lighting Photo Gallery

Click on through to see more images from the site.

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I’m a big fan of the Mystery and Imagination Bookstore in Glendale. It’s a great place to get quality used copies of just about every type of genre fiction. It’s where I’ve been getting my original Ballantine copies of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter novels*, and, along with the Brand Bookshop across the street, is one of my favorite places in the city to disappear for several hours.

So you can imagine the degree to which I peed my pants when Mystery and Imagination sent me an email a few minutes ago (I’m on their email list) alerting me that they won’t be open on Sunday because they’ll be selling books at the Black Ace Books 31st Annual Vintage Paperback Collectors’ Show and Sale. The cool part: The event will be chock full of science fiction and fantasy authors, who will be signing their books (at no charge).

I’m excited about Larry Niven, author of the Ringworld series (which, for you video game fans out there, gave some inspiration to Halo). Also present will be alternate-history guru Harry Turtledove, a host of Cthulhu Mythos writers**, and many, many more. Here’s a complete list. (Sadly, Ray Bradbury apparently had to cancel, as did Frederik Pohl, who co-wrote The Space Merchants, one of my favorite SF books of all time.)

Here are the details:

31st Annual Vintage Paperback Collectors’ Show and Sale

Sunday, March 21, 9 AM to 5:30 PM

Guest House Inn Convention Center

10621 Sepulveda Blvd

Mission Hills, CA 91345

Admission $5

* Sadly, Burroughs will not be at this weekend’s event, as he has been dead for six decades. However, Richard Lupoff will be there, and he’s a highly-regarded Burroughs scholar, as well as one of the contributors to Philip Jose Farmer’s Dungeon series, which I’m a huge enough geek to love.

** What’s the collective noun for Cthulhu Mythos writers? I’m thinking “fhtagn.” If you get this joke, you are hereby invited to my birthday party. Or, actually, that might be a terrible idea. Forget I said anything.

The intersection of Sepulveda and Washington Place in Culver City is a treasure trove of really great neon and I drive past it all the time and marvel at it. In addition to  the amazing sign (and sandwiches!) at Johnnie’s, there are a few motels on the eastern side of the street that have signage that I’m totally in love with. Two in particular – Deano’s and the Half Moon Motel – look like they probably offer some of the city’s sketchiest accomodation, but I’d rather not think about it. Instead, their totally amazing signs make me think of the 1950s and 1960s when Southern California was undergoing all kinds of development, and was ground zero for people wanting to get away from

the cold and snow to get a little piece of a place where it’s sunny all the time. These motels kind of fade into the landscape now, but I bet that when they were first built and the area was less developed, that neon stood out like a beacon. I can imagine that if I had just arrived in town searching for my 1950s-style Californian dream, fresh out of LAX, not knowing a soul, I’d totally decide to crash at the Half Moon Motel because of that smiling, friendly, neon moon.

Sorry for the giant image (which you can clickify to embiggen) but I think you’ll agree it’s worth it. BoingBoing just posted a link to a scan of a 1934 Los Angeles Times article about the lizard people who live under the city which was found on Vokoban’s flickr stream. We’ve covered the lizard people before, but this new (old) map should make them much easier to find yourself.

Last week, via LA Observed, I learned of the tragic demise of Goody’s, a super charming (ie: cheap and bad for you) greasy spoon in San Gabriel.  I’ve eaten at Goody’s all of once, but it was by far one of the most memorable meals in my life:  we were driving from Galco’s Soda Pop Stop to Bahooka (both important parts of a perfect Sunday afternoon) when we noticed the totally sweet neon sign at Goody’s (even though the neon wasn’t actually lit) and decided that we needed to stop there for dinner on the merits of their signage alone (I will admit that most of my dining choices are made via this particular method).  And I ordered the chicken pot pie and (I tend to exaggerate this part of the story, but whatever,) it was giant, and came with a loaf of bread, and a salad, and mashed potatoes, and I think also soup and, really, the details aren’t important here, because the bottom line is that it was the largest pile of old people food I have ever seen and it only cost, like, seven dollars.  And it was even tasty!

So, in memory of Goody’s, and their totally sweet neon sign, I want to inaugurate a new series, which I am calling Really Great Neon, and which will chronicle all of the really great neon signs that I (and hopefully my fellow metrobloggers) notice in my travels around this fair city of ours.

The Goody’s sign is a perfect inaugural example of Really Great Neon:  the typeface is fantastic with that boomerang-shaped G, and the distorted rectangular shape of the sign looks really great against the piece with the circular cut outs.  Really, only awesome things could happen in a place with a sign like this.  I hope that somehow the sign gets saved after the restaurant closes – the streetscape just couldn’t possibly be the same without it.

The only sentence I love more than “Half-Priced Penis Puppetry” is “Vintage Fashion Expo this weekend,” so can you imagine my absolute delight having the rare opportunity to utter both of these magical sentences in the same week?

If you are like me, then you have a swanky Mad Men themed party to attend in a couple of weeks, and if you know me, then you know with utmost certainty that I have been searching for the perfect outfit every day for the past two weeks, scanning etsy, modcloth and every vintage clothing shop within walking distance of my apartment. Sadly, nothing has caught my attention yet, but I am hoping that is all about to change when the Vintage Fashion Expo hits Santa Monica this weekend.

Taking temporary residence at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium February 6 and 7, the Vintage Fashion Expo will present more than 85 vintage dealers offering the best in vintage clothing and accessories for men and women. The expo will feature women’s hats, gloves, purses, dresses, shoes, costume and estate jewelry, men’s vintage shoes, ties, hats and suits and more. You will also find great vintage eyewear for men and women.

Early admission is $20 and begins Saturday from 9:00 – 10:30 am. Regular admission is $10 and begins Read the rest of this entry →

Saturday January 23rd is Classic Eats #8 and the polls have been open for almost a week now. So far Downtown Deli Smack Down is ahead  with the Hollywood Resolution Buster coming in second. Voting will remain open until Monday, January 18th! If you haven’t voted yet, please do so. If you have, tell your friends to come along and vote!

Click here to vote!

The start times will be determined by the locations chosen. We usually start around 5pm to A) beat the crowds and B) give you time to head out to other Saturday night activities afterward. If Langer’s V. Cole’s wins, we will start even earlier because Langer’s closes at 4pm.

Click past the jump to read all about our candidates.

Read the rest of this entry →

Tipped off last night by our blogger Jason Burns, who was in turn tipped off by a tweet from City Councilman Eric Garcetti, I made a point of snapping a few pictures last night as the rarely-lit Lindbergh Beacon shone over Downtown.

It was a little difficult to find an authoritative online source for info on the Beacon, but apparently the intensely-bright light with a lighthouse-style rotation was installed originally in 1928, named after the decade’s big celeb (flyboy Charles Lindbergh) and switched on by President Calvin Coolidge himself from a remote control situated in the White House. The web site aerofiles.com then explains that

“…its original purpose soon became outmoded by advanced air navigation technology. The beacon was eventually turned off, removed in the early 1940s, and it quietly disappeared—no one seemed to know for sure where it went. Then, by chance, in the early 1990s it was discovered at a city warehouse, where it was regarded as an odd piece of junk, but members of the Project Restoration group recognized its historical value, and rescued the relic. Funded by the city’s Cultural Affairs Dept, the beacon underwent electrical rewiring and metal restoration for subsequent return to the top of City Hall in 2001. Project Restore held an initial rededication ceremony for the restored Lindbergh Beacon on April 22, 1992 in the LAX terminal, where it was relit in demonstration after its then 50-year absence.”

Apparently the thing is now only lit rarely, so it was a real treat to see it going last night! Sorry for the crappy picture; I had pulled over into a restricted section of Spring Street & was endeavoring to take the photo out the car window without stepping out into the cold, or into a traffic citation. Flickr has a better collection here (but be aware that another Lindbergh Beacon resides in Chicago atop the former Playboy Magazine building).

Here you can watch a very brief video by KPCC’s John Rabe taken from the top of the tower, which contains the tiniest shot of the back of the beacon (I think), and Rabe saying “Take a good look ’cause I’m not coming back up here again.”

If any City Nerds, Map Nerds, or Nerds of other stripes know more about the Beacon & can provide us links to further information I’d be indebted to said Nerds.

I think LA would pretty much be a perfect city if it weren’t for the cars and the air quality (I work in Chatsworth–cough, cough). So Matt Logue’s Empty LA (via Urban Daddy) comes across like porn to me–something approaching post-apocalyptic porn, admittedly, but I am pretty sympathetic to the “hell is other people” school of thought so there you go. Logue’s vision of LA’s streets and beaches emptied of people and cars and all signs of life is exhilarating and kind of terrifying. The book comes in cloth and paper, in two format sizes–13 x 11 and 10 x 8. It’s marvelous.

On the other end of the fantasy LA spectrum are the amazing panoramic photos of ca. 1899 downtown LA–Bunker Hill–posted on Shorpy (see Chris Conkle’s comment for specifics about location) It’s an amazing testimony to this city’s ability to shed its skin. LA is a city that razes and rebuilds. While this opens us for the inevitable “why can’t we be more like San Francisco” criticism that we deny our history, at the same time, it’s part of the fantastic optimism (denial of reality even) of a verdant city in the middle of a desert, populated with folks who come here to recreate themselves. LA is where America arrived at the end of the imperative to “go west.” With no more frontier, we level and recreate this city over and over again.

I’m a big history geek. I even got a national merit scholarship award in high school for the subject of history. Needless to say, this did not make me any cooler back then, but nowadays I have no shame about being totally gay for history (is that offensive? If so let me know).

So I’m crazy in love with the Heritage Square Museum in Highland Park. If you’ve never been there, what it is is a collection of historic homes & architectural wonderments, all transported from locations where they surely would have been razed to their foundations–instead deposited safely in the Arroyo south of Pasadena, in a neat little collection. They host lots of historical-reenactment living exhibits and do a great job of showing you what a Victorian-era home would have looked like. And on December 5 & 6 they’re hosting their 15th Annual Lamplighting Celebration for the holiday season.

With each charming home illuminated by lamplight, you can jump into the dancing, sip some warm apple cider and nosh on tasty holiday goodies. There will be period-style dress & festivities and the homes will be decorated in holiday decorations typical of the era in which each home was built. Additionally, guests can check out “Holiday Heritage: A Southern California Christmas,” a photographic exhibit offering a glimpse of the culture, commerce, and art of Christmas in SoCal from 1880 to 1950, listen to classic tales from a “special visitor,” and shop for adorable period crafts & gifts in the Museum Store–hello, stocking stuffers!

There is a distinct breed of family restaurant founded in spades across the nation between the 40s and the 50s, few of which survive, that provided a Disneyana environment where the family could dine surrounded by a Yogi Bear-era “outdoor” look: faux trees, the occasional water feature, “log cabin” woodwork, abundant taxidermy. Clearman’s North Woods Inn, in San Gabriel, is one such institution.

I happened to be passing there the other day while spending quality time with the Mom. I went to Clearman’s only once, long ago, when I was in junior high school. For reasons that will forever remain elusive I had developed a passion for miniatures, along with another girl in my class, and the two of us made plans to go–or rather, made plans for our moms to drive us–down to San Gabriel where a miniature store sold itty-bitty pieces of handpainted china for lilliputian table settings to be set in itty bitty houses. Clearman’s happened to be right next door.

My friend had been there before. “You have to get the potato with the cheese butter,” she announced. Her mom, petite as a chihuahua and as perky, leaned over the table toward my mother and I. ‘CHEESE BUTTER,” she said in a low whisper… Read the rest of this entry →

El Cholo has won by a whopping two votes! We are off to the original (as of 1927 anyway) location on Western. Here are all the details:

Saturday July 18
5:30pm — ??

I’ll make a reservation for 15 since that seems like the average amount of Classic Eaters who come along. I’ll also be there with a sign as per usual.

El Cholo
1121 Western Ave.
(323) 734-2773

Want more incentive to come other than great nachos and margaritas? You may hear some funny tales of bloggers and guns from earlier in the day. I’ll say no more.

Thanks again for the votes and we all look forward to seeing you at El Cholo!

My love for Kim Cooper‘s projects & collaborations is no secret, but this latest endeavor thrills me even more. Chronicling the glittering and ghastly history of LA’s Historic Core, centered around the footprint of the Downtown Artwalk/Gallery Row, the blog “In SRO Land” is only a week old but already is a treasure trove of info that’s left me utterly absorbed.

Every year Kim’s original blog, 1947project, undergoes a re-casting and covers a different year in Los Angeles history. But this year it becomes “In SRO Land,” named alternatively after the Single Room Occupancy hotels that are so prevalent in the area, and “Standing Room Only”–the common refrain of Broadway, whose golden era was a cavalcade of dancers and entertainers, criminals and movie stars, freaks and fans.

I am so stoked to have this new blog up and running, and I’ll be sure to check it every day. Welcome to the party, In SRO Land.

Also, a great big Congrats to Kim Cooper’s husband & Esotouric curator Richard Schave, the newly-minted Director of the Downtown LA Art Walk.

Photo by In SRO Land contributor Rob Clampett.

Oh Hai!

Okay, where were we? Oh yes, Classic Eats! 

Now that we’ve had our Very Special Episode of Classic Eats, we can return to the relaxed monthly event that is our standard get together at various parts around town. 

So save the date: July 18 for Classic Eats #6! I will put a poll together in a week or two so we can vote on our next destinations.

Looking forward to wearing less food shaped clothing and actually getting a chance to sample the food or drink at whatever place we go next.

While catching the turgid 1949 film version of The Fountainhead this week, I noticed that, in the climactic courtroom scene, all the jurors were men, and white ones at that. This reminded me of the 1957 film 12 Angry Men, which, as the title indicates, also features a completely vag-less jury. Next thing I know, I was up to my favorite form of multitasking: looking things up on the laptop while simultaneously watching a movie on cable. I found some interesting results about the history of women on juries in California, in which the Los Angeles area plays a major part.

Sit on this (jury), after the jump