(my review for goodreads. i’m plagiarizing myself and it wasn’t even that amazing the first time around!)
This book is full of interesting tidbits about L.A.’s past to accompany you on your walking/biking tours in areas all over the city–from Little Tokyo to Venice. It’s a little outdated (1972—so wouldn’t rely too heavily on it as a guide without checking updated sources), but its age definitely adds to its charm. It’s like an extra layer of history on top of the history writer David Clark is already giving you. There are streets that have been renamed and stores that no longer exist. And the things that have stayed the same are fascinating just by virtue of that fact.
etc.
Intro: “Los Angeles is a boisterous, noisy, crass, and terribly exciting place. And it has always been thus. It doesn’t fit into the neat prescribed patterns to which an interesting city is supposed to conform.”
1. Topanga & Malibu Canyons
2. Venice
3. Westwood
4. The Flower & Produce Markets at Dawn
5. The Plaza, Chinatown & Civic Center
6. Little Tokyo & the Financial Center
7. Chester Place, USC & Exposition Park
8. The Clark Library & Saint Sophia Cathedral
9. Hollywood
10. Pasadena
11. The San Gabriel Valley
12. Newport, Balboa & Laguna Beach
1. Topanga & Malibu Canyons
- Getty Museum: Lady Lansdowne removed the ‘men parts’ from her (her husband’s?) statues. When they were given to the museum, the butler handed over a shoe box full.
- Mulholland’s Saint Francis Dam fell apart in 1928. He also built the Hollywood Reservoir and Mullholland Dam, so those probably got a lot of nervous attention in the late 1920s.
- the Canyon Club was a gay bar run by two ex-members of the LAPD Vice Squad
- in Calabasas: “La Cantina serves terrific Mexican food. Try the chile colorado dinner for $1.85.”
2. Venice
- “Pacific Ocean Park resembles the mess some gigantic child has left behind after opening his Christmas presents. Ancient Chinese pagodas made of plaster stand beside the gingerbread patterns of Hansel and Gretel House. Twisted roller-coaster tracks, Cape Cod lighthouses, and Polynesian huts lean against each other for support.”
- founded in 1904, 30 miles of canals were built, 24 singing gondoliers were imported
- mural “Venice in the Snow”
3. Westwood
- Since the book was written nearly everything mentioned has changed significantly except the UCLA campus (which has changed, just not as significantly). None of the same shops are around, despite the people and places that made Westwood unique according to David Clark’s anecdotes. Even some street names have changed. I have no idea what became of Buenos Ayres Dr. I think it’s Charles E. Young Dr. now—originally named after the original land-grant rancho, now named after a former UCLA chancellor. Is change good or bad? Does it really matter? You would probably get lost trying to follow this book’s walking tour (navigating by street names or stores), but besides that maybe the changes don’t matter.
- The University Research Library has been (re-)named after Young now, as well.
- during the 1930s UCLA was often denounced as a center of “Red” agitation
4. The Flower & Produce Markets at Dawn
- “After Pearl Harbor [the flower industry] immediately split in two. Almost within a day the market divided into a white and a Japanese side of the street. When the Japanese were sent away to internment camps, flower production dropped drastically.”
- “At 5th and Maple you will see the last firehouse in Los Angeles to use horse-drawn fire engines.” (the building’s still there, i just found it on google maps’ street view.)
5. The Plaza, Chinatown & Civic Center
- For some reason the epigraph for this section is “There are times when bloody murder stalks under the red sun of California” (Carleton Beales), which seems unnecessarily foreboding.
- This is original Los Angeles. The Plaza was being restored when this book was written.
- this chapter discusses some of the horrible racist things in L.A.’s history (perhaps the reason for the epigraph) and some “wild west” stuff
6. Little Tokyo & the Financial Center
- the writer goes in for a bit of political commentary here: “The atrocious act of Japanese relocation was caused, purely and simply, by public hysteria. Neither military strategy (as was often claimed), nor pressure groups, such as economic competitors, was the most important factor. Race prejudice, sparked into hysteria by the war, was probably the essential element, for German-Americans, by comparison, were never relocated.”
- Bradbury Building: Art and Architecture magazine called the skylight “a fairytale of mathematics” and referred to the building as “forever young.” The building’s designer, Wyman, was inspired by the socialist novel Looking Backward.
- When the book was written the “Victorian charm” of the Alexandria hotel had been recently restored. I think it’s currently undergoing/ recently undergone re-restoration after a stint as low-income housing. Correct me if I’m wrong.
7. Chester Place, USC & Exposition Park
- some more (unexpected) political commentary: “Before returning to the freeway, you might be interested in taking a look at Adlai Stevenson’s birthplace. Take Adams west to Monmouth Ave. (just past Hoover); turn left (south) on Monmouth and proceed to number 2639, the house where one of our greatest statesmen was born.”
8. The Clark Library & Saint Sophia Cathedral
- apparently since Folger got Shakespeare and Huntington got 18th-century Engl. lit, Clark was stuck with the in-between period and Dryden (whom you may remember from such works as Absalom and Achitophel)
- Saint Sophia’s was built in a large part thanks to Hollywood (the industry)
9. Hollywood
- Barnsdall Park & the Hollyhock House
- the curse of Los Feliz
- Griffith (of park fame) shot his wife (full name: Griffith Jenkins Griffith)
- Hollywood and Sunset Blvd. offer “unlimited opportunities for people watching”
- one of the best tours of the book actually
10. Pasadena
- the Colorado Street Bridge: 79 people jumped after Black Tuesday. The city put up fences and a guard after that.
- the Rose Bowl, the Gamble house, etc.
11. The San Gabriel Valley
- This epigraph calls California “a foreign country,” which makes me think of the phrase “the past is a foreign country.” This is a tour of the Valley pre-stereotypes (at least some of them).
12. Newport, Balboa & Laguna Beach
- Orange County pre-stereotypes?