Vintage Photo Friday

McCall's Magazine Cover, 1943

Yes.  It's raining in Los Angeles.  The rain has been coming down steadily since late last night.  It's not a deluge yet, just rather muddy and bothersome.  It's supposed to rain all weekend.  I know we need rain in the SouthLand, but it really puts a damper (heh heh) on my plans.  Sigh.

Enjoy a cozy weekend at home, friends!



Old Cars on a Rainy Day

Around Town

In addition to snapping vanity license plates, I like to snap little scenes and curious objects I see around town.

I was thrilled to see a yummy breakfast dish named after me!  

Gumbo Pot, Original Farmers Market

I've posted this sign before.  I can't believe it's still in place on the S/E corner of Pico and Shenandoah St. in the Kosher Korridor.  M. Forman was a nursery.  The plants and trees are gone, but the sign is still there!

This fake forest mural was painted on a fence surrounding a work area at Hancock Park, near LACMA.

This giant metal mesh Baby, stuffed with old toys is sitting in a corner of the warehouse in San Pedro that houses Crafted at the Port.



Display Case, WACKO



When we were in Pasadena a few weeks ago at the Pasadena Museum of California Art, we parked in the garage.  The garage walls are festooned with faboo paintings by artist Kenny Scharf.  Wilma Flintstone is my fave.

I saved the best for last.  I noticed this heart light image on the wall of the parking garage in my office building, Santa Monica.

License to Snap

I've been noticing LOTS of vanity plates around town lately!

Translation:  Lil' Monster

BIG Honda Element!

Translation:  Busy Bodies

The car or the driver?

Is there some new slang expression I haven't heard yet?

Drivers and their auto license plates in Los Angeles always amuse me.  Good thing.  I'm on the road ALL the time!

Hancock Park

LACMA, 1965, designed by Wm. Pereira & Associates.  Photo from L.A. Library Archives

On Thanksgiving day, the weather was warm and crystal clear in Los Angeles.  Since I didn't have to do any preparation or cooking for our family feast, Larry and I decided to take a walk in Hancock Park, around the grounds of the L.A. County Art Museum on Wilshire Blvd.

I remember when LACMA was built.  The original buildings are beautiful.  When I was a tiny girl, we used to visit the Art Museum collection at the LA County Museum of Natural History located at Exposition Park, near USC. The art collection was hidden away, behind the dinosaur bones. Once our current Museum was built on Wilshire, the collection of modern art was added, modern sculptures were displayed, shows were mounted of avant garde artists! It was another miracle on Wilshire! 

Today, the beautiful mid-20th century modern architecture of the original LACMA complex is obscured by the Anderson Building from Wilshire Blvd.. The new Broad Building also faces on Wilshire, between the Museum and the historic May Company Department Store, designed 1939 by Albert C. Martin and Samuel A. Marx. LACMA now occupies May Company and it is being re-configured to house the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.

On Thursday, we walked around to the back side of LACMA to view the old architecture.  Thankfully, much of it still exists.  The Sculpture Garden is lovely.  The La Brea Tar Pits and George C. Page Museum are fascinating and the Pavillion for Japanese Art is housed in a stand-out building, designed by architect, Bruce Goff. 

Pavillion for Japanese Art

Frieze surrounding Page Museum

Naturally, we walked over to the west end of the Park to see The Rock.  The transportation of this sculpture from the California desert was one of the major community moments in the City of Los Angeles.  Everyone came out to watch The Rock aka "Levitated Mass" lumber toward LACMA. 

It's all about the CONCRETE housing The Rock

I'm very glad that the original architecture has not been totally obliterated by the new buildings at LACMA.  For this I am thankful.

Field Trip

Yes, Thanksgiving with my family was lovely.  It was fun to see everyone and feast on turkey and stuffing.  You can see a few family photos here.

On Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, Larry and I went on a field trip.  We decided to head down to the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro. First stop was the USS Iowa.  Wow!  What a ship!  It's huge.  Luckily, the fog had lifted and it was a beautiful, sunny day on the water.  We had an underwhelming lunch at one of the restaurants at Ports O' Call, then headed down Harbor Blvd. to check out Crafted At The Port.

Crafted is in an old warehouse.  It's a gigantic space that has been spiffed up to include all types of art and craft booths. 

My friend, Rain was there at her jewelry booth, Honey & Ollie.  I picked up some lovely earrings on sale and then we toured the rest of the booths.  Channel 4 News was there too. Here's the story they ran on the 5:00 pm News that evening.

After leaving San Pedro, we headed toward Torrance.  I've been wanting to visit the King's Hawaiian Bread Bakery and Restaurant ever since I read about it on Allee Willis' blog.  The restaurant and bakery are housed in an old Torrance restaurant that used to be Ichabod Crane's Tarry Town Tavern, hence the storybook style architecture.

King's Hawaiian Restaurant & Bakery, formerly Ichabod Crane's Tarry Town Tavern

We'd already eaten lunch, but we toured the dining area.  It's beautiful.  I'd definitely come back for a meal. 

I picked up a loaf of King's Hawaiian Rainbow Bread.  It's gorgeous and tastes just like egg bread.

King's Hawaiian Rainbow Bread

 The South Bay was a perfect place for a mini-field trip post-Thanksgiving!

Vintage Photo Friday

May Company Shoppers, Downtown L.A., 1942.  Photo courtesy of L.A. Public Library Archives

Today, the day after Thanksgiving, has been dubbed Black Friday by retailers around the country.  This is supposed to be the busiest day for Christmas and holiday shopping.  The sales at most stores are in full force.  Some of the stores opened yesterday, on Thanksgiving!  I am not a believer in all this frenzied purchasing!  Also, I like to focus my shopping on local, hand-made items.  Larry and I are visiting Crafted at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro today!

If you are shopping this weekend, have fun, be smart and don't overdue it! 

Happy Thanksgiving

We received this FANTASTIC greeting card from Audrey and Jeff.  I just love it!  I laughed out loud when I opened the envelope!  

Thanks to all of my friends who entertain, listen and give me great happiness throughout the year.  Thanks to my family.  We're a large family, many of us still living in California and many of us flung across this great United States.  I'm grateful for every single one of you and the common family history that we share.  I look forward to spending the evening with 30 of my family members later today at a huge Thanksgiving feast at the Del Rey Yacht Club in Marina del Rey.  We are so lucky here in Southern California to have Spring weather temperatures on this Fall day.  I wish my brother, Ken and sister-in-law, Ginny could be here celebrating with us, but I know they are having a fine traditional dinner with friends in Pilot Mountain.   Have a glorious day, everyone!

Here are some links to my past Thanksgiving Day blog posts....

Thanksgiving in Beverly Hills - 1956

Thanksgiving Leftovers

2010 At Del Rey Yacht Club

Thanksgiving Lunch at the Office - 2008

Post T-Giving Sales

Whoa!  These prices are amazing!

 

Everyone's making such a big deal about post T-Giving Day sales!  I think it's rather awful that many stores are opening on T-giving night for the pre-Xmas rush. In the old days, we'd get up early on the Friday after turkey day.  Mom would bundle me up in my winter coat and we'd drive all the way down Wilshire Boulevard, through Beverly Hills, past the Miracle Mile to Mid-Wilshire and the hulking Bullocks Wilshire Department Store.  We'd stand in line with the other shivering masses, waiting for the doors to be unlocked.  Once inside, Mom would spring into action.  We were usually looking for a new coat, sweaters and other clothing suitable for California winters.  Sometimes we ended up on the Playdeck, checking out the resort clothes for our frequent trips to Palm Springs.

Mom was always very proud of the good deals that she found.  I'd be exhausted from being shoved and pushed around by the other shopping ladies in their frenzy to find bargains.  On the way home, we'd often stop for lunch at Webster's Coffee Shop on the corner of Wilshire and San Vicente, at the western edge of the Miracle Mile, just before the Beverly Hills border.

This coming Friday after Thanksgiving, you will not find me at any retail establishments.  I will be at home working on my own hand-knit and hand-crocheted gift items.

I look forward to seeing my extended family tomorrow in Marina del Rey for a sunny and beautiful Thanksgiving feast.  Happy Thanksgiving!

"Future Perfect"

"On The Edge"  - oil on canvas, 44 X 34, by Danny Heller

It was a cold and rainy night.....very L.A. Noir on Saturday.  We stopped by the George Billis Gallery on La Cienega to see Danny Heller's new paintings.  The show is called "Future Perfect," depicting mid-century modern homes in a different light than Danny usual paints.  Read his description of the show here.   The rainy night, Danny's eerie paintings and our collective long-range fears about the future came together perfectly....Future Perfect?

Artist, Danny Heller

There was another group of paintings in the back of the gallery by Canadian artist, Christopher Stott.  I liked them very much.  The typewriters, especially, spoke to me.

Artist, Christopher Stott and Mr. Larry

My favorite piece in Danny's series is "Skyfall."

"Skyfall" - oil on canvas, 16 x 20, by Danny Heller

Yarn Bomb Prep

Proposed Granny Square Design - CFAM

On a rainy Saturday afternoon, I sat in the back room of the Craft and Folk Art Museum on the Miracle Mile and crocheted granny squares with the Yarnbombing Los Angeles group.  The group has been invited to cover the entire facade of the CFAM in gigantic and mini-granny squares!  You can help too!  Sign up here and check out all of the details.

We had a good group on Saturday.  Some people were just learning how to make granny squares.  

The suggested colors for the squares are bright orange, white, bright green and aqua.  Any type of yarn is okay.  I whipped out a few while I was there.  I'll definitely return to this meet-up to watch the progress of this immense project!   

Carol in her orange boots, sewing orange squares

Check out the Video  prepared by the group to see our meet-up this past Saturday.

Vintage Photo Friday

As we prepare for Thanksgiving this year, let's be thankful for our homes, family, friends and sustenance.  Many families in Chavez Ravine,1959, weren't so lucky.  THE TURKEY SAW EVERYTHING!

Photo by Cliff Brown, Herald-Examiner Collection, 1959.  L.A. Public Library Archives

The summary on the LAPL website reads, A turkey seems to be playing the role of an innocent bystander in 1959, as Deputy Sheriff Joe Goyencha reads an eviction notice to Mrs. Victoria Augustain on a Chavez Ravine property which is part of the site proposed for the Los Angeles Dodgers' $12,000,000 baseball stadium.  The property belongs to Mrs. Augustain's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Manuel Arechiga.  It consists of three lots at 1761-71 and 1801 Malvina Avenue.  'I don't know what we'll do, or where we'll go," sobbed Mrs. Augustain.

This happens all the time, all over the world.  People are thrown out of their homes for "progress."  There are no answers, only questions.  Read more about it here.

My Baby Wrote Me A Letter

 

...and a few numbers too!

Letters and numbers on the driveway of life!

Thanks, Honey!  I love them all.