Vintage Photo Friday

Beverly Drive, 1956

I've posted this photo of Beverly Drive before.  I do love this picture.  This is how Beverly Drive looked when I was a kid. This is the east side of Beverly Drive, north of Wilshire Blvd.. We frequented Linny's Deli often, especially when Nate 'n Al's, further north on Beverly Drive, was too crowded. Now ,R.J.'s restaurant is in this spot. Just south of Linny's is Lerner Shops. This was a budget dress shop that I also frequented on my bike-riding expeditions to Beverly Drive when I was a young girl. On the corner, the white building with the Taj Mahal dome was the Beverly Theater. This is now the location of the Montage Hotel. In the distance, just south of Wilshire you can see the restaurant Melody Lane. It was gone when I was hangin' out on Beverly Drive. In it's place was Blum's Restaurant. Blum's was a mini-chain, with the main restaurant and fountain in San Francisco. I do remember the coffee-crunch on vanilla ice-cream dessert, called Blum's Coffiesta. Yum! Later, a huge office building was built on this site. If you're on the sidewalk next to this office building, look up. You'll see some beautiful, modern stained glass in the roof overhang.

I really spent most of my youth at the J.J. Newberry's on Beverly Drive...just north of the block pictured. Can you believe that there was a Newberry's Five & Dime store on fancy Beverly Drive? Well, there was. There was a lunch counter on the main floor. In the back, a half-floor down the stairs was the plant and bird section. We used to love to watch the live birds squawking in their cages. I bought many pixie bands, hair-barrettes and forbidden lipstick at the Five & Dime.

It should be a beautiful weekend in Beverly Hills!  Enjoy!