Category Archives: Interior Design

Mary Mallory: Hollywood Heights – Einar Petersen, Forgotten Artist

Posted on October 25, 2021 by lmharnisch

Image: Lobby of the New Rosslyn Hotel, showing murals by Einar Petersen. Note: This is an encore post from 2011. Fame is an odd thing. An artist might be successful and popular in his lifetime and forgotten with the decades, … Continue reading →

Posted in 1915, Architecture, Art & Artists, Downtown, Food and Drink, Hollywood Heights, Interior Design, Mary Mallory, Obituaries, Photography, San Francisco | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Found on EBay – Batchelder Tile

Posted on May 15, 2012 by lmharnisch

This Batchelder soap dish has been listed on EBay. Of all the Batchelder items that I have seen on EBay over the years, I don’t recall one of these. Bidding starts at $49.

Posted in Art & Artists, Batchelder Tile, Found on EBay, Interior Design | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Movieland Architectural Mystery — Solved

Posted on February 17, 2012 by lmharnisch

The Brain Trust has solved the mystery of the department store used in “The Public Enemy.” Thanks to Craig Deco, Lee Rivas and Nathan Marask! Here are our young ruffians (Frank Coghlan Jr. and Frankie Darro) sliding down the escalator … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Film, Hollywood, Interior Design, Location Sleuth | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

More 1940s Kitsch From the Abbotwares Studio

Posted on January 26, 2012 by lmharnisch

I’m frustrated because I couldn’t find anything really useful about Abbotwares in the clips after yesterday’s post. Apparently The Times didn’t consider its oeuvre worthy of coverage. Tsk tsk. The company is so obscure that there isn’t even an entry … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Film, Found on EBay, Hollywood, Interior Design | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Found on EBay: Atwater Kent’s Love Child From a Drunken Night in a Trophy Shop

Posted on January 25, 2012 by lmharnisch

There isn’t much that shocks me anymore when it comes to 1940s kitsch. I grew up with a lot of it and saw even more when I prowled thrift stores. And there’s this … well, it looks like a drunken … Continue reading →

Posted in Found on EBay, Interior Design, Radio | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

The Black Dahlia: Biltmore Hotel

Posted on January 11, 2012 by lmharnisch

Photo 1: Biltmore Hotel, Jan. 9, 2012, 6:30 p.m. Credit: Larry Harnisch Photo 2: Biltmore Hotel, 1940s The top photo shows the old lobby of the Biltmore on Monday as it was on the anniversary of the night Elizabeth Short … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, Architecture, Black Dahlia, Books and Authors, Cold Cases, Crime and Courts, Donald Wolfe, Downtown, Film, Hollywood, Interior Design, LAPD | Tagged , | 19 Comments

Found on EBay – Hotel Alexandria

Posted on January 8, 2012 by lmharnisch

A pitcher from the Hotel Alexandria at Spring and 5th streets has been listed on EBay. In the early 20th century, the Alexandria was one of Los Angeles’ most distinguished hotels. It has withstood several cycles of poverty and restoration, … Continue reading →

Posted in Downtown, Found on EBay, Interior Design | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Found on EBay – Clifton’s Pacific Seas

Posted on November 3, 2011 by lmharnisch

Photo: 618 S. Olive via Google’s Street View. This postcard of Clifton’s Pacific Seas (d. 1960), postmarked 1947, has been listed on EBay. The Pacific Seas was at 618 S. Olive and was torn down to make – a parking … Continue reading →

Posted in 1947, 1960, Downtown, Found on EBay, Interior Design, Nightclubs, Preservation | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

L.A. Mystery Photo [Updated]

Posted on October 30, 2011 by lmharnisch

Well? Any ideas? This is the floor of the Bradbury Building.  I took a picture of it during an art class given Saturday by Marion Eisenmann, known to Daily Mirror readers through the Artist’s Notebook. Marion asked me to make … Continue reading →

Posted in 1893, Architecture, Art & Artists, Interior Design, Marion Eisenmann, Mystery Photo, Photography | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Found on EBay – Batchelder Tile

Posted on October 9, 2011 by lmharnisch

This truly impressive Batchelder tile, 12 inches square, has been listed on EBay. This is not a pattern that I recall seeing before. Bidding starts at $1,600. As with anything on EBay, an item and vendor should be evaluated thoroughly … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Batchelder Tile, Found on EBay, Interior Design | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Restoration at Wilshire Boulevard Temple

Posted on October 8, 2011 by lmharnisch

Photo: Wilshire Boulevard Temple, interior. Credit: Jim Winstead On the 140th anniversary of the Chicago fire, it’s a time to celebrate the city’s libraries. Rick Kogan explains in the Tribune’s Sidewalks blog. Jay Jones, writing for the Los Angeles Times, … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art & Artists, Black Dahlia, Chicago, Crime and Courts, Downtown, History, Interior Design, Libraries, Mary Mallory, Museums, Preservation, Religion | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Found on EBay – Batchelder Tile

Posted on September 30, 2011 by lmharnisch

This Batchelder tile, above  left, showing a pair of peacocks, has been listed on EBay. Interestingly enough, it’s the same pattern as the piece on the right, which I found in Aimee Semple McPherson’s quarters at Angelus Temple on a … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art & Artists, Batchelder Tile, Found on EBay, Interior Design, Religion | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Found on EBay – Pin Ton Company

Posted on September 26, 2011 by lmharnisch

A postcard showing the Pin Ton Company Confectionary, 427 S. Broadway, has been listed on EBay. I don’t recall ever hearing of this business or seeing this interior. The store flourished around 1915. Bidding on the postcard starts at $9.99.

Posted in 1915, Architecture, Downtown, Food and Drink, Found on EBay, Interior Design | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Found on EBay – Mary Louise Tea Room

Posted on August 25, 2011 by lmharnisch

A postcard of the Mary Louise Tea Room, formerly the Mary Elizabeth,  has been listed on EBay. The Mary Louise was originally in the Brack Shops Building, 7th near Grand, and in 1922 moved to the southwest corner of 7th … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Food and Drink, Found on EBay, History, Interior Design | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Scarlett’s Costumes Nearly ‘Gone With the Wind’

Posted on August 19, 2011 by lmharnisch

Photo: Crane bathroom fixtures. Credit: Life magazine, April 29, 1957.   We grew up in a sterile, cookie-cutter home, on a sterile, cookie-cutter street, in a sterile suburb of Chicago, where all the people were white and all the bathrooms … Continue reading →

Posted in 1957, African Americans, Architecture, Fashion, Film, Futurism, Hollywood, Interior Design, Preservation, Transportation | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

Architectural Rambling: Julian Eltinge Home – 1921

Posted on August 9, 2011 by lmharnisch

The home of Julian Eltinge at 2328 Baxter Street in Silver Lake is barely visible from the street. Note: While trolling EBay, I found yet another article that had been cut from a magazine, in this case, the Architectural Record … Continue reading →

Posted in 1921, Architecture, Found on EBay, Interior Design, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Stage | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

Found on EBay – Hoffman’s Cafe

Posted on July 22, 2011 by lmharnisch

The 700 block of South Spring Street via Google maps’ street view. For years, 743 S. Spring was the home of Levy’s Cafe, but sometime in the early 1920s the address became Hoffman’s. It’s not clear from The Times’ clips … Continue reading →

Posted in Downtown, Food and Drink, Found on EBay, Interior Design | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Found on EBay – Biltmore Hotel

Posted on June 26, 2011 by lmharnisch

A set of door hardware from the Biltmore Hotel has been listed on EBay.   Biltmore items turn up somewhat often on EBay, but they are usually postcards, menus, tableware, shoehorns, bottle openers, etc. I have  never seen this type of … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Downtown, Found on EBay, Interior Design | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Call From the Past

Posted on June 25, 2011 by lmharnisch

Maybe it’s not enough for your cellphone to have a ringtone that’s an  old-school phone. Maybe you need an iPhone docking station that looks like an old phone. These are made by Freeland Studios in the regular (left, $195) and … Continue reading →

Posted in Art & Artists, Futurism, Interior Design, Retro | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Found on EBay – I. Magnin

Posted on June 15, 2011 by lmharnisch

This postcard showing the millinery salon at the I. Magnin store in Los Angeles has been listed on EBay. The vendor dates it at 1915 but the store actually opened at Wilshire Boulevard and New Hampshire on Feb. 10, 1939. … Continue reading →

Posted in 1939, Fashion, Found on EBay, Interior Design | 3 Comments