Category Archives: Preservation

Scientists to Build Computer From 1830s Drawings

Photo: The lobby of La Concha Motel, designed by Paul Revere Williams. Credit: The Neon Museum The first in a planned series of monthly lectures in the newly reopened Globe Lobby is sold out. The next lecture is Dec. 8, … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Books and Authors, Chicago, Crime and Courts, Museums, Music, Preservation, World War II | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Scientists to Build Computer From 1830s Drawings

Found on EBay – Ambassador Hotel

This postcard of the Ambassador Hotel has been listed on EBay. Wouldn’t it be neat to go there? Oh wait – we let L.A. Unified tear it down. Bidding starts at $5.

Posted in Architecture, Found on EBay, Preservation | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Found on EBay – Clifton’s Pacific Seas

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

Searching for Baseball History – and USC’s Bovard Field

Photo:  Tom Phelps scores for USC in a 1946 game against UCLA at Bovard Field. Credit: El Rodeo, 1946 Jane Leavy of the New York Times examines the search for historic baseball diamonds, including USC’s Bovard Field, where Mickey Mantle … Continue reading

Posted in 1951, Baseball, Preservation | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Suspect in After-Hours Sex at Museum: ‘I Get Around’

Image: The Charleston Museum, where Michael L. Miller was arrested on charge of having sex at 3 a.m. Neale Gulley of Reuters reports that the Buffalo Transportation Pierce Arrow Museum in Buffalo, N.Y., is building Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1927 design … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, Food and Drink, Museums, Music, Native Americans, Preservation | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Suspect in After-Hours Sex at Museum: ‘I Get Around’

Remembering ‘Injun Summer’ – But Not in a Good Way

Image: Detail of “Injun Summer” (d. 1992), by John T. McCutcheon, once an annual fall tradition of the Chicago Tribune. The old man tells the boy: “Don’t be skeered — hain’t none around here now, leastways no live ones.’” An … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Art & Artists, Chicago, Medicine, Museums, Native Americans, Preservation, Transportation | Tagged , | 1 Comment

The Wilshire Bowl, 5665 Wilshire Blvd.

A matchbook from the Wilshire Bowl for sale on EBay, listed as Buy It Now for $7.19. Mary Mallory was curious about the Wilshire Bowl, where the Silver Screen Revue was staged in 1941. The bowl, at 5665 Wilshire Blvd., … Continue reading

Posted in 1941, Architecture, Art & Artists, Found on EBay, Nightclubs, Preservation | Tagged , | 2 Comments

A Vanished Neighborhood Endures in Memory

Nate Schweber of the New York Times writes about a reunion of people who lived in a New York neighborhood that was obliterated during urban renewal. The demolition of the neighborhood is also the subject of a documentary, “The Tragedy … Continue reading

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Restoration at Wilshire Boulevard Temple

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 , , | Comments Off on Restoration at Wilshire Boulevard Temple

Found on EBay – Hotel Lankershim

This rather wonderful postcard showing an artist’s conception of what the future might look like has been listed on EBay. Built in 1902, the Hotel Lankershim was often described the city’s largest unreinforced building. After the 1971 Sylmar quake, the … Continue reading

Posted in 1902, Architecture, Art & Artists, Downtown, Found on EBay, Futurism, Preservation | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

The Odyssey of the Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers

Photo: Dorothy (Judy Garland) is wearing the ruby slippers. But which pair? Reuters is reporting that Profiles in History is auctioning off one of the pairs of ruby slippers used in “The Wizard of Oz.” Auction house owner Joe Maddalena … Continue reading

Posted in 1939, Fashion, Film, History, Hollywood, Preservation | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

John Wayne Gacy Victim May Be Exhumed

Photo: The last Crown Vic rolls off the Ford assembly line. Leslie Luebbers,the director of the Art Museum at the University of Memphis and head of the Paul Revere William Project will give a lecture on the famed African American … Continue reading

Posted in African Americans, Architecture, Art & Artists, Crime and Courts, LAPD, Music, Preservation, Transportation | Tagged , , | Comments Off on John Wayne Gacy Victim May Be Exhumed

Scarlett’s Costumes Nearly ‘Gone With the Wind’

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

The Mystery of J.W. Robinson [Updated]

A postcard showing the J.W. Robinson Co. Building has been listed on EBay. And it’s more of a mystery than I expected….

Posted in 1914, 1915, 1923, 1934, Architecture, Downtown, Fashion, Found on EBay, Preservation | 10 Comments

#Broadway, #Civil War, #history, #museums, 8|12|2011

Photo: Diary of Alexander Sterrett Paxton. Credit: Washington and Lee University. Daniel de Vise of the Washington Post writes about a collection of six Civil War diaries obtained by Washington and Lee University. The diaries were kept by Alexander Sterrett … Continue reading

Posted in Art & Artists, History, Museums, Music, Preservation, Stage, World War II | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on #Broadway, #Civil War, #history, #museums, 8|12|2011

Found on EBay – ‘London After Midnight’

A German poster for the lost film “London After Midnight” has been listed on EBay. Notice that the vendor is in Spain. Also notice that it is listed as Buy It Now for $14,000. As with anything on EBay, an … Continue reading

Posted in 1927, Art & Artists, Film, Found on EBay, Hollywood, Preservation | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Found on EBay – ‘London After Midnight’

#art, #history, #museums, 8|5|2011

Photo: A page of Woody Guthrie’s scrapbooks. Credit: Robin Carson, the Woody Guthrie Archive   Eve M. Kahn of the New York Times examines efforts to preserve Woody Guthrie’s fragile, crumbling scrapbooks. The Woody Guthrie Foundation received  an $80,000 grant … Continue reading

Posted in Art & Artists, History, Museums, Obituaries, Preservation | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on #art, #history, #museums, 8|5|2011

#history, #libraries, #museums 7|28|2011

Image: Battle of Manila Bay. Credit: Wikipedia NEWS Justin Jouvenal in the Washington Post’s Buzz, writes that the Patsy Cline Historic House is opening in Winchester, Va., on Aug. 2. The Independence Seaport Museum has made an emergency patch on … Continue reading

Posted in Art & Artists, History, Libraries, Museums, Music, Preservation, Retro, Transportation | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

#art, #authors, #genealogy, #history, #museums 7|27|2011

Photo: 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540 K Spezial Roadster. Credit: RM Auctions via the New York Times. SPOTLIGHT The University of Virginia has posted audio clips of William Faulkner recorded in 1957-58. The home page is here. If you have never heard … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Art & Artists, Books and Authors, Genealogy, Libraries, Museums, Nightclubs, Pasadena, Preservation, Television | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on #art, #authors, #genealogy, #history, #museums 7|27|2011

7|14|2011 #LA, #history, #museums

Photo: Los Angeles Public Library. Credit: LAPL FEATUREDA celebration will be held at the downtown library on Monday at 9:30 a.m. as the L.A. library system restores Monday service at all branches. Sunday closures are continuing, however. Saturday will be … Continue reading

Posted in Architecture, Books and Authors, Coming Attractions, Crime and Courts, Film, History, Libraries, Museums, Preservation | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on 7|14|2011 #LA, #history, #museums