Standing on the corner of Western and Venice in the 1940s, Los Angeles, California


Let's go to LA in the 1940s, and stand on the corner of Western Avenue and Venice Boulevard in the 1940s.

I found this photo at the Duke University site, which is wonderful, and is all about advertising, but my interest isn't so much what's on the billboard, it's what's in the background. I, and a friend of mine, just love to do the kind of detective work to figure exactly where, and when a particular photo is. This one is so easy that I could do it myself, because you can actually see the street signs. That's not always the case in old photos, and sometimes the street signs are too blurry to read. But this is crystal clear. And as for the date, it's gotta be between 1942 and 1945, because the billboard is advertising Defense Bonds and Stamps.

These photos, by the way, were taken simply to give photographic evidence that a particular billboard, that was being paid for, was actually there. A photographer would be given the assignment, and it saved the advertiser from having to drive all over town to be sure that they weren't wasting their money. So these are just the "Google Street View" of the time, just photos of ordinary life, cars, people. And I just love photos like this. Let's take a closer look.




It looks like it's a chilly day in LA, as the lady walking across the street, with the little girl is wearing a fur coat. As I'm picturing myself as the man on the corner, I'm wearing an overcoat over my spin stripe suit. I have a nice fedora, and pince nez glasses. There are some wonderful cars there behind me - if you know what they are, please tell me and I'll update this post.



I just love those classic LA light posts, and I was on Google Street View yesterday and was surprised, and pleased, to see that many of them are still there.



Looks like there's a ghost sign there at the Westbridge Apartments. Can't quite make it out, I'll take a closer look. I can see "Diamond" and "Lowest Rates of Interest". Would like to know more about that! Looks like that building is still there. Here's a view from Google Street View:



So we're looking north. Thank you for visiting Los Angeles in the 1940s with me!





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