Looking at the new Erskine Six in 1927 at Paul G. Hoffman Co. Studebaker, Los Angeles, California


It's 1927 and we're in Los Angeles driving north on Figueroa towards Pico, and look, I think I see my next car, an Erskine Six. Luckily, the dealership is just ahead on the right.


I found this photo while I was browsing the Duke University Libraries Digital Collections site a few days ago, and it caught my eye mostly because I was convinced that it was Los Angeles, which it is. I saw a lot of clues, but I couldn't figure it out myself, so I called on the assistance of my top history detective who solved the case just about right away. The first clue that I saw was the distinctive shape of the street lights in downtown LA of that time period, which I had seen before. There was also the billboard, which said Paul G. Hoffman Co., Inc, 1250 S. Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, Calif (that's how they used to abbreviate California in those days). And then there were the 1927 California plates (look at the car on the right, you can just barely see 27).


But it was still circumstantial until my friend's eagle eye saw the Studebaker sign (although it's backwards), and if you look real hard you can see _offman C_ (just to the left of the Gilmore Garage sign). By the way, it says "Service" above the Studebaker logo.

Researching the location of the Paul G. Hoffman Company was fairly easy, it was at 1250 S. Figueroa, and my friend even found the address of the Piggly Wiggly there on the left, which was at 1307 S. Figueroa.


So since a new Erskine Six is only $995, what do you say we get two, and bring them back to the 21st Century! Thank you for time-traveling with me!

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