The French called her La Divine, or The Goddess. Suzanne Lenglen dominated women’s tennis from 1919 to 1926, the year she turned professional. As well known for her fashion sense as her game, in December she came to Los Angeles with her former rival, Mary K. Browne, who had also just turned pro, to play an exhibition at the Olympic Auditorium. Continue reading
Month: August 2015
The Hotel Figueroa
The YWCA’s Figueroa Hotel opened at 939 S. Figueroa St. on August 15, 1926 with a gala dinner dance in the Fountain Floor ballroom. The “Hotel Unusual” catered to business, traveling and professional women and their husbands and children. Continue reading
Ruth St. Denis, Ted Shawn & the Denishawn School
Los Angeles had gained a reputation as a terpsichorean haven by 1926, with modern dance pioneers like Ernest Belcher, Norma Gould and Ruth St. Denis & Ted Shawn operating schools in the area. The mild climate ensured that scantily-clad maidens could frolic among the eucalyptus trees and rose bowers all year ‘round. Continue reading
Immanuel Presbyterian Church & Petroleum Securities Building
At the time of its dedication in 1891, the Immanuel Presbyterian Church, designed by James H. Bradbeer dominated the southeast corner of the then-remote Tenth & Pearl streets. By 1926 this stretch of Pearl St. had long since become part of Figueroa and the southward progression of the city had caught up to and the church, which found itself in the shadow of modern progress. Continue reading
Mt. Wilson Resort
Located in the San Gabriel Mountains near the foothill communities of Altadena and Pasadena, the Mt. Wilson resort was an easy day trip by automobile from Los Angeles. It was also home to the Mt. Wilson observatory, with its 100-inch Hooker telescope, the largest in the world. Continue reading
USC vs. Notre Dame 1926
The rivalry between Notre Dame’s “Fighting Irish” and Southern California’s “Thundering Herd” began in 1926, when fans of both sides packed the Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles to see the two teams play for the first time. So who won? Continue reading
Harry Greb in Hollywood
A professional boxer since 1913 and veteran of nearly 300 ring battles, the reigning middleweight champion of the world was famous for his aggressive fighting style, unorthodox training methods, and fast-paced lifestyle out of the ring. Los Angeles fight fans got to see The Pittsburg Windmill, Harry Greb, in action in early 1926 when he came west to meet Ted Morgan at Jack Doyle’s Vernon Coliseum. Continue reading
The Broadway Department Store
It’s unlikely that patrons of The Broadway at Fourth & Broadway in the fall of 1926 noticed anything different about their shopping experience. Hosiery was still on aisle 8, books on aisles 5-6; the beauty shop was still giving marcel waves on the 3rd floor, and Toy Town on the 4th floor was being made ready for a visit from Santa Claus. But like Hamburger’s, another pioneer Los Angeles department store had passed out of family ownership. Continue reading
The Eastman Kodak Building
Things moved so fast these days, what with airmail cutting 30 hours from the time it took to get mail from New York and high speed trains getting here from Chicago a whole business day sooner. A Kodak Brownie camera could capture a fleeting moment forever. As of 1926 you could get one at 643 S. Hill Street, Los Angeles when Eastman-Kodak Co. of Rochester, NY opened its local branch headquarters there. Continue reading
The Orpheum Theater
The first Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles had been only the second of the vaudeville circuit’s chain in the West when it opened in the former Child’s Opera House on Main Street in 1894. The newest Los Angeles Orpheum Theater opened in a grand new building in February 1926, the year vaudeville celebrated its 100th Anniversary. Continue reading
J. H. Graham 