miniature golf

6000-6004 Hollywood Boulevard: Eskimo Village Mini Golf / Mary’s Lighthouse / Hollywood Ford

jhgraham Hollywood Boulevard Tags: , , , 5 Comments

Eskimo Village, 1930. California State Library photo.

Located in the Mount View Tract and separated from the Mountain View Inn to the east by an alley called Brokaw Place (connecting Hollywood Boulevard to Carlton Way), Eskimo Village Miniature Golf opened at 6004 Hollywood Boulevard in August 1930 at the height of the nation’s short-lived miniature golf obsession. It wasn’t the only miniature golf links to open on Hollywood Boulevard that summer. It wasn’t even the only mini golf links on this block- there was Shady Greens across the street on the Brokaw ranch property, and Loma Linda links down the street. But it was certainly one of the most unique courses.

Organized by Sid Algier, a film director, it was meant to be the first in a chain of Eskimo Villages. The course was designed and built by H.C. Lydecker, a former art director and miniatures expert with the Tiffany-Stahl studio. It had an Alaskan theme with Hollywood studio snow, wrecked ships, totem poles, icebergs and igloos. It opened on the evening of August 7, 1930. Actress Alice White and her future husband, screenwriter Sidney “Sy” Bartlett, officiated.

Hollywood Daily Citizen 8/7/1930.

6004 Hollywood Boulevard, originally addressed as 556 Prospect Avenue, had been the home of William Thornton Glassell and his wife Fannie.

W.T. Glassell was born in California in 1863. He was named after his uncle, who had been a captain in the Confederate Navy during the Civil War. His father had come West from Virginia during  the Gold Rush. Widowed in 1898, in 1901 he married Fannie E. Moore, lately arrived from England and 20 years his junior.

By 1905 the couple had settled in Hollywood with their two young children and William’s grown son from his first marriage. The ranch house was set amid a lemon grove.

LA Express 4/22/1905

 

The Glassell residence, 6004 Hollywood Boulevard. Detail of a 1913 Sanborn Fire Insurance map. Library of Congress.

William Glassell died in January 1918. Fannie relocated with the children and rented 6004 Hollywood Boulevard, initially as a residence then for retail use as the Boulevard became increasingly commercial. She remarried in 1920 and became Fannie M. Shippee.

In March 1922, a film actress turned real estate agent named Mary Vittitoe obtained a permit, with Shippee’s permission, to build an office on the Glassell parcel. A. F. Leicht was the architect listed. The unique structure, shaped like a lighthouse, became an instant landmark when Mary opened for business, as 6002 Hollywood Boulevard, in July 1922.

Originally it was going to be 6004 Hollywood Boulevard but Mary opened her lighthouse-shaped office as 6002. Hollywood Daily Citizen 3/10/1922.

Postcard view of Mary’s lighthouse-shaped office.

Mary billed herself as the “youngest real estate salesgirl in the world.” How young was she? Well…. In the 1920 US Census Mary’s age is listed as 18. She appears in the census of 1900, however, as a year-old baby; her birth date is given as May 1899. In the 1930 US Census, Mary shaved even more years off her age, stating that she was 25. For 1940 and 1950, though, she reverted back to her actual age. The May 1899 date is correct; therefore she would have been 23 when her lighthouse office opened. Did that still make her the youngest real estate salesgirl in the world? Who was to say.

Mary’s Lighhouse referenced in an ad for the Blue Mill cafe, located in the new “The Shopping Center” at 5950 Hollywood Boulevard (later Gordon Warren Chevrolet). Hollywood Citizen News 6/6/1922.

Mary advertised at this location until early April 1925; later that month she moved to 5908 Hollywood Boulevard.

Mary’s lighthouse was repurposed as Lova’s Treasure Chest gift shop in 1925; in 1926 it was the Hollywood branch of the Pacific Coast Mortgage Company, specializing in automobile loans.

Hollywood Daily Citizen 11/24/1925.

LA Times 11/25/1926.

Mary’s lighthouse at 6002 Hollywood Boulevard, repurposed as an auto loan office. The Mountain View Inn can be seen behind it.  LAPL photo.

In December 1923, local papers reported that C.B. Christie of the Christie Hotel had taken a 99-year lease on the property from Fannie Shippee. He planned to build a 12-story hotel there, he said- encouraged by the mammoth hotel recently proposed for the Brokaw property across the street. Like that project, this hotel would never come to be and whether the lease story was true or pie in the sky, Shippee retained control of this property. No structure taller than 1 story would ever be built on it.

 

In July 1925, Walter Jay Israel, a former Hollywood costume director for Frank Lloyd Productions, Joseph M. Schenck and Jackie Coogan, opened the Hollywood Costume Company, a costume and theatrical supply store, here. In January 1926, L.L. Burns of the Western Costume Company, then located at 937 S. Broadway, purchased Israel’s business and stock. Israel was appointed manager of Western Costume’s costume department.

LA Times 7/5/1925.

In June 1928 Shippee had the residence demolished.

Mary’s lighthouse continued to be used by other business- as of February 1928 it was operating as the Hollywood Brokerage Company. In August 1929 the vacant real estate office was demolished. The lot was now clear. In July 1930 Shippee approved the construction of the miniature golf course and a related lunch stand. Unique as it was, the Eskimo Village links only lasted the one season.

For most of the 1930s into 1941, this parcel, addressed as 6000 Hollywood Boulevard, served as the used car lot of Chevrolet dealer Gordon Warren of 5950 Hollywood Boulevard. After 1941, it was the used car lot for the auto dealership at 6028 Hollywood Boulevard, home to Plymouth, De Soto and most recently Lincoln-Mercury. On May 13, 1957 it became the new home of Hollywood Ford, which moved here from 1748 N. Cahuenga.

LA Times 5/10/1957.

This was the Hollywood Ford. There was another Ford dealership at 4531 Hollywood Boulevard, run by John G. Caddell from 1930-1941, which became Boyle-Fox Ford, the Cort Fox Ford. This was considered East Hollywood. (It will have its own post).

Hollywood Ford could be traced back to A. C. Gray, who became Hollywood’s authorized Ford agent in May 1912. He operated from his Reliable Garage, just off Hollywood Boulevard.

Hollywood Citizen 3/8/1912.

Hollywood Ford Agent A C Gray now operated out of 1627 Cahuenga as of June 1912. Hollywood Citizen 6/21/1912.

In November 1912, Gray partnered with E. A. Walden, former Ford dealer in Peabody, Kansas, who had recently moved to Hollywood. Now known as Walden and Gray, the firm constructed a new garage on North Cahuenga just north of Hollywood Boulevard at 1716 N. Cahuenga. It would open by April 1913.

Detail of a January 1913 Sanborn Fire Insurance Co. map for Hollywood showing the Walden & Gray Ford garage under construction at what would become 1716 N. Cahuenga. Library of Congress.

Hollywood Citizen 4/25/1913.

Walden and Gray operated the Ford dealership out of 1716 N. Cahuenga, Hollywood together through April 1918, when Walden turned his share of the business back over to Gray. Gray continued at 1716 as the Gray Motor Car C., Hollywood branch of the Ford agency.

Hollywood Citizen 12/7/1921

In January 1922 A C Gray’s son C. A. Gray, Hollywood Dodge dealer of 1734 N. Cahuenga, moved into 1716.  Dad A. C. Gray’s Gray Motor Co. Ford dealership moved into 1734 and also occupied a new garage just north of that at 1742 N. Cahuenga. Gray senior would be back to using 1716-1920 in 1930 then back to 1742-1748 N. Cahuenga in 1932.

1716 N. Cahuenga later became the popular Tick Tock Tearoom.

Built for Walden and Gray Hollywood Ford dealer, 1716 N. Cahuenga became the Tick Tock Tearoom in 1934.

Hollywood Citizen News 11/28/1934.

Hollywood Daily Citizen 6/10/1922

Hollywood Daily Citizen 9/19/1930.

Hollywood Citizen News 8/17/1932.

Gray Motor Car Co. Ford occupied 1734-1948 through 1935.

In January 1936, Douglas Applewhite took over the Ford dealership. Applewhite had been working for A. C. Gray since 1917, most recently as a salesman. He renamed the dealership Douglas Applewhite Inc. He also had a used car lot at 6350 Santa Monica Boulevard.

Douglas Applewhite became the new Hollywood ford dealer in January 1936, taking over the Gray Motor Car Co. Hollywood Citizen News 1/29/1936.

In May 1939, Al Stuebing, former Ford dealer of Long Beach, took over Douglas Applewhite Inc. and continued to operate the Ford dealership here at what was now addressed as 1748 N. Cahuenga. Stuebing also marketed Ford products at 5457 Crenshaw Boulevard and would later have a used car lot at 1335 N. Vine. His dealership was known as “Stuebing Hollywood Ford.”

As Al Stuebing Hollywood Ford. Hollywood Citizen News 5/17/1939.

Hollywood Citizen News 5/18/1949.

Hollywood Citizen News 6/27/1953.

Effective November 19, 1954, DeForest “Pappy” Laurence, formerly general manager of a Ford dealership in Studio City, took over Al Stuebing Hollywood Ford, still at 1748 N. Cahuenga, and renamed the business Hollywood Motors, Inc., but more commonly known as Hollywood Ford.

Hollywood Citizen News 11/2/1955

 

Hollywood Citizen News 12/31/1954.

In May 1957, Pappy Laurence announced that his Hollywood Ford Motors had moved its headquarters from 1748 N. Cahuenga to enlarged new quarters at 6000 Hollywood Boulevard, adjacent to Pearson Lincoln-Mercury.

In May 1970, Fannie Shippee died. In June 1970, the Ford Motor Company, having over time acquired the adjacent parcels to the west to the corner of Gower, had these lots cleared of extant structures. The address 6000 Hollywood Boulevard now included 6028 and 6032 Hollywood Boulevard.

In January 1983, Hollywood Toyota moved to 6000 Hollywood Boulevard, sharing the space for a time with Hollywood Lincoln-Mercury. Today 6000 Hollywood Boulevard is still the Hollywood Toyota dealership.

LA Times 1/24/1983.

LA Times 6/24/1983.

Notes:

The permit listing A.F. Leicht as architect is also stamped “cancelled” so it’s not clear if it was carried out. Ultimately, Mary’s building was constructed. If A.F. Leicht designed Mary’s lighthouse, it’s interesting that he was later commissioned to design a series of lighthouses for Amiee Semple McPherson’s “Navy of the Lord” tabernacles. The architect sued McPherson in December 1929 for nonpayment of his services, stating that he had carried out the commission for McPherson between June 1925 and January 1928.

5947 Hollywood Boulevard: The Brokaw Property

jhgraham Eating and Drinking, Hollywood Boulevard Tags: , , , , , 6 Comments

 

The Brokaw home at 5947 Hollywood Boulevard. LAPL photo.

The 2-story ranch home of John B. and Ida H. Brokaw, set amid lemon orchards, was located on 10 acres on the north side of Hollywood Boulevard (then Prospect Avenue) between Bronson and Gower extending north almost to Franklin. The residence was originally 539 E. Prospect Avenue; as of 1913 it was 5947 Hollywood Boulevard.

Brokaw, a buggy maker from Ohio, came to California on a visit in the 1880s and bought up 30 acres in the heart of Hollywood. He returned in 1892 and bout a 2-1/2 acre tract that he had planted with lemons; in 1894 he purchased the 10-acre tract that became the ranch home. Near the home, the Brokaws planted cypress and cedars and more exotic specimen trees and shrubs. The couple didn’t reside in Hollywood permanently, however, until after 1900; the 1900 US Census shows them still living in Ohio.

By 1901 Brokaw had decided to sell off his orchard property, other than the home ranch, in 1- to 3-acre tracts, through agent Alex Culver. The next year he would also sell tracts in Brokaw Tract #2, across the street from the family ranch on the south side of Hollywood Boulevard.

Ad for the first Brokaw Tract, along Hollywood Boulevard between Bronson and Gower, not including the family ranch parcel. LAT 11/17/1901.

 

The Brokaws did NOT move from the family ranch, however. In the 1910 US Census, they are at 539 E. Prospect, where John lists his profession as “rancher.”

Detail of the 1913 Sanborn Fire Insurance Company map showing the Brokaw home at 5947 Hollywood Boulevard.

Portion of a 1913 Sanborn Fire Insurance Company map showing the Brokaw ranch property at 5947 Hollywood Boulevard and some of the buildings built in the vicinity since the tracts were sold in 1-3 acre parcels starting in 1901. Library of Congress.

They were still living at the ranch, since re-addressed as 5947 Hollywood Boulevard, in the US census of 1920.

Excerpt of the 1920 US Census. National Archives.

 

In February 1921, Ida leased a 3-story brick building at 1320 S. Main Street in downtown Los Angeles to the Los Angeles Auto Engineering Company. In November 1921, John, the former buggy maker, announced the opening of his new auto body shop here.

LA Times 11/6/1921

 

On September 1, 1922 local papers blared the news of a gigantic 717-room. $6,000,000 hotel to be built in Hollywood on the Brokaw ranch property that would be known as the Hollywood-California Apartment Hotel. To be built by the Davenport Corporation, Noel Davenport told reporters he had secured a 99-year lease for the Brokaw ranch where the hotel would be built. Sketches of the mammoth project, by architect H. H Whiteley, were splashed across the front pages of the major local papers. It even made the mountains look small.

Hollywood Daily Citizen 9/1/1922.

 

On January 17, 1923, Davenport breathlessly announced that rather than leasing the property from Brokaw, the company had just completed paperwork to buy it outright. This was not true. The work of removing the old Brokaw residence would begin within 2-weeks, he said; the company would then build itself a 1-story admin structure and a month after that, excavation of the hotel would commence. None of this would happen, either. The Brokaw residence was not going anywhere anytime soon.

 

Hollywood Daily Citizen 1/17/1923

 

Ten months passed, then on November 13, 1923, the LA Times reported that the Davenports, “well-known Southern California hotel men” were building at 1002-room hotel on the Brokaw ranch house property. They wrote this as if it was the first time anyone was hearing about this project. Almost all details provided are verbatim from previous announcements. Work, they said, was to begin within 60 days and would be complete by the end of 1924.

LA Times 11/13/1923

LA Times 4/24/1924

Sixty days came and went. Nearly five months into 2024, Davenport announced that work on the $6,000,000 Hollywood-California Hotel would start within a few weeks (At least this time the paper acknowledged its previous reporting). Ads selling stock in the project, featuring a drawing of an entirely different building, sketched by architects Curlett & Beelman, appeared in local papers on May 5, 1924. Ida H. Brokaw was among the asserted board of directors.

LAT 5/5/1924

 

On May 22, the promoters held a presentation at the Jonathan Club. Curlett & Beelman showed of the plans. Finance director David A. Coleman said they’d sold a bond of $2,500,000 and almost half the preferred and common stock was subscribed.  June 15, 1924, yet another drawing of the $6,000,000 hotel appeared (again) in major local papers. Davenport said preliminary construction work was to begin the project the first of next week and dismantling of the Brokaw homestead was to start immediately. That did not happen.

LAT 6/15/1924

 

It’s the last we hear of the hotel on the Brokaw ranch property. In 1925, Brokaw was the victim of a swindle, also coincidentally involving a $6,000,000 project- in this case a fake railroad merger that burned many LA businessmen, bankers and politicians. The bunco artists behind the swindle. Thomas Hennessey and Harry D. Hibbs were exposed by Brokaw in May 1925. They were found guilty in September 1925. Brokaw’s investment was variously reported as $10,000, $30,000 and $100,000.

LA Times 5/8/1925

LA Time 5/8/1925

 

John Brokaw died, age 74, on August 9, 1926 at his ranch home at 5947 Hollywood Boulevard.

Hollywood Daily Citizen 8/10/1926.

The ranch house property became the subject of a lawsuit brought by Ida Brokaw against Guarantee Trust & Title Company, the executors of her late husband’s estate. The title company asserted that she had signed away her rights to the property in 1924 in a document conveying her share to her husband. Ida argued that she had not understood the document she signed. The court agreed on August 27, 1929,that Ida was the victim of fraud, and her signature on the document was the result of duress and undue influence.

 

LA Times 8/28/1929

Ida continued to live on the ranch property, with her brother Will C. Higgins, in 1930, when a 1-acre section of the grounds were made into a miniature golf course.

1930 US Census showing Ida Brokaw living at 5947 Hollywood Boulevard.

The miniature golf craze was at its height in the summer of 1930. Another old ranch property down the street at 5261-5263 Hollywod Boulevard had a course put in around the same time. Ralph B. Smith’s “Shady Greens” opened with the address 5937 Hollywood Boulevard on June 28, 1930. It did open the next season, 1931, but that was it.

“Golf in a Garden.” Shady Greens ad, 6/27/1930. Hollywood Daily Citizen.

In May 1932, the site opened as the Hollywood Garden Bridge Club, using a part of the gardens for outdoor bridge club gatherings. The club was founded by Mrs. Elaine Warren McIntire, who added an orchestra stage and toilets. Concrete pads installed for shuffleboard during Shady Greens’ run were used as a patio with a canvas canopy overhead.

LA Times 5/22/1932

Ida still lived at 5947 Hollywood Boulevard in 1931 and into 1932. Sometime between 1932 and early 1933, the property was acquired by the owner of the Los Angeles Times, the Times-Mirror Corp. and Ida moved out.

In 1933, the property served as an outdoor venue for the Los Angeles Kennel Club’s national dog show, addressed as 5945 Hollywood Boulevard- the only time this address was used. When the Los Angeles club hosted the event again in 1936, the address used was 5937.

Hollywood Citizen News 5/19/1933.

LA Times 5/4/1933

In December 1936 owner Times Mirror obtained a permit for a cafe building, to be built at 5931 Hollywood Boulevard. Designed by architect Gordon B. Kaufmann, it occupied part of the ranch property next to the concrete decks where the golf course/bridge club had served outdoor meals. The unfinished building was leased to William Klute for a cafe, to be known as the Palms Grill. (It has its own post here).

The Palms Grill c. 1937. Schultheis Collection, LAPL photo.

In February 1937, Times Mirror commissioned a building designed by architect A. B. Sedley, to be construction on the west end of the property, at 5959 Hollywood Boulevard. As with the Palms Grill, it was leased before construction began to a grocery store and would open as the Hollywood Food Mart (it will have its own post).

5959 Hollywod Boulevard as the Hollywood Food Mart, c. 1937. LAPL photo.

In November 1937, another project for the parcel was announced: the Florentine Gardens cabaret restaurant, to be constructed at 5955 Hollywood Boulevard. Also designed by Gordon B. Kaufman, it would open in December 1938 (it has its own post here).

Florentine Gardens at 5955 Hollywood Boulevard. LAPL photo.

the Brokaw ranch house was being used as a boarding house in its last years. A permit to demolish the residence was obtained on June 9, 1938.

Ad for the Brokaw ranch house. Hollywood Citizen-News 8/19/1936.

Finally, in November 1939, Times Mirror announced a theater was to be built on the last vacant part of the parcel, to be known as the Hawaii Theater. (It has its own post here).s 5939 Hollywood Boulevard, it reportedly occupied the site of the Brokaw ranch house itself.

Sketch of the proposed Hawaii Theater, 5939 Hollywood Boulevard. LA Times 11/19/1939

 

Notes:

Ida H. Brokaw was buying property in Los Angeles as of 1888. Even after moving from the ranch, she remained in the vicinity of her longtime home. In 1934-1936 she lived at 6060 Franklin Boulevard. By 1938 she was at 1781 Gower. In financial difficulties later, she spent her last years in an apartment with her brother at 1765 N. Vine. Her brother died in February 1948. Ida passed away in July 1948 at age 90.

5261-5263 Hollywood Boulevard: Miniature Golf Course

jhgraham Hollywood Boulevard Tags: , 1 Comment

The Hollywood Golf Course, 5261 Hollywood Boulevard. Hollywood Citizen News 3/1/1946

The Hollywood Golf Course miniature golf opened in early 1946 at 5261 Hollywood Boulevard operated by the three brothers- Charles H, Joseph E. and William L Palmer.

This property and adjacent parcels along Hollywood Boulevard near Harvard were part of the Lander Sunnyside Tract. Born in 1849, Anna Elizabeth Watson Lander (also spelled Annah) came to Los Angeles with her children in 1893 after the death of her husband Warren James Lander in November 1892 and was subdividing parcels by the end of the decade. Her sisters, Caroline Watson Lamb and Harriet J. (Hattie) Watson were also successful real estate developers who lived nearby at 1726 N. Harvard Boulevard along with their sister-in-law Mary Clough Watson. The Lander home was at 5253 Hollywood Boulevard. By the teens Lander had converted it to flats. Over time other office/studio structures were erected in the large property.

The Loma Linda Links miniature golf course, 5253 Hollywood Boulevard. Hollywood Citizen News 8/1/1930

On July 31, 1930, two of Anna Lander’s sons, Hirschel S. and W.J. Lander (probably Willard, but there was also Warren J. Lander), and their brother-in-law Ernest Hartwell Martin (he was married to Lucille Lander, Hirschel’s twin sister) opened a miniature golf course on the grounds of the old family property at 5253 Hollywood Boulevard and called it the Loma Linda Links.

The Loma Linda Links offered scientifically constructed fairways and afternoon golf parties. Hollywood Citizen News 8/14/1930.

The nation was in the midst of a huge miniature golf fad. Links were springing up all around Los Angeles, including several on Hollywood Boulevard. Even the movie studios were worried about the competition. The craze soon died down but miniature golf remained a popular pastime. The postwar era saw another resurgence.

The Hollywood Golf Course offered night time play. Hollywood Citizen News 8/4/1949

In January 1949, the Palmer Brothers took over the Eagle Rock Miniature Golf Course at 1751 Colorado Boulevard. They continued to operate the Hollywood Golf Course through the summer of 1949 for sure.

By 1951, the course had been acquired by another set of brothers: George and Harry Gittelson, using the address 5263 Hollywood Boulevard.

Hollywood Citizen News 3/27/1951

The Gittelson brothers had made a killing founding the first ticket broker agency in Los Angeles. They were also among the first to open a miniature golf course back in 1930, Their Highland Park Miniature Golf Course had opened at 5531 Pasadena Avenue on July 24, 1930, a few days before the Lander’s course opened. They had continued to operate miniature golf courses since that time.

Opening of the Gittelson Brother’s Highland Park Miniature Golf Course. Highland Park News Herald 7/23/1930

The Gittelson Brothers in 1930 at the time of their first miniature golf course opening. LA Evening Express 7/28/1930.

The Hollywood Boulevard links featured windmills, waterfalls and wishing wells. The grounds, extending around the old homestead buildings, were lush and green. The brothers added open-air ping pong table courts.

Harry Gittelson died in 1965, George in 1969. The miniature golf course continued into the 1970s. It can be seen at night in the 1975 film “The Day of the Locust” (set in the 1930s), and during the day in the 1976 television film “Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway.”

Screengrab from :The Day of the Locust” showing the ping pong tables.

Screengrab from :The Day of the Locust.”

Screengrab from :The Day of the Locust.”

 

Screengrab from :The Day of the Locust.”

Screengrab from “Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway.” filmed on location at the Gittelson Miniature Golf Course.

Screengrab from “Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway.” Dawn is heading toward the Harvard House Motel, the mini golf course and ping pong tables is on the left.

The entire property, incorporating addresses 5253 to 5373,

5253-5273 Hollywood Boulevard today. Google map image.