On 2014-07-03 02:11:00 +0000, Frank S said:
> #202 was another relatively easy one to track down: the "PICO BLVD"
> street sign and the establishment's name came right to the top in
> Google. The original was a Kodachrome transparency whose author I have
> not been able to determine. Made in 1952 near the corner of West Pico
> and South Westmoreland Avenue. I'm not familiar with the latter, but I
> worked at a parking lot fifteen or so blocks east, in central Los
> Angeles, that was half a block south of Pico on Hope Street, next to and
> north of the California Hospital. The building just north of the parking
> lot was the location of Earl Scheib's first "Any Car, Any Color" paint
> shop. I was working New Year's Eve in 1954 when Earl his own self rolled
> up in his new Caddy Coupe Deville, tossed me the keys and said, "Here,
> Kid, take care of this for me." I did, of course, and when he came back
> after having a drink with the employees in what was by then one of a
> dozen or more locations, he went in his trunk and handed me a fifth of
> Johnny Walker Black Label.
>
> The building on the other side of Scheib's was a dormitory/apartments
> for student nurses completing some residence requirement at the
> hospital. One of the apartments across the street was occupied by an
> alcoholic postman, who did not like to drink alone. Those two features
> alone made the hour-long bus commute from my home in Torrance
> worthwhile. I was a good and friendly employee, so I got two raises in
> pay over the course of my two-year employment, ending up at a dollar
> thirty-five an hour.
>
> I was at work there on Saturdays (I park your car) and Sundays (you park
> it and take the keys) while in school at the University of Southern
> California. I made more money selling my student tickets to football and
> basketball games than working at the lot. That might not have been true
> if I'd followed the advice of a senior employee: he showed me the "short
> stub" technique of stealing money from the lot owner, Mr. Smith.
>
> Another note with regard to this area: just up the street on the west
> side of Hope, (I think erroneously reported as at 1246) was the terrible
> old hotel that appears on the cover of The Doors' album "Morrison
> Hotel". I understand the band was walking past on the way to a photo
> shoot and decided to pose in and around the front of the hotel. The
> deskman and manager wouldn't give them permission, so they sneaked back
> when no one was looking. The parking lot was at 1360 South Hope.
>
> OK, the automotive tie-in: Scheib's black coupe's roof was painted
> white/black/gray mottled, achieved by mixing incompatible paint bases
> and spraying. The result looked ok, but didn't catch on: the only places
> I saw it subsequently was as a trunk-liner.
>
> I could go on for pages, with stories from this place, but in spite of
> its automotive basis, the cars were the least remarkable parts of it.
>
>
> --
> Frank ess
Fascinating background, Frank, and good sleuthing.
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