Martin Turnbull, author
@TurnbullMartin
Martin Turnbull's HOLLYWOOD'S GARDEN OF ALLAH novels are set during Hollywood's golden era at the real-life Garden of Allah hotel on Sunset Blvd in Los Angeles.
It's an exciting day around these here parts: Launch day for my new novel, "Selznick's Spotlight" in which we now follow Amelia Hartley's quest to get out from behind the counter of Schwab's Pharmacy. All the details and retailer links are on my blog: tinyurl.com/4njv35zb
This side view of Angels Flight funicular with a truck parked on Clay St (which doesn’t exist anymore) and that house right next door reminds us how tightly packed everything was around Angels Flight. #DLTA circa mid-to-late 1950s
An enormous audience packs the Biltmore Bowl for the 11th Academy Awards ceremony, February 23, 1939. Look at how tightly packed the audience is. If someone down the back won an award, it must have taken them ages to get to the podium.
I recently posted about an Earl Carroll Theater scrapbook whose owner wanted to pass to someone who could take care of it. It went to Jack Priest, aka the Hollywood Archivist, who has posted some photos on his Instagram account, which you can see here: instagram.com/p/DMWzpGpu9yA/…
The vintage photo was taken looking south down Grand Ave. This is roughly that view in May 2024.
The Academy Museum’s website identifies this photo of the awards at the Biltmore Bowl as 1940 but that year they took place on Feb 29, 1940 at the Cocoanut Grove. Whatever the date, I’d love to know what happened to that neon sign. It looks like it was ten feet tall.
The Academy Museum’s website identifies this photo of the awards at the Biltmore Bowl as 1940 but that year they took place on Feb 29, 1940 at the Cocoanut Grove. Whatever the date, I’d love to know what happened to that neon sign. It looks like it was ten feet tall.
Join tour guide April Clemmer and World Virtual Tours and dive into the decadent world of the Garden of Allah Hotel on July 24, 2025 at 11:00 AM (Pacific time) - It's free! tinyurl.com/rkjf29wn
Thankfully, that building is still with us. This is roughly how that view looked in October 2023.
Looking south on Figueroa to the Automobile Club of Southern California on Adams, LA, which had just opened in 1923. I thought that traffic was a free-for-all until I spotted a line down the middle of the street, making it organized bedlam instead of every driver for himself.
Looking south on Figueroa to the Automobile Club of Southern California on Adams, LA, which had just opened in 1923. I thought that traffic was a free-for-all until I spotted a line down the middle of the street, making it organized bedlam instead of every driver for himself.
I’m not 100% sure I’ve got the right angle, but I think this is roughly how that view looked in May 2024. (Feel free to correct me if I’ve got it wrong.)
Here we have Ocean Front Walk at Venice Beach, circa 1910. On the left is the St. Mark's Hotel. On the other side of Windward Ave is the two-story building of fake rock was the Thompson Scenic Railway. The tower in the background marked the entrance to the Abbott Kinney pier.
Here we have Ocean Front Walk at Venice Beach, circa 1910. On the left is the St. Mark's Hotel. On the other side of Windward Ave is the two-story building of fake rock was the Thompson Scenic Railway. The tower in the background marked the entrance to the Abbott Kinney pier.
This 2025 satellite photo shows that not much has changed.
This aerial shot is almost dizzying. I guess it’s the circular shape of the parking lots surrounding Dodger Stadium? I pity the baseball fan who forgot where he parked his car that day. This shot is from 1962, and I’m wondering if it was taken on opening day, April 10, 1962.
This aerial shot is almost dizzying. I guess it’s the circular shape of the parking lots surrounding Dodger Stadium? I pity the baseball fan who forgot where he parked his car that day. This shot is from 1962, and I’m wondering if it was taken on opening day, April 10, 1962.
This is one of the better (most realistic) colorized vintage LA footage I've seen. I half expect to see Marcus, Kathryn, and/or Gwendolyn to come sauntering into view. (And if you know who they are, thank you for reading my novels.) youtube.com/shorts/AW0P3WD…
Here's some closer detail.
Let’s dip into the “They Sure Don’t Build ‘Em Like That Anymore” file and take a moment to enjoy the Spanish Colonial Revival splendor of the Cherokee Building at 6646 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood at Cherokee Ave. I don’t have a date on this photo, but it was built in 1927.
This is how that building looked in December 2024. I love the building's signage!
Let’s dip into the “They Sure Don’t Build ‘Em Like That Anymore” file and take a moment to enjoy the Spanish Colonial Revival splendor of the Cherokee Building at 6646 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood at Cherokee Ave. I don’t have a date on this photo, but it was built in 1927.
Let’s dip into the “They Sure Don’t Build ‘Em Like That Anymore” file and take a moment to enjoy the Spanish Colonial Revival splendor of the Cherokee Building at 6646 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood at Cherokee Ave. I don’t have a date on this photo, but it was built in 1927.
Foolishly, I tried to count the number of stools at the Soda fountain at JJ Newberry on Third St in Santa Monica, but I lost track at around 27. I can only presume this (undated) photo was taken before Newberry’s had opened for the day.
This headline and photo appeared in the “Exhibitors Herald” which was a trade paper for the motion picture industry. It refers to Grauman's Hollywood Theatre because he had previously opened two theaters in downtown Los Angeles: the Million Dollar in 1918 and the Rialto in 1919.
Sid Grauman guaranteed his new Egyptian Theater at 6708 Hollywood Blvd opened with much fanfare on October 18, 1922 with “Robin Hood” starring Hollywood’s most popular actor, Douglas Fairbanks Jnr. That military band was from the nearby American Legion Hollywood Post 43.
This is how the deep forecourt of the Egyptian looked in June 2025.
Sid Grauman guaranteed his new Egyptian Theater at 6708 Hollywood Blvd opened with much fanfare on October 18, 1922 with “Robin Hood” starring Hollywood’s most popular actor, Douglas Fairbanks Jnr. That military band was from the nearby American Legion Hollywood Post 43.
Sid Grauman guaranteed his new Egyptian Theater at 6708 Hollywood Blvd opened with much fanfare on October 18, 1922 with “Robin Hood” starring Hollywood’s most popular actor, Douglas Fairbanks Jnr. That military band was from the nearby American Legion Hollywood Post 43.
