Owl Drugs

 

Old Los Angeles.  Well, sort of.  Actually, it's Beverly Hills and while somewhat smaller, this building is still there.  Many years ago, I worked nearby and used to walk down there on my lunch hour and buy a snack.  Anyway, I found some information to pass along, but not as much as I'd like.  I know the store opened in 1947, but I couldn't find the name of the architect.  I know the building was commissioned by Justin Dart, the CEO of Rexall Drugs, and that it wasn't just the world's largest drug store, but also the headquarters for the company.  Today, it's a CVS and Target.  The caption on the back of the card, "World Headquarters, REXALL DRUG COMPANY, Beverly and La Cienega Boulevards LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA."  It was published by "WESTERN PUBLISHING & NOVELTY CO., LOS ANGELES, CALIF."  This card was never mailed.  

A Vacation in Hamburg 2

 

A quick turnaround for part 2, but after this one., there will be a bit of a break before I post more from this collection.  The top photo looks like it's probably a private home, perhaps a German relative's house of the vacationers.  Written on the back, and the only photo with any notation, "6 JULY 1989."  I know that a large portion of Hamburg was destroyed during World War 2, which makes me wonder if the modern buildings of Hamburg were painted to give a medieval feel to a rebuilt city. Click on the Hamburg Vacation Collection in labels to see the rest of the lot.  At least once I get around to putting them all up on the site. 

A Vacation in Hamburg 1

 

I've mentioned this before.  If I were being completely honest, this blog would be called the recently purchased photography since almost all of the photos I post are bought in antique stores, thrift stores, flea markets, and online.  Every once in a while, I actually find photos, and these are some of them.  This afternoon I took a walk to Hollywood and found envelopes of color negatives and fifty-plus prints, just lying on the street.  In total, there were six envelopes, and each one contained a processed roll of Kodak Gold color film, all 36 exposures.  Not every frame had an image, but the prints I found don't add up, so I didn't get every photo from these images printed in Hamburg, Germany.  It's possible that some Germans moved to L.A., but I think it's more likely that they are vacation pictures. Too, a couple of the photos I found have a date written on the back, "July 1989."  Anyway, I'm not quite sure how I'm going to post these images, most likely five per post, but that's not a final, set-in-stone decision.  Click on the Hamburg Vacation Collection to see future posts.  And what's really weird, about a mile further down the street I found some transparencies, but since the scanner I own doesn't scan slides or negatives, they may never get posted.  It's nice to know that Germans use the same type of urinals we do in the U.S. 

Opening Day

 

And no, I don't consider the Seoul Series between the Dodgers and Padres in South Korea to be opening day.  And no, I haven't started collecting baseball cards.  Not enough space, not enough money.  I walked to the store, this afternoon, and there were some baseball cards on the street, and since I grew up fifty miles from downtown Pittsburgh, and I'm a lifetime Pirates fan, I picked this one up.  So, Pittsburgh 6, Miami 5 in 12 innings.  Henry Davis, who plays both outfield and catcher and he caught today, went 1 for 6.  Go Bucs. 

The Strand

  

This is another one of those throw-in photos I get when I buy envelopes of old photographs.  There are always a few that I'd never buy as a stand-alone purchase, but I end up with them as part of a lot.  Anyway, I noticed that there is a piece of paper on the desk he's leaning against that is headlined, "STRAND."  I thought it might be a hotel room service menu, and there are a lot of Strand Hotels out there, so it's a possibility.  Far more Strand Hotels than I expected.  Dated "NOV 67."  

The Trps Album 3

 

As a rule, I don't publish text-only posts, but this is an exception.  Over time, I'll be putting up this entire album, and since the lady who put this album together typed out these four pages of reminiscences of her trip to Mexico, well here it is.  And by the way, I didn't crop out some of her text. There are a couple of lines where she typed beyond the edge of the page. Click on The Trips Collection in labels to see everything that has been posted and will be posted in the future.  That is if my scanner doesn't die again.  

Random Japanese Snapshots 6

  

I'm still having problems with the scanner, so when it started working again, I figured I should get something posted while I still could.  So, a photo plus what's written on the back from an envelope of photos I purchased from an eBay seller in Japan.  And once again, if anyone out there can translate what's written on the back of the print, please leave it as a comment.  Click on random Japanese snapshots collection in labels to see what's already been published.