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Maddux Lincoln Dealership, Hollywood, California Source: California State Library

When buying a luxury car….

From Martin Turnbull’s blog:

They sure don’t build car showrooms like they used to, not if this one is anything to go by. This Maddux-Lincoln dealership was at 9230 Wilshire Blvd (and later became a Hillcrest Motor Company which sold Cadillacs and Oldsmobiles.) I really love the attention to detail in a building like this. You don’t often see that in modern buildings, but they add so much urban texture, even if most of it goes unnoticed—consciously, at least. LA History Trivia Time: Jack Maddux who owned this dealership also owned Maddux Air Lines, which operated from 1927 to 1929.

One additional exterior shot and a very depressing Street View look below the cut:

Keep reading

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Action Alert: Help Stop a Demolition in Progress

The Weinberg-Adler Residence in Holmby Hills, before and after illegal demolition work.

Tomorrow (Thursday, December 5), the City of L.A.’s Cultural Heritage Commission (CHC) will vote on several landmark nominations.

One of these nominations, the Weinberg-Adler Residence, is imminently threatened with full demolition and could set a dangerous precedent for preservation.

Please attend tomorrow’s meeting and speak out for preservation!

Meeting Details

Thursday, December 5, 2019 9 a.m.

Los Angeles City Hall 200 North Spring Street Los Angeles, CA 90012 10th floor, Room 1010

View meeting agenda >>

Illegal Demolition of the Weinberg-Adler Residence

Tomorrow, the CHC will decide how to proceed with the pending Historic-Cultural Monument (HCM) nomination of the 1938 Weinberg-Adler Residence in Holmby Hills. Constructed in 1938 and designed by architect Paul R. Williams, the house at 100 Delfern Drive is the former residence of various Hollywood celebrities, including the long-time home of actor Eva Gabor. It is now imminently threatened with full demolition as a teardown.

In September, the owner stripped off the front façade without permitted approvals in place as an apparent attempt to circumvent the local landmarking process. Following a stop-work order, the house now sits with its grand portico and front details in a pile of strewn debris.

This sets a dangerous precedent for historic buildings in L.A. and is a flagrant abuse of the HCM process. We are especially concerned because a City staff report to the CHC recommends against proceeding with the nomination, due to the damage caused by the illegal demolition.

If the CHC does not proceed with the nomination, they are allowing the abuse of the HCM process to occur with minimal repercussions. They are essentially rewarding the owner’s illegal actions and opening the door to future abuses of the system.

In addition to proceeding with the HCM nomination, we believe the City should initiate a “Scorched Earth” ordinance proceeding for this case. This egregious example illustrates the need for stronger guardrails for demolition in L.A., an escalating problem.

How You Can Help

Attend the CHC meeting tomorrow and speak out in support, asking commissioners to support the HCM nomination of the Weinberg-Adler Residence. The Weinberg-Adler Residence is item 7 on the agenda.

Write to the L.A. Department of Building and Safety (LADBS) and press them to initiate a Scorched Earth ordinance proceeding (Frank Bush, General Manager, Superintendent of Building, [email protected]).

Contact your councilmember and demand stronger policies and enforcement to prevent future demolitions of historic buildings in L.A. Find your representative >>

Also on the Agenda

We recently nominated the former Chili Bowl restaurant building in West Los Angeles for landmark designation. At Thursday’s meeting, the CHC will decide whether to take our nomination under consideration.

The Chili Bowl in West Los Angeles is an example of programmatic architecture, in which the building is fashioned in the shape of a business’s product or identity. 

Originally constructed in 1935 and moved to its present location in 1939, the Chili Bowl is one of L.A.’s oldest surviving examples of the now-rare programmatic style.

The Chili Bowl is item 8 on the agenda.

In August, the CHC voted to take our nomination of Union Bank Square under consideration. Tomorrow, they will vote on whether to recommend designation and move the nomination to the next step in this several-month process.

Designed by Harrison & Abramovitz with A. C. Martin and Associates, Union Bank Tower was one of the first skyscrapers built in downtown L.A. after the repeal of the 150’ height limit, and the first building taller than City Hall. Renowned landscape architect Garrett Eckbo designed the three-acre plaza.

Union Bank Square is item 6 on the agenda.

Thank you for your support on these important issues!

[lawriescholar]

The latest compliment for my book—from a reader in the Netherlands! https://www.instagram.com/p/B0gXB3Ll9aC/?igshid=zkpxrsn6p6lx

[lawriescholar]

Overnight, I received a comment from a reader in the Netherlands who said he enjoyed thr booknsnd thanked me for writing it! Wow! You can get it from Amazon, leelawrie.com, st the Capitol’s Landmark Store, Francie & Finch in Lincoln, Joslyn Memorial Art Gallery, the Durham Museum and other bookstores in Omaha as well. Also, Thanks to everyone who bought the previous edition, from 2011. This new one has grown by more than a hundred new pages, scores of new and archival picture, more examples of Lawrie’s work around the nation that I’ve visited & documented since 2011 and I’ve even added an index to it for you scholarly readers. Thanks again for all the love and interest in it! (at Nebraska State Capitol Building) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0gTx6XlWR6/?igshid=arwq6t70mhdf

[lawriescholar]

More Purple Martin Pre-Migratory Roost shot at La Frontera in Round Rock last night. All if the birds that migrated here from Brazil have had their babies, taught them to fly and are gathering en masse to fly back to Brazil for the southern hemisphere summer. They’ll be back next March to perpetuate the cycle. There seemed to be a lot fewer of them this year. (at Round Rock, Texas) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0gKmuRF21S/?igshid=66w8b3my8vel

[lawriescholar]

Another clip of the Purple Martins’ Pre-Migratory Roost in Round Rock last night at La Frontera mall. https://www.instagram.com/p/B0gKSl7lx5Q/?igshid=1j0uvk3kd2v32

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A brief glimpse at the Purple Martins’ Pre-Migratory Roost going on every night for about a week at the La Frontera parking lot in Round Rock, in front of Sam’s Club. @katyvine have you gone yet? (at Round Rock, Texas) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0gJqFalIZs/?igshid=cd7eggvge4yr

[lawriescholar]

@chucklambooy , here’s the picture of our hall tree, where I park my Stetsons. In writing my books, doing the research, photography, travel, advertising, sales and marketing, one might say I wear many hats. That, plus housework, cooking, yardwork, auto-repairs, and soon again to be the Landlord for Purple Martins, due back around the first or second week of February. https://www.instagram.com/p/BtFLzNjlWii/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1avjly9wcn286

[lawriescholar]

January 23, 1963. Lee Lawrie died 56 years ago today, aged 86. He was still working on the Eisenhower Class of 1899 Memorial at the time. https://www.instagram.com/p/BtARG36F1ZA/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=obcghhuwdhy0

[lawriescholar]

Helmet of a German WWI flamethrower soldier.

https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/7fws1c/helmet_of_a_german_flamethrowing_soldier_ww1/

[lawriescholar]

Sweet Jesus. What a killing machine.

World War I British 1916/17 Matchless-Vickers machine gun motorcycle.

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Model 1903 Springfield Guiberson periscope trench rifle, World War I.

[lawriescholar]

1917 — A French Red Cross dog wearing a gas mask

During the First World War there were ‘Red Cross dogs’, also known as ‘ambulance dogs’. These dogs detected wounded people. They were trained to ignore the dead and not to bark when finding an injured person, but to alert their owner in silence. The dogs were also used to bring medicine back and forth. They carried a backpack in which bandages, some food for the dog and a bottle of liquor were stored. There were around 10,000 Red Cross dogs during the First World War.

[lawriescholar]

If any question why we died, Tell them, because our fathers lied.

Rudyard Kipling 

Armistice 100 Nov 11 1918- Nov 11 2018

We will not break faith with ye… 

[lawriescholar]

As noted by David Frum, Trump could have been driven to the Aisne Marne American Cemetery. It’s only 50 miles from Paris.

Why is this year so important?

November 11, 2018 is the 100th Anniversary of the end to the First War War 

Today, November 10th is the U.S. Marine Corps 243rd birthday. Trump did wish them a happy birthday. BUT Trump did nothing to honor them  #CadetBoneSpurs  #AfraidOfRain 

SAD: 

John Kelly, former FOUR STAR Marine General

Jim Mattis, former FOUR STAR Marine General

Service Members and Vets, Trump is the Commander in Chief in NAME ONLY #NeverForget #VOTE

President Trump flew 3,800 miles to this French capital city for ceremonies to honor the military sacrifice in World War I, hoping to take part in the kind of powerful ode to the bravery of the armed forces that he was unable to hold in Washington.

But on his first full day here, it rained on his substitute parade weekend.

“It’s incredible that a president would travel to France for this significant anniversary — and then remain in his hotel room watching TV rather than pay in person his respects to the Americans who gave their lives in France for the victory gained 100 years ago tomorrow,” David Frum, who served as a speechwriter to former president George W. Bush

“Trump will use the U.S. military for a pre election political stunt but sits in his hotel instead of honoring those who fought and died for America.”,  Ben Rhodes,  the deputy national security adviser under President Obama

“Real low energy, @realDonaldTrump to not bother to honor the sacrifice of American soldiers in WWI due to some rain. Somehow everyone else was able to do so today. Obama never had this problem. He also visited our troops in war zones,” Kelly Magsamen, who served as a high-ranking Pentagon official on Asia affairs

A Tale of Two Presidents

[lawriescholar]

As Imperial Powers Remember Armistice Day

Let us remember the nearly 2 million Africans used by the colonial powers to fight for expansion into Africa to plunder its resources… Imagine that 2 million Africans died in an the imperial world war 1 and it all for expansion to steal resources.

[lawriescholar]

A british officer announces the end of hostilities (and so de war) to his soldiers. 11 November 1918, somewhere on the western front.