Stu Shostak is still trying to get New Year's Eve guests out of his home after his gala six-hour broadcast that evening. But he took time out to send me this link to a video of about two minutes of old Los Angeles. It says 1954 on it but there's a shot in there of Grauman's Chinese Theater and it's showing The Robe, which opened there in September of 1953 and had surely closed by '54.
Amazingly, a lot of my city hasn't changed much. Look fast and you'll see a couple of shots of Owl Drugs, which was a local chain back then. The big one, which is visible for a few seconds at 1:07, was at the corner of La Cienega and Beverly Boulevard. In the late seventies, I lived on that block…and there's still a drugstore there. Now it's a CVS Pharmacy as every building outside the state of New York will soon be. (In New York, everything will eventually be a Duane Reade's.) Here's what that corner in L.A. looks like now…
Here, I'll give you one more. In the video which you're about to watch, there's a fast look at a Ralph's Market at around 1:02. That's Westwood Village back then and that building is now a Peet's Coffee and Tea, which is kinda like Starbucks but with nicer furniture. Here's what it looks like today…
Okay, here's the video. It's less than two minutes but I spotted an awful lot of places I knew and know. Thanks, Stu. If all of your guests haven't left by Washington's Birthday, give me a call and I'll help you throw them out…