From what I can tell, all the bicyclists stopping traffic at the intersection of Washington and Culver Blvds in Culver City are women, so I bet there was something special going on. From the look of the cars, this photo was taken circa late 20s/early 30s, a time when (I’d imagine) that sort of thing didn’t happen every day. In the background, we can see two water towers. They would have belonged to MGM (now Sony) and the studios now known as The Culver Studios but back then would have run by Cecil B. DeMille and/or Pathé and/or RKO, depending on the year.
The streetcar tracks down Culver Blvd are now gone, but that building with the arches is still there. It’s now a Starbucks. This image is from August 2022.
Martin , that’s a great ‘Then and Now’ photo comparison!
Found this caption for this photo: “Auto traffic moves to one side as 300 girl bicycle riders swoop down a Los Angeles street during their ten-mile race started by Jackie Cooper, young movie player.”
Photo of Jackie Cooper starting the race: https://ridesabike.com/jackie-cooper-starts-some-bikes-snipe-holding/
And a newspaper clipping: https://www.newzpaperarchive.com/gazete/evening_star/1933-06-25/82
Oh wow, Bernard, that’s a great photo of Cooper starting the race!
I am pretty sure the building with”Culver City” written on the roof is the old city hall building. Many early films, including Laurel Hardy, used that as a shooting location. I also believe it can be seen in an Our Gang episode, possibly A Lad An A Lamp. I can’t remember where I read or saw the piece on City Hall and Our Gang – maybe it was right here in one of Martin’s consistently excellent posts or through the Culver City Historical Society. After they tore the original building down and replaced it with the current facilities, a scaled down mock-up of the original facade was put on the same site. Although it was intended as a “tribute” it really serves as a sad commentary on “progress.” Regardless, I’m thankful Culver City still has some amazing architecture.
I was wondering if that was the City Hall Building (at Duquesne St.) myself. I used to walk by that almost every day for several years. Although I couldn’t find a photograph of it with the roof sign, according to info I located: Culver City’s City Hall (9770 Culver Boulevard) was dedicated in 1928, and demolished in the early 1990s. A 3/4 replica of the 1928 city hall’s front at its entry opens onto Heritage Park, which occupies the old City Hall footprint. The 1928 City Hall was designated Historic Site No. 1 by the Culver City Historical Society in 1991. (So much for designating things as a historic site!)
Great photo discovery, Martin! I read something about the building that now has the Starbuck’s in it: “That is the Washington Building, designed by Scholz and Clark and built in the Beaux Arts style. It is one of two wedge shaped buildings in downtown Culver City, the other being the Culver Hotel. Beaux Arts is characterized by order, symmetry, formal design, grandiosity stone or stone-like materials and ornamentation. Made of poured reinforced concrete, to look like stone blocks, note the row of rondels below the roofline showing a bas-relief of George Washington’s head and sunburst motifs. Both façades feature intaglio classical-style lettering in the word, WASHINGTON. In 1931 the Washington Building served as the Culver City Post Office. Through the years, the irregularly shaped building housed a multitude of enterprises including a recruiting station during WWII and once, it housed the MGM Fan Club.
Hey Martin, thanks for all that extra info. It’s always great to have broader context.
Ha, if I look very closely at the upper left I can see the bean fields where the house I grew up in would eventually be built.