This collection includes approximately 40,000 photographs by commercial photographer Ralph Morris, who worked in the Los Angeles area from 1939-1981. His advertising and industrial clients included department stores, restaurants, the automobile and petroleum industries as well as business executives. Also included is the Luckhaus Studio collection of architecture, fashion, the movie industry, sports and street scenes, images which Morris obtained in 1939. View of the Brown Derby Restaurant as seen from the corner of Alexandria and Wilshire Boulevard (foreground). Neighboring office buildings, including one for Texaco, are visible in the background. The first Brown Derby Restaurant, generally referred to as the "Wilshire Brown Derby" shown here was built in 1926. Designed in part by J.R. Davidson, it measured 28 feet in diameter and 17 1/2 feet in height and was the only one resembling a bowler hat. It was first located at 3427 Wilshire Blvd across the street from the Ambassador Hotel, but in 1937 it was moved one block over to 3347 Wilshire Blvd. The restaurant was sold in 1975 and in September of 1980 it was torn down. A strip mall, the design of which incorporated the dome of the old restaurant, now sits at this site.
Type
image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;21 x 26 cm. Photographic prints
Brown Derby Restaurant (Los Angeles, Calif.) Texaco, Inc Restaurants--California--Los Angeles Office buildings--California--Los Angeles Streets--California--Los Angeles Lost architecture--California--Los Angeles Alexandria Avenue (Los Angeles, Calif.) Wilshire Boulevard (Los Angeles, Calif.)
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