Title supplied by cataloger.; Herman J. Schultheis was born in Aachen, Germany in 1900, and immigrated to the United States in the mid-1920s after obtaining a Ph.D. in mechanical and electrical engineering. He married Ethel Wisloh in 1936, and the pair moved to Los Angeles the following year. He worked in the film industry from the late 1930s to the mid-1940s, most notably on the animated features Fantasia and Pinocchio. His detailed notebook, documenting the special effects for Fantasia, is the subject of a 14-minute short-subject included on the film's DVD. In 1949, he started employment with Librascope as a patent engineer. Schultheis was an avid amateur photographer who traveled the world with his cameras. It was on one of these photographic exhibitions in 1955 that he disappeared in the jungles of Guatemala. His remains were discovered 18 months later. The digitized portion of this collection represents the images Schultheis took of Los Angeles and its surrounding communities after he relocated to the area in 1937. Over the years stores such as Desmond's and Silverwoods have occupied Wilshire Tower's ground floor while professionals have leased offices in the eight-story tower. Located at 5514 Wilshire Boulevard, the Zig-Zag Moderne building was designed by architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood and built in 1928. This building was designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #332 in 1987. A group of people walks across the street in front of the Desmond's store window. A large Christmas tree with a star on top is on the sidewalk in front of them.
Type
image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;11 x 15 cm. Photographic prints
Desmond's Wilshire Tower (Los Angeles, Calif.) Department stores--California--Los Angeles Pedestrians--California--Los Angeles Christmas trees--California--Los Angeles Show windows--California--Los Angeles Flags--United States Streets--California--Los Angeles Wilshire Lanterns Art deco (Architecture)--California--Los Angeles Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments Miracle Mile (Los Angeles, Calif.) Wilshire Boulevard (Los Angeles, Calif.) Schultheis Collection photographs Underwood, Gilbert Stanley
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