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Title
Tropical Ice Gardens, Westwood
Alternative Title
Los Angeles Photographers Photo Collection;
Creator
Schultheis, Herman
Contributor
Made accessible through a grant from the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation
Date Created and/or Issued
Circa 194-
Contributing Institution
Los Angeles Public Library
Collection
Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection
Rights Information
Images available for reproduction and use. Please see the Ordering & Use page at http://tessa.lapl.org/OrderingUse.html for additional information.
Description
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.
Tropical Ice Gardens located in Westwood opened its doors in November 1938. It was billed as "one of the biggest sports and amusement enterprises in Los Angeles annals," and could accommodate 2000 ice skaters on its outdoor rink and could seat 10,000 spectators in its bleacher seats. Despite its popularity, the Westwood rink was torn town in 1949 to accommodate the expansion of UCLA.
Photograph taken from high up in the bleachers, where large crowds can be seen enjoying this large outdoor ice skating rink, known as Tropical Ice Gardens, located in Westwood Village. It appears to be a warm sunny day, as many of the skaters are wearing short-sleeved shirts and blouses. The white tower of the Fox Westwood Theatre (later Village Theater) is seen in the upper left and the Santa Monica Mountains are visible in the distance.
Type
image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;11 x 15 cm.
Photographic prints
Identifier
00102071
Herman J Schultheis Collection; Los Angeles Photographers Collection;
N-011-729 8x10
CARL0005142679
http://173.196.26.125/cdm/ref/collection/photos/id/36470
Subject
Tropical Ice Gardens (Westwood, Los Angeles, Calif.)
Village Theater (Westwood, Los Angeles, Calif.)
Ice skating rinks--California--Westwood (Los Angeles)
Skating--California--Los Angeles
Skaters--California--Los Angeles
Crowds--California--Los Angeles
Motion picture theaters--California--Westwood (Los Angeles)
Art deco (Architecture)--California--Westwood (Los Angeles)
Lost architecture--California--Westwood (Los Angeles)
Mountains--California, Southern
Westwood (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Santa Monica Mountains (Calif.)
Schultheis Collection photographs

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