Title supplied by cataloger.; In episode #10001 of "California's Gold," Huell Howser visits the Los Angeles Public Library to see this collection of Ansel Adams photographs. In 1918, the Brothers Warner (Harry, Albert, Sam and Jack) bought 10.2-acres of land in Hollywood from the Beesmyer family at a cost of $25,000. In 1919 they built a giant stage nicknamed The Barn, which measured 50-feet wide by 100- feet long. This stage was torn down in 1923 and was replaced by a collection of smaller stages and buildings. In 1925, Sam Warner started KFWB radio station on the lot. In 1937 brother-in-law, Harry Charnas, opened Sunset Bowling Center behind the old executive offices of Warner Bros. Studios. The Sunset Bowling Center was part of a "sports palace" that also contained badminton courts and a skating rink. The 52-lane bowling alley was the largest in the world at that time, with pin boys living in the loft of the building; it operated for ten years. In 1954, Paramount bought the site to provide television production facilities for KTLA, which moved to the site in 1958. Gene Autry bought KTLA in 1964, and leased the space from Paramount for three years, after which he bought the property for a whopping $5 million dollars. In 1982, an investment-banking firm bought the lot and KTLA, and three years later, sold out to the Tribune Company. In January of 2008, Hudson Capital purchased thethe building for an astounding $130 million dollars. In 1977, the building was declared Historic-Cultural Monument No. 180 by the city of Los Angeles.; Around 1939, Ansel Adams was commissioned by Fortune magazine to photograph a series of images for an article covering the aviation history of the Los Angeles area. For the project, Adams took 217 photographs showing everyday life, businesses, street scenes, aerospace employees, and a variety of other subjects, but when the article, "City of Angels," appeared in the March 1941 issue, only a few of the images were included. In the early 1960s, approximately 20 years later, Adams rediscovered all of the photographs among papers at his home in Carmel, and sent a letter of inquiry to the Los Angeles Public Library, asking if the institution would be interested in receiving the collection as a donation. In his letter, Adams expressed that, "the weather was bad over a rather long period and none of the pictures were very good" and "if they have no value whatsoever, please dispose of them in the incenerator [sic]." He went on to write that "I would imagine that they represent about $100.00 minimum value." In response, the Los Angeles Public Library gladly accepted the gift of 135 contact prints and 217 negatives, and the staff concluded that a fair value for the collection would be $150.00. Exterior view of neoclassical style Sunset Bowling Center, located at 5858 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.; Additional print: 00081812.
Type
image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;26 x 21 cm. Photographic prints
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