The earliest descriptions of Christmas in L.A. sounded fun, but, perhaps, a bit different from today.
Photo from LA Times Photographic Collection, courtesy of UCLA Digital Library.
1935. Photo is taken at 7th and Broadway in Downtown Los Angeles as crowds do their holiday shopping on December 21. 1935. Photo is taken at 7th and Broadway in Downtown Los Angeles as crowds do their holiday shopping on December 21. From 1905 through the 1950s, Broadway was L.A.’s central retail and entertainment district. It ran along Broadway, between 2nd and 10th Streets. Here, were found big retailers such as Broadway, Bullock’s, Coulter’s, F.W. Woolworth, Jacoby Bros., May Company, and J.W. Robinson’s. Combined retail space of Broadway retailers matched that of America’s largest shopping mall today. In addition to shopping, the district offered 12 ornate movie palaces for entertainment and restaurants for dining. Included was the iconic Bradbury Building and the south end of Grand Central Market. Broadway and Downtown L.A. began to lose their prominence as the city's premier shopping destination with the advent of suburban shopping malls in the 1950s.
A week before this photo was taken, the legendary Douglas Aircraft DC-3 took off from Santa Monica for its maiden flight. Christmas Tree Lane in Altadena (world’s oldest continuing Christmas light display) was also reported to have drawn 20,000 visitors in a single night that month.
This very famous Christmas song was actually written from the perspective of a New Yorker in Beverly Hills during Christmas.
