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Contact:
Dave
Email: dave@pon.net
June 4, 2010
Newly discovered color photos of old Bunker Hill bring
lost Los Angeles back
to life
WHAT: The first publication in fifty years of lost 3-D color photographs
of the historic Bunker Hill neighborhood taken by vaudeville star George
Mann in the 1950s and 1960s
WHERE: www.onbunkerhill.org/georgemann
LOS ANGELES- The lost Victorian neighborhood of Bunker Hill was
demolished fifty years ago in a misguided urban renewal project, but a
newly discovered set of incredible color photographs taken shortly
before the bulldozers came has local history buffs all a-buzz. They're
featured only on L.A.'s time
travel blog, On Bunker Hill.
Taken in 1958 and 1962 by former Vaudeville star George Mann (half of
the comedy acrobatic dance troupe Barto & Mann) for placement in the 3-D
viewing machines he manufactured and distributed to Southland bars and
restaurants, the 21 stunning Bunker Hill images include several
photographs of the Angels Flight Railway in its original location,
iconic Grand Avenue mansions-turned-rooming houses The Richelieu and The
Castle, and everyday scenes of Bunker Hill residents combing their cats
and enjoying the sunshine against a backdrop of gorgeous Victorian
architecture.
George Mann's Bunker Hill photos were discovered in his archives by
daughter-in-law Dianne Woods, who says, "I manage the George Mann
Archive full time, I love his images -- it's personal. When I recently
stumbled upon the photographs that George shot of Bunker Hill it was so
clear that I had
'something.' I was on the internet looking for a home even before I had
them scanned. Kim Cooper's blog On Bunker Hill is, of course, that home.
I'm almost never wrong when it comes to the impact of George's
photographs, and the Bunker Hill images have been no exception. It is a
complete thrill for
us, and we know it would have been for George, to contribute this bit of
time-travel to the Bunker Hill community."
On Bunker Hill contributor Nathan Marsak (author of "Los Angeles Neon")
raves, "Any new collection of Bunker Hill images would be an important
find, but the scarcity of color images means historians will see the
Hill with fresh eyes. Of course the vibrant beauty and immediacy of
Mann's work will
lead new folk to the subject, further widening the scope of people who
discover Los Angeles's lost acropolis," while Jim Dawson (author of "Los
Angeles's Angels Flight") calls them, "A photographic trove of
breathtaking new angles of Bunker Hill that brings its Victorian and
early twentieth-century neighborhoods alive again."
And John H. Welborne, president of the Angels Flight Railway, notes,
"The George Mann color photographs of Bunker Hill, like the colorful
1960s paintings by Leo Politi, record a now-lost neighborhood of classic
architecture and diverse and interesting residents. In the post-1980s
world,
so many of these buildings and people would not have become the victims
of 'urban renewal,' as happened in the 1950s and 1960s. Today, the best
of the past more often can be incorporated into 'redevelopment.' But our
original -- and real -- Bunker Hill is gone. Today, the little Angels
Flight Railway,
also well depicted by George Mann in his photographs, is all that
remains."
To see George Mann's rediscovered Bunker Hill photographs and learn
about his fascinating career that took him and his diminutive sidekick
Dewey Barto (real-life pop of TV's "Rhoda's" mom Nancy Walker) from the
stages of west coast vaudeville to the Great White Way, including a
featured place in the
smash show "Hellzapoppin'" and rare film of their act, visit the On
Bunker Hill blog at
http://onbunkerhill.org/georgemann
Also featured in the blog post are film noir-style photographs of George
Mann's model bride Barbara Bradford, and links to Mann's collection of
historic theatre marquee photographs (many featuring his name) and
stunning photos taken all across mid-century America and Europe.
ABOUT BUNKER HILL and the ON BUNKER HILL blog: Bunker Hill in the 1870s
was early Los Angeles' most distinguished address, an enclave of grand
Victorians, gorgeous gardens and clear-skied views out to Catalina and
beyond. By the 1910s the wealthy had moved on, and the Hill's mansions
became rooming houses. Up on the Hill, life moved at a different pace.
Writers Raymond Chandler, John Fante and Charles Bukowski came and were
captivated by the place. Painters Leo Politi, Kay Martin and Millard
Sheets made its rotting hotels and sad-eyed residents the subject of
their art. And
down at City Hall, planners schemed about how Bunker Hill could be
declared a slum, its old houses pulled down, its people moved along,
leaving a blank slate where skyscrapers could grow. By 1970, Bunker Hill
was a field of dirt. In 2008, the time travel bloggers of 1947project
turned their
attention to Bunker Hill. Over a year, the blog grew into a
house-by-house survey of the great old downtown residential neighborhood
that was demolished to create the high rise district that shares its
name, but none of its charms. The blog's contributors, including
authors, historians, librarians and tour guides, delved deep into
historic archives to uncover the most fascinating tales of more than a
century of life on Bunker Hill. 1947project is the brainchild of Kim
Cooper, pop music historian ("Bubblegum
Music is the Naked Truth"), tour guide (Esotouric bus adventures) and
preservation activist (Save the 76 Ball). She was joined ON BUNKER HILL
by author Nathan Marsak, LAPL history librarian Mary McCoy, Esotouric's
Joan Renner, LAPL photo collections manager Christina Rice, Esotouric's
Richard
Schave and author John Toomey.
For more info about ON BUNKER HILL, please visit
www.onbunkerhill.org
Explore Lost Downtown Los Angeles on these upcoming Esotouric bus
adventures: Hotel Horrors & Main Street Vice (June 12, September 11);
Raymond Chandler's Los Angeles (July 10); The Lowdown on Downtown
(August 28); The Real Black Dahlia (September 25). More info at
www.esotouric.com
On Bunker Hill founder Kim Cooper and the blog's contributors including
Nathan Marsak are available for interviews, as is historian Jim Dawson,
John H. Welborne of Angels Flight Railway, and George Mann's archivist
daughter-in-law Dianne Woods and his son Brad Smith. To schedule
interviews,
contact Kim Cooper, amscray@gmail.com,
323-223-2767.
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