#Schwab's Pharmacy

[thedaveandkimmershow]

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12

Okay so we did have a plan for the morning of our anniversary which was... to have a Harry Potter breakfast. Instead, we woke up at ten in the morning and those breakfasts stop at 1030.

So that part of our plan was a bust.

Instead, we arrived at City Walk coming up on noon. Lunchtime. Because we know it better, we entered Universal Studios first, mosying over to Schwab's Pharmacy, an old-fashioned ice cream parlour, for ice cream floats, coke for me... root beer for her.

After that, we walk over to Diagon Alley to refresh our memories and, along the way (pretty quickly, in fact), happen upon the Leaky Cauldron where we settle in for, as it turns out, Toad in the Hole... and Fish 'n Chips. Kimmer swears, by the way, that Toad in the Hole definitely packs a very breakfast vibe.

PRO TIP: Order your meal online. If you have allergies, there's actually a food allergy item you order on the menu, no charge. When eventually you get to the front of the line at the pub or restaurant, let them know you're a mobile order and they'll seat you. At that point, submit the order. If you ordered a food allergy item, someone will come to the table and talk specifics with you. 😊

Leaving Diagon Alley in search of coffee, we don't get any farther than King's Cross where we do the whole Hogwarts Express experience.

Best part of the train ride? Dementors.

Over at Islands of Adventure, we walk the little town of Hogsmeade, first one way then the other... before walking to and through Seuss Land where we bum a ride on the Sneetches train, a story I'd not read or heard before.

Afterward, we score a Thing 2 cupcake for me (Kimmer couldn't have her Thing One cupcake because of nut allergens). I ate half of mine further up the way at Starbucks whilst Kimmer indulged a long sought-after cold nitro coffee.

We take more tugboat photos for our honorary grandkids on our way out of the park and then on our way through City Walk...

...finally returning to the hotel by 430 for rest, relaxation, and a very intense rain storm with white clouds to the left in the sky, dark clouds to the right in the sky, wind kicking up aggressively, rattling beach umbrellas and rippling the pool water.

And then the rain came down.

Of course a wild scene was already playing out in the pool area wherein everyone there's basically evacuated back into the hotel. We watched from eleven stories up and then later when it was a normal summer's eve again, we watched 'em all return.

The main dinner event of our anniversary was 9PM, top of the Aventura Hotel, a covered and open area called Bar 17 Bistro with our favorite menu ever. The food was perfection and 17 floors up definitely provides its own perspective on the massive lightning show that put on quite the show before us in the distance. It really was something.

Again. As was the food.

By the time our version of dinner and a show was complete and we were back at our own hotel for the evening, it was around 10:30, just about time for lounging followed by a bit of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1.

Thus ended our third night.

☺️

[oldshowbiz]

Schwab's Pharmacy

[chaptertwo-thepacnw]

sunset boulevard  |1950|

[imkeepinit]

[theamericanparlor]

Schwab's Pharmacy was a drugstore located at 8024 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California, 

It was a popular hangout for movie actors and movie industry dealmakers from the 1930s through the 1950s.

Besides filling prescriptions, the owners also ran a soda and lunch counter, where their Hot Fudge Brownie Sundae was a big seller. According to Hollywood lore, Lana Turner was discovered while drinking a milkshake at the Schwab’s counter. Writer F. Scott Fitzgerald reportedly had a heart attack at Schwab’s while purchasing a pack of cigarettes. It is said that composer Harold Arlen wrote “Over the Rainbow” for The Wizard of Oz on a Schwab’s napkin. Once, Humphrey Bogart reportedly asked Leon Schwab for a hangover cure. Schwab told him to stop drinking. Bogart was not pleased with Schwab’s retort and replied that he was not looking for a lecture.

In 1980, Jack Schwab passed away at age 75, and after five decades of service, the Schwab’s on Sunset Boulevard closed down. Leon Schwab stated that the closure was due to family reasons, but the truth was that the company was in financial distress. In 1983, everything that was not bolted down, from the stools and counters to the pharmacy’s famous Rolodex, was auctioned off to the highest bidder. The large red-and-blue neon sign that hung over the front door sold for $650; a leather payroll bank bag with the Schwab’s name sold for $300. An investment banker from Beverly Hills paid $500 for the Rolodex.

[johngarfieldtribute]

Julie takes the cake!

Gregory Peck, Celeste Holm, and Dorothy McGuire seem quite entertained as Julie is about to take a bite. The scene is from GENTLEMAN’S AGREEMENT.

Cofounders, Julie and Bette Davis serve cake to servicemen and women at the Hollywood Canteen.

Celebrity gossip columnist, Sidney Skolsky and Julie share a float and pastries at the Drugstore Party at Schwab's Pharmacy on Sunset Boulevard Alan Ladd is behind them enjoying a float too.

Blowing out birthday candles and holding hands with Joan Crawford on the HUMORESQUE set. Also celebrating are director, Jean Negulesco, and Oscar Levant.

Holding hands with Lucille Ball at a birthday celebration for FDR.

Julie gets a kick out of Red Skelton’s cake antics above.

First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt cuts the cake.

From Warner Bros. Studio: He Takes the Cake

When director, Anatole Litvak yelled “cut” on the set of “The Gentle People” at Warner Brothers, and the cast and crew broke into “Happy Birthday to You,” the most surprised person on the set was John Garfield who had completely forgotten that it was his birthday. The bright spot of the informal party came when the chef brought out a huge birthday cake from Garfield’s little daughter, Katherine. Others in the cast of the Broadway stage success now being filmed are Ida Lupino, Eddie Albert, and Thomas Mitchell. (The Gentle People was the working title for OUT OF THE FOG and 1941 puts Julie at age 28.)

[historichollywoodphotographs]

Schwab’s Pharmacy and Soda Fountain

Schwab’s Pharmacy was the stuff of legends. It was perhaps the most famous drugstore in America during the Golden Age of Hollywood. The Hollywood branch of Schwab’s at 8024 Sunset Boulevard was the first store in a chain founded by Leana Schwab to support her six children. During its over five decade run, Schwab’s operated seven different locations in Hollywood and Beverly Hills, and all six children worked to make the business a success. Son Jack founded the Sunset Boulevard location in 1932. His brother Leon, after earning a degree in pharmacology from USC, took over after Jack’s death. Leon promoted the pharmacy’s proximity to the studios, set up delivery and charge accounts, and ran “tabs” for out of work actors. He encouraged publicity through columnists, film shoots, and accommodating tourists.

A lot happened here. Contrary to popular lore, Lana Turner’s discovery was not one of them. The true stories are even more interesting. The soda fountain was the big attraction and meeting spot. Gossip columnist Sidney Skolsky made it and the adjacent phone booth his office, using the tag line “From A Stool at Schwab’s” in all his write ups. He filed stories about Orson Welles, Ava Gardner buying lipstick, William Randolph Hearst picking up medicine for Marian Davies. Some stars were allowed behind the counter to make their own sodas or grab a cup of coffee. Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, and Judy Garland all got their prescriptions filled there. Charlie Chaplin and his sons were also regulars.

Schwab’s was officially etched in the pantheon of popular culture when it was featured in Paramount Studios’ movie Sunset Boulevard starring Gloria Swanson and William Holden, making it instantly world famous and a tourism magnet. The nearby Garden of Allah apartments also helped the trade. Its residents included many actors and writers like Robert Benchley and F. Scott Fitzgerald who would often pop in for a quick meal.

When it was torn down in November 1959 and replaced with a retail complex, the residential nature of that section of Sunset Blvd further declined and Schwab’s nearby customer base dwindled. By the 60s, the Strip as a whole was changing fast. Schwab’s closed at midnight while other restaurant and nightclubs stayed open 24 hours. Many regulars felt uncomfortable being around the new club scene, but Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson, and others continued to patronize the pharmacy.

February 1982 marked the 50th anniversary of Schwab’s Sunset location. It was a major event, but as the press was reporting on Schwab’s illustrious past, in reality Leon was struggling to keep the business afloat. The iconic gathering spot eventually closed for good two years later and the building was demolished in 1988. Thankfully, its memory lives on through photographs, like those found in our collection, as well as film and TV shows that continue to re-create its glory days for today’s audiences.

~ Christy McAvoy, Historic Hollywood Photographs

Source: Bruce Torrence archives

[citizenscreen]

Schwab's Pharmacy on Sunset Blvd on a Friday night. It was a hangout for Hollywood Stars and up--and-comers. Life Magazine Photo

[oldhollywoodfilms]

Happy 95th birthday to Angela Lansbury, who was born Oct. 16, 1925, in London. An acting legend on stage, TV, and film, here's some photos from her extraordinary life. Photo captions. 1. A glamorous portrait from her time as a contract player for MGM. 2. Lansbury in her first screen role as conniving maid Nancy in Gaslight (1944). Lansbury received her first Academy Award nomination for this performance. 3. Lansbury in one of her fabulous costumes for The Harvey Girls (1946). 4. Lansbury and her good friend Hurd Hatfield at Hollywood landmark Schwab's Pharmacy. Hatfield and Lansbury appeared together in The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945). 5. Lansbury received her third Oscar nomination for playing Laurence Harvey's fearsome mother in the political thriller The Manchurian Candidate (1962). 6. Lansbury and her fellow TV/stage legend Bea Arthur rehearsing a number for Mame.

[oldshowbiz]

Schwab’s Pharmacy

[archive-archives]

SIX BY SONDHEIM (2013) Run Time             86:00 Subtitles               English SDH Audio Specs        DTS HD-Master Audio 5.1 - English Aspect Ratio       1.78:1; 16 X 9 Widescreen Product Color    COLOR Disc Configuration           BD 25

From award-winning director and frequent Sondheim collaborator James Lapine, Six by Sondheim is an intimate and candid look at the life and art of legendary composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim, who redefined musical theater through such works as Company, Sweeney Todd and Sunday in the Park with George. Told primarily in Sondheim’s own words from dozens of interviews spanning decades, the film is a highly personal profile of a great American artist as revealed through the creation and performance of six of his songs. It features rarely seen archival performance footage and original staged productions – created exclusively for this film – with stars including Audra McDonald, Darren Criss, America Ferrera and more.

HARLEY QUINN: THE COMPLETE FIRST AND SECOND SEASONS (2019,2020) Run Time             594:00 Subtitles               English SDH Audio Specs        DTS HD-Master Audio 5.1 - English Aspect Ratio       1.78:1, 16 X 9 Widescreen Disc Configuration           2 BD 50

Harley Quinn (Kaley Cuoco) has finally broken things off once and for all with the Joker (Alan Tudyk) and attempts to make it on her own as the criminal Queenpin of Gotham City in this half-hour adult animated action-comedy series. With the help of Poison Ivy (Lake Bell) and a ragtag crew of DC castoffs, Harley tries to earn a seat at the biggest table in villainy: the Legion of Doom. Don’t worry – she’s got this. Or does she? In Season 2, Harley has defeated the Joker, and Gotham City is hers for the taking…what’s left of it, that is. Her celebration in the newly created chaos is cut short when Penguin, Bane, Mr. Freeze, The Riddler and Two-Face join forces to restore order in the criminal underworld. Calling themselves the Injustice League, they’re intent on keeping Harley and her crew from taking control as the top villains in Gotham.

NEW 2021 1080p HD master! PUMP UP THE VOLUME (1990) Run Time             102:00 Subtitles               English SDH Audio Specs        DTS HD-Master Audio 5.1 - English Aspect Ratio       1.85:1, 16 X 9 Letterbox Product Color    COLOR Disc Configuration           BD 50 Includes Original Theatrical Trailer (HD)

By day, Mark Hunter (Christian Slater) is a painfully shy new kid in a small Arizona town. But by night, he’s Hard Harry, the cynical, uncensored DJ of a pirate radio station. Idolized by his high school classmates (who are unaware of his real identity), Harry becomes a hero with his fiercely funny monologues on sex, love, and rock and roll. But when he exposes the corrupt school principal, she calls in the FCC to shut Harry down. An outrageous rebel with a cause, Slater gives a brilliant performance as the reluctant hero who inspires his classmates to find their own voices of rebellion and individuality. A movie with a message, Pump Up the Volume is a raw and witty celebration of free speech that will make you laugh, make you cheer and make you think.

NEW 2020 1080p HD master! A TALE OF TWO CITIES (1935) Run Time             126:00 Subtitles               English SDH Audio Specs        DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 - English, MONO - English Aspect Ratio       1.37:1 Disc Configuration           BD 50

Special Features: Audioscopiks (MGM short); 2 Classic Cartoons 'Hey, Hey Fever' and 'Honeyland'; Radio adaptation with Ronald Colman; Trailer

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” Charles Dickens’ tale of love and tumult during the French Revolution comes to the screen in a sumptuous film version by the producer famed for nurturing sprawling literary works: David O. Selznick (David Copperfield, Anna Karenina, Gone with the Wind). Ronald Colman (The Prisoner of Zenda) stars as Sydney Carton – sardonic, dissolute, a wastrel…and destined to redeem himself in an act of courageous sacrifice. “It's a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done,” Carton muses at that defining moment. This is far, far better filmmaking too: a Golden Era marvel of uncanny performances top to bottom, eye-filling crowd scenes (the storming of the Bastille, thronged courtrooms, an eerie festival of public execution) and lasting emotional power. Revolution is in the air!

NEW 2021 1080p HD master! BABY DOLL (1956) Run Time             114:00 Subtitles               English SDH Audio Specs        DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 - English, MONO - English Aspect Ratio       1.85:1, 16 X 9 Letterbox Product Color    BLACK & WHITE Disc Configuration           BD 50

Special Features: "Baby Doll: See No Evil" vintage featurette; Original Theatrical Trailer (HD)

Times are tough for cotton miller Archie (Karl Malden), but at least he has his child bride (Carroll Baker), who’ll soon be his wife in title and truth. The one-year agreement keeping them under the same roof – yet never in the same bed – is about to end. But a game with a sly business rival (Eli Wallach) is about to begin. In Baby Doll, as in A Streetcar Named Desire, director Elia Kazan and writer Tennessee Williams broke new ground in depicting sexual situations – earning condemnation from the then-powerful Legion of Decency. They earned laurels too: four Academy Award® nominations, Golden Globe® Awards for Baker and Kazan, and a British Academy Award for Wallach. Watch this funny, steamy classic that, as Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guide proclaims, “still sizzles.”

NEW 2021 1080p HD master from nitrate preservation elements! SAN FRANCISCO (1936) Run Time             115:00 Subtitles               English SDH Audio Specs        DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 - English, MONO - English Aspect Ratio       1.37:1 Product Color    BLACK & WHITE Disc Configuration           BD 50

Special Features: Alternate Ending Sequence; "Clark Gable: Tall, Dark and Handsome" featurette with Liam Neeson; two vintage FitzPatrick Traveltalks: 'Cavalcade of San Francisoco' & 'Night Descends on Treasure Island'; Classic Cartoon 'Bottles"; Theatrical re-issue trailer (HD)

Romantic drama combines with humor, starpower combines with lavish spectacle and the walls come tumbling down! This Academy Award-winning extravaganza’s street-splitting, brick-cascading, fire-raging recreation of the cataclysmic earthquake remains "one of the greatest action sequences in the history of the cinema, rivalling the chariot race in both Ben-Hurs" (Adrian Turner, Time Out Film Guide).

Clark Gable plays rakish Barbary Coast kingpin Blackie Norton. Jeanette MacDonald portrays a singer torn by her love for Blackie and her need to succeed among the operagoing elite. Earning the first of nine career Best Actor Oscar® nominations,* Spencer Tracy is a priest who supplements spiritual advice with a mean right hook. He urges Blackie to change. But if love and religion can't reform Blackie, Mother Nature will.

NEW 2021 1080p HD master from 4K Scan of original Technicolor negatives! SHOW BOAT (1951) Run Time             108:00 Subtitles               English SDH Audio Specs        DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 STEREO - English, DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Original Mono Theatrical track- - English Aspect Ratio       1.37:1 Product Color    COLOR Disc Configuration           BD 50

Special Features: Commentary by Director George Sidney; Till the Clouds Roll By - Show Boat (1946) Sequence; "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man" and "Bill" Ava Gardner Audio-only Outtakes; Lux Radio Theater Broadcast (2/11/1952); Original Theatrical Trailer (HD)

From novel (by Edna Ferber) to Broadway smash (by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II) to three film versions (1929, 1936, 1951) to stage revivals. Like Ol’ Man River, Show Boat just keeps rollin’ along. Produced by Arthur Freed and directed by George Sidney, this 1951 version of the saga of riverboat lives and loves has glorious stars (Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner, Howard Keel, Marge and Gower Champion) in Technicolor® radiance, a made-from-scratch 170-foot paddle wheeler, timeless songs and an equally timeless outcry against racial bigotry. “This was music that would outlast Kern’s day and mine,” Ferber said in recalling her first reaction to hearing “Ol’ Man River.” She was right as rain.

NEW 2020 1080p HD master! MY DREAM IS YOURS (1949) Run Time             101:00 Subtitles               English SDH Audio Specs        MONO - English, DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 - English Aspect Ratio       1.37:1 Disc Configuration           BD 50

Special Features: Vintage Joe McDoakes Comedy Short "So You Want to be An Actor"; The Grass is Always Greener short subject; Classic Cartoon 'A Ham in a Role' ; Original Theatrical Trailer (HD)

Talent agent Doug Blake (Jack Carson) is giving 100% to earn his 10%. He walks away from his arrogant singing star (Lee Bowman) and scrambles to discover another who will shine even brighter. He finds effervescent songstress Martha Gibson. Doris Day plays Martha. Think she has a chance? During the shooting of Day’s first film (Romance on the High Seas), director Michael Curtiz was sure the sparkling newcomer had much more than a chance and set the wheels in motion for My Dream Is Yours. Curtiz dots his film with authentic Hollywood locales (including the fabled Schwab’s Pharmacy). And Bugs Bunny himself hops into a dream sequence. Welcome to the Dream Factory. Make it yours.

NEW 2020 1080p HD master from 4K scan of Original Technicolor Negatives! ON MOONLIGHT BAY (1951) Run Time             95:00 Subtitles               English SDH Audio Specs        MONO - English, DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 - English Aspect Ratio       1.37:1 Disc Configuration           BD 50

Special Features: 'Let's Sing a Song About the Moonlight' vintage short; Classic Cartoon 'A Hound for Trouble'; Original Theatrical Trailer (HD)

Not since Judy met the boy next door in St. Louis has there been a heaping of tuneful, romantic Midwestern American life like this! Doris Day and Gordon MacRae team for spoonin’, croonin’ and swoonin’ On Moonlight Bay, based on Booth Tarkington’s Penrod stories. “Try not to walk like a first baseman,” Mama (Rosemary DeCamp) tells tomboy Marjorie (Day) as she prepares to date college man Bill (MacRae). The advice takes. The lovebirds hear wedding bells ahead, just as soon as Bill gets his sheepskin. But World War I rages “over there.” And Papa (Leon Ames) rages at home after a flap with his prospective son-in-law. Will harmony return to this Hoosier home? Surely Day and MacRae will make musical harmony. And On Moonlight Bay will have you sailing along.

[uno-universal]

A busy night at Schwab’s Pharmacy in Hollywood, 1946. It was on Sunset Boulevard and was a popular hangout in the 1930’s through the 1950’s for people in the movie industry.

Photo courtesy of LIFE magazine.

[historichollywoodphotographs]

Sunset Boulevard: More Than Just The Strip

Several galleries in our hollywoodphotographs.com collection depict sites located on Sunset Boulevard and for good reason: the street tells so many aspects of the Hollywood story - associations with the early film industry, entertainment venues, and key places where residents worked, shopped, and worshipped. Twenty-two miles in length, the winding and heavily trafficked thoroughfare includes portions of a centuries old cattle trail and sections which bridge several subdivisions of Los Angeles as it passes from downtown LA to the Pacific Ocean. The route runs through the neighborhoods of Echo Park, Silverlake, Los Feliz, Hollywood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Holmby Hills, BelAir, Brentwood, and Pacific Palisades. The stretch from Hillhurst Avenue in Los Feliz on the east, to Sierra Drive in West Hollywood, has long been associated with the Golden Age of Hollywood. It’s so iconic, it even has its own movie: Sunset Boulevard, a classic made in 1950, directed by Billy Wilder, starring Gloria Swanson and William Holden.

Many early motion picture entrepreneurs set up shop along Sunset Boulevard’s eastern portion, one such studio survives at 4401 Sunset (now used by Scientology Media). While DW Griffith’s Intolerance set no longer towers over the intersection at Hillhurst Avenue, the Spanish Colonial Revival Vista Theater at 4473 Sunset (1923, Lewis A. Smith) with its delightful Egyptian interior remains. To the west, the first site of Warner Brothers in Hollywood (now known as Sunset Bronson) at 5800 Sunset still operates, as does the Columbia Studios complex (now called Sunset Gower). Across the street at 6121 Sunset, stands CBS Columbia Square (1938, William Lescaze and ET Heitschmidt, International Style), the brainchild of William Paley and epicenter of his West Coast radio empire. Paley built his complex on the site of the very first studio in Hollywood and a plaque commemorating that history still rests in the front courtyard.

Two entertainment venues - the Palladium (6215) and the Earl Carroll Theatre (6230) dominate the blocks east of Vine Street. Both are designated Historic Cultural Monuments (as is CBS) and associated with prominent architects and owners. At 6360, the modernist Cinerama Dome (1963, Welton Becket and Associates), was a slightly later addition to the street that continued the development pattern of restaurants, theater, and retail around Vine Street. The intersection of Sunset and Vine played a particularly prominent role in the radio and music industries from the 1930s through the 1960s.

As Sunset crosses Cahuenga, several institutions –  the Hollywood Athletic Club (6525, Beaux Arts), Blessed Sacrament Church (6657, Spanish Colonial Revival), Crossroads of the World (6671, Robert Derrah, Streamline Moderne), and the Hollywood Reporter (6715, Hollywood Regency) – are just a few examples of early 20th century styles that made Hollywood famous for its architectural and cultural diversity within the community.

Located at Sunset and Highland, Hollywood High School was founded in 1903; its lovely Streamline campus designed by architects Marsh, Smith, and Powell dates from 1935. One block west, the corner of Sunset and La Brea was once home to the famous Tiny Naylor’s Drive-In. Further west through the historic neighborhoods of Spaulding Square and Sunset Square (designated Historic Preservation Overlay Zones), are the Director’s Guild at 7920, the former locations of Schwab’s Pharmacy at 8024, and the Garden of Allah Hotel at 8150 (soon to be a new development designed by Frank Gehry). The Garden was headquarters for transplanted writers during their stays in Hollywood, including Robert Benchley, Dorothy Parker (of New York Algonquin Hotel fame), and novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald.

The Chateau Marmont at 8221 (1928, Arnold Weitzman, Norman Style), just west of Crescent Heights, is the gateway to the “Sunset Strip”, the most famous/infamous section of the boulevard. Located in the city of West Hollywood, this part of Sunset was, and still is, a major hub of Los Angeles nightlife, known for its trademark array of colorful billboards. The mile and a half stretch running from Harper Avenue passed Sunset Plaza to the boulevard’s western border with Beverly Hills, is densely populated with trendy boutiques, restaurants, nightclubs and venues that have been social gathering spots of the entertainment industry and its fans for over eight decades.  

Historically outside of the Los Angeles city limits, in an unincorporated area of the county of Los Angeles, these blocks of Sunset were policed by the less vigilant Sheriff’s Department rather than the heavy hand of the LAPD, thus the area was perceived to be more permissive of public behavior. It was illegal to gamble in the city, but legal in the county. This fostered the building of a wilder concentration of nightlife than Los Angeles proper would tolerate in the 1920s. As a consequence, a number of nightclubs and casinos moved in along The Strip, attracting celebrities and other more liberal-minded locals, as the alcohol continued to flow in back rooms during Prohibition.  

Glamour and glitz especially defined The Strip in the 1930s and 40s, as its renowned restaurants and nightclubs became playgrounds for the rich and famous. Movie legends, power brokers and everyone who was anyone danced at such legendary clubs as Ciro’s (8433), Mocambo (8588), and the Trocadero (8610). Some of its more expensive clubs and restaurants were said to be owned by gangsters like Mickey Cohen, earning the Strip a mention in Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe novel The Little Sister. Most were owned by Hollywood insiders, such as Billy Wilkerson (publisher of the Hollywood Reporter) and director Preston Sturges. The publicity machine of the studios required their stars to be visible to the public, so gossip columnists like Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons were also regularly in attendance to report on the events and star sightings at these high profile venues.

By the early 1960s, The Strip seemingly lost favor with movie people, but the restaurants, bars and clubs continued to attract out of town visitors and locals. In the mid-60s and 70s, the area became a major hang out for the counterculture and rock music scenes, as well as the epicenter of the Sunset Strip curfew riots in the summer of 1966, which inspired the Buffalo Springfield song For What It’s Worth. Go-Go dancers performed nightly at such hotspots as the Whisky-a-Go-Go (8901), while bands such as The Doors, The Byrds, Frank Zappa, Van Halen, Motley Crue, Guns ’n Roses, and Whitesnake all played at the Roxy (9009), Pandora’s Box, London Fog, Rainbow Bar & Grill (9015), and Viper Room (8852).

As The Strip became a haven for musical artists in the 1970s and 80s, the Continental Hyatt House (8358), also referred to as the Riot House (now Andaz), became a second home for touring rock bands such as Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, and The Who. Consequently, the hotel became associated with notoriously debaucherous behavior for a time, many of its most outrageous legends later retold in Hollywood movies and TV shows. The Chateau Marmont (8221) and Sunset Tower (at 8358; Leland Bryant, 1931 Art Deco/Streamline Moderne), also share a long history of housing transplant artists during their stays in Hollywood, serving as film sets, and receiving mentions in literature, music, and pop culture.  

The Comedy Store (8433), the former site of Ciro’s, gave many comics like Jim Carrey, Sam Kinison, David Letterman, and Jay Leno their starts, while bonafide comedians like Richard Pryor, Whoopi Goldberg, Eddie Murphy, Jerry Seinfeld, and Robin Williams would often try out their new acts in front of crowds.

Tales of Sunset’s history and significance are as long as the boulevard itself. We could easily go on. From the early 1900s to present, Sunset Blvd has been one of Hollywood’s favorite destinations to create, work, play, and shop; the variety of buildings and legends clearly reflect that. Regardless of your actual location, you too can take a trip down Sunset Blvd via hollywoodphotographs.com right now! Please enjoy exploring all the galleries we’ve linked to in this post and be sure to stay tuned for even more in-depth stories of other magnificent Hollywood locations soon to follow.

~ Christy McAvoy and Carly Caryn, Historic Hollywood Photographs

[citizenscreen]

Hurd Hatfield and Angela Lansbury hanging out at the counter of Schwab's Pharmacy in 1945

[victorvalc]

I was tagged by @scottpilgvrim​ like 400 years ago but life is stressful so what can ya do. Thank you babe. 💛

rules: answer all the questions, add one of your own and tag as many people as there are questions

tagging: @ronaniallynch @edmunddcorcoran @plantdoe @heartbeated @queer-deckovskij @sidneyclarke @minyardx @totouchthefiretwice @anthohnystark

1. coke or pepsi: both but coke zero 2. disney or dreamworks: dreamwork 3. coffee or tea: tea 4. books or movies: movies but trying to start reading more again  5. windows or mac: mac 6. dc or marvel: DC and Deadpool 7. x-box or playstation: neither 8. dragon age or mass effect: I'm not good at playing games 9. night owl or early riser: early riser 10. cards or chess: cards 11. chocolate or vanilla: chocolate 12. vans or converse: converse 13. Lavellan, Trevelyan, Cadash, or Adaar: ? 14. fluff or angst: angst 15. beach or forest: forest 16. dogs or cats: cats 17. clear skies or rain: clear skies 18. cooking or eating out: cooking 19. spicy food or mild food: mild 20. halloween/samhain or solstice/yule/christmas: xmas 21. would you rather forever be a little too cold or a little too hot: cold 22. if you could have any superpower, what would it be?: shape-shifting! 23. animation or live action: life action 24. paragon or renegade:  bit of both but renegade 25. baths or showers: showers 26. team cap or team ironman: neither but iron man 27: fantasy or sci-fi: both but sci-fi 28. do you have three or four favourite quotes, if so what are they: ugh my fave quotes change with my mood   29. netflix or youtube: Netflix 30. Harry Potter or Percy Jackson: Harry Potter  31. when you feel accomplished: when I finish one of my to do lists  32. star wars or star trek: trek 33. paperback or hardback: both but paperbacks 34. horror or rom-com: both but rom-com 35. tv shows or movies: tv shows 36. spotify or pandora: spotify 37. zootopia or inside out: Zootopia 38. favourite book: Vicious, The secret history, the martian, migraine Ohnefurcht, the Goldfinch 39. favourite flower: fresh coffee 40. what field of study are you in (or aspire to be in): Chemistry/Pharmacy 41. song lyric you really love?: "She say, "Do you love me?" I tell her, "Only partly" I only love my bed and my momma, I'm sorry” - Drake Gods Plan and “I spent the day in bed I'm not my type, but I love my bed And I recommend that you” - Spent the day in bed by Morrissey and “Warum? Weil wir es können Warum? Das G steht für gönnen” - 500 k by Kraftklub 42. what’s your MBTI type?: idk and I'm too lazy to take the test 43. fave movie: chronicle, gone girl, southpaw, who am I  44. favourite tv show(s): f.r.i.e.n.d.s, pushing daisies, itf, mr robot, elementary 45. what fictional world is your favourite? Vicious or literally everyone with superpowers or the one in monsters of verity (I love ve schwab) 46. favourite mythological figure? Artemis 47. who’s your all-time favourite fictional character? Victor Vale, Billy Hope, Francis Abernathy and Elizabeth Swann

+ my new question: confetti or glitter?

[differentnutpeace]

COVID Cases Are Surging In Michigan. Should It Get More Vaccine Doses?

If you look at a heat map for cases of COVID-19 in the United States, Michigan stands out. Its alarming spike in cases has fueled calls to flood extra vaccine doses to the state, but the Biden administration isn't sold on the idea. หวย บอล เกมส์ กีฬา คาสิโนออนไลน์

The White House said in a briefing Friday that it is offering a "set of additional tools" to help hot spots like Michigan, but that toolbox does not include extra vaccine supply.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in her own briefing Friday that she has been speaking with the administration "regularly" and is "grateful for what they have offered." Still, she renewed her call for a surge in vaccines to combat a spike driven by the B.1.1.7 variant initially found in the United Kingdom.

The Biden administration allocates vaccines to states each week based on the number of adults who live there. It's a simple formula aimed at equal distribution and it is watched closely by governors, including Minnesota's Tim Walz.

"Anytime they announce how many vaccines there are, I do my math," said Walz. "Minnesota gets 1.74% of what that national number is."

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Coronavirus Cases Are Rising Again. See How Your State Is Doing

Every week, it's the same share of doses, a level of predictability that allows states and providers to plan and schedule appointments. The administration isn't holding doses back, so for one state to get more than its allotment, another state would likely have to get less. Aside from the public health questions, changing allocations would be politically difficult, too.

But Walz said he and other governors have been texting about the idea. If the science says it would help areas struggling with the more contagious variants, then "I think governors are open to hearing that," said Walz, adding that it will surely be easier to share when supply is less of a concern.

A number of prominent infectious disease experts are calling for Michigan to get more doses. "I've been calling for it for a couple of weeks now, because you could start to see the uptick in cases," said Eric Topol, a professor of molecular medicine at the Scripps Research Center.

Topol said the best defense against the "superspreader variant" would be to inundate the state with vaccines.

"And just do 24/7 campaigns. Drive around. Just whatever it takes," Topol said. It could suppress the surge, he argued.

This idea prompted Josh Schwab at the University of California, Berkeley, to run a couple of scenarios through a COVID-19 forecasting model he works on. He found that if Michigan got a double allocation of vaccines for two weeks, it could prevent 1,200 deaths by July. Even more effective would be coupling a vaccine surge with two weeks of shutting down restaurants and bars for in-person dining. That would save 2,500 lives, Schwab said.

"It would be a different situation if we didn't have these vaccines," Schwab said. "But we actually have a long-term plan now. We just have to get through this next short period."

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Soon, there will be more than enough vaccine doses to go around, enough supply for every adult in the United States by the end of May, President Biden has said.

It takes time for someone who has been given a vaccine to develop immunity, so a vaccination today would be preventing an infection several weeks down the line. And there's an active debate about whether surging vaccines into Michigan is the best tactic, or whether there could be unintended consequences.

"Mother Nature is going to drive this pretty much, and if we try to respond with vaccine targeted to a given area, it's just another two days before it's in another area," said Michael Osterholm, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Minnesota, who advised the Biden transition.

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Osterholm has advocated for delaying second doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines so more people can get at least some immunity from a first dose, an idea the Biden administration has resisted.

Osterholm said a lot of humility is needed when it comes to predicting where the virus will go next and where cases will spike or fall.

"I could see easily in the next six to eight weeks we would have to be triaging the vaccine to all 50 states, and at that point, there's no such thing as triage," he said.

There's also some value to keeping the formula consistent, said Claire Hannan, executive director of the Association of Immunization Managers. The current system is efficiently getting vaccine doses into arms at a rate of more than 3 million a day.

"We have a cadence, we have a rhythm," Hannan said. "I think we are doing a good job and I would not mess with that right now."

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White House officials aren't putting it that plainly. But when COVID-19 coordinator Andy Slavitt was asked about this, he said they haven't reached a point where any state has enough vaccines for everyone who wants them. He said the administration isn't ruling anything out, but he has resisted adjusting the formula now.

"By and large, we are still allocating vaccines based upon population," Slavitt told reporters this week. "Clearly we will get to a place where more targeted strategies will work."

On Friday, White House coronavirus czar Jeffrey Zients said the current strategy remains the only "equitable and efficient" way to allocate the vaccine. He said the administration would not shift vaccine to surge it in areas where there are currently large outbreaks of the virus, saying that the virus was "unpredictable" and could surge anywhere, making it important to keep a steady supply to states.

The Biden administration has worked hard to avoid pitting states against each other, scrapping for a finite resource. But it has sent teams to Michigan to help the state make the most of the doses it is getting.

That assistance includes identifying hot spots, increasing testing, and crunching the data to see if the vaccines the state is getting could be more effectively deployed.

Community health centers can now order vaccines directly from the federal government, and retail pharmacies in underserved communities as well as federal mass vaccination sites also help address the greatest needs, Slavitt said.

And it isn't just Michigan. The CDC and Biden administration are offering technical assistance to other states facing challenges, too.