Company A, 31st Infantry, Heavy Weapons Unit

I've said it before and I'm saying it again.  Americans are too patriotic.  It's far too easy to stampede us into stupid, pointless conflicts.  Don't get me wrong.  I'm not a pacifist.  Give me a reason to fight that makes sense and I'll support war.  World War 2 being a good example.  But, the fact is that many of our wars have been in the foolish category.  Vietnam, Grenada, the second Iraq War, to name a few from my lifetime, were nothing more than a waste of money and lives.  That doesn't mean we should be callous towards our veterans.  That means, in the future, we shouldn't send so many of them to die for no real reason.

The title of the post is what's written on the back. The 31st infantry was formed at Fort McKinley in the Philippines and has the distinction of spending more time in overseas postings than in the United States.  Postings include the Philippines, Siberia, China, Korea and Vietnam.

Winter Sports

Winter is coming and it's time to think about winter sports.  Why is it that only one person acknowledges the camera?  Are the others just unaware or are they too hip to smile and say cheese?  I'm guessing hip detachment, and  the lady  mugging for the camera is the only fun one of the lot.

The Front Porch

This one is labeled, "Cousin Carol, Grandpa C., Mother & Wayne, Aunt Minnie, Marguerite, Me & Cousin Keith"  Another photo that has been cut from a photo album, so we'll never know who Me was.

Los Angeles Civic Center

Yet another linen postcard of downtown Los Angeles.  Take a close look at the the very tall building, the Los Angeles City Hall.  The original photograph was  in black & white and it looks like it had some separation problems.  The tower is white and against a sunny sky, white objects in black & white photos have a tendency to merge into the background.  One way to solve that problem is to draw in an edge line.  Click on the image to bring it up in a larger window and it's obvious that the person who added  color to the image also drew  a black line around the building.

The Los Angeles City Hall was designed by John Parkinson,  (The designer of the Rosslyn Hotel from the previous post.) Albert C. Martin, and John C. Austin.   It opened in 1928 and at the time, at 32 floors and 457 feet,  was the tallest building in L.A.  Until the late 1950's the L.A. City Charter limited building to 150 feet, excluding decorative towers.  City Hall was the tallest building in the city until 1964.  Today, the 73 story U.S. Bank Tower,  at 1018 feet,  is the tallest building in Los Angeles City, Los Angeles County, and the state of California.

The message on the back, "Well, here journey's end where to go from here?  Arrived here 7:00 A.M. Wed. still raring to go, don't want to stop anyplace. Spent a day in Frisco, had to leave, too cold.  George"  Mailed to "Bob R. Sudnick, 52 Piquette St., Detroit, Michigan"  And the postmark, "10 LOS ANGELES CALIF, AUG 6 12 P.M. 1941"  

What a date.  The middle of 1941 meant one thing to  American men and  women.  The last few months of peace before Pearl Harbor.  George was enjoying his trip.  Who knows.  It might have been his first chance to travel.  Six months latter and he was probably off to a military base and then Europe or the south Pacific.  When I read the messages on these old postcards  I always wonder if the writer survived the next five years.

The New Hotel Rosslyn

I went back and forth about this postcard.  I try and limit things on The New Found Photography to actual photographs or images based on photos.  At first I couldn't make up my mind.  Was this postcard a drawing or was it a hand colored and heavily manipulated photograph converted to a card.  In the end, after looking close with my best magnifying glass, I decided that all the fine detail that can be seen on the building's facades  indicated photo, so here it is.

Finding the history of The Hotel Rosslyn was a bit tougher than I expected.  In separate articles, I found dates of 1911, 1912, and 1913 for the main building's opening.  1913 was the only date that I could find that was mentioned multiple times, so I'm going with '13.  The annex opened in 1923.  (At least there was agreement on that date.)  I also found mention of an addition that burned down in the early 1940's.   Both the main building and the annex were designed by architect John Parkinson.

When the Rosslyn was built, Fifth and Main was the financial center of Los Angeles.   After World War 2, the banking and business hub of downtown L.A. moved west and north and the former banking district slowly went into decline and eventually became a haven for the down and outers, drunks, and drug users, prostitutes, hustlers, and petty criminals.  In 1959, the main hotel closed. It reopened in 1979 with a different name, The Frontier, but the new owners either couldn't afford,or didn't care enough, to change the outside signs.  A good thing, since one of the great things about both buildings are the large roof top neon signs.  Watch enough television, and some cop show will have a fight scene on the roof, with the sign framework in the background.  It must have been confusing having a Frontier Hotel signed Hotel Rosslyn right across the street from the actual Hotel Rosslyn, that was originally the Hotel Rosslyn Annex.

This card was postmarked "LONG BEACH, CALIF, FEB  4, 1:30 PM, 1935"  Judging by the message, the Rosslyn's decline was still in the future.  "Dear Donna, This is where mother and Esther stayed last night.  We have the grandest time here.  Love, Mother."  Addressed to, "Donna Wilson, 2946 Russell Ave. No., Minneapolis, Minn."  And somehow or another it made it's way back to L.A.

And now for my own remembrance of the Rosslyn.  When I was in my mid twenties, and first arrived in Los Angeles, I spent a couple of nights at the hotel.  It was an experience.  I can remember getting out of bed when I heard a lady weeping in the hallway outside my room.  I took a quick look and saw a woman leaning against the wall, shabbily dressed, with a platinum blond wig, crying.  A few hours latter, another woman knocked on my door and asked if I wanted to party.  And she'd only charge me twenty bucks!  The second night of my stay, water started coming through the ceiling.  I found out, the next morning, that my upstairs neighbor had died of a drug overdose while filling the bathtub.  Two nights were enough for me.

Today the main building has been converted into lofts.  Micro lofts starting at $789 per month.  The annex is still a hotel.

What Are They?

Find an old photograph with nothing written on it and it's only natural to wonder who they are, what were their names, where did they live.  Sometimes, the question is what were they?  My first thought was doctors and nurses, but then I began to wonder.  Waiters and waitresses?  Scientists?  Butchers, bakers, candle stick makers?   One thing's for sure.  They liked dogs.

Suburban Parties

I really need to add more color to the collection.  I've got a feeling that I wouldn't have liked living in the fifties.  But, I could be wrong.  These people look like they're having a wonderful time.