Friday, August 31, 2007

Don't Waste This!

Before LADWP got into some complications with its PR contracting, the municipal utility really spread the good word. You've got to check this out from Franklin Avenue: a 1987 commercial that brings together the day's finest weather folks. (I guess this is before Fritz hit the scene!)

It made us laugh out loud - gotta love this City's history!

3 comments:

::Alejandro:: said...

I have listed your blog as part of the BlogDay 2007 celebrations!

Native Angeleno here...

Here is the link

And you may want to add this Technorati tag

Anonymous said...

Fritz was totally around in '87, evidently he was in the back running the water while he brused his teeth when they started rolling.

Anonymous said...

Dear Mister Nerd,

Since all things historical is your forte, you may wish to consider visiting a historical marker which has a bearing upon our current DWP.

Near the southern corner of Piedmont and Figueroa on Piedmont, there is a brass plate embedded in the sidewalk which marks the exact spot that the first power pole was erected in the City of Los Angeles! I understand it was quite an event, and there is a photograph which shows quite a gathering of people in attendance for the festivities... complete with horse and buggies!

Now if only there were street signs around downtown Los Angeles showing the original street names for such streets as, Main Street, as well as the unnamed streets around the Los Angeles Plaza currently known as Olvera Street.

I happen to know that the original street name of Olvera Street was Wine Street. There was Bath Street, which no longer exists, but was located between the current Olvera Street and Alameda. The northern portion of the street between the bandstand and Olvera Street (intersecting Los Angeles Street on the east and Main Street on the west) was Marchessault St., the southern portion was Republic St. The alleyway between the old Firehouse and Pico House was Lopez Alley (I'm unsure of this).

There are other streets which no longer exist, such as Clay Street which ran underneath Angel's Flight when Bunker Hill was a steep hill, and not the minor ridge it is today.

A good online reference is:
http://www.ulwaf.com/LA-1900s/SpecialReports/Streets.html#LaBondad

Sincerely,
Los Angeles Native, 2nd generation.