Charles Phoenix’s Slide of the Week: Los Angeles City Hall Sidewalk, 1959

LOS ANGELES CITY HALL SIDEWALK, 1959

Blue jean clad second and third grade Glassell Park Elementary School students board a big yellow school bus in front of City Hall. They’re on a Field Trip. How fun! In the background on the left is the Los Angeles Times building. It still stands. The Sunkist Building is on the right. It was bulldozed about 1969. Chances are the school bus is still in service.

Did it ever occur to you that school buses and Kraft Macaroni and Cheese are the same color? Did it ever occur to you that downtown Los Angeles is just like Disneyland? The Freeway is Autopia; the Gold Line between Union Station and Chinatown is like riding the Monorail to Adventureland. Olvera Street is a Main Street USA-Adventurland-Frontierland combo; Clifton’s Cafeteria, the most atmospheric eatery in town is Frontierland with a little Bear Country mixed in; The Bob Baker Marionettes, downtown since 1961, is more than Fantasyland; The Music Center is Tomorrowland and the Walt Disney Concert Hall is the Castle, the Castle of the future.

That is just the tip of the iceberg of the places that make the heart and soul of Los Angeles just like a theme park. Come along and join the tour and you too will never see the city the same way again! It’s the other “Happiest Place on Earth.”

Here’s to you and to Downtown Los Angeles

Charles Phoenix

Visit Charles’ site, God Bless Americana, or join his Slide of the Week Mailing List.