THE WAY WE WERE: LOS ANGELES CITY GUIDE

Los Angeles Volumes

¶ California Guide

¶ Los Angeles City Guide

Skiing, if you can believe it, in LA

"Surf board riding"

Despite its status in the 1930's and 1940's as the headquarters of arts and sciences in the west, Los Angelinos embraced their status as a former frontier town, make no doubt about it. Should one be blinded by the glitz and glamour of modern day Los Angeles, the guide is ready to remind you of the city's past. Like other guides to western cities, the writers feel complelled to describe the often violent and unsavory past:

"In the [eighteen] fifties and sixties, when tough frontier towns were common
in the West, Los Angeles probably had the largest array, per capita,
of gambling dens, saloons, and bordels, and the greatest collection of
thieves, murderers, and assorted desperadoes. It was known as a
"bad" town. Homicides averaged about one per day, and mur
dered Indians were not counted. Criminals who were too violent to
be tolerated even in the mining towns or San Francisco found refuge
in Los Angeles. "

LA City Guides - endpaper map

Arts came to dominate the local industry and culture. A long explanation of the movie making process, down to the roles of producter, director, and cinematographer are detailed at length:

"Most stars as well as directors know that their best efforts can be spoiled by an unsympathetic cinematographer. Formerly called the cameraman, this technician is in actual charge of shooting the scenes. He must, besides possessing the technical skill to create consistently first- rate photographs, be artistically sympathetic to both stars and director. "

No such lengthy description of hat-makers in Philadelphia, or the dock-workers of New York can be found. The Los Angeles writers found themselves chronicling a burgeouning movie indsutry, the inner-workings of which were unknown to most Americans. As a way of glorifying their city, all aspects of movie making were chronicled, no doubt eliciting excitement and jealousy among readers "back east."

This volume is available as a free online e-book, downloadable from the Internet Archive: View the e-book here.

Los Angeles: A Guide to the City and Its Environs
Compiled by Workers of the Writers Program of the Work Projects Administration in Southern California - F869.L8 W85 - First Published 1941