This postcard ended up in the hands of an avid collector—Dr. Victor A. Blenkle of New Jersey. If it made him wish he were there—a familiar feeling this time of year for many Americans as friends and family send word from their summer vacations—he must have been accustomed to the longing. Over the course of his lifetime, Blenkle received many postcards from family members, friends, and patients—and purchased hundreds of thousands more for his collection.

Today, those postcards—which fill 29 boxes—are housed at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., at the Archives Center of the National Museum of American History. In 1977, a year before his death, Dr. Blenkle bequeathed his incredible collection to the institution.

The postcards are of scenic spots and landmarks across the United States and the globe, from Sasketchewan, Canada, to Mt. Fuji in Japan. There are photos—like the mother bear and her cubs crossing a road in Glacier National Park in Montana—and drawings. In a 1939 postcard, a man on a horse is depicted in a desperate rush to get to La Caverna hotel in Carlsbad, New Mexico, leaving dust, a horseshoe, and a cowboy hat in his wake.

It’s unknown when Dr. Blenkle began collecting postcards, but there are cards sent to him starting in the 1920s. He also purchased or traded for collections that were originally owned by others, including cards dating from the late 1880s and 1890s. The most recent ones are from 1970.

No matter their era or subject matter, these postcards from long ago remind us what postcards allow us to do—to capture a glimpse of a vacation, to get a taste of what makes the place unique or beautiful—and to send it off to someone we love: “Wish you were here …”

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For over an hour before a full house—or more accurately, a full plaza—crime novelist Denise Hamilton, Libros Schmibros founder David Kipen, L.A. Office of Historic Resources manager Ken Bernstein, L.A. Weekly staff writer Dennis Romero, and KCET arts and culture columnist Lynell George discussed the places from the past that make L.A. feel like home today.

The conversation, conducted under the band shell and the plaza’s Moreton Bay fig trees, offered details on the new HistoricPlacesLA.org, an online information and management system to inventory, map, and describe Los Angeles’ historic resources. Data is still being added, in part from an ambitious citywide survey of historic resources that is a partnership between the city, the Getty Conservation Institute, and the Getty Foundation.

Asked by moderator Saul Gonzalez of KCRW about the title question of the event— “Is L.A.’s Past Worth Saving?”—Bernstein, the historic resources manager, said that “we have gone well past that question in recent decades. The question is how do we do a better job of actually saving that past.” That starts with greater knowledge of that past, he argued: “You can only protect the past… if you know where those places are to begin with.”

The panelists lamented lost sites of L.A.’s heritage—the replacement of the Ambassador Hotel by public schools, the tearing down of author Ray Bradbury’s house, the loss of historic neighborhoods in Koreatown—but also noted progress. Bernstein said Los Angeles had the second largest program of historic districts in the country, and one of the most intact historic downtowns of any U.S. city.

“We’ve lost a lot, but we’ve also preserved a lot,” he said.

Novelist Hamilton, however, noted the power of developers and property owners, and argued for more preservation as a way of better connecting people in today’s city. Buildings that are preserved “are like these magic portals to the past, to what the city was like before.” She said preservation should go beyond buildings to beaches, hills and canyons. “We have lost the rustic feel of the beaches, our beach towns,” she said, adding, “The Hollywood Hills and canyons are being completely overrun by billionaires.”

George, the arts and culture columnist, said that, as a native of Los Angeles, the preservation of history is crucial to creating a civic memory and to her own navigation of a fast-changing place. “I am constantly trying to relocate my touchstones, “she said. “One of the reasons I started getting out of the car and walking was so I could be in the city again, and connect with the city and find those threads.” Such connections are about more than building; they can be about nature within the city. “There is something about having these sense memories of trees or bushes or flowers,” she said.

L.A. Weekly’s Romero suggested that gentrification in the city, for all its problems, could be a force for preservation. “Interest in preservation is increasing as L.A. neighborhoods gentrify and people find value in their communities,” he said. He also predicted tension between efforts to develop more affordable housing in L.A. and preservation goals. “You have this pressure to develop the inner city and create more housing, and yet you don’t want to tear things down,” he said.

Libros Schmibros founder and UCLA lecturer Kipen argued for various goals and standards for preservation. He suggested that at least one of everything should be preserved—even the first mini-mall and (in response to an audience question) the first McMansion, wherever those might be. He also proposed that “in order to tear down a building, you should have to erect some sort of monument or plaque that tells people what was there.”

But Kipen and the panelists also said that determining what is historic and worthy of preservation required a balancing of goals. Romero noted that the coffee shop Norm’s on La Cienega—a recent focus of preservationists—is “not that old. It’s the context. That’s representing the jet age and what L.A. was about for a long time.”

To that, Kipen quipped. “It takes other cities 200 years to have the same history we’ve created in the last 50 or 60.”

During a question-and-answer session, audience members posed specific queries about a variety of projects—restoration of the L.A. River, housing and preservation in Skid Row, development in Jefferson Park, and the possible move of the city’s Channel 35 into the Merced Theatre, L.A.’s first theatre, a stone’s throw from the event site.

The post Saving the Magic Portals to L.A.’s Past appeared first on Zócalo Public Square.

It’s clear that our tastebuds hold some of our most deep-rooted memories—several people rhapsodized about Philippe’s, the downtown birthplace of French dip sandwiches, and Manuel’s Original El Tepeyac Café in Boyle Heights, with its signature, chile-verde-stuffed “Hollenbeck Burrito.” And if drinks are also on the menu—as at the former Rat Pack hang out Chez Jay in Santa Monica or the martini-soaked Musso and Frank Grill in Hollywood—all the better.

We come back to many of these old treasures because they retain the ability to entertain and impress us. We still bring children to see the dancing wooden puppets at Bob Baker’s Marionette Theater just outside of downtown L.A., pack our picnics for summer nights at the Hollywood Bowl, and contemplate our place in the universe at Griffith Observatory above Los Feliz.

Of course, a lot of people can’t choose just one old-school place as their one true love. We get it—who can really say whether it’s more fun to go to Dockweiler or Venice Beach? But, sometimes you have to pick. In advance of the Zócalo/Getty “Open Art” event, “Is L.A.’s Past Worth Saving?”, these are some of the places Angelenos—including our mayor—couldn’t imagine life without.

 
Jensen’s Recreation Center. The brick-clad building in Echo Park is topped with a sign that promises bowling and billiards. Every time I’d walk by my neighborhood landmark, I’d imagine the men who wandered in for a shave at the barbershop on the first floor, or families stopping by for a spot of lunch at the counter. It evokes the richness of L.A. past. —Mayor Eric Garcetti

The Observatory … After you admire this marvelous building, you can look out to the view. That’s when you understand Los Angeles as the city and Los Angeles the natural beauty.—Beto Loya

The Observatory. It’s always been my favorite place—Kirsten Conroy

Griffith Park—I remember going there for picnics as a child, and it seems like it really hasn’t changed much. Still a great place to take the family, I especially love hiking to the top of Mt. Hollywood (starting at the Observatory) for the fantastic view of so much of the county, and beyond!—Mayu Silk Art

Griffith Park Observatory, Olvera Street, the Farmer’s Market on Fairfax, Canter’s Deli, the Tar Pits.—Cynthia Lasley

The Original Farmer’s Market is my happy place since I was a baby. Love to meet my friends and co-workers for lunch at least once a month.—Nina May

The melting pot that is the Original Farmer’s Market.—Art Guitierrez Trevino

The Farmer’s Market on Fairfax, LACMA, the Brentwood Country Mart, and the Fox Theater in Westwood. Good times!—Christine Suh

My favorite days in Los Angeles are when I’m attending an event at the Hollywood Bowl, the quintessential Los Angeles experience!—Brian Allman

The Hollywood Bowl because it’s so L.A. Always entertaining, a melting pot of performers, and while it’s old school, it’s also the “it” thing to do every year.—Rolando Marin Jr.

The Dresden. Marty and Elayne are the best.—Eric Torres

The Dresden, Formosa, bar in the Biltmore Hotel, Casa Vega.—Kara Severson

Philippe the Original! A unique old-school standout with its maze of seating options upstairs and down.—Thom Arredondo

Tommy’s original off 3rd and Rampart. My parents use to take us here when I was a kid and, oh man, the best chili burgers ever!—Eliath Mena

Tommy’s on 3rd and Rampart—Jerrod Keith Andrade

Canter’s on Fairfax. The hours and patrons.—Joseph Beamon

Canter’s—”people watching”—Raoul de la Cruz

Canter’s Deli on Fairfax! My earliest memory is going for lunch with my grandfather after meeting the 5th Dimension, sometime in the late 60s. The fall leaf pattern is exactly the same. AND, the smell of sulfur at the George C. Page La Brea Tar Pits. My grandmother and I used to go there frequently and that smell to me is lovely. Both are very special places (memories), and true old school L.A.!—Shawn Groves

La Brea Tar Pits …’cause that’s about as old school as it gets—Avital van Leeuwen

El Cholo restaurant, the original one on Western!—Leslie Carlisle Hamburger

The Original Pantry for breakfast, El Tepeyac for lunch … Both of those should fill you up the whole day especially the “Manny’s Special”—Herb Schmidl

El Tepeyac, the Manuel’s Burrito in Boyle Heights!!! —Jeannette Thom

The Vista Theatre … I love seeing movies there—Nate Amick

The Rómulo Pico Adobe because it’s as “old school” as you can get. The beautiful adobe building is the second oldest residence in the city of Los Angeles and also houses a great obscure history museum.—Jason Vega

The Bob Baker Marionette Theater absolutely captivates and transports me to a simpler time with every visit. Having known Bob and his undying devotion to his craft (my youngest child thinks he was a relative, we were there so often), I am moved to tears by every show as I think of the joy he took in entertaining children. My heart will break if that theater ever closes.—Leslie Pruitt

Chinatown. My mom would take me there as a child to buy the most delicious birthday cakes. So happy to see that particular bakery is still around! I’ve seen people drive in from well outside of downtown for those cakes and pastries!—Elizabeth D. Funez

Chez Jay—aura & size—Carolyn Brann

Grand Central Market … always stop for lunch there anytime we are near it and whether some of our group want sushi, Middle Eastern, Mexican, or seafood, we ALL leave happy at a fair price.—Bryon Dennison II

Grand Central Market and Angels Flight when it is operating. Olvera Street, the Original Pantry, Philippe’s, Union Station …—Steven Wells

The downtown L.A. train station with its wooden benches and beautiful tile work, just across the street from Olvera Street. It is part of my family heritage.—Clarissa Banda

Korean Friendship Bell—Julienne Bautista

Venice Beach! It’s always an interesting and entertaining place to go hang out. And it’s the beach (my favorite place).—Renée Simone

Musso and Frank because… Manny—Slow Food Los Angeles

Musso and Frank! Best place for a martini!—Shannon Mercogliano

City Hall, the Bradbury, for their old L.A. history and architecture. Musso and Frank and Taylor’s Steak House because I’m a man, damn it. I need scotch and steaks.—Martin Silva

Taylor’s Steakhouse in Koreatown … opened by a Texan many years ago and carried on by his sons. While the steaks are great, and the old school maroon leather booths and dark wood paneling are cool, what really rocks is their CFS (chicken fried steak)—the only place this Texan would order it outside the Lone Star state and her own kitchen.—Lambchop Atkinson

The post The Crusty, Dusty Places That Angelenos Love appeared first on Zócalo Public Square.

Angelenos get the joke. They know that for a breed of Southern Californians, it’s all about “out with the old and in with the new.”

But that’s not the whole picture. L.A. is also a metropolis well known for its distinctive neighborhoods, diverse influences, and quirky landmarks. Even as boxy, modern condos spring up all over L.A., there’s also a growing movement of historic preservation enthusiasts.

In advance of the Zócalo/Getty “Open Art” event, “Is L.A.’s Past Worth Saving?”, we asked scholars and authors who know this city inside and out: “What is it about Los Angeles that has made it so easy for us to write over our own history? And is that changing?”

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