Wagons in vintage Street scenes

1st and Hope Streets in Los Angeles, CA. 1961

 

The Blue Chip '61 catalogs are now available....

 

I wonder if they were better than S&H Green Stamps. God if I had a dime for every stamp I licked I could by that ‘60 Chevy convertible! Those were the days!

 

Library of Congress, 1956

 

I remember in the early-mid 60s my mom would give my sister and I a damp sponge and we'd wet those stamps in big sheets and place them in the respective blue chip and green stamp books. It would take hours for all the stamps we had saved from the markets/gas station. Then later that week, we would all jump in the 1959 Rambler Custom Station Wagon or '63 VW bug and go buy something we needed at the blue stamp/green stamp store. Simpler and sweeter times for sure.

 

So whatcha gonna get with your stamps? Are you eyeing the Polaroid Instamatic camera, or are you thinking about the TNT plunger 8 track player? So many goodies to choose from. Who remembers Service Merchandise? If memory serves me I think they help put a dent in some of the stamp catalog ordering business. They test marketed a drive through store in Chicago, and Nashville, I believe. Looked up some fun facts and Sperry & Hutchison during the height of the stamp frenzy in the late ‘60’s printed 3 times the stamps of the US post office, their facility in Sandsprings Oklahoma printed 850 million stamps per week.

 

I remember our neighbor Mrs Porter. She had a coral and white ‘57 Ford 4 door Town Hardtop. She had pulled into our local Mobil station for Gas. When the car was full she asked for her S&H green stamps. The attendant told her they haven’t given those away for two years. She told him. I’ll be back in a half hour. You figure a way to get this gas out, our have your sign gone. Sure enough, she drove back by and the “jake leg” mechanic was taking the sign down. Another fond stamp memory story.

 

The stamp phenomenon was before my time. I have heard many stories about them, but I never experienced it first hand.

 

I have my doubts that this is First and Hope Streets in downtown L.A., Jeremiah. Looking it up on Google Earth, Today that intersection is completely flat, with the Music Center on the N/E corner, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall on the S/E corner, and no elevated street or freeway crossing over for at least 3 blocks in every direction. It IS most certainly SOMEWHERE near downtown L.A. though.
Back in the late 50's and into the 60's there WAS a lot of downtown re-development going on in downtown L.A., with some streets being reconfigured, particularly around the 'Bunker Hill' area, which First and Hope is very near, so there's a slight possibility I could be wrong.....

(And I figured this is just what the photo you saw indicated...)

 

You are correct Marshall. Just going off of the info that was with the photo.

Original quote was:
"The day was April 26, 1961, and this telephoto view, according to the source, was taken at the intersection of 1st and Hope Streets in Los Angeles, CA, which is about a mile north of the center of the City. An early-1950s Cadillac is waiting at the light on N. Fremont Ave., and beyond and above it is the 110 Freeway."

I went back and took a second look and found there was a comment that said the following:
"The photo is actually about two blocks away from First and Hope. It shows the intersection of First and North Fremont, just before First goes under the 110. As tired as that ’51 Buick is in the foreground, how about that beautiful Caddy turning right onto First off of N. Fremont? I’m not enough of a Cadillac expert to tell the year, but it must be nearly as old as the Buick. But obviously better cared for! This is a great photo — so many things to look at."

So, I would say that you are accurate in your assessment Marshall. Good eye.

 

Classic story!