Wagons in vintage Street scenes

Couple of interesting things here. I'm VERY familiar with this corner....
Dolores' Drive In was situated on the South East corner of Washington Bl. and Sepulveda Bl. in Culver City, CA. (I was born in Culver City, and lived only a few blocks west of this location through the age of 5 (1956) In this photo, for orientation, the '57 Pontiac wagon would be driving northbound on Sepulveda. Pay particular attention to the Oldsmobile dealer next door to Delores' Drive In. This was Albertson Olds. Their big red rocket was a local landmark. Photo appears to have been taken around late 1958 or early 1959 ('59 Olds Vista hardtop visible immediately to left of the 'rocket'...)


Now, we move to this next photo. This photo shows Lyttle's Coffee Shop, a different building, but this is actually on the same exact property that Dolores' Coffee Shop occupied. Notice the Albertson Oldsmobile 'rocket' sticking up just at the right edge of the restaurant's roof. This pic was obviously taken a few years later - 1966, maybe. Also notice the 'Big Donut Drive In' across the street, another local landmark. Everything's gone now, of course - the restaurant, the donut shop, and Albertson Oldsmobile.

 

Yeah, it's all strip malls. Dr. Zaius' (Maurice Evans) photo would have been in mid or late '67, as Planet of the Apes was released in April '68.

 

Here's the same corner today. You're looking south in the northbound lanes on Sepulveda. Dr Zaius' bus bench is right behind the black Explorer on the left. Good to know that the bike shop, where my dad purchased my very first 2-wheeler, 'Wheel World', is STILL in business. It's off-camera to the right (You can just see the first few letters of the sign....) Volvo dealer on the corner has been there quite a few years. It's a REALLY small dealership property. The 405 (San Diego) Freeway is only a few hundred feet beyond the intersection, going down Washington, to the right.

 

Oh, that's cool! Until I got my Schwinn Scrambler on my 13th birthday, I'd always gotten Sears bikes. And the United Schwinn Cyclery that was in Everett is long gone. So for you to have that memory still be around is very cool.

 

Wheel World was (still is?) a Schwinn dealer, too. come to think of it, I think I bought at least one 10-speed from them as well.