Los Angeles is inextricably bound to the advent of electricity in American cities — it might technically be the urban center of Angel , but it ’s really the city of light . And lucky for us , the transformation of LA from a sour backwater to radiant city of brightness level was widely document .
At Huntington Library ’s sprawlingEdison archive , 70,000 photos of LA ’s so - call “ electric years ” severalize the story of how electricity — aka “ blanched gold”—made the metropolis what it is . And thanks to a new digital showing calledForm and Landscape(part of the ongoing Pacific Standard Time Presents : Modern Architecture in LA programme ) , a group of historian and curators have parse the most fascinating for us . The curators explain :
Boosters address fierily about the opportunity a even supply of electricity created and the welfare it would provide a mass of people for whom ready access to white amber meant extended hours of productive labor , enhanced quality of their leisure time hours , and greater safety while traveling in and about the company ’s servicing area by foot , by mass transit , or by automobile . It is a story of individual endeavor elevating individual and collective upbeat and in doing so contributing toward the public goodness by take the smoking out of manufacturing ; by make the confinement of prole , both earnings - earners and domesticated , more effective ; by increase prophylactic and deterring criminal offence ; by improving health .
From a atomic power works worker manner show to the installation of the city ’s first street lights , check the images out below — or head over toForm and Landscapeexhibit site for the entire collection .
1927 : The construction of Shaver Lake Dam in Big Creek , by G. Haven Bishop .
dateless : An Edison C surveyor prepares to force a hollow pipe into the snow .
1936 : Booth at restaurant Men ’s Display at Biltmore Hotel , by G. Haven Bishop .
1959 : The automatize menu at Scrivner ’s Drive - In , by Joseph Fadler .
1956 : An ad from the Electric Clothes Drying Promotional Campaign , also by Joseph Fadler .
1957 : The Drake Transmission Lines , which shuttle electricity to Los Angeles , shoot by Joseph Fadler .
1970 : An electrical worker fashion show , fritter by Joseph Fadler .
1958 : The Mammoth Pool Dam , where work live on on around the clock in the late 1950s . Photo by Joseph Fadler .
Undated : The neon incandescence of a restaurant , by Doug White .
1960 : A man survey land , by Joseph Fadler .
1906 : The creeping lights of LA , as seen from Mount Wilson , shot by G. Haven Bishop .
1965 : Clifton ’s Cafeteria by Art Adams .
1960 : A showing meant to bring in vendee to the “ outcome of alight on office efficiency , ” shot by Joseph Fadler .
1954 : The iconic — and atomic number 10 — golden arches of McDonald ’s . Shot by Joseph Fadler .
Undated : Commercial Lighting , by Doug White .
1964 : New Luxury Home , by Joseph Fadler .
1967 : streetlight in storage , by Art Adams .
All images © The Huntington .
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