ARMAND'S RANCHO DEL CIELO PAGES

Monday, October 21, 2013

Superman At The Broadway Department Stores In Los Angeles


In his book, Flights Of Fantasy, The Unauthorized But True Story of Radio & TV's Adventures of Superman, writer Michael J. Hayde wrote about actor George Reeves's appearances in the Los Angeles area in April 1955.

Above, The Broadway Crenshaw in the late 1940s.
On April 4, Reeves stopped in at KTTV (Channel 11 in Los Angeles) to make a guest appearance on the Jack Owens Show. On the show Reeves plugged his upcoming appearances at The Broadway department stores in downtown Los Angeles and in the Crenshaw district (known as Leimert Park to Angelenos).

Above, The Broadway Crenshaw in 1948.  Life Magazine photo.
The following day, April 5, Reeves made the appearances at the two The Broadway department stores. He appeared at the downtown store at 10:00 a.m. before 15,000 children and the Crenshaw store at 2:30 p.m., where 20,000 greeted him.

Above, The Broadway in downtown Los Angeles circa 1951. USC Digital Archives.
I don't personally recall the downtown L.A. store, but my family used to occasionally shop at The Broadway Crenshaw in the late-1950s and early-1960s as well The May Company department store across the street.

The Broadway-Crenshaw store was built in 1947 and it was an upscale department store for the time. The building is now occupied by Walmart.


No comments:

Post a Comment