E. Clem Wilson Building Has No Advertiser, But Ugly Blue Boxes Remain

Above, the E. Clem Wilson Building while Samsung leased the sign space.

The 1929 art deco building that sits at the northeast corner of Wilshire Blvd. and La Brea Ave. in Los Angeles is now without an advertising sign at its top, but ugly blue boxes remain.

According to Curbed Los Angeles:

The boxy blue hat that sits atop the 12-story E. Clem Wilson Building at La Brea and Wilshire has been wiped clean of its big white "Samsung", noticeably altering the skyline along Wilshire without improving it too much. The building's long-time manager tells the Beverly Press that Samsung just didn't renew their lease, so while the blue box remains, the white letters have disappeared, leaving only a faint outline of the company's name. "Samsung doesn't lease an office space. They just did the advertising on the building," he says.

Why is this blog post about an old Los Angeles office building posted? Well, the E. Clem Wilson Building is a major landmark to fans of the Adventures of Superman television show.

The building was used as the Daily Planet Building during the show's first season filmed in 1951. Those are the "film noir" episodes that featured thrilling cops & robbers, murders, mystery and suspense stories. This was the season in which Phyllis Coates was Lois Lane to George Reeves's Clark Kent/Superman.

Above, the building as the Daily Planet Building.

The building ceased being used as the Daily Planet Building when huge signs advertising Mutual of Omaha were erected at the top. The producers then began using the Los Angeles City Hall as the Daily Planet Building in 1953.

The Mutual of Omaha signs remained on the building for decades, but were finally replaced by Asahi Beer signs. The Asahi signs were on the building for several years until Samsung leased the advertising space.

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