Find results with:

Add another field

Search by date

to

Searching collections:

Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection

Add or remove collections

Home Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection "Merry Christmas" from General Petroleum Corporation

Reference URL

Share

To link to this object, paste this link in email, IM or document

To embed this object, paste this HTML in website

" />

"Merry Christmas" from General Petroleum Corporation

View Description

Download

small (250x250 max)

medium (500x500 max)

large ( > 500x500)

Full Resolution

Print

Loading content ...

you wish to report:

Your comment:

Your Name:

Submit

Cancel

...

Back to top

Powered by CONTENTdm®

Order Number	00095734
Title	"Merry Christmas" from General Petroleum Corporation
Photographer	Streib, Art.
Collection ID	Herald Examiner Collection
Location/Accession	HE box 97.
Date	1948
Physical Description	1 photographic print :b&w ;20 x 24 cm. on sheet 21 x 26 cm.
Notes	Title supplied by cataloger.
Historical Data	Designed in the Late Moderne style of the postwar period, with ceramic veneer exterior by Gladding, McBean & Co., the General Petroleum Building was built for $8,000,000 and was one of the first skyscrapers to employ a modular system throughout the entire structure. Aluminum fin sunshades from 3rd to 13th floor. Wurdeman & Becket also designed all interior details including furnishings, color schemes & fixtures. It was built between 1947-1949.
Description	The biggest Merry Christmas of them all is the claim made by the General Petroleum Corporation for the greeting on top of its new Los Angeles home. On a sign structure 30 feet high and 198 feet long - almost an entire city block - 10-foot high letters in green spell out "Merry Christmas". The Flying Red Horse, General Petroleum's trademark, measures 20 by 30 feet. The top of the greeting is 180 feet in the air - 30 feet above the 13-story building into which the company will move upon its completion early in 1949. Two additional greetings are painted on the sides of the superstructure. Each measures 30 by 95 feet. The signs were finished on December 16 and will remain up until December 27. It is estimated 1,025,000 people will read the greeting on the largest sign alone during that period. The signs will be lighted from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. and from 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. A special highly leaded paint impregnated with castor oil was used to facilitate removal so a permanent sign can be installed after the holiday season. Photograph dated December 22, 1948.
Subject	General Petroleum Building (Los Angeles, Calif.). Signs and signboards--California--Los Angeles. Office buildings--California--Los Angeles. Streets--California--Los Angeles. Christmas--Miscellanea. Logos (Symbols). Lost architecture--California--Los Angeles. Wilshire Lanterns. Wilshire Boulevard (Los Angeles, Calif.). Downtown Los Angeles (Los Angeles, Calif.). Los Angeles Evening Herald and Express photographs. Herald-Examiner Collection photographs. Wurdeman, Walter C. Becket, Welton. Gladding, McBean and Company.
Format	Photographic prints
Reproduction Information	Images available for reproduction and use. Please see the Ordering & Use page at http://tessa.lapl.org/OrderingUse.html for additional information.
Sub-Collection Name	Los Angeles Herald Examiner Photo Collection