Olympic Special
The Olympic Special - manufactured by Union Metal - were a late ‘30s installation to Olympic Blvd. Rumor has it they were commissioned for dual purposes - the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics (the first time L.A. would host the Games, marking another big moment for Southern California on the world stage in terms of becoming a major city), and the renaming of 10th St. to Olympic Blvd. to honor the games.
In reality, they showed up several years after the games were over. But they still run along a fifteen-mile stretch of Olympic Blvd. The single-arm (not pictured here) is more common, but there are still a few double-arms out there.
Honestly not sure what the dragons have to do with Olympics. I suspect it had something to do with the burgeoning fascination of Asian culture that was coming out of the west coast during the 1920s and 1930s.
Wilshire Lantern
Speaking of Asian-influenced design, this 1920s lamppost (manufactured by what must be the coolest ironworks name King Ferronite) borrows from that school - as well as about a thousand others. It’s an odd mashup of design elements, including four tiny topless women (goddesses? fairies? who knows…) that flank all four corners of the light box.
Originally running down a significant chunk of Wilshire Blvd., nowadays you’ll still find them, but only clustered around Macarthur Park.
Wilshire Three-Lantern (Now Defunct)
I found a picture of this lamppost dated to 1915, where it stood on a lonely stretch of the still-being-developed Wilshire Blvd. One manor stands in the background; otherwise it’s completely empty. I suspect this was another instance of a land developer installing bespoke lampposts to entice buyers to a new neighborhood.
Other than that, I have no info on this lamppost. And by the 1920s, they had been replaced with different models.
